David Gallagher

Neal's excitement over what we were doing in Expedition Kids was obvious. He wanted to effectively communicate to the kids during the Bible lesson of each large group time, and he quickly found his voice. To this day I feel that Neal is the most gifted communicator among us. And Neal was the first to say it out loud: "we should take this ministry on the road!"

I had worked as a layperson with Journey's children's ministry for over a year. I accepted a staff position as Children's Creative Director and spent 2 1/2 more years learning the ropes of family ministry. Certainly I put my creative spin on things, but I also learned the importance of sharp administrative skills, team building, relationships with other staff and ministry volunteers.... But the call that God had given me was not limited to one particular church or even one particular work. And as Neal and others had suspected, God began to nudge me toward what I considered a horrible notion: getting back on the road.

Traveling ministry is tough. And it's made more so when you are your own boss. I paid my way through college by traveling for Jerry Falwell with the Sounds of Liberty and cut my teeth as an artist with the First Family of Gospel Music, The Speers. But someone else was calling the shots. And someone else was writing the check.

So to say "traveling ministry is tough" is an understatement. How will we let churches and schools know about us? How do we best convey our message? How do we earn credibility with children's pastors, school principals and parents? And once someone agrees to bring Ka*Pop to their venue... how do we get there?

So much of what you experience on KaPopKit.com will be the results of us asking those questions. We know that God has brought these three men together for such a time as this. And we look forward to swapping stories about our experiences with you in person. Most of all, we hope to affect change in people's lives, from toddlers to grandmothers. And since it's all part of the call, and part of the journey... we believe we will.

Blessings!

In October of 2006 I heard from God. I don't want to quote Him, but it was along the lines of, "You shall go forth and work as a minister to children." I quickly obliged.That's a whole other blog series. But suffice it to say that I finally had the audience I needed in order to commit to songwriting again. Tyra agreed that it would be fun to try to write some children's music. And that's where we were wrong.My mentor at that time (a guy named Dan Trippie—Google him) was showing me the ropes of children's ministry. I called Dan on my way to that first writing session at Tyra's place, and asked him what kind of kids' song we should write. "Well, I don't know much about music," Dan said, "but the last thing you should do is write a 'kids' song'."That may be the best advice anyone has ever given me. See, what Tyra and I planned to do was to write something that the kiddies could relate to. Big mistake—as anyone who has spent time with children can attest. Kids relate to real life. They relate to much the same stuff that us oh-so-smart grownups enjoy. So... we were free to write music that we loved! Music we would want loaded on our iPods.Tyra and I spent many hours writing and developing a new sound for Journey Church's "Expedition Kids" ministry. And a unique approach to teaching God's Word began to emerge through the lyrics. We had a blast. And the kids and families of Journey responded in a big way. My buddy from church, Neal Hager, was especially digging the tunes, right from the start.To be continued...

The makings of Ka*Pop. Three and half years ago, I got a call from a guy from church to come sing a demo vocal for him at his home studio. I'd heard of Tyra through some mutual friends, but I hadn't met him. But as someone who loves the recording studio—and generally accepts any voice work that comes my way—I quickly agreed to do the session. Tyra was a gracious host at his studio, and he gave me freedom to explore the song and record it however I felt comfortable. In the course of that first meeting, we discovered that both of us were looking for opportunities to write music and perform live. So we decided to give co-writing a try. I'll be honest: I wasn't sure how it would go. Writing is something I have a love/hate kinda feel for. Once inspired I love to craft a song, particularly from the lyrical standpoint. But at the time I was a freelance graphic designer. I had no audience, no platform from which to share anything I wrote. So I didn't write, because... what was the point? And then there's this whole "co-writing" thing. Ugh. Co-writing with someone is a risk! You never know if you'll "gel", let alone walk away with something you're excited about. And the time and emotional investment could end up being wasted. Little did I know I was about to have the richest musical collaboration of my life. To be continued....

It's finally come together, and it's time to Ka*Pop!What is it with that word, anyway? What is a Ka*Pop? Well, it's a noun, of course. It's an identity. We're all dads, or "pops". Cute, huh? And we love music. Pop music is our sound choice.But Ka*Pop is also a verb! It's music, ministry and love in action. We're not interested in sitting still. And you wouldn't expect us to with a name like ours.This thing called Children's Ministry is strange. It's fantastic, worthwhile, exciting and rewarding, too. But everyone has their opinions about how to "handle" kids ministry. And who's right? I suspect that whoever figures that out could put the rest of us out of business.But back to Ka*Pop: Grown men be-bopping around with guitars, funky clothes and dance moves? It sounds like an act intended for teens or twenty-somethings. But kids love music, too. And (cover your ears if you're die hard old school about "kids church") they like the same music the big kids and grownups enjoy. And that's where we come in. (To be continued....)