Stephen G. Knopp II

  • Welcome To The Jungle

    , ,

    Not having a worship leader on the staff team for 801South has been a bummer in many ways. The burden of scheduling and arranging other typical logistics that would be easily handled by an experienced worship leader fall primarily on our tech director (and somewhat on myself). This redirects our energy, time, and focus away…

  • Open Your Eyes!

    One of the great benefits to starting something new from something existing is using an established base of people to serve the new initiative. With 801South, we were able to pull from people already involved at Matthews United Methodist Church who felt led to serve in launching this new ministry. The other side of this…

  • What’s A Word Worth?

    How do you move from a concept to a reality? Do you ever get so many ideas in your mind that you feel paralyzed and can’t take another step? I have addressed these questions previously, but there is a (somewhat unromantic) part of the process that we need to explore. Actually, I believe that one…

  • Take One For The Team

    I started playing team sports and at very young age and I loved it. I remember seasons when my brother and I were playing two different sports on two different teams and my parents would drive us from field to field all day long. When I think back to those days, it was like we were…

  • Back Away From The Buffet

    Buffets are awesome. Enough said, right? Post finished. Think about it for a minute. You pay one set price, but then you get to consume as much of a large variety of food as your stomach can hold. I don’t know whose idea this was, but I’d really like to thank him (or her). Do…

  • Lil’ Wayne Was Wrong

    I love learning. Learning information and facts is fine, but I far more enjoy learning human dynamics and the standard mode of operation for the world around us.  The journey of launching our new movement, 801South, has been an incredible experience of learning what works in the people business, as well as what does not.…

  • Stupid Rich Denominations

    ,
    , , ,

    The decline of mainstream Protestant denominations in America is one topic that has been discussed, written, and researched to death. There’s no use in debating or even explaining the statistics detailing this decline. The situation speaks for itself. So what can we, who are young and remain in a denomination, do moving forward? We can…

  • Manifest The Concept

    , ,

    Up until this past weekend, a worship experience (called 801South) in a new modern venue on the campus of Matthews United Methodist Church was nothing more than an abstract thought in the minds of a few individuals. Today, however, the concept that began as a vision on paper is now a tangible experience. So how does one…

  • Playing The Fool

    I had a conversation with a friend this week about an experience that many of us in the faith community face on multiple occasions in different seasons of life. My friend, who I will call Josh for the purposes of this post, has started a new job recently and one of the other employees has…

  • Seeing Life Thematically

    ,

    My buddy, Brian Zehr, talks about seeing life thematically. Sometimes it’s the songs that come on the radio, the books we read, or the shows we watch on television. We have seasons in life during which the world around us is centered around a particular theme. I feel this way right now. Whether it’s a book someone recommends…