A History of Jesus People USA

By Jon Trott

Part 6
Cornerstone Festival

(The Official Cornerstone Festival Web Site is here)

Jesus festivals. They originated during the early seventies, when the Jesus movement created a demand for the new Christians to get together, play their music, and find some spiritual refreshment. A Christian response to Woodstock and other outdoor rock festivals, Jesus festivals gave "contemporary Christian music" (CCM) one of its first mass audiences. JPUSAs could be found at many festivals. Tents, trusty "JESUS" bus, and kids in tow, we came to fellowship with the greater body of Christ. We passed out Cornerstones, met folks who'd come to Jesus through our ministry, and got blessed along with everyone else.

No Jesus festival existed in the Midwest, and by the early eighties we began to dream about doing one, with a distinct "JPUSA" flavor, ourselves. We knew and respected the promoters of other Jesus festivals, but due to tremendous church resistance to rock music and other cultural forms of expression, the promoters favored "safe," middle-of-the-road CCM performers over the increasing number of innovative Christian rock bands. In addition, festival teachers sometimes seemed to be chosen more for their drawing power than their power to minister from the Word of God.

At one festival, for instance, Joni Eareckson [now Tada] gave a moving testimony on what it meant to be a Christian who'd had to face the awful fact that she'd been paralyzed from the neck down and would remain so for life. She was followed up by a "faith teacher" who said that with enough faith anyone could be healed of anything.

We felt that our festival could mirror Cornerstone magazine's emphasis, serving as a bridge between young, culturally radical believers and older, culturally "straight" believers. The young could delightfully shock the old with their serious zeal for God, and the old could lend stability to the young with some great teaching and one-on-one discussion. Both sides could learn to respect and cherish each other. The music could be no-holds-barred rock, punk, or metal, with the sole requirement being that the musicians were believers. Our dream seemed tailor-made to address these problems, and after long deliberation (mainly over how we would possibly pay for such an undertaking) we began finalizing plans for Cornerstone '84. As we conceived it, Cornerstone Festival would be to Jesus festivals what Seven-Up © was to cola: the unfestival.

There was an additional reason: This festival would be a project that we all could be directly involved with, hands on. Along with drawing other Christians together, it would be a time where our own community could draw together in one massive effort at blessing others.

The festival committee drew up names of speakers and bands, and fired off invitations to our "dream list." Excitement built as various evangelical spokespersons wrote back with "yes" for an answer. David Wilkerson in particular was one man we deeply cherished, as his own Teen Challenge (chronicled in The Cross and the Switchblade) had provided a real inspiration for many Jesus communities. In addition, Wilkerson's activist approach to inner-city ministry gave this Pentecostal spokesperson special importance to us.

We received Wilkerson's reply. What do you mean, more rock'n'roll than anyone has dared, Wilkerson demanded. An ad slogan for the fest, "More Rock and Roll Than Anyone Has Dared" provided a launching point for Wilkerson to castigate us for our ungodly pride and carnality. The word "dare" seemed to particularly irritate Wilkerson. After discussion, Glenn wrote back. "I remember a young man who 'dared' to go to New York, who 'dared' to challenge the gangs, and who 'dared' to lead some of them to Christ," Glenn reminded him. But unfortunately Wilkerson did not respond.

Despite the hurtful disappointment this was, we pressed on. A 1983 JPUSA newsletter enthused over the upcoming event:

Cornerstone '84 will be held near Chicago at the Lake County Fairgrounds June 28 - 30, and we're expecting at least ten thousand people. It's JPUSA's first attempt at something this big, and we're really on our knees! . . .

... We plan to go for more in-depth teaching, rather than getting one-hour "quickies." People like Norm Geisler, Sherwood Wirt, Jackie Hudson, Luci Shaw, George Verwer, John Staggers, Ron Enroth [!!], and Eric Pement, are just a few speakers who will be there. Fifteen multi-class workshops will be offered, and each person attending will choose one (possibly two) subjects of his or her preference. Nearly all the major topics we cover in the magazine will be addressed by top-quality speakers at Cornerstone '84. Here's a partial list of subjects: Ethics, Writing, Poetry, Ministering to the Homosexual, Cults & New Religions, Inner-City Missions, Foreign Missions, Theatre, Music, Marriage & Family Relationships, Women & Sexuality, Cornerstone Perspectives, and MORE!

Second, we want music that is as current and ministry-oriented as the magazine, so we've gone for many groups known for fresh new sounds.

Our entire community was buzzing with activity throughout the spring of 1984. The added festival preparations further stretched our men in what had always been the busiest time of year for community businesses. Yet excitement over the fest mounted among JPUSAs. Unlike our many other ministries, from the bands to various social services, we saw our festival as the one outreach every JPUSA could be involved in. Round-the-clock prayer lists were posted, and we also asked Christian friends around the country to bathe the fest in prayer.

More than a month before the festival, JPUSA men had already begun construction of the Cornerstone Main Stage, a mammoth gridwork of wood and metal struts, pegs, and cables. As the date drew nearer, we began the hard work of moving the bulk of JPUSA to the fest site. Booths had to be constructed and painted, our cooks had to figure out how to feed the JPUSA army, trucks carrying each JPUSA family's tents and belongings had to be packed in Chicago and unpacked in Grayslake. Finally came the mass exodus of JPUSAs to the festival grounds.

The first fest was an auspicious beginning, despite the fact that we lost sixty thousand dollars. Over eight thousand people attended, and in light of the fest's incredible fruit, we decided to make the festival an annual event. Chicago newspapers were liberal in their coverage, finding various angles to explore. The Chicago Sun-Times' rock critic Don McLeese noted:

Woodstock idealism aside, rock festivals are usually a mess.

They're often marked by drug overdoses, alcohol overindulgences and the sort of open nudity and rampant sexuality that one generally doesn't experience in polite society...

At the Lake County Fairgrounds this weekend, there's a rock festival that is expected to be well-attended, well-behaved and full of purpose....

Unannounced before the festival, the "surprise" headliner of Cornerstone '84 is Kerry Livgren, formerly of Kansas, who is debuting his new A. D. band tomorrow night.

Other top Christian acts at the fest include the metallic Resurrection Band ("Rez Band" to ardent fans), DeGarmo and Key, Daniel Amos, the Joe English Band (led by the former drummer for Paul McCartney's Wings) and the jazzy Sweet Comfort Band.¹

Another Sun-Times reporter attended a fest concert by the new wave group Youth Choir (later known as the Choir):

Their message blasted out of banks of speakers and racks of amplifiers, bouncing mercilessly around the steel and concrete auction barn. . . . Red, blue and yellow spotlights flicked across the stage. . . .

the thousands of young Christians gathered in Grayslake were carrying on his message with a different kind of rock. ²

Bruce Buursma of the Chicago Tribune focused on the fest's cultural trappings:

The festival . . . attracted throngs of new wave devotees whose clothing and hairstyles are not the sort one would expect to see on those attending a Mormon Tabernacle Choir concert.

Despite the mild temperatures, leather outerwear and military fatigues were a popular choice, and T-shirts bore such slogans as "God is awesome," and "I'm a confident Christian [Bring on the lions]." . . .

"The kids need to see that when you become a Christian, they don't nail the coffin shut," said Glenn Kaiser, the 31-year-old lead singer for the Resurrection band. "It's never going to be hip to be Christian--to give up your selfishness and follow Jesus Christ. But unbelievers need the encouragement of seeing that you can breathe and have fun even while you are a valid orthodox Christian. That's what this is about." ³

Over the years Cornerstone Festival has become known as America's premier Christian arts and music festival. It also has been a place where healing, conversion, and recommitment take center stage.

(The Official Cornerstone Festival Web Site is here)

Next Chapter ->