Haleyville native launches ministry team at Samford, helps youth groups

Last summer, Samford University student Josh Caldwell was working with CrossPoint and Centrifuge — two LifeWay-sponsored summer camp programs for children and youth in grades 4–12. Because he had to take a couple of summer classes, Caldwell came home before the rest of his friends and had some time alone.
   
“It was then that the Lord laid the vision on my heart for a ministry,” he said.
   
Caldwell had noticed that while there were many programs for youth going on in the summer, there were few, if any, during the school year. His vision was the beginning of No Other Name Ministries Inc., now a non-profit corporation that implements Disciple Now! programs at churches all over the Southeast.
   
“We’ll provide everything — the speakers, the Bible study leaders, the band and Bible study materials,” said Caldwell, a 21-year-old junior at Samford,  “everything but the kids and the place to have it.”
   
As a teen, Caldwell was active in the youth group at First Baptist Church, Haleyville, where he said discipleship was “huge.” Once at Samford, Caldwell began leading individual sessions at youth rallies and retreats in area churches. So many times, he said, the events were fun, but not as spiritual or meaningful as they could have been.
   
Sometimes he would be asked to lead a session, but then not be given the materials he needed until just before he was to speak. At times, he felt he wasn’t really prepared to lead the session or to get the message fully across to the kids.
   
“Youth ministers are so busy, and sometimes they need help,” Caldwell pointed out, adding that when youth ministers are involved in planning and leading events like Discipleship Now!, they aren’t able spend time ministering to the kids.
   
This semester, he said, No Other Name Ministries will lead Disciple Now! programs at eight churches in Alabama, Virginia, Florida and Kentucky. There are about 14 college students working with him in the ministry, and about nine people go to each program on a rotating basis.
   
Most of the Disciple Now! programs take place over a weekend, and students and Bible study leaders meet and stay in homes of church members for individual Bible study sessions and come together at the church for general sessions.
  
“Their desire to lead and take the youth to the foot of the cross is incredible,” said Mark Pendergrass, minister of youth at Brookwood Baptist Church in Birmingham.  “They work hard and are very intentional. The talent and gifting in the group makes for a special combination. It’s really a calling for them.”
   
For his church’s recent Disciple Now! program, Pendergrass brought in a friend from Fort Lauderdale as the keynote speaker, but the rest of the event was organized and implemented by No Other Name Ministries.
   
“They can plan it and do it — the curriculum, teaching, rallies, music — the whole shabang,” he said. “It was a blessing to have them involved.”
   
Caldwell said some churches will only want them to be responsible for part of the program, while others ask them to plan and lead the entire event. And he said there is no set price since it is based on what a church is able to pay.
   
“We’re not in this just to make a buck,” said Caldwell. “We realize that some churches can pay our fee and some cannot.”
   
The name of the ministry, No Other Name, actually comes from a band that Caldwell’s roommate, Wes Sharp, leads. Caldwell briefly played bass in the band and still helps with sound, management and booking. The band is a centerpiece in the ministry, since members go on all trips and provide music.
   
Ryan Brewer, a childhood friend of Caldwell’s, is also heavily involved in the ministry.  He leads sessions in Disciple Now! and has written “Get Real,” a Bible study often used by No Other Name in their programs. “As young as they are, their talent and desire to lead people to worship is unique,” remarked  Pendergrass. For more information about No Other Name, call Caldwell at 205-542-2830.