"THE ELUSIVE BIO"
Okay ... I finally did
it ... I wrote a 'BIO'. I hope this doesn't seem too self-absorbed. It's
difficult to write about yourself. However, it's nearly impossible to write a bio
without casually mentioning oneself. Anyone who knows me well ... and there are a
few of you ... knows that the following info is only a scratch of the surface.
Over the years, I've
met and worked with a lot of great people (I've also met and worked with the other kind of
people). Forgive me, but I couldn't hope to mention all the people who remain so
dear to my heart. Some of you know it. Some of you have no idea how important
you are to me.
However ... here it is
... the BIO.
Once upon a time...
One day in September,
1955, my mother gave birth to a wonderful son who would bring his parents a great deal of
joy. A year and a half later ... she gave birth to me. I guess life has a way
of balancing itself. My parents stopped having kids after I was born. Hmmm?
I was born and raised
in the small village of North Head on Grand Manan Island. Grand Manan is situated
about 20 miles off the coast of New Brunswick in the Bay Fundy and boasts a population of
approximately 2600 people. It was a magical place to grow up. I have hundreds
of stories.
"The
Nickname"
Many of my closest
friends are surprised to find out my real name is not "Bim." I never tried
to hide my real name ... it just doesn't come up in discussion. I've told this story
a multitiude of times, so here it comes again. At the time of my birth, my
one-and-a-half year old brother, Karl, was being taken care of by our grandmother.
When a Jim Reeves song ("Bimbo") came on the radio, my grandmother said Karl was
laughing and giggling at the song (easily amused). Just as the song finished, my
mother came trough the door with me. When she bent down to show me to my brother,
Karl pointed his finger at me and said, "Bimbo." The name quickly
shortened down to "Bim." My real name is Turner Ingersoll.
"Growing
up"
I loved Superman and
other superheroes. I enjoyed cartooning. I liked taking my toys apart to see
what made them work. I played a lot of "Cowboys and Indians" and
"Cops and Robbers". I had a lot of comics, Corgi and Dinky toys and GI
Joe's. I got in a number of fights and had run-ins with my teachers. I had a
big imagination and tended to daydream a lot.
I grew up attending
church sporadically. I went to Sunday School from time to time and was dragged to an
occassional special service. Though both of my parents believed in God ... church
was not a regular part of their lives. To make this incredibly concise, I became a
Christian on March 5th, 1972 on a Sunday morning. I've never strayed from that
commitment.
"The
Guitar"
In 1973, my life made a
big change. My parents separated in July and my brother left home for Bible College.
While attending youth camp that summer, I decided I needed to learn to play the
guitar. Around the last week in August, I acquired an old beat-up guitar (I still
have it ... It's covered with autographs of 'famous' Christian musicians ... collectors
item) ... anyway ... I got this guitar ... took it back to my house ... went up to my
bedroom ... layed it on the bed ... knelt down and prayed, "God, if you'll teach me
to play this ... I'll use it for You." I learned guitar very quickly. I
also bought a drum kit about a month later and began learning drums. That came
quickly as well. The music allowed me to adjust to some of the personal pain I was
experiencing at the time (music hath charms...).
After becoming involved
in drama and performing, I formed a band with Van Worthen, Michael Bass and Joseph
Ingalls. In 1975, we obtained a government grant to perform comedy concerts
throughout the summer. There will eventually be further information about this in
the "GREASE" link in the right sidebar. With the popularity of our
concerts, we continued performing for the people of Grand Manan through the summer of 1976
as well as several reunion concerts.
"College"
After High School, I
attended Bible College to study for the ministry. The whole time I was at Bible
College, I always felt that I wouldn't become your typical, standard, preacher-type guy.
The votes are in ... I didn't.
During my last year of
Bible College, in the Fall of 1977, I formed a 'Jesus Music' band with Don Hicks and Greg
Ricker. The band was called "Dove" and was one of the first ... if not THE
first ... Christian Rock bands to hit the Maritimes. We enjoyed ministering
throughout the year and played our last concert in May of 1978. Don, Greg and I
reunited for five or six songs at a concert in Woodstock, NB in 1982 and again in 1983.
There was even a write-up about this performance in Contemporary Christian Music
magazine.
"The Real
World"
After graduating with
my BA in 1978, I moved to Belleville, Ontario to work as a Youth Pastor. That same
summer, I got married to the most wonderful woman a man could ask for. Ruth
(Bissell) and I met the Fall of 1976 and were married on August 26th, 1978. In
August, 2008, we'll be celebrating 60 happy years of marriage ... 30 for her ... 30 for
me. (Insert 'Isn't that sweet!' here)
I worked for two years
as a Youth Pastor and children's pastor at the Wesleyan Church in Belleville. To
this day, I am still in touch with many of the children, teenagers and parents I worked
with for those two years. After resigning my position as Youth Pastor, I then went
to work with Youth For Christ for one year. Ruth and I moved to London, Ontario and
I worked in the London and Belleville chapters until moving back to Belleville and
resigning that position the summer of 1981.
During my time at the
London chapter of YFC, I was approached by the Director and asked if I would do a tour of
Ontario opening up for Christain comedian, Mike Warnke. That's where I got my first
taste of performing solo before a large crowd. With audiences of 1500 people, I
quickly realized that was over half the population of the island on which I'd grown up.
It was my element and I loved it.
"Answering The
Call"
After a brief stint
working with a photography company, I answered a 'call of faith' to begin performing
music. On December 18th, 1981, I stepped out in faith to begin my music ministry.
Over the next ten
years, I recorded two albums and performed/toured with a literal "Who's Who" of
the current Christian music scene. Larry Norman, Randy Stonehill, Randy Matthews, Mylon
Lefevre, Darrell Mansfield, Degarmo & Key, Stryper, Servant, Petra, The Altar Boys,
etc....... The list gets pretty long. The highlight would have been being
before an audience of 15,000 people at Bingaman Park in Kitchener, Ontario armed with only
an acoustic guitar. What a rush.
"Answering
Another Call"
During my music
ministry, I observed a number of artists who seemed to have neglected their families for
their 'career'. Having felt the pain of a broken home, I vowed I would never do that
to my family and I promised Ruth I would get off the road when we had children.
In November, 1988, our
daughter, Tira, was born. About two months later, I hung up the guitar and began the
process of 'weaning' myself off the road (I still had commitments to fill a couple years
down the road). After a brief nine-month stint with YFC I moved to Cape Sable
Island, NS in the summer of 1990 to do a Street Ministry. That August, our son,
Tayson, was born. Shortly after Tayson was born, I received a call from Refuge
Records wanting me to sign on their label to replace blues artist, Larry Howard. I
turned that down because of my promise to my family. That was a good decision.
My ministry on Cape Island went from 1990-1995.
"Bad
Lands"
In 1995, I accepted a
call from a church in North Dakota to come as their Youth Pastor. We moved over
halfway across the continent only to be mistreated and abused by a corporate minister.
In the fall of 1996, we moved back to Belleville, Ontario.
In Belleville, I worked
at a Christian-run (whatever that means) open-custody facility for Young Offenders called
Onesimus House (A-mess-o-stress House). I went through two stress leaves from
working there. It was awful. I resigned in the fall of 2004. They shut
the place down within a year as I predicted.
"Now
What?"
So, now my son is
finishing up his last year of High School and my daughter is in university in a worship
program. Ruth and I are praying for direction as to what's next.
If you think of us
while you're praying, please breathe some words for us. If you have a great
revelation, I'd be glad to listen.
The last chapter isn't
written yet.
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