Passing the Baton

“It was our dream that our kids could be involved with us in ministry…” – Bruce Boyd

3union promo shot Bruce and Julie Boyd, veteran Keynote artists and conference speakers with FamilyLife, were inspired early in their ministry career by a comment from Josh McDowell: “The greatest evangelistic tool in the new millennium will be an intact family.”

“We saw the value of a family testimony,” Bruce elaborated.

In the early 2000s, the Boyds were asked to help with a Student Venture high school outreach in Lebanon. Bruce thought a family band might work better for the youth-oriented events. So Julie and their three boys – Brandon, Shaun and Ryan – spent the next four months learning to play instruments. The Boyd Family Band was born. Over the course of their ten day tour in Lebanon, they performed live for over 7000 students, saw over 2000 people indicate decisions to know Christ, and performed on Middle-Eastern television.

The band continued performing at outreach events in the United States and returned to the Middle East several times to perform various concerts with similar results. It was easy to see how God was using their family together in ministry.

Then came America’s Got Talent. The show’s producers invited the group to the competition and at the Chicago finals the celebrity judges had different ideas for the band. David Hasselhoff commented, “I’m not usually one to advocate breaking up the family, but… why don’t you cut those guys loose and see how far they can go on their own?”

With that in mind, the band became 3union with just the three brothers on stage. Bruce and Julie continued leading their family and managing the band while Brandon, Shaun and Ryan expanded their sense of ministry and artistry. They’re still a family ministry, but no longer a family band. As 3union, the guys have a strong calling to reach high school students with the gospel. They also share about topics like purity and not settling for mediocrity – issues they can speak to passionately and relevantly since they also wrestle with those issues as young adults.

And now the guys of 3union are preparing to go into full-time vocational ministry. This fall they’re attending the Forerunner School of Music, a ministry training center orchestrated by the International House of Prayer in Kansas City.

“It was our dream that our kids could be involved with us in ministry…” Bruce said, “…and now, the baton has been passed to them. Our family ministry has become their personal ministry and we couldn’t be more excited.”