What is APeX?

APeX Youth Ministries is currently two young men who love God and enjoy making the most of the life He's given us. We love to play and have fun, and at the same time recognize that God is truly the source of our joy. In an effort to give back to the Lord what He's given us, we want to help build His church and nurture the spiritual growth of others and ourselves. God has now presented us with an amazing and exciting opportunity to reach the hearts of His people through entertainment, laughter, and personal testimony. Even though we love to play we still take very seriously our faith and the material which we are presenting. We find ways to present the truths we have learned from our relationship with God in a way that is fun and playful. We feel playful learning applies to all ages. (Click here for descriptions and biographical information used in event programs.)

How does APeX minister?

Within the context of various events, APeX uses a style they define as Christian Vaudeville. This includes (but is not limited to) death defying juggling, humor, characterizations (skits), story-telling, audience participation, and personal testimony.

Who is APeX?

APeX Ministries is Gene Monterastelli and Brad Farmer.

What venues does APeX work in?

APeX primarily offers youth conference/ youth rally keynote speaking and workshops, prayer services, and evenings of laughter and faith-sharing with youth groups and entire parishes. Brad & Gene also share at retreats and mini-retreats on a more personal level. Their presentations are geared to help spread the Word of God, build community through laughter and interaction, and, yes, even provoke people to think about life and spirituality.

What does APeX present on?

Here are descriptions of some of the themes and workshops for which APeX has specifically developed material.

Where has APeX ministered in the past?

Over the last six years APeX has worked with youth and adults alike in over 40 states and one Canadian province at the national, diocesan, and parish levels. They have shared their ministry with audiences as large as 30,000 and as small as 9. Some of the places APeX has shared its ministry include the Papal Visit in January 1999 (in which APeX shared their ministry for a crowd of 30,000), the National Catholic Youth Conference (NCYC) in Kansas City, MO (with over 17,000 youth in attendence), the NCYC in St. Louis, MO (with over 23,000 youth in attendence), the NCYC in Indianapolis in 2001, and the Youth Specialties National Youth Workers Conference in Philadelphia in 1997. As they have crisscrossed the country they have slept on floors, sofa beds, and in their car in efforts to make their ministry as available as possible. Their ministry has taken them as far west and north as Fairbanks, AK and as far south as Florida and 60 miles south west of New Orleans (Yes there really is still a little land left that far south of New Orleans). Here are some of APeX's Past Performances and Upcoming Performances.

Why the name "APeX"?

The word "apex" means the top-most point, like on a wave or a curve. When learning the basics of juggling, there is a particular area that you should direct your focus, that being the "apex" of each throw. If you only watch one of the objects, you miss the other two, and if you watch your hands, you miss everything that's happening with each throw. When you watch the "apex" of each throw you are more able to keep the whole pattern in focus and thereby in more control. In our lives we juggle all sorts of different things: school, sports, work, family, spirituality, etc. If you only focus on one of these, the others will fall to the ground. If you only focus on yourself, you miss the real pattern and it all falls apart. You must focus on the "apex". We believe in our lives that "apex" is the life of Jesus Christ. Keep your eyes on Him and everything else becomes more manageable and in the appropriate balance. We believe that a life lived to its "apex", or its top-most point, is a life lived in the imitation of Jesus Christ.

How will APeX help promote my event?

APeX has some suggestions for promotional tools to use in promoting your event with them.

How was APeX born?

Millions of years ago dinosaurs roamed the earth. Some time after that Gene and Brad were born. During the summer of 1995 Brad was spending his second year in Cheyenne, WY as the Assistant Youth Minister at Holy Trinity Catholic Church, and Gene was programming computers for an internship with State Farm Insurance in Bloomington, IL (though he was living in Normal, IL which drip with irony). As Gene completed his summer internship and was driving back home to Casper, WY, he stopped to spend an evening with his long time friend, Brad, in Cheyenne. The two ended up at a hotel restaurant drinking coffee, eating greasy fries, and talking about what their futures may hold (read: what they wanted to be when they were big). Growing up, Brad had always wanted to be an entertainer and to combine ministry with entertainment seemed the perfect blend to him. He could remember seeing Christian speakers and performers during high school, and could remember the impact they had on him and his friends, and he remembers thinking it would be cool to do something like that for a living. He had been improving his juggling skills and was toying with the idea of trying to do some sort of performance ministry. The idea also clicked in Gene's head and the two even pondered what it would be like to even work together in that sort of capacity. They had written some great retreat talks and prayer services together in recent years. The conversation rambled on, and the idea was passed by. The following fall, Brad returned to Casper, WY and Gene started his senior year at the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. Shortly after his return to Casper, Brad attended a young adult retreat led by Christian speaker and comedian, Doug Brummel. Brad and Doug had many discussions about Doug's ministry and the desire Brad had to do something similar. Doug gave Brad a lot of advice and encouragement, and a few months later invited him to perform with him at the National Catholic Youth Conference that November in Minneapolis, MN. Brad enthusiastically agreed and performed as part of the comedy club at that conference. Meanwhile, back in Washington, the idea of starting a ministry festered in Gene's mind (keeping him awake at night as thoughts that fester often do). While in Casper for Christmas Gene invited Brad to a "power lunch" at Subway. There he pitched the idea of seriously going for it and founding a ministry together in DC. Brad was unsure of how he wanted to proceed and if he wanted to work as a team or solo (meaning he didn't know if he wanted to work with Gene, but that is a nice way to say it), so they decided to sit on the idea a while and pray about it. February of 1996, Brad's parents decided to buy him a plane ticket to Washington so he could visit Gene, see the city first hand and decide if it was someplace he could live, and spend more time reflecting on starting a ministry there. He spent a week in DC, seeing the sites, taking part in a homeless ministry Gene ran, and meeting potential roommates. Gene let Brad know that he had to have a definite answer in two weeks, as he had deadlines on making other commitments and taking job offers that would be affected by that decision. A week passed and no word from Brad. Two weeks passed and no word from Brad. Gene called Brad up and asked if he was going to move to DC. Brad said, "I guess." This was not incredibly reassuring to Gene. In the end Brad moved to Washington at the beginning of September 1996, and APeX was started. Through the efforts of two good and very gracious friends, Doug Brummel and David Kaufman, the antics of Apex Youth Ministries was introduced to the world at the coffee house at the National Conference on Catholic Youth Ministry in December that year in Orlando, FL. The official papers incorporating Apex were finally filed on February 7, 1997.

Why is Brad's hair like that?

Brad's hair has been very similar to what it is now for most of the last eleven years. Legend has it that he actually wakes up like that in the morning, even according to the testimony of priests. When asked how, he attributes it to the "little greens" (little green men that live in the walls and only come out when nobody's lookingx it's a rather involved story).

Why is Gene's hair like that?

It is probably a safe bet that Gene's hair right now does not look like the way you remember it. Gene is ADHD and really can't sit still for very long. One of the ways the hyperactivity manifests itself is in Gene's constant need to change hair colors and styles. In the last year it has been long, short, spiked, laying down, blue, green, red, pick copper, blond, black, and brown. At this moment we don't even know what it looks like.

Why is the 'e' in APeX lower case?

Why do you think it is? Free stuff for the best answer.

I think the 'e' is lower case because...

Has APeX ever hit someone juggling?

The APeX legal council have advised not to comment on this question.