WATERLOO - They stood in a line in the church parking lot, holding percussion instruments, flags, or nothing at all, and waited for the signal from Darvel Givens.

"Pa-rade, rest!" the 17-year-old shouted. The line of teenagers stood with feet apart, hands at their backs. "Ten hut!" The 20 or so pairs of feet snapped together in unison.

Givens, an East High School student, finally gave the order to "mark time," or march in place. Then he blew his whistle, and the Lord's Warriors marched to another spot.

It was not good enough, and Givens ordered them back. Grumbling, the students returned to their starting positions. But Kay Jordan, the 72-year-old director of the Lord's Warriors drill team, likes that commander Givens wants it to be perfect.

"He's been really helping do the drill, get the kids to rehearsal," Jordan said of Givens. "And they listen to him pretty good."

Without him and endless practice to get it right, the Mount Carmel Missionary Baptist Church-sponsored Lord's Warriors wouldn't be as good as they are this year. And they are good. On July 26, at the Soul Steppers Contest in Indiana, the group took first place for their routine, "Magnify."

Cymbal player Charles Campbell, who will be a freshman at East High this fall, remembers the group's reaction when they announced the winner at Soul Steppers.

"We really didn't expect it," he said. "Then they said, 'The Lord's Warriors,' and we just jumped out of the stands."

Jordan probably wasn't as surprised.

"This group is the best group I've ever had," Jordan said.

That's really saying something, because Jordan has been directing drill teams around Waterloo since 1969. She's directed a drill team at Union Baptist Church and others such as Boogie Nytz, Faith Steppers and Christian Fellowship. In the very beginning, Jordan said her groups started out playing cardboard boxes with sticks in a parking lot.

They've evolved since then, and now work with snares, flags, giant banners, fake swords and a xylophone to create step routines and rhythms that appeal to teenagers today. The Lord's Warriors have been performing as a community youth program since 1996, and though they are affiliated with Mount Carmel, the group hails from several churches and backgrounds.

"The music is like our generation's music," Campbell, the cymbal player, said.

The group will showcase its routine during its own drill team contest, "Marching Against the Darkness," Saturday beginning at 6 p.m. at East High. Along with "Magnify," the Lord's Warriors will perform "America," an interpretation of "The Star-Spangled Banner."

So far, eight other teams from around the Midwest will be competing in the contest. Because it is their own contest, the Lord's Warriors will be performing in exhibition only.

Jordan has thought about retiring three times, only to come back and work with the next group.

"I'm 72, but I can't quit," she said. "It's my passion and my ministry."

Contact Amie Steffen at (319) 291-1464 or amie.steffen@wcfcourier.com.