Wow where did July go, it has been a great summer so far, I can’t believe it has flown by. I know some of you have been on trips here and there, to Alaska and beyond, I pray you have had some time to refresh and recharge your self. You know God has a sense of humor, in that lately I have just felt this tug to get my passion back in what I do, and do more than just get by. Last Saturday we had a Firefighter’s conference here at the church, and I got to spend 8 hours in the WC listening to a chief from the Dallas area speaks. Yea I thought the same thing, unless your Phil Tant this is going to be boring, was I wrong. His whole day was spent on talking and teaching about the passion, to do what they as Firefighters do. Now how did that relate to me, well let me clear it up. Some times we are so busy we do just enough to get by.
Putting little preparation in to the tech sheet, in my case what effects could I use, how can I determine who has the lead, the melody; what instrumentation is driving the song. What does it sound like in the other rooms, recordings?
Do we still have the passion we had when we started on the team, or have we just become complacent doing what we do each time we serve. I am confident that none of you are willing to give your second best to your employers, or school, and I am sure that you all want the best you can give to God each and every minute of the day.
This translates to our time on Sunday’s, are we constantly late for the 6:45 meeting, are we dressed professionally to be in front of folks, even if you aren’t. Are you prepared when you walk in the door to be a part of the Worship experience, and most importantly are you prepared before the throne room of Christ to join in, and be a part of the service? Have you ever reflected on what you do, and what impact that could have on some one seeing Christ in you, and maybe even be a part of the decision process that brings them to Christ.
Last week during the 8 service a young man came to know Christ during the communion, and while you may not have been directly involved, you are a direct part of the events that helped lead him to God. Yes God is the one that does the saving, but he uses all of our gifts to help, the musicians, pastors, and all the support teams help bring that message each and every Sunday. Imagine if you would, one of your family members coming to a service that isn’t saved, we pray the message will be just what they need to hear, the music will be extra good that day, and that they will pray to receive Christ. I know this for a fact; I have done it when my brother came last year. I know realize I need that passion for each and every soul walking in to a service.
Where did my passion go, well it got wrapped up in the little things that don’t matter, don’t misunderstand my drive for excellence is still there, in fact greater now than ever. Imagine if we were to tell you this weekend Christ in the flesh was going to be here this Sunday, we would put extra effort in to the entire weekend, rehearsals, sound checks, the whole nine yards. Yet God is with us each and every minute, including Sunday’s.
Where is your passion level, your commitment, is it no big deal if I don’t show up, they will cover it. I know things come up so don’t misunderstand that. Are you prepared for your duties, have you studied the tech sheet prior to arriving. I will try to get better with sharing them each week. Are you keeping up with the schedule on Google, it is the current look. Are we cleaning up and shutting things down after we are done, or just laying our gear, tools somewhere for some one else to clean up? The most important thing we can do at our meeting is pray together, and when you miss that the morning is already started behind. I will never get tired of saying this, you all are the best team I have ever worked with, and I know there is more that you all want to see.
The challenge is to check your commitment level, your passion for what you do, where do you want to see that go personally. I can never reward you enough for what you do, and none of this is to please me or any of us here at the church. Our goal is to serve Him, and give him the best we can give each time we serve. Do you still have the passion to serve, it may be gone, it may be covered up, it may have just been taken from you, and only you can answer and control that. My challenge is to check it and see, Sunday’s are an all day commitment, and require special folks to serve. It is a time that we are apart from our partners, friends whomever it may be. Are you at your post ready to go 5 minute prior to the service, or does some one need to come find you. Are you committed to be at all the services, it can be very confusing when we switch personnel during the morning services, we have had a couple examples of this happening, and it was very confusing. Communications are the key to our success, I know things come up, and you can’t control that. I love you each and all, and God is blessing us with some new team members. We pray for more to come, and for our team to grow, and for cross training. Thank you all for serving, and doing what you do each week.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
So a new fiscal year begins here at Providence, and we are blessed to be debt free again. Yet also sadden to see a couple full time folks and part time folk’s leave, as well as some hours getting cut. None of this is actually a result of the economy, but a result of to much personnel, for the size congregation we have. Yes even my wife had her hours cut. There could be 2 ways to view this one be bitter and question the leadership, or 2 be thankful that in this tough time, we are debt free, and most of us still have our jobs and can continue to serve the Lord. This brings to thought another question, why do we serve, yes Tim and I are paid to be here, but we also are faced weekly with going beyond what our normal work hours are, and still striving to get our jobs done. You see some one in ministry once told me, if you are doing this for the money, you are in the wrong business. We do not keep track of what we are paid for and what we give to the church above and beyond what we are paid for. The amazing thing in all this, is you all, you receive no monetary compensation for serving here at the church. I know serving for 13 years as a volunteer back in Florida that it can be frustrating some times, because you are always being asked to do more. I know you have all heard this from others, and me but we will never be able to say thanks, or could never even compensate you for all the hours you put in here. My philosophy is this, if it is with in my scheduled hours, or well beyond I want to serve GOD with all my heart, and all my soul, and with excellence in every thing I do. It is so easy to become complacent in our tasks here on the team. This goes beyond the service times. What are you doing to prepare for the services, are you looking over the tech sheets, planning what is next, is everything ready to go, are you anticipating issues that could happen. It is easy to get in to a relaxed mode and just go with the flow, and what ever happens, happens.
Are you cleaning up after the services, or events, turning off all the equipment, and putting it away, or do you find it is easier to get out of here as quickly as possible because we are tired, or have plans. Believe me I am the first one, ready to leave, but there are things that must be done before it is time to go. You see serving goes beyond the service times, there should be a period of planning that includes looking over the tech sheets, thinking about what is next, executing that, and then cleaning up, putting away, and shutting down the equipment we use each week. Serving with excellence also means wanting to learn more, get better at what ever positions we are serving in, getting a better understanding of what we do. It affects so many people, Imagine a bad lighting cue in the middle of a very special moment, or a bad shot during a time that some one may be reflecting on what it would be like to accept Christ in to their life. Yes we will make mistakes I do weekly. However my goal is to minimize those errors, and learn from them.
My challenge is simply this, why do we serve, to what level of commitment do we serve, and to what level of education and understanding do I want to have in serving. We all have busy schedules, and I am not asking any one to complicate them with another thing to attend. We do have an incredible opportunity for training and projects each Wed. evening, and are going to be introducing more topic specific classes in the near future, and each quarter. Thank you all for serving, and being a part of our team, I trust God does and will bless each of you for your commitment and time you have vested here at Providence.
Are you cleaning up after the services, or events, turning off all the equipment, and putting it away, or do you find it is easier to get out of here as quickly as possible because we are tired, or have plans. Believe me I am the first one, ready to leave, but there are things that must be done before it is time to go. You see serving goes beyond the service times, there should be a period of planning that includes looking over the tech sheets, thinking about what is next, executing that, and then cleaning up, putting away, and shutting down the equipment we use each week. Serving with excellence also means wanting to learn more, get better at what ever positions we are serving in, getting a better understanding of what we do. It affects so many people, Imagine a bad lighting cue in the middle of a very special moment, or a bad shot during a time that some one may be reflecting on what it would be like to accept Christ in to their life. Yes we will make mistakes I do weekly. However my goal is to minimize those errors, and learn from them.
My challenge is simply this, why do we serve, to what level of commitment do we serve, and to what level of education and understanding do I want to have in serving. We all have busy schedules, and I am not asking any one to complicate them with another thing to attend. We do have an incredible opportunity for training and projects each Wed. evening, and are going to be introducing more topic specific classes in the near future, and each quarter. Thank you all for serving, and being a part of our team, I trust God does and will bless each of you for your commitment and time you have vested here at Providence.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Worship Skills
Worship Skills and Sensitivity
In the first verses of Psalms 33, we’re urged to make music to the Lord, sing to him a new song and play skillfully. I know this is speaking in the context of musicians and there instruments but I would like to turn it to a different angle and approach it as our instruments being the Cameras, switcher, computer and sound board or whatever it is we are working on. The word skillfully here means 2 things first we are to be the best that we can be with our instruments – as practiced and prepared as possible. And second we need to learn how to play (operate) sensitively, with an ability to flow with the Holy Spirit in our times of Congregational worship.
Technicians may have great techniques but with out the sensitivity we can often distract from worship rather than add to it. In I Chronicles 25 you read about the Levite priest who took care of worship in the Temple and who were trained and skilled in music for the Lord. We sense here a dedication to their calling, and so it should be with us. Whatever we do we should work at it with all our hearts, spending time developing our gifting and learning to improve on them.
We have the opportunity here to be a part of worship each and every day and we are truly blessed to have so many talented musicians within the body. It is easy to get wrapped in the technical parts of the service and loose focus as to why we are really here. Don’t misunderstand me in that I believe we should strive for technical excellence each and every week but keep in mind the real reason we are here is to glorify and Worship God.
Excellence is the result of caring more than others think is wise; risking more than others think is safe, dreaming more than others think is practical, and expecting more than others think is possible. This is going to be one of my goals this year as we strive to create an excellent support for the worship leaders in the church. Our pastors are tasked with the responsibility of preparing and presenting the body of the church to the word of God and to the very presence of his throne where we can experience worship. We are also tasked with that responsibility, as we are all Worship leaders regardless of the position we are filling any given weekend. It is very easy to be a distraction in the service with out ever knowing it. A jerk on the camera, a missed microphone, feedback, and late slides can all be a distraction. I like to refer to the media team as one part of the body as there are many parts we simply make up a few of them, the eyes, ears, and even the ability to change the mood of a specific part of the service rests squarely up on our shoulders.
While this can be overwhelming at time we need to remember this with out Christ we can do nothing but with him all things are possible. I look forward to worshiping together in the future and it is my prayer that each and every one of you are blessed and your families are blessed with an extra period of time with you for all the sacrifices you make here each month. It is a joy and honor to be a part of such a wonderful team and I look forward to improving our skills and abilities to further his Kingdom.
In the first verses of Psalms 33, we’re urged to make music to the Lord, sing to him a new song and play skillfully. I know this is speaking in the context of musicians and there instruments but I would like to turn it to a different angle and approach it as our instruments being the Cameras, switcher, computer and sound board or whatever it is we are working on. The word skillfully here means 2 things first we are to be the best that we can be with our instruments – as practiced and prepared as possible. And second we need to learn how to play (operate) sensitively, with an ability to flow with the Holy Spirit in our times of Congregational worship.
Technicians may have great techniques but with out the sensitivity we can often distract from worship rather than add to it. In I Chronicles 25 you read about the Levite priest who took care of worship in the Temple and who were trained and skilled in music for the Lord. We sense here a dedication to their calling, and so it should be with us. Whatever we do we should work at it with all our hearts, spending time developing our gifting and learning to improve on them.
We have the opportunity here to be a part of worship each and every day and we are truly blessed to have so many talented musicians within the body. It is easy to get wrapped in the technical parts of the service and loose focus as to why we are really here. Don’t misunderstand me in that I believe we should strive for technical excellence each and every week but keep in mind the real reason we are here is to glorify and Worship God.
Excellence is the result of caring more than others think is wise; risking more than others think is safe, dreaming more than others think is practical, and expecting more than others think is possible. This is going to be one of my goals this year as we strive to create an excellent support for the worship leaders in the church. Our pastors are tasked with the responsibility of preparing and presenting the body of the church to the word of God and to the very presence of his throne where we can experience worship. We are also tasked with that responsibility, as we are all Worship leaders regardless of the position we are filling any given weekend. It is very easy to be a distraction in the service with out ever knowing it. A jerk on the camera, a missed microphone, feedback, and late slides can all be a distraction. I like to refer to the media team as one part of the body as there are many parts we simply make up a few of them, the eyes, ears, and even the ability to change the mood of a specific part of the service rests squarely up on our shoulders.
While this can be overwhelming at time we need to remember this with out Christ we can do nothing but with him all things are possible. I look forward to worshiping together in the future and it is my prayer that each and every one of you are blessed and your families are blessed with an extra period of time with you for all the sacrifices you make here each month. It is a joy and honor to be a part of such a wonderful team and I look forward to improving our skills and abilities to further his Kingdom.
March 2008 Thoughts
Joy comes from seeing the complete fulfillment of the specific purpose for which I was created and born again, not from successfully doing something of my own choosing. The joy our Lord experienced came from doing what the Father sent Him to do. And He says to us, "As the Father has sent Me, I also send you" (John 20:21 ). Have you received a ministry from the Lord? If so, you must be faithful to it— to consider your life valuable only for the purpose of fulfilling that ministry. Knowing that you have done what Jesus sent you to do, think how satisfying it will be to hear Him say to you, "Well done, good and faithful servant" ( Matthew 25:21 ). We each have to find a niche in life, and spiritually we find it when we receive a ministry from the Lord. To do this we must have close fellowship with Jesus and must know Him as more than our personal Savior. And we must be willing to experience the full impact of Acts 9:16 — "I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake."
"Do you love Me?" Then, "Feed My sheep" ( John 21:17 ). He is not offering us a choice of how we can serve Him; He is asking for absolute loyalty to His commission, a faithfulness to what we discern when we are in the closest possible fellowship with God. If you have received a ministry from the Lord Jesus, you will know that the need is not the same as the call— the need is the opportunity to exercise the call. The call is to be faithful to the ministry you received when you were in true fellowship with Him. This does not imply that there is a whole series of differing ministries marked out for you. It does mean that you must be sensitive to what God has called you to do, and this may sometimes require ignoring demands for service in other areas.
This is copied from my devotional this morning, My Utmost for His Highest, and it really reminded me of why I do, what I am doing. It is not for man that I chose to get in to this profession and it was truly God that called me in to the ministry. You see I served in the music ministry and tech team for 13 years in Florida, and for various reasons never wanted to work for the church. I was offered the Media Director position at that church, on more than one occasion and turned it down each time. When I got the call from Nan here at Providence to send in my resume, I put it off and didn’t take it at all seriously,(thank God for a praying wife). You see I had it made, so I thought, traveling the country. Working for myself, great income, everything I thought I should have and more according to my plan. I for the first time in my life then experienced a dry spell for work, I have never been with out resources and had always been able to provide, or at least I thought was providing for my family, and serving at the church as often as I could, I was a good person doing good things. Then God made it clear he was calling me in to ministry full time, not exactly what I had in mind, you see it didn’t fit my plan.
I resisted and argued right up until the day we pulled out of Florida too come to Raleigh, that was 5 years ago this month. I know see what God had in store and still anticipate what is to come. I have been blessed beyond my furthest dreams, with friends, coworkers, and a tech team that is, as far as I am concerned the best group of folks any where in the World. You all do more to bless this church and me personally, than you will ever be able to be rewarded for here on earth, I am sure your rewards in Heaven will be great. Serving can sometimes be a complicated and trying at times, as we all sometimes get to much in our life’s, and easily become overwhelmed. It is often easy to get caught up in the negative and frustrating issues we deal with, and loose sight of what we are really doing. I really feel like we, as a team have grown significantly since Christmas, in our sound checks, implementing the Wednesday rehearsal, for Sunday services. We are also going to be having members of the praise team join us in the tech areas, so that we get the chance to spend time with them, as well as they getting to know us, and see what we do. We have already had 2 different members join us in the back on Wed. evening and it has been a ball.
As we continue to grow we are discussing a way to expand the team and eventually add a couple positions. Look for that plan coming real soon. You all are the greatest, and I know that you serve with all your hearts, and I will never be able to thank you for all your service here at PBC. Continue to serve with a servant heart, a positive attitude and with excellence, all for the glory of God. I look forward to many more years’ service with each and every one of you.
"Do you love Me?" Then, "Feed My sheep" ( John 21:17 ). He is not offering us a choice of how we can serve Him; He is asking for absolute loyalty to His commission, a faithfulness to what we discern when we are in the closest possible fellowship with God. If you have received a ministry from the Lord Jesus, you will know that the need is not the same as the call— the need is the opportunity to exercise the call. The call is to be faithful to the ministry you received when you were in true fellowship with Him. This does not imply that there is a whole series of differing ministries marked out for you. It does mean that you must be sensitive to what God has called you to do, and this may sometimes require ignoring demands for service in other areas.
This is copied from my devotional this morning, My Utmost for His Highest, and it really reminded me of why I do, what I am doing. It is not for man that I chose to get in to this profession and it was truly God that called me in to the ministry. You see I served in the music ministry and tech team for 13 years in Florida, and for various reasons never wanted to work for the church. I was offered the Media Director position at that church, on more than one occasion and turned it down each time. When I got the call from Nan here at Providence to send in my resume, I put it off and didn’t take it at all seriously,(thank God for a praying wife). You see I had it made, so I thought, traveling the country. Working for myself, great income, everything I thought I should have and more according to my plan. I for the first time in my life then experienced a dry spell for work, I have never been with out resources and had always been able to provide, or at least I thought was providing for my family, and serving at the church as often as I could, I was a good person doing good things. Then God made it clear he was calling me in to ministry full time, not exactly what I had in mind, you see it didn’t fit my plan.
I resisted and argued right up until the day we pulled out of Florida too come to Raleigh, that was 5 years ago this month. I know see what God had in store and still anticipate what is to come. I have been blessed beyond my furthest dreams, with friends, coworkers, and a tech team that is, as far as I am concerned the best group of folks any where in the World. You all do more to bless this church and me personally, than you will ever be able to be rewarded for here on earth, I am sure your rewards in Heaven will be great. Serving can sometimes be a complicated and trying at times, as we all sometimes get to much in our life’s, and easily become overwhelmed. It is often easy to get caught up in the negative and frustrating issues we deal with, and loose sight of what we are really doing. I really feel like we, as a team have grown significantly since Christmas, in our sound checks, implementing the Wednesday rehearsal, for Sunday services. We are also going to be having members of the praise team join us in the tech areas, so that we get the chance to spend time with them, as well as they getting to know us, and see what we do. We have already had 2 different members join us in the back on Wed. evening and it has been a ball.
As we continue to grow we are discussing a way to expand the team and eventually add a couple positions. Look for that plan coming real soon. You all are the greatest, and I know that you serve with all your hearts, and I will never be able to thank you for all your service here at PBC. Continue to serve with a servant heart, a positive attitude and with excellence, all for the glory of God. I look forward to many more years’ service with each and every one of you.
Serving With Excellence
Ephesians 6:7
Work with enthusiasm, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people
Excellence is the result of caring more than others think is wise,
Risking more than others think is safe,
Dreaming more than others think is practical,
And expecting more than others think is possible.
Our goals and expectations are just as demanding and should be treated with the same consideration that the pastors use in preparing their sermons or as the musicians and singers prepare for each and every service. Worship is not just a time during the service but should be a daily part of our lifestyle. So many folks rush in on Sunday morning typically just in time to make the service and have so much going on that they often miss the opportunities to be drawn in to the worship experience and ultimately miss out on the chance to sit at the feet of our God and Creator.
Imagine having the opportunity to sit across from the President or any world leader regardless of our political influences. We would want to listen to what those placed in leadership have to say. We have an even greater opportunity than that – we can sit before the greatest authority ever. He created those world leaders just as He created you and me. How prepared would you be for a service if we found out the President was coming to our service this Sunday? What an honor! I suspect we would have extra rehearsals, plan every detail out, and try to put our best foot forward.
I’m not saying that we don’t always try and achieve this weekly, but if we were to really examine just our area of ministry, what would we see? Let’s take a quick look and break down the areas of our ministry. I will start with me. As the director, I have been given the responsibility to prepare for, examine and make sure we have the personnel and equipment in place to do what is being asked of us to do. I often don’t start really preparing until a few days before, am I prepared usually not.
Audio can be next. Does the engineer have all the mic cues? Who is playing on what songs? Who is singing what parts? Who has the medley? Are there any solos that need to be reinforced?
Moving on to the PPT operators. Have you looked over both services and made any notes on solos? What is going on during a scripture reading? Video directors, what are your primary shots? Who is leading each song? Any solos to be aware of? How are different people getting on and off stage? What does the stage look like?
Camera Ops, you are the eyes and ears of the director. Are you sitting in on the rehearsal, making notes, talking with the director to help cover shots?(not during the service) What are your primary areas of responsibility or your primary shots?
Recording Engineers, are you ready? Do you have all the blank media you need? Is everything cued and ready?
Stage managers, have you touched base with all the various parties involved? Does the soloist know when and where they are singing? Does the pastor need a podium?
I think you start to get the picture. How prepared are we? That will be our goal this year as we take the media team to the next step: more planning and preparation time for each and every service. My goal has been and will be to have a rotation of being on one week and off two. I feel this gives each team the chance to grow in their skills and gel as a team without burning out anyone. For the most part, we have honored this plan. I also have tried to respect and honor the Tuesdays prior to your scheduled weekend as not being a mandatory time to be here for rehearsal. It is the policy of the music teams that if you are not here Tuesday for rehearsal you cannot play that weekend. I’m not saying that is the case for us. Please don’t misunderstand, all I’m suggesting is that maybe it would benefit us as a team to at least have our directors here to watch and take notes. At worst we should all be here at 6:45 a.m. on Sunday for our production meeting and should be in our positions, ready to go, throughout rehearsal as if it were the service. We should be taking notes and preparing for the services.
Our goal is to always have the stage cleared by 7:45 a.m., allowing you all to meet again for ten minutes and go over any changes prior to the services starting. You should then be at your assigned position at least five minutes prior to a service start time.
I mentioned earlier how prepared we would be if the President was coming to our Sunday service. As powerful as that would be, we have a greater opportunity each and every week. Imagine being a part of a service that allows a person to accept Christ, therefore changing that person’s life forever (eternally). Obviously God is the one doing the saving and He sure doesn’t need any of us to help, but He often uses us to deliver his word or be a part of His plan in bringing people to His kingdom. I suspect that when Pastor David or any of our pastors prepare the message each week they have devoted many hours of research, study time and prayer in to what they are preaching. I also trust that the musicians and singers are preparing and even praying over their part of the service. Our worship time should start the minute we get up out of bed and should continue until we lay down at night.
The service you provide on a weekly basis is also an act of worship that is just as meaningful as the pastors and musicians. We should be as prepared and ready as they are, maybe even more so, to support and not be a distraction as they deliver what God has prepared in them. It is our job as well to eliminate distractions from the congregation and those watching from remote locations and even other countries via our duplication ministry. I appreciate all that you do and have no doubt that you strive for the excellence mentioned above. Now it’s time to step up another notch and see where God wants to lead us. We should never be done learning and always want to do better with the responsibilities He has entrusted to us.
Our walk and personal relationship with Him should be first and foremost – without that nothing else matters. He is the one true friend that will never forsake you or leave you – how awesome is that? You see He is attending every service and even sees us before, during, between, and after each service, as well as all week long, wherever we may be. Let’s step it up, prepare, plan, and be ready to do our part in the eternal work God has given use to do.
Work with enthusiasm, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people
Excellence is the result of caring more than others think is wise,
Risking more than others think is safe,
Dreaming more than others think is practical,
And expecting more than others think is possible.
Our goals and expectations are just as demanding and should be treated with the same consideration that the pastors use in preparing their sermons or as the musicians and singers prepare for each and every service. Worship is not just a time during the service but should be a daily part of our lifestyle. So many folks rush in on Sunday morning typically just in time to make the service and have so much going on that they often miss the opportunities to be drawn in to the worship experience and ultimately miss out on the chance to sit at the feet of our God and Creator.
Imagine having the opportunity to sit across from the President or any world leader regardless of our political influences. We would want to listen to what those placed in leadership have to say. We have an even greater opportunity than that – we can sit before the greatest authority ever. He created those world leaders just as He created you and me. How prepared would you be for a service if we found out the President was coming to our service this Sunday? What an honor! I suspect we would have extra rehearsals, plan every detail out, and try to put our best foot forward.
I’m not saying that we don’t always try and achieve this weekly, but if we were to really examine just our area of ministry, what would we see? Let’s take a quick look and break down the areas of our ministry. I will start with me. As the director, I have been given the responsibility to prepare for, examine and make sure we have the personnel and equipment in place to do what is being asked of us to do. I often don’t start really preparing until a few days before, am I prepared usually not.
Audio can be next. Does the engineer have all the mic cues? Who is playing on what songs? Who is singing what parts? Who has the medley? Are there any solos that need to be reinforced?
Moving on to the PPT operators. Have you looked over both services and made any notes on solos? What is going on during a scripture reading? Video directors, what are your primary shots? Who is leading each song? Any solos to be aware of? How are different people getting on and off stage? What does the stage look like?
Camera Ops, you are the eyes and ears of the director. Are you sitting in on the rehearsal, making notes, talking with the director to help cover shots?(not during the service) What are your primary areas of responsibility or your primary shots?
Recording Engineers, are you ready? Do you have all the blank media you need? Is everything cued and ready?
Stage managers, have you touched base with all the various parties involved? Does the soloist know when and where they are singing? Does the pastor need a podium?
I think you start to get the picture. How prepared are we? That will be our goal this year as we take the media team to the next step: more planning and preparation time for each and every service. My goal has been and will be to have a rotation of being on one week and off two. I feel this gives each team the chance to grow in their skills and gel as a team without burning out anyone. For the most part, we have honored this plan. I also have tried to respect and honor the Tuesdays prior to your scheduled weekend as not being a mandatory time to be here for rehearsal. It is the policy of the music teams that if you are not here Tuesday for rehearsal you cannot play that weekend. I’m not saying that is the case for us. Please don’t misunderstand, all I’m suggesting is that maybe it would benefit us as a team to at least have our directors here to watch and take notes. At worst we should all be here at 6:45 a.m. on Sunday for our production meeting and should be in our positions, ready to go, throughout rehearsal as if it were the service. We should be taking notes and preparing for the services.
Our goal is to always have the stage cleared by 7:45 a.m., allowing you all to meet again for ten minutes and go over any changes prior to the services starting. You should then be at your assigned position at least five minutes prior to a service start time.
I mentioned earlier how prepared we would be if the President was coming to our Sunday service. As powerful as that would be, we have a greater opportunity each and every week. Imagine being a part of a service that allows a person to accept Christ, therefore changing that person’s life forever (eternally). Obviously God is the one doing the saving and He sure doesn’t need any of us to help, but He often uses us to deliver his word or be a part of His plan in bringing people to His kingdom. I suspect that when Pastor David or any of our pastors prepare the message each week they have devoted many hours of research, study time and prayer in to what they are preaching. I also trust that the musicians and singers are preparing and even praying over their part of the service. Our worship time should start the minute we get up out of bed and should continue until we lay down at night.
The service you provide on a weekly basis is also an act of worship that is just as meaningful as the pastors and musicians. We should be as prepared and ready as they are, maybe even more so, to support and not be a distraction as they deliver what God has prepared in them. It is our job as well to eliminate distractions from the congregation and those watching from remote locations and even other countries via our duplication ministry. I appreciate all that you do and have no doubt that you strive for the excellence mentioned above. Now it’s time to step up another notch and see where God wants to lead us. We should never be done learning and always want to do better with the responsibilities He has entrusted to us.
Our walk and personal relationship with Him should be first and foremost – without that nothing else matters. He is the one true friend that will never forsake you or leave you – how awesome is that? You see He is attending every service and even sees us before, during, between, and after each service, as well as all week long, wherever we may be. Let’s step it up, prepare, plan, and be ready to do our part in the eternal work God has given use to do.
Post Election Thouhts
I’m David Burton and I approve this message, ok I had to get one more in, if your at all not ready for these ads to be over you need to have a check up. I have talked with several people over what happened yesterday, and whether your guy won, is not important. As I got up this morning I realized one thing, the sun still rose, it was still raining at my house, and I was still breathing and able to get out of bed. God is still the same God today he was yesterday. We all have our political views and each of us have an opinion as to whom we wanted to win and why. David Horner asked a tough question last Sunday evening, when you pray do you pray for your political opponent. Taking that further you could ask, do you pray for those people you don’t really like? Believe it or not some one just popped in to your mind when you read that line. We all have those people in our lives, we would rather not have to be around, or just have that gift, to get under our skin. I told one friend last night at the station, that God already knew the winner, and that he was still God. He has the ability to change the hearts of kings, and in our case Presidents, Mayors, Governors, whatever the office may be. I trust that God has a plan bigger than any of my ideas and thoughts as to how the races all over the country came out. I also had to remind my self of this, I am to be busy with the Father’s work. I did do my homework, and voted, as responsible as I could based on my convictions. I also have to ask myself about my personal walk with the lord, and am I serving him with my best, or do I just give him enough to get by. There are so many things going on right now in people’s lives that affect so many areas of the church and including our media ministry. I some times find myself questioning my abilities, and the reasons God allows things to happen as they do. I often have to remind myself he is in control and not me. It saddens me to have to share that we loose several members at least for some time. Luke and Rockie are expecting any day, and are anxiously waiting there little one. They will be back after some time, but will be missed in the short time they are away from us. I also have to say good-bye to Lawrence and Janet Wilson from our team and church body. They have made a decision to pursue some other options for a church home; they will be missed on our team. This also brings me to our next challenge. We talked on the retreat in September about bringing one friend to the team. I still make this challenge to you, as we grow as a ministry more and more positions are going to be needed, and more personnel are needed to fill those spots. I know times are challenging right now, and it’s an easy time to back out of duties, with so many good reasons to use as an excuse. I believe you all know where I stand, as far as serving with you all. You are some of the most dedicated faithful servants I have ever been around. I pray that each of you serve because you want to serve and not out of a sense of guilt or manipulation. I know it’s hard getting up early on a Sunday to be at the 6:45 meeting, yes the time has changed to 6:45 effective this Sunday. I change the time because we are now getting a chance to look at the service n Wednesday evenings now. I also understand how hard it is to leave around 1:00 and be back at 4:30 every other Sunday. It’s also easy to get caught up now in the services, as they are all the same, and get in to that rut in the 3rd service. Remember this each time we do a service, it is the first service for those people sitting in the chairs, and what we do could have eternal affects in some ones life. What we do when we are not behind the equipment is also noticed. I have been reminded of this lately as I have had several people say to me that they noticed, how we as a team communicate with each other, how we hang out together on Sunday mornings, and how they have observed us, doing our thing. That is alarming to me that people notice so many things we do, that are not even technically driven, Always be conscious of what you say, your body language, and facial expressions say alot. I am as guilty of this as anyone. You all are the best; I have said before, and will never grow tired of saying this. I have never in my life been so blessed to work with such a fine group of individuals in my life, you bless me each and every time we are together, thank you for serving.
Monday, February 18, 2008
Getting Started
So this is my first blog, all my guys tell me I should have one so here goes. I am a media Director at a large church in North Carolina. I also work with a Christian company desinging and installing Media systems for churches. That was where I got my start, and all my experience at. These guys have a heart for the ministry and provide services that are focused purely on the church market. I am full time staff at the church and work with a wonderful staff and the best group of volunteers you could ask for. I'm not sure where this blog will take, but it is exciting to see were it will lead in the future. I hope to learn and connect with those peers in the same position as I am, and learn from the experiences, and hopefully help some from my experiences.
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