What does a Worship Leader REALLY do day to day…???

If you’re in ministry, you’ve heard this joke more than once.  ”Must be nice working only one day a week!”  And we all have a good laugh.  But I always wonder, “Do you really think that I only work one day a week?”  I feel like I work fairly hard, but my job is sometimes hard to quantify except to say that I do a lot more grunt work and paper work than most people realize.  And then I saw this pic come through the Facebook stream awhile ago…

Now this really is FUNNY!  And as I was laughing it got me thinking…Everyone has a different view of what I do!  DO I EVEN KNOW WHAT I DO EACH WEEK?  So I thought I’d keep a log of my week and help everyone clarify just what I do with my job each week…so here goes…a week in the life of an ECC worship leader…

Monday

8:25-Roll into office

8:30-Fill out Weekly Staff report

9:30-Eval meeting

9:50-Worship Leadership meeting

10:15-Service Brainstorming meeting

11:00-Staff Team building event (with LUNCH!)

1:30-Staff Meeting

2:00-Check email

2:15-Small clean up of Worship Center.

2:30-Meeting about upcoming drama for sermons and Summer sermon series.

3:00-Meet w/ Visual Artist about wall mosaic for current series.

3:15-Look for upcoming sermon series graphics.  Start on template.

4:15-Leave office

6:30-Watch kids at home so my wife, Sara, can attend Pastor’s Wives event.

9:00-Kids in bed and house cleaned up.  More work on Sermon Presentation Template.

9:30-Shut-down computer.

Tuesday

8:15-Roll into the office

8:20-Organize/print music, worship orders, lyric sheets and tech sheets for secretaries to print for Tuesday night rehearsal.

9:00-Create slides in WC and copy to FLC MAC.  Also create lighting presets in WC.

11:15-Meet w/ Office Manager to talk about printing new PUSH prayer bookmark.

11:30-Make lunch in kitchen and eat in my office.

12:00-Prep for Tuesday night’s devotional.

12:30-Make vocal notes for arrangement, harmony, solo singing, etc.

1:00-Fix ProPresenter computer program glitch. (Yes, it happens even on a MAC!)

1:30-Research videos for upcoming series.

1:45-Meet w/ Chris Kuntz about video needs.

1:55-Upload SFX MP3 for special music this week.

2:05-Check Twitter/email.

2:15-Respond to potential volunteers from our eConnect classes.

2:20-Work on Denominational Worship Leaders Summit coming up in May!

2:40-Leave office to pick up daughter at school.

6:00-Back at ECC for dinner w/ musicians and techies!

6:30-Lead devotional.

6:45-Dismiss everyone and reset for rehearsal.

6:50-Start soundcheck.

7:15-Start rehearsal.

9:00-Finish rehearsal and talk while cleaning up.

9:30-Head home!

Wednesday

8:20-Roll into office.

8:30-meet w/ contractor from ESCO to talk about upcoming video project.

8:45-Hand off to Chris and I go to talk to Anna Edgar about upcoming REACH service and meeting the needs of our missionary guest speaker.

9:00-Check email.

9:30-Find MP3 music for rehearsal Wednesday night.

9:40-make CD master to hand out and give to secretaries to make copies.

9:50-set up meeting w/ Pastor Denny to work through future expansion issues.

10:00-Call another upcoming guest speaker to arrange schedule, lodging, transportation, etc.

10:30-Find hotel room and book for the guest speaker.

11:15-Meet w/ Office staffer about PUSH prayer bookmark and overall communication.

11:45-Lunch w/ staff in kitchen.

12:30-work on new To-do program and update rotating reminders.

1:30-Review information for meeting on Thurs.

1:45-Work on Denominational Worship Leader Summit in May.

2:00-Finalize two possible presentation templates for upcoming sermon series.

2:30-Leave ECC

6:15-Back to ECC for Emmanuel Theatre Co. rehearsal.

6:30-Community time and prayer requests.

6:45-Rehearsal.

8:15-Head home.

Thursday (This is usually Friday, but my schedule got changed this week!)

8:25-Roll into office.

8:30-Check email.

8:50-Insert another slide onto MAC for REACH prayer time this weekend.

8:55-Touch base w/ Bible Study Fellowship women leaders about technology needs.

9:10-Write WorshipNotes.

10:00-Review and Sign Payment Authorization forms for rest of Worship Arts staff.  File my own bills.

11:00-Meet w/ Lead Pastor Denny Miller about upcoming tech needs.

1:00-head home for lunch.

2:00-Post and send WorshipNotes.

2:30-Shut computer.

Friday-Day off

Saturday

3:50PM-Roll into FLC for service.

4:00-start final rehearsal/soundcheck.

5:00-Open doors for service.

5:15-Talk through service w/ whole team and prayer.

5:27-Saturday 5:27 service.

6:30-Start shutting down.

6:50-Head home.

Sunday

6:30-AND THIS IS 6:30 AM!!  Roll into office.

6:35-Turn on equipment and set up.

7:15-Staff meeting/prayer.

7:30-Final rehearsal/soundcheck.

8:20-Soundcheck Speaker’s mic and check live video feed to FLC.

8:35-Listen to Chris Kuntz talk through service w/ tech team on COMM system.

8:45-Talk through service w/ Worship Center team and prayer.

9:00-Worship Center and FLC concurrent services.

10:30-Worship Center and FLC concurrent services.

11:40-Start clean up and equipment shut-down.

12:00-Head home.

Looking back over my week, there is a LOT of administration to keep everything going.  I see that I need to make more time to meet with people and learn about their lives and what God is doing outside of the office.  But I do hope and pray that whether it’s in the office or over lunch or singing during a weekend service that I am able to give glory to God and to help others worship.

A Softer, TREMBLING Heart

   The ”Letters to the Editor” section has been a regular fixture in newspapers for as long as I can remember.  I’ve been threatening to start one here on Worship360 because I get some good feedback from time to time about what is printed here.  And again, anyone can comment here at anytime and start a online conversation too!  This week, I decided it was time because the email I received led me to a better understanding of worship and what it means to have a “hard heart”.

   All you ECC-ers out there know that we are going through the book of Exodus and have recently dealt with the issued of a “hard heart” because of the way that Pharaoh hardens his own heart and has his heart hardened by God.  It is in that context that this dropped into my email inbox…

So I’ve been thinking about this “hardness of heart” issue somewhat this week.  I agree with what Pastor Denny said, as I get older I find myself needing to guard more against becoming hard hearted in certain areas.  I’ve concluded that one way to maintain a softer heart is thru “intentional” worship.  It seems when I focus on the words we are singing and get a real sense of who God is thru our singing, it continually brings me to my knees internally before an awesome, holy, yet loving God.  

 

Understanding that and being weekly reminded of that helps keep me soft and open to Him…I’m not one to express emotions easily, but it seems almost each week I am brought to tears when singing one of the songs.  I’m grateful for that as well, because I see it as just one more sign that my heart is soft to the things of God.  

 

I wanted to express that to you while it was still on my mind…

With thanks from a grateful, softer heart,
G.J.

   I sat in my office speechless.

   I closed my eyes and silently thanked God for His calling on my life to be apart of Worship Ministries at ECC.

   I thanked God that he is working at all times and sometimes he even uses me, you, music, drama, lights, creation…and all for His glory.

   And then I started to wonder what it means to have a “hard” heart and how I could foster a “softer” heart.  I think it’s obvious that I don’t want to have a hard heart before God, but what is the opposite?  A quick study brought me to Proverbs 28:14.  ”

Blessed is the one who always trembles before God, but whoever hardens their heart falls into trouble.”

   So this seems to indicate that the opposite of a “hard” heart is a heart that trembles with awe and wonder before God.  I tend to think that having a “soft” heart is simply being open to do what God asks me to do.  And that is true.  But this seems to indicate that it comes down to awe, to wonder…to trembling.

   The writer of Hebrews deals with this idea too.  Quoting Psalms, he points back to the wilderness wandering and the Israelites constant grumbling and unbelief.  (We’re going to get to this section at ECC after Easter!).  He writes…

So, as the Holy Spirit says:

“Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts
as you did in the rebellion,
during the time of testing in the wilderness…

See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God.  But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.  We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end.  As has just been said:

“Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts…”

There is so much here we could unpack…Psalm 95, how sin and unbelief leads to a hard, DEAD heart, the need for daily encouragement among believers in faith, and how sin is inherently deceitful…but we don’t have time.  For now, hear the heart of the both these authors.  Be encouraged to believe and soften your heart.  And may you be blessed as one who always trembles before God.

The Kinema Commonwealth Reminds Me That Process Matters

My roomie from college is an independent film-maker.  That sounds cool, but you probably don’t even know him.  So let me tell you…Matt is a grounded believer-artist who has faith, vision and facial hair that just won’t stop.  Yeah, he’s that cool.  Anyway, he recently wrote an article about his current project and the method used in making it.  It’s called the Kinema Commonwealth Manifesto.  It’s basically a call for artists to value people involved in the process as much as the final product.  Theologically, it is a call to recognize that we are created in the image of God.  He writes,

The crux of the manifesto is that as filmmakers we want to create filmmaking environments that are based on respect for individual filmmakers, the larger community and the film itself.  Rather than have a bottom line drive decisions, we wanted our love for people and the craft to shape our decision-making process.

Great stuff and something I’ve spent some time thinking about.  Communities that come together around a specific goal, especially if that goal is artistic, have always fascinated me.

The early church is held up as an example of a Spirit filled community.

The bohemian arts community in Paris in the 1900’s was an example of an artistic community.

Both communities would have been exciting places as people came together for a specific purpose.  What would it have been like to be with the disciples after Pentecost?  What would it have been like to hear conversations between Igor Stravinsky and Claude Debussy?  I am intrigued because people don’t always get along and if those people are artists the odds of community drop even lower.  Artists don’t play well with others and especially not with other artists.

With a strong sense of artistic direction and a tendency to be introverted, artists including myself, find it easier at times to work alone or find others who are willing sacrifice themselves for our vision.  There is only one problem.  This is not the way God designed us and isn’t the best way for believers to create.

I have heard about major church productions that hundreds of people come to each year.  However, I also hear rumors of backstage conflicts in those same shows.  Verbal abuse and extremely long rehearsals seem to be part of the expected process.  Interestingly enough, every backstage story always ended with the line, “…but the show was amazing.”  The assumption being that since the end product was powerful and impacting for the community, a little strife along the way didn’t matter.

To this my response has always been, “process matters”.  Andrew Hill writes about the idea of process.  “…The process of offering sacrifices to God as part of Hebrew worship was every bit as important as the final product – a complete sacrifice pleasing to the Lord.”

As I’ve already mentioned in other posts, the edification of the believers is an acceptable act of worship.   And we’ve acknowledged that worship is all of life.  Therefore our preparation for corporate worship or Christmas theatre begins in rehearsals and brainstorming sessions and continues through the final production.  A truly God honoring service or production only honors God if everyone involved is built up in the process and drawn into community.  As Hill continues,

“We should find the fulfillment of our humanity in a life of community in the kingdom of God.”

Relationships matter. Community matters.  Process matters.

Not only does process matter, but a healthy process in the context of the faith community, is a productive way to function.  Theatre (and film) fit into this context in being a collaborative art:  the medium that requires a writer, director, actor, costumer, set designer, builder, and the list goes on, to work together.  Not only that, drama requires a community in which to live.  It doesn’t happen when you’re alone at home in your living room on a Friday night.  Drama takes community to create and community to perform.  My point is simply this:  if one of the primary ways to worship in the New Testament is through the edification of believers and that happens in community, then drama is a complimentary fit in that it requires community.  In our drama team at church, we have “community time”, but I am often tempted to skip it for more “useful” rehearsal.  The reminder is clear:  community and process matters.  As author Madeleine L’Engle writes, “We do not create alone.”

Good Art Speaks to Me…

The email conversation this week was about art.  As the emails pinged back and forth between me and this other person who is an advocate for the visual arts here at ECC, I kept thinking about this quote I posted earlier from Robert Webber.

Good art “speaks to me. It makes me listen. It forms me.” . . . Somehow the art in worship surrounds me and gathers me up into itself.

I feel the same way.  I was also reminded of how we think about God.  He is usually associated with words, isn’t he?  We regularly refer to the scriptures as “God’s Word.”  Harkening back to John’s gospel intro, we talk about Jesus as “the Word” or “the Word made flesh.”  We don’t, however, commonly refer to Jesus as the “image” or picture of God, but the idea is found in scriptures itself.  In the Old and New Testaments, God uses visions (sight) to speak to his people, to bring about change.  When this happens, the experience is just as powerful as speech.  God’s words AND his visions are both powerful.  As we’ve studied recently, Moses had more than one of these powerful visions and writes in Deuteronomy 4:35, “You were shown these things so that you might know that the Lord is God.”

The ultimate example is Jesus who not only is the Word of God, but also the “Image of God” as seen in Colossians 1:15; 2 Corinthians 4:4 and Hebrews 1:3. The first passage says it this way,

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.

All that to say that we can use the visual arts to help us better understand God.  Drama, visual art, signing and video are all ways to do this.  To give us a chance to experience this…check out these pictures taken from the Christians in Visual Arts (CIVA.org) website.  Think of this as an online gallery for God’s glory…

Treasure by Stephanie Green

Gathering by Megan Prospe

Empty hands by Hal Moran

Matthew 6:29-30 by Jennifer Kimbrough

Ehtiopian Nativity by Nancy Goes

 

 

 

Witness by Sarah Jane Gray

What I Learned from Starbucks-Prt 2

So it’s that time again.  It’s time to hit the St.Arbucks drive-through and order your favorite drink of choice.  In your case it might be a…

Venti 1 pump caramel, 1 pump white mocha, 2 scoops vanilla bean powder, extra ice frappuchino with 2 shots poured over the top (apagotto style) with caramel drizzle under and on top of the whipped cream, double cupped.

…or maybe not.  That’s more of a summer drink anyway.

Either way, I wanted to share the second half of what I learned from Starbucks.  So here goes…

1.  Howard Schultz writes in his book Onward  that ”I could not save Starbucks on my own…like any leader, I needed to surround myself with strong talent who would bring new ideas and, with courage, challenge the old as well as they challenge me.” (178)  I feel the same way.  It is great to work with you, Dan, Chris, Linda Hall, Sarah Wall and so many other people who are creative and keep bringing new ideas, looks, songs, dramas, etc…I can only meeting my creative potential with people around me.

2.   Things in the news are scary.  The economy, politics, nuclear bomb escalations, terrorism, job loss and the list goes on and on.  Schultz talks about how this can impact a whole culture.  He writes, “…many of our partners were burdened with fear.  Fear of risk.  Fear of public failure.  And in an uncertain economy, fear of their own futures, which were tied to the future of the company.  But I could not allow this fear to hold us back.” (254)  Isn’t this part of our call as believers?  We have a better story to tell.  A story that is aware of sin and fear, but tries to live in the light of what Jesus has done!

3.   One area that I believe the church universally falls short is in our aesthetic.  By that, I mean that we have abdicated the idea that our buildings, art, color choices, conversations, etc all communicate about the God we serve.  Now this can be taken to extremes.  Many of the cathedrals of Europe speak to that.  However, it still holds true that our environment is important and the one we create at ECC communicates.  Schultz elaborates, “Ideally, every Starbucks store should tell a story about coffee and what we as an organization believe in.  That story should unfold via the taste and presentation of our products as well as the sights, sounds and smells that surround our customers…Interior hues, textures, the shapes and materials of furniture and fixtures, as well as their origins.  The art on the walls.  The music.  The rhythm of the coffee bar and how our partners move and speak behind the counter – and what they speak about.  Each store’s ambience is the manifestation of a larger purpose…” (274)  How we greet people, how we sing, what we show on the screen, what we hang on the walls, what we eat…it all matters in that it helps tell the story of God in us.

4.   Lastly, I realized that I need to make sure I’m always open to feedback.  If you have an idea, please call me, email me, talk to me and share it.  I can’t guarantee that we’ll use it, but I’m going to listen and consider it.  As Schultz puts it,  ”‘If this was your store, what would you do differently?’” (285)

So the next time you order your

Triple Grande 140 degree no foam cinnamon dolce latte with caramel on the whip.

You can ponder a few of  these thoughts right before the caffeine and sugar hit you.  Thanks Starbucks for all the coffee and a few thoughts about worship along the way…

P.S.  If you still want more to chew on…here are the sound-bites for leadership from the book, Onward.  “Grow with discipline.  Balance intuition with rigor.  Innovate around the core.  Don’t embrace the status quo.  Find new ways to see.  Never expect a silver bullet.  Get your hands dirty.  Listen with empathy and over communicate with transparency.  Tell your story, refusing to let others define you.  Use authentic experiences to inspire.  Stick to your values, they are your foundation.  Hold people accountable but give them the tools to succeed.  Make the tough choices; it’s how you execute that counts.  Be decisive in times of crisis.  Be nimble.  Find truth in trials and lessons in mistakes.  Be responsible for what you see, hear and do.  Believe.” (309)

Creative Tension

cre·a·tive 

the ability or power to create

plus

ten·sion

 either of two balancing forces causing or tending to cause extension

equals

cre·a·tive  ten·sion

the ability of either of two balancing or extending forces to create

The ECC staff is gearing up for our yearly staff retreat.  And I can honestly tell you, it’s a blast.  What a great time of laughing together and getting past the daily routine.  It’s also a good time to plan and strategize together about ministry and how better to serve the kingdom as a team.  I am going with a wonderful sense of possibility for us and for the kingdom.  It’s going to be a great year of ministry together.

As I sit here now, the phrase that comes to mind is “creative tension”.  And that is a good thing!  I think we have great creative tension at ECC.  We have different people with different gifts and personalities and that enables us to excel in our area of ministry.  I don’t do what Bob Bruce does well.  And Bob Bruce doesn’t do what I am gifted to do.  Think about it, if everything and everyone was exactly the same, we wouldn’t grow.  But through creatively working through differences and giving up some of our personal desires we find something better.  Proverbs says it this way, “

As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.(27:17)

This is worship in everyday life.  The way that we creatively find solutions to our differences honors God and creates something greater than when we started.  I can find a solution by myself, but if we work together as brothers and sisters in Christ to find an even better solution we create new possibilities through the power of the spirit.  David, the man after God’s heart, even wrote about creative tension.  “How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity!” (Psalm 133:1)  This isn’t something that just happens…unity is when different people work together to overcome and leverage those differences.

I’m still learning to live in creative tension, but am confident that God will continue to use us if we are open to our differences and his creative possibilities.

The Times They Are A’Change’in

Things change. That’s true in life as well as at Emmanuel.  And that’s a good thing…change, I mean.  Just think, if change wasn’t possible we would still be sinners with an unchangeable eternity.  So change is good.  And if nothing else, working at ECC is never boring!

Now as most of you know, we are making a big change with our services.  As of Nov 5th we will have two services in the Worship Center and FLC at 9 and 10:30am.  Pastor Denny has already explained the logistics and how we envision the change will play out with the children (new programming is Sat night!) and students (attendance with the whole family and more opportunities for service.  I think the change is a great idea for many reasons.  I am excited that volunteers will have a shorter time commitment on Sunday morning for one!  But there is an even bigger reason to be excited about this change…there is potential for even more people to hear God’s word!   So there will be changing ministries, changing staff descriptions and the ever-changing Emmanuel Community Church.  But more than that, this change represents changed lives.

We believe strongly in the power of the arts to touch the human soul.  Because of that, we view the 30-35 minutes before the sermon as a treasure to “preach the word with many voices”.  What takes place in that 1/2 hour can count for eternity.  When music, drama and tech are all working together, along with solid teaching – watch out!  God can unleash His power in amazing ways.

Why God has blessed us is a mystery to us, but we are growing as a church.  Our intention is simply to continue being faithful to His Word and Our Walk…and so, in the end, to bring all glory to God as we lead others in worship.

New Music Ministry Teams for 2011-12

Hey gang, we are pleased to announce the teams for this next year.  We had a good number of people audition which meant we had some hard decisions to make for some positions and we still have openings for some other positions!!  Below you will see the various teams (with their amazing new NAMES, I might add) and then the Sunday morning rotation schedule. So without further talk…drumroll please!…

New 2011-12 Music Teams

Sat Night Team (1 team for the whole year)

Metal Messiah (MM)

Sop-Carrie Dennison

Alto-Carla Embree / Ann Carmien

Ten-Monica Herbst

Elec-Steve Cooper

AG-Chris Kuntz

Bass-Mark Stein/MAC

Key-Mike McDonald/Dave Loveless (level 3)

Drum-Dan Friend/MAC/Larry Holzinger

Sun Teams

The Jump in Jehoshaphats (JiJ)

Sop -Shaana Robrock

Alto-Kay Salter

Ten-Jim Cates

Elec-Tim Yanes

AG-Kyle Luithly

Bass-Erin Chaney

Key-Dan Friend/MAC

Drum-Larry Holtzinger

The Bible Belters (BB)

Sop-Lora Lemon

Alto-Shelly Ping

Ten-Randy Beery

Elec-Jerry Grider

AG-Sam Ward/Chris Kuntz

Bass-Rick Navrotsky

Key-Dan Friend/MAC

Drum-Tim Muntzinger

Dirge of Confession (DoC)

Sop-Lora Lemon/Julie Navrotsky

Alto-Lori Ashton

Ten-Dave Hazen/Lyle Smith (after 6 mo)

Sax/flute-Dave Hazen

AG-Jim Collins

Bass-Jim Johnson (level 3)/MAC

Key-Dan Friend/MAC

Drum-Rick Navrotsky

Pontius Palm Pilots (PPP)

Sop-Shellie Friend

Alto-Kay Salter

Ten-Jim Cates

Elec-Tim Tilburry

AG-Tom Mohr

Bass-Erin Chaney

Key-Dan Friend/MAC

Drum-DeWayne Salter

2011-12 ECC Sunday Music Teams Rotation Schedule

	Family Life Center	Worship Center
Sept	JiJ	BB
Oct	DoC	PPP
Nov	BB	JiJ
Dec	PPP	DoC
Jan	JiJ	BB
Feb	DoC	PPP
Mar	BB	JiJ
Apr	PPP	DoC
May	JiJ	BB
Jun	DoC	PPP
Jul	BB	JiJ
Aug	PPP	DoC

It Matters what we sing…

Great article from Mark Altrogge at The Blazing Center who is a singer/songwriter and also a senior pastor of a church in PA.  He brings an interesting perspective to writing songs for worship…

I’m deeply concerned that we sing doctrinally accurate songs because they affect how we think about God. When folks in our church go through the fire, I want them to think rightly about God – that he is sovereign, loving, wise and good. When Satan accuses them, I want them to remember Christ was condemned in their place.  When they’re tempted to fear, I want them to recall God’s faithfulness.

This is something I’m experiencing now.  The words we sing on Sunday take on new significance as I sing about the God is need right now.  This isn’t hypothetical anymore.  This is real life and I need to sing words that matter and speak to the depth of my pain, loss, longing and need for a real God right now.

Driscoll on “What is Worship?”

Good post from Mark Discoll on “what is worship?”.  I think this is something commonly, commonly mis-understood in churches across the world.  There are even songs with the line “You and I were made to worship…” and when we sing that song, most of us think that we are doing just that.  We think that when we get to heaven, we’ll all stand around and just sing for eternity.  Sorry, that was a tangent, but the real point that Driscoll makes is that it sets up the impression, however unintentionally, that God NEEDS our worship.  God is entirely self-sufficient and doesn’t need our anything.

Driscoll, quoting Harold Best, reframes the whole conversation around us being created in the image of God and therefore always outpouring worship.  Read the article here, but here is the pivotal quote from Best,

“Worship is the continuous outpouring of all that I am, all that I do and all that I can ever become in light of a chosen or choosing god.”

In other words, all of life is worship…every year, every month, every week, every day, every hour, every minute, every minute from now to eternity.