Not many thoughts here - such a simple morning, really.
Natsuko, great to have you on board! Thanks for your eagerness to serve and for your willingness to jump in at a moment's notice. I'll keep you posted on your final place on the team. Be planning for either the 3rd or 4th Sunday of each month. I'll let you know for sure in the next week or so.
Alexis - thanks for being ready to jump in with a solo at the very last, mid service minute. I think it was helpful in setting the first verse apart and allowing people to prepare their hearts and to make the transition from singing about the greatness of the triune God to singing of his humble sacrifice and his great intercession for us. Thanks for doing that.
Dick - good work on the hand drums. I'm looking forward to getting Doug back into the mix so that we can have a Sunday with him on the set and you on the aux perc. I think that'll add some great stuff to the mix. You've picked up on it really well - and I really appreciate your flexibility and humility during the process.
All things together, I thought that the morning went really well. It'll be good to have the whole team back together in a few weeks and really get back up and running. I think that the Lord has been gracious to us over the last couple months. We haven't "missed a beat" so to speak.
It goes back to the fundamental truth that it's not about the music - really. Our goal as a team is to make Christ clear in the way that we lead and sing and play. I think that we've managed to do that, by God's grace, this summer even while the team has been a bit shorthanded. He can be praised with few as well as with many. While ultimately we enjoy having the whole team around because it allows more flexibility and potential for arrangements that can be effective in pointing out different lyrics and themes through the way that we play, simple is not bad. It doesn't take a full band to reveal Christ to the congregation and to help them praise him for who he is and what he's done.
God is good.
One thing that I'd like to work on over the next few weeks and months is having everyone become more familiar with the songs that we're playing and singing. Doing so will allow for more freedom as we're playing. I want to be careful that we're not projecting an attitude that we don't actually have - that we're concerned primarily about the music. It's possible that at times, since we're so focussed musically that musicians aren't able to sing and singers aren't able to physically engage, that we may project the idea that we're more concerned with getting it right than we are with praising our Savior. So, what I'd like to do over the next couple months is work on musicians becoming familiar enough with the songs that they can sing along - not into a mic or anything, just vocally join in the praise. Along with that, I'd like for the vocalists to become familiar enough with the songs that they're not bound tightly to the lyrics and are more free to let their gaze by physically upward, or their eyes be closed, their hands be raised, their feet be dancing. If we're all staring at our lead sheets, we tend to stand still and just "do" rather than participate.
I think that will be the next step, for many of us, in leading the church effectively. The more we engage and act as examples of praise, the more we will be able to freely lead the congregation.
Just some thoughts, but I think they might be important. I'd love to hear all of your thoughts along those lines - let's start the discussion.
Thanks all.
tw
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