An Interview with David Bone

...Is divided into four sections:

Foundations
Relationships
Systems
Balance

In my leadership work, I group skills and strategies into the four areas above. First, Foundations give the leader the clarity to know how to lead the team because the final result in clear; second, build and maintain effective relationship to assist in getting to the vision; next, develop effective systems allowing each team member to excel and to work together efficiently; and finally, create balance in work, in life, and between work and life.

The format for this year consists of interviews with Christian leaders from many different types of leadership styles and perspectives - some pastors, some musicians, some lay leaders, some Christian business professionals, and more. This month’s edition of Monday Morning Email's “Leadership Tools” is an interview with David Bone, who is Executive Director of The Fellowship of United Methodists in Music and Worship Arts. In this position, he manages the program and financial affairs of The Fellowship. David has served in this capacity since 1991. In addition to this full-time position, David is the co-author of The United Methodist Music and Worship Planner 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 Prepare!: A Weekly Worship Planbook for Pastors and Musicians. David holds Master of Music degrees in Sacred Music and Choral Conducting from Southern Methodist University. David is a regular clinician at local and national events in the areas of music, worship, and choral conducting.  

INTRODUCTION

Hugh Ballou: My guest today is David Bone. David Bone is the Executive Director of an organization of Methodist musicians. And it has a very long title. So, David, would you tell us a little bit about the organization that you lead and a little bit about your background.

David Bone: Sure, Hugh. It's, good to be with you today. The organization is The Fellowship of United Methodists in Music and Worship Arts. We serve musicians in the United Methodist Church as well as other denominations, but not only musicians, but anyone employing, arts, in worship services. We have members who are dancers and visual artists, banner makers, worship planners, preachers, dramatists - any of the arts that come to play in worship service we want to serve and involve in our organization. I would say it's a more holistic approach than some other organizations that focus on music only. And sometimes that of course brings about difficulties, in giving everyone the kind of resources that they need. But, we think that's important to look at all the arts as a whole and not single anyone out.
My background - I have degrees in church music from Georgia College and State University in Georgia and then a masters degree in Sacred Music and Choral Conducting from Southern Methodist University, Perkins School of Theology. I've been in Nashville since 1989. I moved here, like a lot of people do - Just go and do freelance music. And, I did that for a while - a lot of recording session work, a lot of church work too. But in 1991, I came part time, with the fellowship. The position was called administrator then. Then in 1999 that position went full time and I've been Executive Director of The Fellowship since that time.

Ballou: And shortly after that, when I had been in that area of the world you had, helped resource my children’s choir program that I had in a Methodist Church nearby, and did a very stunning job. You have expertise in a lot of areas of church music, but especially with children’s music ministry

Bone: Well, thanks. I appreciated doing that. And, I do still direct a children's choir at the church I attend in Nashville, West End United Methodist Church. And that's helpful to keep myself grounded doing the work helping others, and supporting others in doing. Another thing that I'll mention that I do is I'm a co-author of two worship-planning resources, one called The United Methodist Music and Worship Planner 2010-2011, and the other called 2011-2012 Prepare!: A Weekly Worship Planbook for Pastors and Musicians. Both of them are lectionary based planning resources, that offer worship planners hymns, anthems, contemporary praise choruses - all kinds of things just creating a good list for them to start their worship planning. And that has been going since gosh about 1992, I think, was the first version. So we're, almost up on 20 years of that publication.

Ballou: And I have used that for many, many years. It's a very valuable resource, so thank you for doing that. As you and I discussed very briefly I know of your work, so I know that you see lots of different perspectives and lots. And you work with, church musicians, and pastors, and those who, design all those creative discipline for worship around the country. And you work with groups planning workshops - National workshops, regional workshops, etc. So I know you see these things from a different perspective. So our audience of those who lead, and plan, and worship. The majority are church musicians, but we have some with other disciplines. And we have certainly a number of pastors who are certainly interested in what we do in Worship and Fine Arts Ministry. So, let me ask you questions, for my areas, of leadership that I get input on, from leaders like you.

FOUNDATIONS

Ballou: First, it's about the foundations. As an effective leader, in today's church, what do we need, to do for ourselves, as far as our skill set. If we're going to do effective work, what do we need to do in clarifying our vision and our goals for the organization that we lead, so that others can participate in that journey with us?

Bone: Well that vision is awfully important. I think, too often church musicians just as that everyone knows the vision, knows what the aims and goals of the church music program, and worship leadership are and not taking the time, to really work with a team on the local level to clarify those goals. And to understand what the most important parts of those goals are. And then what things can be let go. What may be standing in your way from achieving those goals to having a common team approach in a group on the local level that all agree to the direction that you're heading, I think is important. Many times it's focused on that goal. I know in the fellowship, we've decided that we want to focus more on our mission than necessarily getting members. And that may be true probably for even a local choir program. If you're clear about why you’re doing and what you're doing I believe the members will come. Quality attracts quality. And if there is a clear direction, if people feel like their gifts and time are used well, I believe that they will be a part of that program. And contribute to that. And programs will grow.

Ballou: Perfect. We tend to think people are reading our minds sometimes because we've been working so hard on it.

 

RELATIONSHIPS

Ballou: My second area leadership is relationships. We can move our arms all day long and until somebody sings and nothing happens. So, this area's about relationships in ministry - Building and maintaining important relationships. So, what thoughts do you have that you've seen gaps that need to be filled or strengths to utilize. Please share some useful ideas for folks in the area of relationships.

Bone: They are key. I think it's hardest for musicians that are part-time in a church position, and have other full-time work where they have to keep relationships going there. I think in church work relationships are vital. We have to know, what's going on in the lives of the people that are in our programs. We have to know the children's birthdays. We have to know when those dance recitals and ball games for the high school students are. We have to really know those things, and just little things to let them know that we're interested in their life outside the rehearsal room, I think are vitally important to their engaging in the program. If you engage in them, they'll engage in you, and they will be a part of that. And, so, I think that's one of the hardest things time wise. But, I know a lot of people that have, some, different techniques for doing that. One musician that I know, his standard New Year's Day activity is to write a birthday card to every member in his choir for that year. And he get's those ready, but doesn't send them out then, but he sends them out over the course of the year, and of course when it's time to send them out he, looks at them and if there's anything from recently that he needs to add he does. But, it's just sort of his task at the beginning of the year to be sure that that's done and he doesn't have to worry about it during the year. And he gets it done. I think it's just one of the little things that help create those relationships.

Ballou: I remember doing that. I used to write one person a day, just a note. Just a visual music notes, and I'd write it - just two sentences. And, I got to tell you, the response to that was amazing. Just that, I noticed them. And I said something, you know, thank you for being there. Didn't have to do schmoozy stuff, just a note that I noticed them.

Bone: Right. I believe that's very critical, especially in the day of email. I think we're really approaching the time when email is, passé. People don't pay attention to it. We've gotten things down to our 140 character tweets. And when somebody gets a card in the mail or even a short phone call or voice mail message, I think it means a lot to people.

Ballou: Amen. It seems obvious, but you know what? It's the obvious stuff that sometimes is very elusive.

SYSTEMS

Ballou: My third principle is about systems. The first one is Know the Score as a conductor and what is it about. The second one is Hire the Best players. You want to really have good people on your teams and your committees and project teams. The third one is, Rehearse for Success: Developing Effective Systems. You know, we plan our rehearsals very thoroughly. We plan with a vision for the end result in mind. But, we don't transfer, sometimes as musicians, we don't transfer those skills to other things that we do, in leadership in the church. And it's so crucial to have systems that work. Now you, on the national level, facilitate and participate in lots of meetings, planning meetings, and have lots of events. So, what thoughts do you have about getting people on the same page and developing systems that work really well?

Bone: I would agree to that, that sense of how to plan a rehearsal and transferring that is really important. I think the single most important thing I did for my leadership skills was to get my Orff certification. Because in that process I learned about sequential development and I always tell people good technique is good technique is good technique. So you may think, well you know, something for children - how does that apply. Well, it applies because any group has to develop over time. Any goal has to be broken down into manageable steps, to achieve. And, I think that's a piece that many people don't take the time to do is to see what those steps along the way are, and how, whatever the goal is, it can be, reached by just breaking it down into, to smaller steps, and then working that plan. My problem, my personal one, is that I'm really pretty good at developing the plan. I'm not always good at going back and checking it and developing that. So, I think that’s really important too. But, one issue that, I encountered recently. Well, not really an issue but a thought is any one group needs different kinds of people, and everybody needs to understand what role they play. But, visionaries within a group are very, very important. But, operations people are important as well. You need people that can have the vision to, to figure out the what, but you need those operations people to think about the how, and how to get there. And if you can combine those two, plus some other gifts, I think any team, working on any goal, any committee in the church, is going to be much better off.

Ballou: Yeah. And, and, we might inherit some committees when we started the church. At some point we get to, we get to replace those and do our own selection so, those are good things to think about. Now, I'm sure you've attended a boring, unproductive meeting. Probably, like me have lead a few that you wish you hadn't - But no more. I think understanding end result, and taking the planning and rehearsal paradigm over to meetings, is helpful too. My rule of thumb is 2:1, 3:1, planning time to rehearsal time. I think planning meetings is probably a similar kind of formula. Would you agree?

Bone: Oh I would say definitely, that that work before is very important. And part of that work can be on some tasks, if there are recurring, tasks, that happen every year, just being sure all that is noted, and so that you almost don't have to think about that. You need to analyze it and evaluate every year - do we need to do this again? Do we need to do it this way? But you've got something to, start with. So that, every spring when you're trying to remember what do we need to do for rehearsal for the children's choir and the, hymnals that we may be giving to the kids leaving the choir and that sort of thing. What, what are the processes that we put into place? Just having dates and time lines, I think are very crucial. And that's one of the ways to put in time outside a meeting, to developing some time lines.

Ballou: Oh yeah, one thing that I think is so important is the evaluation piece, analyzing and making corrections.

Bone: Yes... no timeline should be just static, and just stay that way. It doesn't get set. You have that there to give you something to depart from. Creation came out of chaos, but God made order out of the chaos. And then out of that order, then great diversity came. So, having that plan is a good thing, and then you depart from it.

Ballou: Absolutely.

BALANCE

Ballou: The last area is about balance. At the last church I served, the pastor's wife referred to the church as the “black hole.” And, it can be. So I have a Value the Rests principal for leadership, which is about balance. Rests are in music for a very specific purpose. We do have Sabbath. It's part of our discipline as leaders in the church. Another aspect of balance, is in personal life vs. work life, and then, the holistic part our beings - Physical, Spiritual, Mental, Social, etc. You do lots of big events, that involve lots of people, and you work with some important leaders in the United Methodist Church. So, I'm sure, balancing your life, as I've observed you, you do quite well at that. Balancing your life, and maybe some tips about others who you know that do the same, or maybe some who have challenges. What thoughts would you have to share on any of those aspects?

Bone: Well, we all wish we would do better with that kind of balance. You know I think attending events is very important for people, but sometimes you have to turn off the learning mode, and just get into the renewal mode. I try to express to teams planning worship for our events, that worship is somewhat of a teaching moment, but it's about God. It's not about the worshipper, and them learning a new technique or learning a new thing - worship is about God. So, in those times we just need to work to let ourselves go not to be evaluating so much, but to truly enter into that worship moment. And I think that can be very invigorating, for the church leader at other events to not, every moment, to be trying to learn something. One of the most wise things a good friend of mine said to me one time was, every moment does not have to be filled with meaning, and to have some moments where you're just resting, experiencing worship, being in the moment, but not trying to learn and evaluate. I think that can be very renewing for the church leader.

CONCLUSION

Ballou: Great. Now, as an ending piece here, you've seen people come and go in conferences and workshops, etc.. And you probably think sometimes, “I wish this were one thing I could tell people” – “If you just focus on this, your life could be better.” Or, “I wish I could share this piece.” What would you like to share as a tip for readers of Monday Morning email?

Bone: I think church leaders just always, to, to reach outside themselves, to not be afraid, that, by reaching out and, and connecting with others that they won't be found out. It's always been a thought of mine that, especiall, artists are always sort of a little insecure. We all want to know that we're doing a good job, and, sometimes our internal systems for telling us we're OK are just not quite what they ought to be. And, so I think many Worship Leaders tend to keep themselves away from others because there's this fear that they may figure out that I really don't know what I'm doing. And I would just encourage everybody to work beyond that as much as possible, and to connect to others to mentor a younger person, or to get into a relationship with another worship leader in a different church, in a different place, and just use that relationship to help, support, and undergird what you're doing.

Ballou: Wonderful. I'm going to put below this interview opportunities for the upcoming national conferences in, 2011, 2012. And those are Methodist conferences, which come out of your office. Now, there are a lot of readers who are not Methodists, so can they come to these?

Bone: Great. Anyone is welcome. As a matter of fact, with our National Convocation in Colorado Springs anyone who is a member of the 6 of the other major denominational music organizations which we are yoked with, can come at the member rate if they are members of that other association, and that's detailed, on the event website. We highly encourage non-Methodists, new Methodists, anybody, in and without the United Methodist connection to join us.

Ballou: Great. Well, thank you for your time today and sharing these thoughts and I look forward to our next conversation, David Bone.

RESOURCES

The Fellowship of United Methodists in Music and Worship Arts

National Convocation: Renewal 2011 Colorado Spring, CO July 11-14, 2011

Music & Worship Arts Week Lake Junaluska, NC June 19-24, 2011

Fellowship Chapter Events