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Oct
27
2011
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Posted 100 days ago ago by michael adler  6 Comments
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3 likes
by Michael Adler
For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand
elsewhere. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my
God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness. Psalm 84:10
OK, say you’re the music
minister at the local
NEWLIFECOME-AND-GETIT-WE-LOVE-JESUS-COMMUNITY-FELLOWSHIP.
It’s Monday, you’re minding
your own business, trying to get the
cobwebs cleared from another
weekend with the brethren, and a
phone call comes in. The voice on
the other end is about ready to bust
through the phone with excitement as
they begin to describe their weekend.
It’s one of your choir members who
just happened to be absent yesterday.
Church Member Joe just got back from
Such and Such Worship Summit
Conference and “whoa, did we rock for
Jesus!!” After a thirty minute, blow-by-blow
description of every tune, every
guitar lick, the swaying and hopping of
the audience, and the hour long altar
call, comes the broadside to the bow:
“Man, I wish it could be like that at our
church every Sunday!!”
Your stomach settles into a nice
little knot as rejection sinks in, and you
try to rationally balance what information
you just took in, so as to keep
your ministry in perspective.
Stop Look Listen
In the career choice that we have
made as music ministers, the phone
calls will come and most often it will
not be overtly accusing, just kind of
whiny. Rather than let it burn in your
stomach, why not remember a few
things that will help you to get some
relief? Here’s two options for those
who have had that very phone call or
conversation.
Let’s start with the following
premise:
- Church member Joe comes home
from a “mountaintop” worship/camp/
seminar/conference experience
- On the bus ride home he’s already
letting his mind wander to his home
church. He’s thinking to himself, “How
come my church doesn’t give me the
worship rush that I just experienced?!!”
- He starts to resent your pastor/
music minister/facility/instrumentalists/
pew color/bulletin font/whatever...
Mountaintop Experiences
Mountaintop experiences are what
most people use for fuel and inertia to
help propel them through life’s more
routine moments. Believers do it all the
time. How often have you prayed,
“restore to me the joy of my salvation”?
Why do we ask that of the Lord?
Because we are familiar with the
thoughts and emotions which accompany
that experience. We know that if
our spirits are connected to the high
that came from that moment, we’ll be
better equipped for the lows, or even
mediums that we’re facing right now. In
mountaintop experiences we also
generally experience a higher level of
sensory stimulation. Our receptors are
awakened and we take in everything
that is around
us; ideas,
feelings,
emotions,
sights, etc.
When information
enters our
system under
these conditions,
long-term
retention is far
more likely to occur. We are more apt to
experience the “I’ll never forget it”
moments of life and thus, we find
ourselves wanting to just wade around
in this moment of time forever. Forget
it.
In his book
Into Thin Air, Jon
Krakauer describes the harrowing
experiences of what he and his peers
consider the ultimate mountaintop
experience; climbing Mt. Everest. Even
there the climbers had weeks of just
waiting at one particular level, just to
allow their bodies to adjust to the
lesser ratios of oxygen in the atmosphere.
It wasn’t physically possible to
stay at one level of excitement or
energy. Our systems need a break.
What if...
Let’s get back to our whiny caller.
What if his comparisons are accurate
and perhaps your church is more
sedate and less emotional in its forms
than what he prefers. Perhaps he’ll
determine that there is another place
where he could be more enriched and
where he could use his gifts. And
perhaps that place has settled into a
worship format that aligns with his
level of spiritual maturity and his
cultural preferences. Help him find a
place that will be more of a match. Our
goal should not be to retain members in
our little kingdoms, but that the body would be equipped and motivated to
live life as proactive believers in a lost
world. Different church communities
will meet church members at different
levels. The kingdom has not lost a soul
if one of your guys decides to relocate
up the street.
While the above scenario will occur
on occasion, I believe a more common
response is that his comparisons are
accurate but unfair. Remember that the
place he calls “home church” has been
a place of sustenance and support for
him and many like him for generations.
That is the place that has provided
teaching for his children when they
were young, and a healthy spiritual
environment for his teens in their
tough growing up years. It provided
prayers for his family when he was
sick, meals to his home when he had
his first baby. The local church is the
earthly representation of Christ as we
become “Jesus with skin” to the
hurting and lost week after week.
If you’ve decided that number two
option is a more accurate description of
your scenario, then Church Member
Joe needs to be reminded that his
comparisons are valid, but that he
could use a little objectivity in his
final analysis. It’s like allowing one of
your children to go over to their
friend’s house for an overnighter.
That family takes your child and
theirs to SeaWorld. Your kid comes
home whining about how great a time
he had with his friends and how it’s
soooo boring at his house. Meanwhile
he continues to be fed, clothed,
sheltered, cared for when he’s sick,
encouraged along life’s path and
generally allowed to live his life in a
place that’s safe and nurturing. This
place is home and though it doesn’t
have it’s own built in roller coaster and
dolphin petting tank, it will be a shelter
and refuge for a long, long time.
Thankfully, the mountaintops will
come. We all need them to energize and
motivate us in our walk with the Lord.
But the weekly gift that the church
gives to the body should be treated as
a fragile, special gift that comes from
the Father.
6 Comments
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Vicki Carr
90 days ago
0 likes
okay, I'll give it a shot.
Reply
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Thanks for the comment Vicki. I'm interested to know more about how the rehearsals are worship services. Can you elaborate?
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Vicki Carr
90 days ago
0 likes
Yes. Mike Harris has been filling in, not as an "interim minister of music", but as a "transitional worship leader" since last March when our MoM of 30 years retired (and our choir membership dropped by 20). He had to scramble together not only the first several weeks of worship music (since no plans nor rehearsals had been done in advance) but managed to do beautiful Palm Sunday, Good Friday and Easter services with just that little notice - all the while flying back and forth from Colorado Springs to Texarkana. We noticed from the very beginning that he was bringing a new energy and depth to our services, but after the dust had settled following the Easter weekend, he began to grow us in earnest. Mike has incredible talent. He improved our sound EQ, brought the praise team out of the loft, enhanced the rhythm section, and taught our choir how to get out of our robes, both physically and emotionally. Now we wear coordinated color in comfort, and we worship freely, leading the congregation in doing likewise. We have gained many new and talented singers in the choir, who now see it as something they want to be part of. Rehearsals are the highlight of the week. We feel sorry for those who quit, because they have missed such a blessing. But God has provided an abundance of vocal talent for us. He is so faithful. Mike teaches a Sunday School class between early orchestra rehearsal and choir warm-up. The discussion is always about the essence of worship and our responsibility as worship leaders, not just sing-alongers. In our rehearsals, Mike prays earnestly, invites others to pray for specific needs - prayer that makes the Holy Spirit so real you can feel its presence. He will stop in the middle of hymn/praise song prep and revitalize the text for us, relate it directly to scripture and the nature of God, and demonstrate how to show that in our voices. Then we sing again, and there is new interest, restored energy, and strength in the vocals. Same thing happens on Sunday morning (though shorter) as we prepare to lead the service. When the choir fills the loft and sings the call to worship, the congregation is drawn into the worship experience immediately. The feedback we hear is proof that God is working His will in this way. I am on the search team for a new Worship Arts Pastor (notice the name change) whom we believe we may have found. Mike's purpose is never to fill the empty job as its replacement, but to help the choir and church TRANSITION into a more fulfilling worship experience so that the person who eventually comes to fill the post, permanently, does not have to rebuild a program. Mike will hand off the baton to the new guy and go on to the next situation where he can serve. We will miss him terribly, but he is an expert at this, and he will prepare the choir, joyfully, to receive the new WAP with enthusiasm. This couldn't have been better. So yes, I am a Mike Harris fan (found him through Doug Lawrence, a contact you gave me last February). and I would encourage ANY church who is facing the task of replacing a MoM to consider, not an "interim song leader," but a "transitional worship pastor" such as Mike. It relieves the panic which can cause a church to rush into a quick, and maybe imperfect, choice just to get the job filled.
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Vicki Carr
95 days ago
1 likes
freedom of worship does not happen overnight. We started moving in that direction nine years ago, after having a "mountain-top experience" at Brooklyn Tabernacle. encouraging our people to consider the fact that God is in the house, and He will be honored by our sincere praise and worship, not so much by a "sing-along.". The choir is now taking seriously their role as worship leaders. Our rehearsals are worship services, just by themselves. We owe this change to our Transition Worship Pastor, Mike Harris, who has taught us SO MUCH about worship. For me, every Sunday is a mounain-top experience.
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