Nope, I'm not a pastor

When did everyone get all important? Like, for real? This is a legit question.

I was signing up for a P&W newsletter and it asked if I were a P&W Pastor (no), Lead Pastor (heggs no), Media Pastor (didn't know there was such a thing), or a Volunteer (kind of, but I'm a leader so not exactly a lay person volunteering). Can a sista get a none of the above?!

No disrespect to anyone, but this new thing where people are the pastor of this auxilliary or that is way over my head. I'm just the leader of the P&W team. I'm a servant.

I'm kind of over getting told to throw my hands up in the air (shout out to Lorde) and carry a grandiose title. My position isn't paid. I could care less what I'm called, except that pastor implies that I have a flock. Nope. I just have a team. I'm not leading them spiritually. The real pastor is doing that. I'm just over the direction of the music. I know this is a ministry, but I don't think the title of pastor best fits what I'm doing. I want the lowliest title there is. P&W leader or lead team member. Point blank and the period! The rest of you can have it.

This is what I mean when I say we have a simple ministry. We don't get into all of this deep stuff. So if you like simple and are looking for a simple church where the focus is on your relationship with Jesus, hollar at us.

End Times Ministries Outreach Center

1470 W. 115th Street

Chicago

Out with a bang

Looks like the End Times Ministries praise team is ending the year on a good note. Sunday we had another rehearsal and are ready to re-introduce a song back into our P&W rotation. We also have our next rehearsal scheduled - the first one for 2015. I couldn't be happier. Well, I could, but baby steps.

Cheers!

Lauren Daigle - Light Of The World (Lyric Video)

Just in time for Christmas... I heard this for the first time yesterday and really like it. Enjoy!

Just like music... (in my Marvin Gaye voice)

Music is one of those things that has the ability to almost instantly change your mood. Today I experienced this first hand.

My grandmom has been in and out of the hospital for several weeks now and it's been emotionally draining. Today, in spite of this, I wanted to be uplifted and to offer up praises by playing something encouraging and inspirational. Enter my Tasha Cobbs channel on Pandora. Wouldn't you know it - 3 of my favorite songs du jour came on back to back to back and I instantly felt better.

Like music does in general, praise and worship has the ability to transcend a listener beyond his or her current emotions. This experience should not be limited to the praise and worship portion of a church service. Whether it be in the car, playing ambiently in the background at work, or while running the track, we should find ourselves constantly offering up the fruit of our lips. In doing so, I believe that not only will this bless us, but blesses God as well.

Happy Singing!

P.S. You know I couldn't name this post Just Like Music without linking you to Erick Sermon's dope track! It's not gospel, but it's great music. Hip hop at its finest. Enjoy!

The sound

You know, I'm always amazed when I remember to dial into the iLead Escape Frontliners call. As a full time working mom and wife, my schedule is crazy busy sometimes. Last night Tasha Cobbs's guest led us in prayer.

The call really struck a cord with me for 2 reasons. First, I have become more intentional in praying over the last year or so. I am definitely praying more frequently through out the day and am drawn to various prayer outlets. Have you ever seen so many prayer conference calls and services?! We surely need it as the body of Christ! Second, one of the things she prayed for was that us worship leaders would usher in the sound from heaven. Since I am personally in a season of creating and writing, this was a good prayer for me.

I have been a musical person probably all of my life. I remember playing the tonette (yes, reading music). I unsuccessfully took up piano. (My brothers stole all of the piano genes.) I played the flute and piccolo from fourth grade into college. I love musicals and enjoy attending live opera. I hum and whistle a lot. I'm singing to myself even when the radio is on. But how do you turn this into what we should be doing in P&W?

It seems that the tunes I'm creating are coming to me so fast. (Not a bad problem to have, but it can definitely be distracting.) In creating new music, I feel like there IS a sound from heaven and I know when I've got it right. Parts of the song click right away and when I try to get fancy and all musically interesting I seem to be drifting from the pull of the song. I think the sound of heaven is not a particular genre or trying to create the next "big song." It's the anointing, it's the lyrics, it's the sounds that will lead people into worship or praise. It doesn't matter if the song is a chart topper or a home-brew. It's the heart beat of the song that shifts us closer to God's presence.

Tasha definitely has the sound of heaven, but God is no respector of person. I am trusting and believing that as I continue to pray and create, that my sound will have a similar effect.

Blessings

A new level

All of a sudden out of nowhere, I have written 7.5 songs in 4 days! And these don't sound like your home-made songs with janky lyrics. These are songs with radio-bility. (Yes, I totally made that up.) This is amazing!

Now I'm trying to figure out what to do next. My brother (a professional musician) says that I need to join ASCAP or BMI to get my songs copy-written and become a legit songwriter/publisher. As things progress, I'll blog about my choices and what I learn. I'm sure this will be a whole other level of experiences. Stay tuned.

P.S. I'm taking any and all advice so feel free to comment or email me with your tips and suggestions.

Blessings!

Stepping it up

Boy oh boy, I just realized I'm a huge slacker! Maybe it's because my P&W team is kind of on the rocks right now that I have become lackadaisical in my leading. (Bad leader!) But no excuses... We need to increase the number of songs in our repertoire.

I was reading a blog that said most congregations can successfully learn 20-25 songs a year. 20-25 songs!!! That's like 15 more than we introduce. This is something that I really struggle with. Now, I'm not saying I think our congregation can introduce 25 new songs a year, but we can definitely do better.

One of the challenges is that right now, our team of 3 (we lost one member to an out-of-state job) is more like a team of 1.5 (my father is hit or miss due to his deacon duties). Therefore, it's hard to lead and sing the background vocals for a new song. Actually, it's hard to sing lead and background on old songs, but I digress. Second, maybe it's me, but where are all the good, easy, and upbeat P&W songs?! I need more call & response or songs with a solid chorus. I will be checking out song lists to look for more ideas. Third, we have not established a good routine for rehearsal. We need a regularly designated time and we need to stick to it. Again, this is my fault for not staying on top of it. Fourth, we are limited to singing to accompaniment tracks. There are a ton of songs I'd like to sing where no track is available. That said, we are sitting on about 10+ older tracks, that we do not sing. 

So here's my strategy: 1.) I will establish a consistent rehearsal date and will hold to it regardless of how few members we have. 2.)We will start to rehearse and reintroduce the tracks we already have. 3.) I will make a goal of the number of new songs to introduce for next year and will work toward that goal. 4.) I will be more diligent about purchasing new tracks. Give me a few months and I'll report back on how the strategy is going.

Here's to continuous improvement!

Blessings

8 good things about having a small P&W team

Rather than use this entry to talk about the same ole experience (me + my dad = P&W team, yet again) I've decided to devote today's post to pointing out the good things about having a small team at a small church.

1. There's usually no discord with so few people.
2. It's easy to find uniforms.
3. It's easy to tell who doesn't know their part.
4. We don't have a big crowd where someone might be inclined to record a "fail" and post it on FB.
5. It's almost like singing at home, except with a microphone, in a slightly larger room, with slightly more people.
6. We don't have to hold auditions and reject people.
7. Nothing has to be fancy - no lighting or elaborate sound checks.
8. The team members let me know in advance if they will not be in attendance. (Man I do not miss singing in a choir where people just don't show and then you can't sing said song because said soloist decided to be a no-show and then you have to try to scramble for a new song list. But I digress...)

I  usually don't quote a lot of scriptures, but I believe it was Paul who talked about learning to be content regardless of the circumstances of a situation. (See, I still didn't quote the scripture!) Or like the songwriter said "whatever my lot thou has taught me to say it is well it is well with my soul." Or like the unofficial black church national anthem proclaims, "I won't complain."

So there you have it. I'm a glass half full type of gal. In all seriousness, I look forward to the day when our congregation is large, the church is fancy, and we have an 8-person P&W team and live band. I bet I'll think back to days like today and say "those were the days!" (In my Edith Bunker voice.)

Blessings