Came back from the Word in Song conference for this year and it has been a humbling experience to see so many people being passionate about being in the music ministry in their respective churches. Met a number of people there that are still serving in the music ministry that are well into their 50s, 60s or even 70s. There were a few folks who are like in their late 50s or early 60s in the bass workshop and some have been playing bass for as long ago as my first memory. I also feel honoured that I can offer up some pieces of advice to some of these folks trying to improve their bass techniques. We are all coming together to learn from one another and learning how to serve more effectively in the music ministry.
I thought that the sermon was very good though could use a little more time to package it up nicely but the gist is there, which is on the topic of God's glory in the Old Testament and in the New Testament. It really put's a lot of things into perspective when we learn that the primary purpose is to glorify God and having a proper understanding of what does it mean to glorify God. Not to mention attitudes corrected just simply by understanding God's glory and it has certainly provoked me to examine my attitudes towards the music ministry.
The thing that I don't understand is that no one else from church came for the conference. Though it was publicised some time ago among the musicians, apparently there were very few responses and decided that it was not worth it to come in as a group. It baffles my mind even further that there was a whole contingent from our church who went to last year's conference. Even more baffling was that everyone who went to the previous year's conference all thought that it was really good and it is really worth thinking about or even implementing some of the said things learned at the conference. And with one of this year's seminars was Playing in a Group of Three or Less, which is directly applicable to the current church setting, how is it that no one wanted to go? I'm not going to even mention the heaps of other topics that are of great use to us, like Evangelism in Song, Song Writing, Picking Excellent Songs etc. Why is that? Are we not proactive enough? Are we not passionate about the music ministry?
Thinking about what has changed from this time last year to now, how has the music ministry changed in light of the conference. To be really honest, not a great deal once past the post-conference stage. I feel really sad that it has come down to this. I'm not expecting for church to become like the next Hillsong or Planet Shakers, but it's got to say something when we still have the same lukewarm attitude towards approaching music. If the music team is supposed to be helping the congregation to sing praises and given the lukewarm behaviour, what does the congregation think about the one aspect of worship that is singing songs? Do we lack discipline to hone our craft that we can serve better in the music? Do we lack preparation?
It is perhaps that I am overreacting to it all. Perhaps I do not know the whole picture or reading too much into things. Maybe my vision has been clouded with bias. You tell me. Because after two years of conferences and meeting the many people who are much more passionate about serving in the music ministry than I am and looking at our ministry, I can tell you that something doesn't add up. It's not about comparing between other churches and ours because some of these people on fire come from churches smaller than we, but the hearts of service should be on the same page with one another.
So what am I going to do about it all? After the conference, I am humbled by the message and listening to the suggestions and struggles of others. And really the only thing that I can bring is to extend encouragement to those who are in the team that I am serving with. But I can only go so far if people still do not want to change.
And of course, above all, to pray.
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I guess I should have added it to the calendar. Just yesterday I was thinking I probably should attend and now I realise it is already over. - L
Well there's next year's conference. It is worth going at least once just to learn and ask questions.