June 14, 2009

Week 3 in the building!

I'm putting a picture on this post of Sam and I only because it's the only picture I got from one of our photographers. Otherwise I would put something more inclusive up here.

It's so funny how different things are for the band on Sunday mornings.
I came in at about 7:10 and I just sat down at the coffee shop, checked my email, brewed some coffee, and then casually walked into the worship space. It used to be 6:30 am, Kevin's waiting for me 'cause I have the key to the school, and then hit the closet with a furry.

Then, we got through all the songs during our sound check, with time to spare. Ahhh!

There are several things I want to remark about this week and I'll start with the people that stick out in my mind.

We were blessed to have Rich play guitar with us. He's been a friend of KP for some time and has seen us go from school to ministry center. He's a great guitar player and he did an awesome job of stepping in last minute and playing with us.

Everyone really did a great job, but a highlight for me was our drummer, Jason. He's really a different drummer than he was 9 months ago (approx.) when he started playing with us, and I'm just really excited to watch his journey.

Someone said something to me about the young fellow that plays piano at church. That's Sam. They highlighted mostly the passion with which he plays and worships. Then the photographer told me that if I would keep my eyes open a bit more we could have a few more good pictures. I agree with him, but I am so thankful to be on a team with people who are passionate and not afraid to show it. May we serve with a pure and holy passion always.

It never fails, however, that something doesn't go the way you want it, or that someone really didn't like what happened. Fortunately, for me, I didn't get to hear any of that, but our good friend Bryan, the sound man, did. I guess the music was too loud for someone's taste and they let him know. I hate he has to deal with that. He, and all the techs, really work hard as a team with me and other leaders, and then they single-handedly bare the brunt of the complaints. I don't want to pick on anyone, but I do want to reflect on the eternal discussion of volume and music at church.

"I don't like the music style."

"I think it's too loud."

"It's not loud enough."

"Turn down the guitar." (I always laugh a little on this one because I just know enough guitar players to know how that makes them feel)

Obviously I can't solve any of that on a blog, but I want to take a stab at some of the things that I believe are at the root of this problem.

I spent a lot of my formative years in church and I still vividly remember the music and the lyrics. I remember fondly what it was like to sing in the church choir, and in special productions they called Cantatas. Still don't know what that means.

I remember my friend Josh getting lead parts as a singer and actor in those and thinking he was the man.

I watched some of my friends play the guitar and just wished I could do half of what they could do.

Then I had the guilt of not taking piano lessons seriously when I realized playing the piano could have been such a cool thing (sorry mom!)

Church music has evolved for me considerably, but it's been a more natural growth for me from something I did in church, to something that more closely resembles what I was listening to outside of church.

I'm taking the long, long way to say that I think at the root of the volume problem at church is not that it's in fact too loud, but that we don't like the kind of music that's being played. It's one thing for a desirable noise to be loud and a whole other thing when something that you just don't find interesting has you cornered and you can't get away. Of course, that can't be the universal answer to the volume question, but I definitely think it's a good start. If you don't like the music, you don't really want to hear it loud or soft.

Lots of people don't like the rock n' roll guitar sound. They don't enjoy the high gain crunchyness of the guitar. I love it! It's very common, and necessary, in contemporary worship music, and for those who like it, it touches something very deep inside of us. It's literally "moving," as weird as that may sound.

Now, the volume and music discussion will be around for all generations, but at KP, we will continue to live in the tension of making worship comfortable for as many people as possible, while holding to the idea that we cannot play music that absolutely everyone will like, and that we cannot be a one-size-fits-all environment when it comes to worship or to anything, for that matter. That was definitely a run-on. Sorry!

We will do as good a job as possible with the genre we feel called to, and we will do it all to the glory of God, and with a missional attitude. We will be as balanced as we can be without compromising artistic or biblical integrity.

The dialog is always welcome, and we might be slow to change, but we will always do so with the leading of the Spirit and the leadership of faithful people who are laboring for the gospel side-by-side with us. I don't mean to dismiss any questions about volume. I'm simply affirming our vision and inviting the conversation, wherever it takes us.

After all that blah blah blah. It was a great day of ministry at KP and I pray people were ushered into God's presence and had the opportunity to ponder the questions posed by the "Payday" sermon:

What is my motivation in giving to the church?
Why does the church needs financial resources?
Am I giving because I have to or because I'm a part of a mission?
Am I giving my resources or my heart to God?

Thanks PD for a very challenging message.