Ridgecrest Music Week 2011 Day Four

Well, today was the last full day of Ridgecrest.  As always, it was bittersweet.  The message this morning dealt with coming down from the mountain and how it's always a challenge after being on a spiritual high to come and face the challenges of everyday life.  Still, our speaker reminded us to stay strong, and as was a theme of the week for me personally:  focus on your personal calling and take joy in the fact that if God calls you, He will equip you, and in perilous times, He will give you a peace that you can't even put your mind around.  You can take solace in that, and in the fact that His return is promised.

My first small group class of the morning was a bit of a shift for me.  I decided, like I often do, to take a children/preschool choir leadership class to get refreshed on the latest trends in children's music ministry.  It may have been one of the biggest highlights of the week on a practical level for me.  We learned some new and renewed tricks and methodology that could add some variety in children's choir programs.  We discussed activities with rhythm sticks, lummy sticks, dowel rods, black lights, and boomwhackers.  We learned a few new silly songs as well.  It was informative and fun.

My other small group class of the day was with Craig Adams, a LifeWay employee, who had a very interesting session on maintaining healthy staff relationships.  I actually left very encouraged, thankful that I am very blessed to be in a staff who already work well together, which is sadly not the case in many other situations.  It was still great to get some reminders in how to assure that would continue.

The reading session today made up for the lackluster one yesterday.  There were several very good pieces, including some nice choral arrangements of some popular contemporary songs such as All of Creation, Our God, Glorious Day, and Travis Cottrell's updated version of "Just As I Am."  I also found two other anthems that I thought had some potential for possible use in an idea of a Christmas program I'm playing around with" "Emmanuel" and "Don't Be Afraid".  The first one would be a nice opener piece and the second, although very challenging in many ways, speaks a very important message that I think many folks are dealing with in today's time.

The evening feature was a concert featuring Jim Hammerly and family.  Jim apparently was formerly associated in some way with Brooklyn Tabernacle, and I'm learning that he is a heck of a keyboardist (and arranger).  His music had a very interesting jazz/gospel angle that was really unique.  I wasn't crazy about the group's vocals, but they did put a lot of heart into their presentation.  The second part of the evening featured a collegiate ensemble called "Voices of Mobile", directed by Roger Breland of Truth fame.  This group reminded me, actually of what would happen if you combined the tv show "Glee" with Breland's "Truth."  They were polished, had perfect harmonies, and impeccable stage presence.  Breland himself didn't disappoint with his periodic musings he would interject into the program.

It was another good day here, and tomorrow we head home.

Ridgecrest Music Week 2011 Day Three

What was supposed to be a lighter day turned out to be quite a full day.  I began the morning with another course from Levon Gray, who was the instructor for the multi-generational worship course the day before.  The topic this morning was on keys for building your worship ministry.  This was a good reminder course of sorts for me, as the topics dealt with issues related to building personal relationships with people in your ministry and paying special attention to special events and needs among your membership.  It also gave reminders about the importance of a growing spiritual life for ministers, as this will in turn be a model for those that follow you. The second course of the day was another from Randy Vader, who reminded us that the same God who creates glaciers and volcanoes is at work in and around us today.  


The reading sessions this afternoon were sadly unfruitful.  There were just a few good pieces in them today, one of them was a pull-out anthem from last year's "Joy Has Dawned" and the other a very pretty and unique version of "Silent Night."


Perhaps one of my favorite things to do during music week is to try to have some quiet time in the prayer garden and send some focused time with God, and I was able to do that today.  Since our Pastor had led us in a chapter in Colossians last Sunday, I felt compelled to do a little more study there this afternoon.  A passage that stood out to me was in the first chapter:

9 For this reason also, since the day we heard this, we haven't stopped praying for you. We are asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, 10 so that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing [to Him], bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God. 11 May you be strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for all endurance and patience, with joy 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the saints' inheritance in the light. 13 He has rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son He loves.

This passage reminded me, particularly in v. 10 about our daily walk with the Lord, and how everything we do should seek to please the Lord.  The HCSB Bible reference the word "walk" as meaning something just a bit deeper than just simply a journey.  It seemed to indicate that walk was "a way of life" or "behavior."  So, we should behave in a worthy manner and seek to make our faith an observable part of our lives, more than just a few kind deeds - a way of life.   This passage also reminded me of the exhortations in a recent choir anthem we did called "Order My Steps," where we proclaim "I want to walk worthy, Lord, My calling to fulfill..."   I was also reminded in Chapter 3 to:

5 Therefore, put to death what belongs to your worldly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desire, and greed, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these, God's wrath comes on the disobedient, 7 and you once walked in these things when you were living in them. 8 But now you must also put away all the following: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and filthy language from your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self. You are being renewed in knowledge according to the image of your Creator.

Many of these things we are to "put to death" seem quite obvious, but others, such as "malice" and "anger" tend to sneak up on us and we are swimming in them before we know it.  Paul tells us to either "put them to death" or "put them away" in this translation.  Either presents a good imagery for when these issues crop up...and they will.  


It has become a new tradition during music week that Wednesday afternoons have a little more free time, and the Wednesday evening event is a little more "simpler."  However, we got a real treat tonight with the premiere of the new movie from Sherwood Baptist Church, who brought us "Facing the Giants" and "Fireproof."  It was called "Courageous" and will open in theaters in September.  The movie was aimed at parents, specifically fathers, and dealt with several issues related to parenting responsibility and personal integrity.  Two thumbs up from me.  Perhaps the best one from these folks yet.  The acting and production quality was much better than with their other movies, and the character development was much improved too.  It is a heavy, emotional film that packs a punch.  We were worried about how Ginny and Nathan would handle a two hour movie aimed at adults, but they both did surprisingly well this evening and allowed Sharon and I to enjoy it.

Ridgecrest Music Week 2011 Day Two

Well, we ended our first full day at Ridgecrest.  It was a great day!  We began with a "general session" from Randy Vader, who is a gifted communicator and storyteller (not to mention the founder of PraiseGathering Music) for some words of inspiration.  He spoke on "two words" very important to music ministry.  Those words were "so that" which referenced the many times in the bible that qualifying phrase was used to describe the "why" or "purpose" of why we do something.  In other words, learning to evaluate everything we do in ministry for WHY we do it.  Why do we have choir, for example?  SO THAT God can be glorified through our music-making and that we can encourage and inspire others to do the same.  The second hour was a reading session from PraiseGathering which mainly focused on some new cantatas and collections, but did feature one new pull out anthem I really liked:  http://www.praisegathering.com/Site/Detail.asp?tid=14153  This is an arrangement of a very old Michael W. Smith Christmas Song, that surprisingly I don't remember despite being a mega Michael W. Smith fan.

After worship and another great message by Mike Glenn, I had another class that was tailor-made for music leaders at churches like Southside, one that dealt with multigenerational congregations, and how to look at music selection from a blended perspective.  In fact, the speaker mentioned that he preferred the term "balanced" more than blended, because blending gave the picture of something being chopped and diced all to pieces, where balanced offering a mixture of things that kept their original intent and character despite being stylistically different.  He alluded many times to his dislike of having separate worship services for separate ages, implying that in itself has led to some of the stylistic battles over the years. Some interesting thoughts, anyway.

We had another reading session which focused on publishers other than LifeWay.  I'm very glad they do these each year, since it gives you a chance to see other companies materials without having to subscribe to and be inundated with tons of preview packs and junk mail.  These sessions are always interesting, as they will feature everything from classical to Brooklyn Tabernacle-style pieces and everything in between.  There were a few pieces that I really liked in this session.  Three of my favorites were from Word Music, who other than LifeWay, seem to have selections that match my taste and the needs of the congregations I've served.

http://www.wordmusic.com/item/080689033230
http://www.wordmusic.com/item/080689037238
http://www.wordmusic.com/item/080689041235

The first two are more towards the contemporary side, but both have beautiful melodies and great messages. The last one, a little more bluegrass in flavor.  All three are ballads for the most part, and would be good possible choices for us.  We also heard two very nice pieces from Cindy Berry, who never fails to have some very nice pieces.

The afternoon and early evening brought a very big thunderstorm our way that unfortunately forced a cancellation of a bonfire for Nathan's daycamp, which was too bad.  Nathan and Ginny are having fun in their respective classes, although Ginny is still having a bit of separation anxiety and tears for the first few minutes of saying good-bye to mom, but altogether not too bad.  Nathan is getting used to needing to come to the evening sessions with us since he is old enough, and frankly, the little guy is a bit bored and restless, as one might imagine in a two hour concert each night.  Having two little ones with you at this event is definitely hard work, even with the child care, but I'm still glad they are here.

The evening feature was a two-parter.  The first part was the Louisiana Baptist All-State Youth Choir, who were very good.  The second half featured the worship teams and band from FBC Woodstock, who were a very Brooklyn-Tabernacle style high-energy choir.  They rocked it out in other words.  They did a very unique alternate rhythm version of Michael W. Smith's "Great is the Lord" that was very interesting.

All in all, another good day.  Much to process through in my brain after all this!

 

 

Ridgecrest Music Week 2011 Day One

Well, we made it to Ridgecrest safe and sound this afternoon with high expectations the Lord would give us another year of revitalization and rest through what I still believe is the best training event for church musicians anywhere.  There is one major change this year for us, the addition to Ginny in our family, which with her having never traveled for this long away from her new home, we were worried how she might handle this week.  Well, so far so good.  There were a few tears from her when she went into her daycare class, but she seems to be having a good time.

There were only three events today.  The first for me was a music reading session from LifeWay.  They showed off the newest addition in the Let's Sing family of cantatas, of which we at Southside have done three.  This one is another Christmas book. Like its predecessors, it is fantastic all the way around.  My plans for Christmas this year have so far leaned to doing more of a "greatest hits" type production using Christmas music from years past with possibly drama thrown in.  However, hearing this new musical made me very tempted to change my mind.  I also fell in love with a standalone anthem called "A Mighty Fortress," which despite the familiar title, is a totally brand new piece.

After an orientation meeting for parents for Day Care and Day Camp (Nathan is now old enough for the Day Camp, which does more outdoor and recreation type things), we had supper and concluded with opening worship, which was led Travis Cottrell, who did a great job, and introduced me to a couple of new worship songs I may jsut take a look at for future worship services.  In fact, one song, "To the King" I have already downloaded from Discover Worship with the intent of starting the choir on it in the next few months.

Here's a link to one of the songs I really liked from Travis Cottrell called "Jesus Saves."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qe4nqChcB_g

Senior Adult Choir Tour 2011 Day Four

On our last day of the trip, it was pretty much a travel day, as we headed back toward North Carolina.  However, we were able to squeeze in a few more stops in what was a fruitful and fun trip.  First, we began the morning with a brief tour of Southern Seminary, our host for the week, where a student guide shared with us a little about what Southern does to train future ministry leaders, as well as point out the functions of different buildings and departments.  Then, we hit the road.  As we passed through Lexington again, we this time stopped for a mini-tour of the Old Kentucky Chocolates Factory, where we got an insiders tour at how they make their delectable treats, and followed that up with shopping in their store.  Next door was our lunch stop, "Butt Rubb in' BBQ,"  which despite the risqué title, was actually a wonderful restaurant.  The proprietor was a nice lady named Leigh, who got quite emotional when the choir sang "Happy Birthday" to her in the restaurant.  That was a nice ministry moment to finish up the tour with.   The rest of the trip was pleasantly uneventful, with lots of fellowship opportunities, rest, and an Andy Griffith marathon on the bus DVD.  We arrived back in NC safe and sound thanks to the Lord's graces, and right on schedule.  

The Legacy Center, our home for the week

Betty Carver tests our the echo in the Seminary Pavilion lobby

Kitty at Old Kentucky Chocolates tells us how they make their candy

Old Kentucky Chocolate Factory/Store

Part of our group poses for a picture at, well, you can read the sign....

Senior Adult Choir Tour 2011 Day Three

Day three of our tour was set aside to be 100% sightseeing and touring Louisville sites.  We began the day with a three stop "Landmarks" tour, which included visits at the Louisville Slugger Museum, a ride on the Spirit of Jefferson riverboat, and a visit to the Glassworks Art Gallery.  Aside from the perils of navigating our large church bus through the busy downtown and riverfront areas in Louisville (which our driver Sam has done a fantastic job with), it was a very relaxing and pleasant day.  Then after a few hours of free time in the afternoon, we ate dinner at one of my favorite Louisville restaurants, W. W. Cousins, which is sort of a Fuddruckers-type burger joint with a topping bar.  Yummy.  During our free time at the seminary before dinner, I was personally able to walk around the halls of what was the music wing and walked through Norton Hall and the new Pavilion area and chapel connected to it.  Those new additions look great.  I got a surprise phone call from a seminary classmate who still works at the seminary and lives in the area, and we had a god chat.  At dinner, I was surprised to meet with two dear friends from the church I served in Louisville who had made a big impact on my life.  After this day, I was glad to be able to return to the room early to hopefully get in bed sooner than normal in order to prepare for our departure early in the morning.  

Our choir enjoys a scenic river cruise

The Spirit of Jefferson

New Pavilion Center at the Seminary

New Broadus Chapel at the Seminary

With my friends Ginny and Dave at W.W. Cousins