Ridgecrest Music Week 2015 Day Four

Whew.  I'm bushed.  It's been a pretty good day, though, with another good round of classes and worship times.  

I started off the day with a class from Liberty professor John Kinchen, who spoke on humility in worship leadership.  He was one of the most engaging speakers of the week - you could tell he's a prof!  He had some great sound byte moments with statements such as "There is only one "I" In Worship - I AM!"  And "The church is a perfect institution, until you add people."  He used the example of Christ to parallel the humility we should have as worship leaders. 

Next was another class with Slater Murphy on Keys to Worship Leading excellence.  He gave a very practical list of game-changing principles in areas of personal and church life for ministers.  Most were just refreshers and reminders for me, but there were a few principles that I hadn't really spent much thought on that we're very helpful.

A theme I've that kept coming up in several classes or so was the issue of verbal transitions between songs and how best to handle these segue times.  Slater's class danced into this area, but our worship leader for the week, Jeremy Busler had a whole hour on the subject.  This is an area I had not spent much though on previously.  Much of the discussion dealt with limiting your spoken transitions to just a few very thought-out and very intentional words.  There were some very good thoughts about flow and transition in general too in Jeremy's class.  

A week ending tradition is Mike Harland's Q & A, where we get a chance to ask him anything on our hearts.  Since it was burning a hole inside of me wanting more information, I asked him about the reasonings behind moving the week to Gatlinburg and away from Ridgecrest.  I appreciated his honest response.  He shared that much discussion about canceling or moving the week had been going on for many years, and that attendance for the week was down overall, and did not seem to be attracting the new generations of worship leaders like they had hoped.  Originally the idea was to move the week to Nashville, but when the LifeWay building sold, that changed things.  At that point, they tried to secure Ridgecrest again, but their summer schedule had already been filled up.  So, since the Music on the Mountain event in Gatlinburg had shown signs of growing over the last few years, they have decided to give Gatlinburg a try.  Coming back to Ridgecrest is not out of the question, but who knows when that will be or what it will look like.  Still, my soul is sad because of this decision. For me, the event and the place are inseparable, and the long history of this camp inspiring and refueling generations of church musicians, myself one of them, ending because of this experiment into a new locale and format just still does't make sense in my brain.  Will I give it a try? I'm honestly not sure.  It's further away and likely will be more expense out of pocket for my family.  As it takes shape, I'll pray about it and evaluate the options. I've thought about trying Oasis or Choral Festival instead, or maybe just taking a year off completely.  

In worship today, Jay dealt with the issue of unity.  One neat thing was that they involved the children's choir, of which Ginny was a part in the worship songs on stage.  They also were a part of the evening feature with Tommy Walker tonight. Sidebar: You know, I love Tommy Walker, he's a great worship leader, but it's his third time being here in the last 5 years or so.  He never disappoints, but it almost smells a bit of croney-ism.  End sidebar.  :)  I was thrilled that Ginny got a chance to perform on the Ridgecrest stage, though, meaning that now everyone in my family has done that in some way.  That's a blessing.   Can you find Ginny below?

After the concert tonight, we walked over and explored the amphitheater that they are restoring.  Mike Harland had told us that years ago there was a rock amphitheater, which they built the Crystal Springs conference center right in front of obscuring it from view.  The amphitheater fell into neglect and the forest reclaimed it.  Well in the last year, Crystal Springs was raized, and Ridgecrest apparantly decided to resurrect this old amphitheater.  I had no idea this was even there. 

Sharon also was able to find the lake up on the mountain, which also I had never seen.  Tomorrow morning we leave and head home.  I hope that I can soon find my way back here, and more ideally, hope that LifeWay will realize that this is the true home for Music Week.  

Ridgecrest Music Week 2015 Day Three

Today has turned out to be a very encouraging day.  Although the thought of Music Week being somewhere other than Ridgecrest isn't leaving my mind anytime soon, I've had a lot of very good classes today, some time on the mountain with just me and God, and some great conversations with others in ministry.

I started the day with a class highlighting the Growing in Grace Curriculum from Terry Taylor and Paula Farrar.  It was great. Very reminiscent of the old CMS materials - very music education based.  I really liked this curriculum and think the preschool track may would be a good fit for us.   I may even look at it for our older kids too. I had bought a little sampler pack from the bookstore and saw Terry and Paula in the cafeteria later and asked them a question.  They are so nice and have a ministerial heart about what they do.  They told me to go and get the companion CD for free from their room.  

My second class of the day was with Slater Murphy called "Working from the Overflow." It ended up being more an hour commercial for planning center online, but that's okay, as I had wanted to learn about that anyway, although I'm not sure I'm sold on the value of a $50 per month music administrative software suite yet.  People rave about it, but my system for worship planning seems to work for me, and the size church for which I'm at I don't think warrants that sort of software at this point.  

Worship was great again today too.  Jay dealt with the church's responsibility to "tell the story" and how we shouldn't assume folks already know it.  Ginny has been old enough to be in worship with us this week, and part of the emphasis of the week has been generations worshipping together, and they actually changed the schedule so families could worship together this year.  Not sure she got a lot out of the sermon today, though:

The highlight of the day, and maybe the whole conference so far, strangely, was the preview of the 2016 VBS music. This has never been done before, but it was really great.  We got to meet and talk to the folks behind the VBS music (and many other things in LifeWay land) and listen to all of the main songs for VBS Submerged!  Especially touching was getting to hear the God moments and sentimental stories behind the writing of some of the songs.  We were "instructed" not to share any details, so I won't on this public blog, but nevertheless this was a special treat.

I had a free block of time in the afternoon, which I spent in the prayer garden.  Despite the painful reality that it was uncertain when I would ever get to come back here, I had some nice moments with God,  I spent some time in Psalm 80, where Asaph's song is pleading to God to restore Israel.  He cited God's care for the nation in the past and lamented its current state of oppression from other nations.  I can't help but to think of my nation with this prayer in mind as well.  The Lord reminded me through this passage and a few others (like Proverbs 3) that the Lord disciplines those He loves.  I think this does not apply only to the individual, but to groups, churches, and nations.  Sometimes the righteous are collateral damage in the disciplining, but that does not excuse us from seeking to be righteous and reminding others about the statutes of God.  

Oh, and this was my friend that stayed with me on the prayer bench that I was at :

The evening feature tonight was a screening of the new movie "War Room", but Sharon and I are going to meet up with Ginny in a bit and hang out together in the Nibble Nook instead tonight.  We also got to see some good pictures of Nathan from CentriKid that were shared on Facebook,  so we were glad to know he's doing well.  

Ridgecrest Music Week 2015 Day Two

First of all, I faced the day not on all cylinders today.  For some still yet to be determined reason, I only got about two hours of sleep last night. Not sure if it was because I had caffeine to close to bed, the bed itself was uncomfortable, it was hot in the room, or the excessive "cardio" I've been doing walking up and down the hills around here.  Could be a combination of all of it.  

Still it was an informative and educational day.  I begin the day with an early class with Amanda Singer, who was overviewing the upcoming semesters of Children's Worship Series.  I really like how it is layed out, but have always felt since they introduced it last year, that it's a bit too contemporary of a model for our kiddos. It's also divided into a younger and older series, but with me having grades 1-6 combined, I would have to pick either or.  Apparantly they are starting a more traditional series back called Growing in Grace, which is a reboot of sorts of the older Children's music series with an emphasis on music education and worship. Sharon saw a teaser of that material today, and she was impressed.  I had previously thought it was just for preschool, but it will span through all of the elementary grades.  

Two good reading sessions today.  The first from PraiseGathering gleaned a few good selections such as an upbeat Southern Gospel piece called "Fear Not", a Mary McDonald piece called "All Because of the Wonderful Cross" to name a few.  In the LifeWay session in the afternoon, I got to hear the new Let's Sing Cantata "Come and Behold Him" which is very good, and a contemporary cantata called "That's Where the Story Began" that has some promise.  There was also a Phil Barfoot pull out anthem called "He Still Saves" that I really liked, and that's saying something, because most of his things are not a good fit for us.  Mike Harland posted this picture of the reading session, and if you have a good eye, you'll see my lovely head way up on the first row.  

I had two more "philosophical classes" ;) in the afternoon, one being from our conference pastor Jay Strother and his worship leader Jeremy Busler on multigenerational worship.  Some very good thoughts on what I've held as a tenant of my philosophy for years - that worship services should be designed for multiple ages to worship together.  This was followed by a class with Jon Duncan on Christ-Centered worship. I remembered that I had Dr. Duncan in a class here several years ago, and much of the material was the same.  It took scriptures on worship (like the Isaiah 6 passage) and went a little deeper with them.  

I decided to skip tonight's concert with "This Hope" since I had heard them not too long ago, and my brain was full.  It's been a bit of a discouraging evening, as I'm hearing that this may be the last Music  Week at Ridgecrest.  They are looking to move the event to Gatlinburg next year.  Words cannot describe how sad this makes me feel.  I'm not ruling out going to it, but I can't see this event being nearly as meaningful for me not being on this precious campus.  But in many ways as of late, the Lord has been showing me that sometimes you just have to let your aspirations on how you would like to see things burn themselves down into a pile of ashes so they can be rebuilt in His design.  Perhaps from time to time I've idolized this place more than the Creator that had sanctified it.  If so, lesson learned.  I think we all need to take time to inventory what really matters, and I think I'm in one of those seasons.  

To the three or so of you all out there who actually may read this, please pray that I'll make these transitions according to His plans....and that I'll get more than two hours sleep tonight as well.  :)

Ridgecrest Music Week 2015 Day One

This year's Ridgecrest is a bit different in the fact that for the first time in several years, Nathan is not with us.  He chose instead to go with the church group to CentriKid, which ironically is happening at my alma-mater, Gardner-Webb.  So, it's just Ginny, Sharon, and myself this time around, which gives the siblings a nice break from each other, and a little less childcare "management" for us to worry about while here.

I have to laugh at myself as I type this, because this "ministry blog" has mainly become mainly a Ridgecrest journal, as that's about the only times that I have to really sit down and write, reflect, and so forth.  It really reminds me that I SO miss writing. 

Every Ridgecrest event I am privileged to attend, I am usually a different state of mind when entering the campus.  Some years it's been jubilant expectation, sometimes it's been pure nostalgia, sometimes it's the depths of discouragement.  This year is different for me.  It's just simply exhaustion.  It's not that good things are not happening, it's not that I feel like I'm in the pit of despair looking upwards...it's just pure unadulterated exhaustion with the fear of more responsibilities being heaped upon me to which I may bend or break under.  But, there is a little spiritual déjà vu too, in that being in this place reminds me that the one that has called me will equip me to get through this transitional time and the realization that the same patterns of behavior, the same traps, the same thorns, the same discouragers, always come, and always go, but the Lord's provision endures forever.  

Okay, now that I've suffered you all through that "cheery introduction" (which realistically only about three real people will actually read), I'll give you a quick update to this first day.  Arriving on campus, we were happy to be staying in Rhododendron again this year, but this time, we actually had a real window, unlike last year where we had a sliver of light peering out from a roof with a lovely view of AC units.  ;) Rhododendron is the most central place to stay on campus, in my opinion.  For the first time ever, our window faces the mountain and the giant cross perched upon it, which is what most people consider the symbol of Ridgecrest.   Below is our ACTUAL view.  Pretty cool, huh?

Tonight's feature was Geron Davis and Kindred Souls. Geron Davis is the composer or "Holy Ground" and "Precious Lamb of Glory."  I have a confession to make.  I had always thought, or had been incorrectly told, that Geron Davis was, -ahem- African American, because of his very soulful style.  So, imagine my surprise when a Caucasian man walked on stage.  All these years and I had never see a picture of the guy!  It's humorous how we all make assumptions like that from time to time.  It was a very great start to the week.  He did sing Holy Ground, which was a treat for everyone, and told the story behind writing it when he was 18 years old.  When I was 18, the only thing I wrote was letters to my girlfriend and term papers.  

Uncharacteristic for us, we went to the Nibble Nook on the first night, because we had free coupons as a bonus for our registration this year.  That's when the storm hit.  Fortunately we didn't get soaked, but nevertheless we had the whole Nibble Nook to ourselves just about.  

Looking forward to a full day of classes tomorrow.  But, looking more forward to some moments of rest (if I can).  It's always a battle between wanting to soak in as much as I can, and making myself pause and refresh.  

Wish I had the energy of this seven year old we've brought with us...