Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Writing again from the music room, I'm pretty tired and didn't begin this prior to being tired, so...this one will likely be short, though I wrote an article on serving within a changing church and figured to include that as part of this blog entry. Given this medium, if you'd care to, I'd really like to know what your thoughts are on the article, so in this case, please do leave a comment regarding the article if you have the urge.
I may look at adding another blog address for the articles I've done as well, though those are often well over a thousand words, so the blog posting sizes will be pretty good size. I haven't decided what to do with that yet.

Anyway, we got more work done around and in the house today, though not much to "write home about" so to speak. Success was our in selling the three bar stools we have moved from home to home for a years now. We didn't make a lot of money on them, but we sold them on Craig's List and had action within 2 days of posting. CC's searching the house now for things for me to post and sell...I've kept her OUT of the music room.
Another neat thing from today was the conclusion of a Phil Collins MPEG download of his last concert in Paris. The quality is exceptional as is the audio on it. It's only 55 minutes long, but a great selection of songs beginning with "In The Air Tonight". His ace staple players, Daryl Streumer (guitar) and Chester Thompson (drums) and on bass was good friend Leland Sklarr joining him for the concert. Very good short show.
*****
Two HUGE praises have been a indescribable blessing to CC and I, and they are gifts from a church family and from the Deacons in the church. Thanks to them, we should be able to make our mortgage payment this month. I reads to impressivley trite, but all I have are these little letters on these little keys in front of me to use in an attempt to declare our appreciation.
*****
Not much more I can say and not much follows that up, so with that, here is the article titled "Transitional Stability"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Transitional Stability
-by wade odum

What happens when a guy like me, an audio engineer, is hired to work in a church directly underneath a Minister of Music and then, that Minister of Music moves on to another calling. What is my role now? Who do I answer to, from a creative point of view? What are my priorities to be when the new Minister or Pastor of Worship is hired?

Transitional Stability seems like a good working title…Let’s go with it for the time being, we don’t want anything too permanent, no? We’ll see…

My case and background is not as common as it could I, I suppose, having been an audio engineer since my very early teens, learning a love for it by my late teens and now in my forties having right about 30 years experience of running sound for “somebody else”. I bring a fair amount to the sound and media plate in regards to the scenario suggested above, so my intent here is to share some wisdom from the years and perspective from the tech to find some common grounding and fruitful soil.

If you’ve read some of my perspectives prior to now, you’ll likely know that I believe the role of a sound tech within a church structure is to provide audio excellence to the Lord. In like pursuit, we provide to the congregation by providing it first to the leadership, so that Sunday mornings (Saturday and Wednesday nights too) are the best offerings we can bring corporately before God and to Him as well. That is to say that the engineer provides the best service he or she can to the leaders within the service and they lead the congregation before the Lord in Worship and Praise and we then look to God to make Himself tangible and “real” in a sense, as the pastor brings The Word. The sound tech’s job, within that structure or frame, is to give the leadership an audible platform to be seen, heard and recorded in most cases. Now, having said that, I will take it further and suggest that the “style” of Worship has little bearing on the goals of a dedicated technician. It shouldn’t matter whether or not the Worship is organ-based, band-based, orchestra enhanced, drum-driven, a capella, acoustic, chant or just spoken word; whatever the platform pursued, it is our job as sound people to provide the leadership with the “sound vehicle” to get to the congregation.

In some very blessed churches, much technology has been given and I believe much is expected. In Luke 12, verses 40 through 48, Jesus is speaking to His disciples about being ready for the Son of Man’s imminent return, and though I’m certain he did not have this situation in mind, I do believe that we can pull some worthy tools from the passage:

Luke 12:40-50: 40You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him." 41Peter asked, "Lord, are you telling this parable to us, or to everyone?"
42The Lord answered, "Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom the master puts in charge of his servants to give them their food allowance at the proper time? 43It will be good for that servant whom the master finds doing so when he returns. 44I tell you the truth, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. 45But suppose the servant says to himself, 'My master is taking a long time in coming,' and he then begins to beat the menservants and maidservants and to eat and drink and get drunk. 46The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers. 47"That servant who knows his master's will and does not get ready or does not do what his master wants will be beaten with many blows. 48But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.

So, am I silly enough to be suggesting folks be beaten if they aren’t ready for downbeat…well…uh, let’s not ask that question, let’s address some of the relevant points, shall we?
First, I believe that God does expect much from those he has given much to and I believe that includes the church, its technologies and its personnel. I also believe, as in the parable, it doesn’t matter the nature of the master, it matters the disposition of the servant. I take from that observation that the master is equivalent with the church, and the servant is the equivalent of the leader in the church service, i.e. the director, worship leader, sound person, etc. We are to be ready each and every time called on to provide the service we’ve been pledged to, some would argue whether we are paid or not, and it does not matter as to the style of Worship we bring unto God, only that we bring our very best in talents and offerings. Granted, the biblical equivalence takes some wide “interpretation” but I hope the message is pretty clear; whether you are directing a choir, an organist or a pianist (or both), a 5 piece band with amps and acoustic drums or an acoustic guitarist, and whether or not you are miking each of the above or only one of the above, you are to do your job with all that you have in your own offering to the Lord. Would we behave differently if we knew that Jesus was going to be visiting our church that morning? We would all first want to say “No, not at all!” however, given a moment to reflect, I believe in all reality that, yes, we would behave differently (and likely the stress over what songs to choose and in what order they should be done would likely bring early graves to some of us). The point is, though, that we should not be bringing anything differently and we should be clear of conscience that we are offering our very best gifts each time we step up. The real world brings about a clash between “Spiritual Satisfaction” and the “Physical Church”. “Spiritual Satisfaction”, in this case, is a term interpreted to convey simply that we have indeed offered and done our best on Sunday morning. The “Physical Church” is essentially the embodiment of the waiting comparison to the church down the block (or nearby city) who has more numbers than we do and they had more this past Sunday which means they somehow brought something better to God than we did and we better figure out how to do what they did instead of being concerned with God and what He wants and if we brought it to Him. If we lose focus on our goals as servants and choosing not to be concerned with “The Church of the Joneses” and give our best in service then it truly shouldn’t matter which style of Worship is done as long as it is done to the very best of our skills, musically or technically.

Copyright © 2006