WOW! Where did May go?

I can't believe May is almost gone! April seemed to drag on forever (because Easter was in March), May finally started and BAM!! (doing my best Emeril imitation) June is here.

The transition to our interim worship scenario has been smooth by most accounts, and that is because we have had so many people step up and get stuff done. Thanks to you all!

One particular group has been our sound team. Last Thursday, four of us went to NYC to receive training on our new Sound Board, the Yamaha M7CL.

This board is AMAZING, and will be the brain behind the system that goes in the new sanctuary. It has been a huge benefit for us to have the board early. That way we can learn it now, and hit the ground running when the new facilities open. It has also tightened up our sound in the gym. The band never sounded so good!

(This paid advertisement brought to you by Yamaha, now ... back to the story)

So... On Thursday, May, 22, Matt Douglas, Rob Elkins, Bill Ebbott and I made our way to SIR
(Studio Instrument Rental) in NYC for a day in intensive training on the board.

The training was of huge value! Having had two weeks on the board with the training we received from Advanced Audio Visual, we were able to get around. But the training we received from Yamaha took that knowledge and applied it to the rest of the board. It taught us ways to think about sound and the logic of the board. The best part, ... the one day event, including continental breakfast, lunch, software, jump drive, and polo shirt was...FREE! Yamaha does it right, and because of that we have nothing but high recommendation for their product and their customer relations.

On our first morning break, we walked out of our studio into the hallway to stretch our legs, and heard a band kickin' it in the other studio. They were VERY good, and we all wondered who they were. We happened to glance down at the road gear stacked in the hallway and saw this...


No... it couldn't be "Steely Dan", the 70's fusion band, could it? Sure enough, and at the next break, we had a chance to talk to part of their crew. They were in town for a week, doing some local shows, and were using SIR for practice. It was a blast to hear them play, and check out their gear.

Following a long day, we had a great meal at Don Giovanni's on 21st St. and 10th Ave, and caught the train home.

(Personal sidebar: I sat next to a gentleman on the way home who was from Edina, MN and who loved the TWINS! The hour train ride flew by as we discussed the Johan Santana trade, and the adventure in center field that is Carlos Gomez. It was very enjoyable! I think God delights in arranging those kind of small details in life to show us how much he loves us.)

BVBC People are OUTSTANDING!

It is 1:00 Tuesday morning, I have been on my feet since 7:00 Monday morning, but I can't sleep. I am so proud of a group of 40 people who dedicated a portion or all of their Monday to help us strip our sanctuary, load everything that needed to be stored in the trailer, set up the worship environment in the gym, and prepare our equipment for the worship experience at McCrery's. At the end of the day, the entire Sanctuary was stripped, the Library was emptied of extra book shelves and set up for the "Coffee Corner", and the band had its first rehearsal in the gym using the new Aviom in ear monitors.

While having all that work done is exciting (pictures to come, right Cassie?!), what was far more exciting to me was watching these 40 people step up and take ownership of their church. Pastor Mark challenged people to engage the next 18 months. He said, "You want to be able to say, "Do you remember when we ..." The people who helped us today engaged. They will be able to say, "Remember when we stripped the sanctuary in a day? I was there!"

It was also amazing to watch people who have called BVBC their home for many years meet each other for the first time, as they worked together on this project. We will see this happening a lot over the next few weeks, as people worship at different times and in a different location. No more sitting in "My Pew!" It is going to be fun to watch!

Time to go to bed! Thanks to all you who were able to help today. You were amazing! You were the church today!

Sign Language when there are no deaf people present?

Two weeks ago (I know, I am very late with this post!) we used a creative presentation of Psalm 139 to set up the choir's anthem, "Everlasting God" by Tom Fettke. Suzanne Howell, a blind member of my choir, read Psalm 139 from a braille Bible. At the same time, Kara Clark, a member of our congregation, did a sign language interpretation. It was a very powerful presentation, and I was very pleased with the response.

One of the questions that came back to us was, "If there are no deaf people in the congregation, why use sign language? Isn't that just showy then?" I appreciate that question, because it allows me to get back to the conversation about removing distractions from our worship environments.

One of the greatest distractions we face in worship is monotony, the same old thing in the same old way. Had we read Psalm 139 as we normally read it, it would have been effective, it is God's word. But I believe human nature would have taken over, and by verse 4 or 5, we may have mentally tuned out. Having someone sign the verses engaged our congregation, myself included. I was watching each gesture, trying to see how each movement represented the words being spoken. I was engaged for all 24 verses. My choir members, who sit facing the congregation, commented that it looked as though the congregation was very engaged with the reading, as well.

Will we do this every week? Of course not! It would loose its effectiveness. But on this particular Sunday, I was very pleased with the results.

Getting excited!

Just to see what this might look, sound, and feel like, we held our Monday night Worship Ensemble practice in the gym, complete with our sound system, video system (roughed in) and 350 chairs!

We were pleasantly surprised with the sound, and we will see what happens once all the equipment is in place! It is going to be a new season for us, full of new opportunities. Pray that God allows us to seize those (His) opportunities and reach more people with His great story!

Getting Ready...

Pastor Mark Smith is preaching this weekend at church, and as an illustrator, he is using a clip from the film "Gettysburg". It should be a powerful illustration, but it got me thinking about the rest of my week in a very different way.

Monday, May 5 is a huge workday at church. We will be stripping the sanctuary of everything we need to keep (video system, Organ, Piano, Audio System, lights, costumes, robes, decorations, other equipment). We will also be prepping our gym for the contemporary worship services that begin there next Sunday, May 11. We will also preparing our equipment for McCrery's, the site of our traditional worship services starting also on Sunday, May 11. It is going to be a very busy day!

This week is turning into a huge preparation for that day. It is almost like preparing for battle. We know that date of the "battle". Until then, we will stockpile supplies (in our case, making sure we have all the right equipment (patch cables, rack mounts, etc.)), review our troupe lists (volunteers who are coming to help out), and our battle plan, (making sure we have the right people doing the right things in the right sequence.)

It is going to be very exciting, and I am so grateful for those who have already signed up to help out. We are going to be a good crew!