Worship Team Upcoming Changes January 23, 2008

The next couple of weeks are going to be a bit different, so I thought y’all might like to know what’s going on. 

Rachel has had to step down from the worship team.  It’s nothing bad, no worries.  She’s going through some major transitions in her life right now and something had to give.  While we’re going to miss her terribly, I do agree that this was the right decision for her.  Hopefully she’ll be able to rejoin the team in the future.

As most of you already know, Bryant is in the awesome band, Altar’d.  Well, they’re going to be playing out of town for the next couple of weekends, so Bryant’s talent will be missing from our team for a bit.  No worries….he’ll be back.  This is an exciting time for Bryant & Altar’d and he’s going to be very busy for a while.  Though we’ll miss him for the next couple of weeks, I sincerely hope to see them get even busier and have super success.

While Bryant is out of town, Zack will be stepping off the bass guitar and onto acoustic.  Zack, thank you so much for your awesome flexibility!  I thank God for your sharing your talent in this way.

I am very excited about this next bit of information…..for the next two weeks, we have a special guest keyboard player joining us.  Raymond Harris is a talented, God-fearing musician and we are blessed to have him share is time and talents with us.  Raymond even transposed all our music for us!  WOW!  Raymond, you’ve already been a blessing and I look forward to working with you even morer.

Now for the obvious….our beautiful Jennifer is pregnant.  Like I said, this is obvious.    However, she’s entered into the last trimester which is definitely the hardest.  As the weeks progress, it will become more and more difficult.  Therefore, she will be stepping down from the worship team soon.  However, we don’t know when that will be.  So far, she’s been able to handle it pretty well.  But if you come to church one Sunday and she’s not up there singing with us, you’ll know why.  Jennifer, thank you for your dedication!  I know it’s not always easy to attend practices after working all day, but week after week you’ve been there.  Thank you!!!!  I swear we’ll have the “I Gotta Step Down” conversation soon.  I’m obviously avoiding it as long as I can. 

A few other changes:  Once we are in our permanent location, practices & LIFE Group will change to Friday nights.  For now they are still on Thursdays.  However, we are moving the time of the LIFE Group.  For the next few weeks, we will have practice first with our LIFE Group immediately following.  This is a temporary change but necessary to get us through the next five weeks.

Okay, I just gave a lot of  information.  If you have any questions about any of this, please feel free to call or email me at any time.  My number and email address are on the back of the church bulliten.  You can also contact me by leaving a comment here on the blog.  Thanks!

BIG BIG BIG NEWS! January 23, 2008

Okay, so since everybody already knows it, maybe it’s not new news, but I’m still super excited about it.  WE ARE SOON MOVING TO A PERMANENT HOME!!!!

Heart of Worship is purchasing a church on Hwy 28E in Pineville.  It is currently the Truthway Church.  They are moving to a new location and we are purchasing the building.  Our family gathered last night to tour the building and it is GORGEOUS!  Tons and tons of room to grow.  The current main worship center holds around 230 people, so we’ll have to start having two services right from the start.  However, the building has room to expand and hold approx. 900.  How cool is that?!  The fellowship hall, baptismal area, offices, classrooms, nursery, etc. are all super nice.  I’m so looking forward to this move!

For the worship/media teams, this means relief.  Right now, we’re having to set up, tear down and transport equipment every single week.  Not only is this time consuming, but it’s not healthy for our equipment.  Once we’re in a permanent building, everything can remain in one place.  This is going save so much time & effort AND it will add to the longevity of our equipment.  It will also make our practices go much more smoothly and quickly.  Whew!

For our church family, this will give a more stable feeling.  We are all committed to our church, but I think new people are more likely to come once we’re in a permanent location.  And isn’t that the ultimate goal….to reach new people for Christ?  Actually, new people are coming every week even while we’ve been in a hotel.  That’s been surprising to me.  I don’t know why it surprises me since God has proven time and again that He can do anything. 

So here’s the plan.  Starting this Sunday and for the next 5 weeks, we will be at Country Inn & Suites in Pineville.  Then, the first weekend in March (if everything goes well), we will be in our new permanent home on Hwy 28E.  Woohoo!