See, I told you I’d come back in a better mood. 
I just had to readjust my attitude. I think it’s the rain. I’ve heard that the weather can greatly affect our moods, and apparently it’s true.
Something fun is happening tonight. We’re having auditions for the ensemble choir and for musicians. These auditions are going to be VERY informal. So if you would like to sing or play an instrument, come by Country Inn and Suites tonight at 6pm. Have with you a song that well displays your vocal range or musical ability and be prepared to do a portion of it. Call or email me if you have any questions. Or you can just leave a comment here and I’ll get in touch with you. We are also having our LIFE Group before the auditions. We’d love for you to join us! 5:30 at Country Inn & Suites.
Because we have a group coming in to sing Sunday, the worship team will not be having a regular practice this week. We are still meeting though. After the auditions, we’re going to be working on some new music and improving some familiar songs. I love the times when we can focus on improving our skill rather than just preparing for the next service. At our regular practices, there’s usually so much to do in prep for the following Sunday that we don’t have time to just improve our skills as musicians. So tonight is going to be a real treat.
You know, I think I’ll talk about that for a minute. There are two very important things that we as worship team must combine….worship and skill. Right now, I’m not going to address the worship aspect of it, but am going to focus only on the skill aspect of being on a worship team. So don’t think I’m ignoring the worship aspect as it’s of utmost importance. I juts want to talk about musical skill right now.
The average band (NOT worship team) usually has one set that they do repeatedly. Every once in a while they’ll change it up and throw something new in, but for the most part they do the same songs every time they hit the stage. For the band, this makes life much easier. They work on a single set of songs each time they rehearse. They work and work and work until they’ve perfected that set of songs. Then when they get on the stage, they can play the songs with little effort since the songs are permanently embedded in their brains.
Not so with a worship team. Every single week, a worship team has an entirely new set of songs to work on. Sure, we may do a lot of the same songs over the course of several months, but for the most part it’s new songs every week. Some are familiar, some are brand new. For instance, if we learn a brand new song this week and do it again next week, then we’re pretty familiar with the song. But then we might not do that song again for another three months. In that time, we’ve pretty much forgotten the song. So the next time we do it, it won’t be with as much perfection as if we had done it repeatedly week after week.
Practice makes a huge difference, but it still doesn’t perfect the music. As musicians, this can be both exciting and frustrating. Typically, musicians are fast movers. We like to learn new songs and get bored with the old stuff quickly. However, we want to play with the best of our skills and perfect our craft. That’s impossible to do when you’re doing a completely different set each week. That can get frustrating at times.
There are things we can do to help with this though. For instance, we can practice throughout the week. Our lives are just as busy as everyone else’s, but we make time for what’s important to us. If playing skillfully matters to us, we will ensure that we make time each week to practice. Also, every once in a while, we can have a rehearsal that has absolutely nothing to do with preparing for a Sunday service. Rather, it is a time just to work on the songs we already know and to mesh together as a team. Things like that make a big difference.
And that’s why I’m excited about tonight. It’s one of those times where the only agenda is to improve our skills as musicians and blend better as a team. And the best part? We always end up in worship. I love that!
Anyway, if y’all could pray for her during this last month of her pregnancy, I know she would greatly appreciate it.
