Thank you, thank you! In the time between my writing and your reading of this article, we will be even closer to our financial goal to have the finest technology we could imagine. It is to be installed at the beginning of Advent. How exciting! (How nerve-wracking!) So many mixed emotions abound. Top of them all is joy at the knowledge that we will soon be able to faithfully and without compromise meet ALL our parishioners whether in person or at home (or far from home for whatever reason, longing to stay connected). Every one of your donations represents a vote of trust that staff and volunteers will use these new tools to reach out effectively, serve faithfully, worship passionately. As one of the people who will be diving into all the new owner’s manuals and seeking out advice and best practices from online forums, Google searches, and YouTube tutorials, I excitedly await the installation in early December.
It’s a lot to take in, as you can imagine. There’s a lot to learn, and a lot of burn-out that could happen if we don’t listen to our bodies as we dive headfirst into all things new at what is already the busiest time of year for any church worker. But, now I’m two months ahead of myself. Still, it’s important to keep in mind where we are headed, as this balance must inform our path this fall.
As we move into the sanctuary mid-October, it will be wonderful to hear our instruments again! Expect our Morning Glory group of impromptu singers to appear throughout October and into November and December. This spontaneous group will be complemented by a few selected Sundays where we will have a prepared anthem/special music that will be rehearsed in advance. I will email about those required rehearsal dates as we approach (as well as in the November and December Steeple issues). I also intend to keep our fully online music appreciation classes active into the future, it now being one of the most rewarding occurrences on any of the many calendars I keep.
It will be a gentle easing into whatever the music program will look like for the future. As we compare our possibilities now to those in play in the fall of 2019, we are very excited about Morning Glory, choir, special music, music appreciation class, recording ensembles (that will accompany the video and photo assets you’ll see in worship) and more! All of these are open-invitation based on your schedule and needs, but the essential thing to remember is that any music opportunity that is valid and sustainable requires staff leadership, i.e. my time. Therefore, each additional opportunity added requires reshuffling the frequency of, or hours devoted to everything that is active. That’s a lot of juggling and my goal will be to not spread us too thin while maintaining the highest-quality volunteer music program I’ve ever been fortunate to work with.
Stay tuned for additional information by email on specific dates as our worship team design the fall (and beyond!).
Peace,
Rick Seaholm