If Time Flew Any Faster …

Being an active church musician and worship leader, while also coordinating and producing a bimonthly magazine is a pretty full plate. Maybe it’s partly my age (old enough to know better; young enough to try to do too many things anyway), but just about when I start to make progress mid-week, it’s time to prepare for another rehearsal. Then, in spite of my best intentions of catching up by working on Saturday, home chores and family duties segue into Sunday morning. (Does anybody else live with two Labrador Retrievers in the family mix, or am I the only crazy music & dog person out there? Sometimes I wonder, but it’s too late for me to change some things.)

For me, Sunday morning means singing in a traditional/blended choir in two back-to-back services, setting up for a contemporary service, then serving as music worship leader for that third service. If I don’t get the message, or am not renewed every Sunday, it’s certainly not because I’m out of receiving range of the Holy Spirit.

Does this phenomenon sound familiar to anyone? I suspect so. Those who are blessed with musical gifts - and with the added gift of the spirit to want to give back, do so I believe, because making music for the Lord is its own reward. A busy Sunday morning produces in me a very deep fatigue - equaled in my experience only after playing a demanding role on stage. (As a younger man, I played Cervantes/Don Quixote in a couple different Connecticut productions of "Man of La Mancha." Now that I feel more truly the type for the part, I might not have the stamina for it.) But the post-worship fatigue is a good kind of tired. I’m writing this issue’s letter while at my daughter’s swim meet on a Saturday afternoon. I’m already looking forward to tomorrow’s post-service omelette (I arrive home after church ravenous.) and the inevitable nap that follows. For those few hours, no matter what happened during the week, all’s right with the world.

There is a point to all this. As I’ve learned speaking with other worship and music leaders, we seldom get enough time to talk with our peers. The weekly cycle’s responsibilities are great, and the need to be productive is pressing. One of the reasons this magazine was launched is out of a desire to foster a forum where ideas and experiences can be shared among kindred people, and among many of the companies whose musical and acoustic products help to make our various worship experiences be as effective as they are.

While we are deeply grateful for the support from our advertisers that makes the publication possible, we are truly striving to be far more than a few opinions and a pile of colorful ads. Many of the editorial contributions you’ll find address problems common to churches of all sizes and denominations. We hope our readers appreciate the ongoing and special tips of people from Crown, Mackie, Sabine, and other great companies who often share content designed to help your sound and music teams. If these articles don’t address a current problem, keep every issue you receive. You’re bound to benefit in knowledge sooner or later.

We attended a few trade shows this year - including National System Contractors Association (NSCA), and National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM). In this issue we feature our findings from both these shows, focusing on products and technological developments that may be helpful to our readers. Our goal is to bring to your attention new ways for us all to effect our ministry work smarter, better, easier or more productively. The Lord truly knows we’re not getting any more hours in the day.

As we’ve said before, we don’t advocate any particular style of music or approach to worship. We do believe that there are many ways that people can be brought to the Good News of Jesus Christ. Well-presented and sincere music of many forms is likely to play an important part in this ongoing miracle.

Tom LeFevre, Editor tlefevre@soundandsong.com