Growing pains hurt, but they have good results. Mothers will tell you that "growing" a baby is uncomfortable, delivery is painful, and guiding the child to adulthood tugs at the heartstrings at times. However, it is all worth it. Sometimes as a child grows his or her legs actually physically hurt and it is diagnosed as growing pains. We all know that as we grow towards adulthood, the different stages of life bring joy and some pain.
As we continue to grow on our spiritual journeys as individuals and grow together as a church that is vital and alive in the 21st century, we experience joy and some pain. One pain our music ministry is experiencing is balancing the sound system and our music. We've had this sound system for a while now, so we're ready to find out all that it can do. We have more services than in the past and more musicians using microphones and the clavinova (electric piano). We are also blessed to have several people willing to operate the mixer board (the control panel of the sound system) during worship services. This is a lot of people to coordinate! It's great to have many people making music and making it possible for the congregation in worship and our radio listeners to hear the music we're making.
I'm asking you for your prayers and patience as we work together to make beautiful, balanced music to glorify God. Pray for persistence, calm attitudes, and sharp thinking processing as we work to learn how to properly amplify for the congregation, the musicians, and our radio worshippers. Please remember that we are working in a sanctuary, not a sound studio. Our emphasis is on coming to the throne of God, not producing CD quality sound. Be patient with us as we learn what we need to do and then successfully share that information with all those who participate in our services.
Our music ministry has grown over the years and continues to grow. Our growing pains "hurt" sometimes, but they are worth the effort. It's thrilling to have multiple services, marvelous musicians, supportive clergy, capable mixer board workers, nurturing childcare providers, and a caring congregation to help our music ministry grow. Working together with prayer, patience, and persistence we will handle the growing pains and have good results.
Darlene
