stuff... prayer request
Posted by: rxdca <rxdca@...>
the summer to Georgia. I found what seems to be a good church here. The
pastor was the youth pastor at the church where I got saved (mmmph years
ago) in Oklahoma City. What are the odds of the two of us from Capitol
Hill Assembly both ending up here in Albany, GA. The pastor immediately
invited me to join the worship team, which is great but which also brings
me to my prayer request.
The praise team here is fantastic. They have a group of truly talented and
gifted musicians. They've recorded two CD's of cover material and are in
the finishing stages of a CD of original material. They already have four
guitar players (who are all professional quality and much better than I am
with my humble skills) and a bass player. I've practiced with them twice
now and played last Sunday morning (two of the other guitar players were
out) But, I'm having real mixed feelings about playing with these folks at
all. I had a talk last night with the bass player (who is the Worship
Leader's husband and a Deacon), and the guitar player who is the "music
director." The vibe that I got from them was very strange and the more I
think about it the more unsettling it is. The one thing I heard over and
over was "we already have four guitar players and don't really need another
one." I was invited to "fill in." Now, I don't mind being a second
stringer (though I've never been second string at anything ever in my whole
life - classic over-achiever that I am). There was this other thing about
music stands. We were talking about me having chord sheets/lead sheets and
these guys say something like "This is an issue that we've agonized over
and we feel like music stands create a barrier.... inhibit worship." Don't
remember the entire sentence word-for-word, but that is the gist. Now, I'm
a new guy. They play some music I've heard, but haven't ever played, and
some songs that I've never heard. The haven't played anything yet that
I've actually known and played in the past. Perhaps these guys are gifted
enough musicians that they can stand there and play music flat cold that
they've never heard before, but I don't share that gift. For me, asking me
to play songs I've never heard before without some hint at the music is
like asking the singers to sing without giving them the words. "Y'all can
just pick up the words as we go along." No one would dream of asking a
singer to do that.
I dunno. I feel like God has led me to this church where my old friend is
pastor. But my introduction to the worship team hasn't exactly been the
warmest and arms haven't exactly been open. I talked to Thomas (pastor)
after playing last Sunday and he asked me how it went. I told him that I
still felt like an outsider. He said that was natural, and that is true -
with time that should subside somewhat. But I felt like the discussion
last night was reminding me that I was an outsider that was treading on the
turf of others. My heart is very heavy. Please pray for me.
Douglas
[email protected]
Phil 4:13
"We will not tire, we will not falter, and we will not fail."
- George W. Bush, Sept. 20, 2001