Well, it's about 11 and a quarter am as I'm typing this, which means most of you out there have just headed off to church. I, however, have already gone to church, come back home, made and ate breakfast (double fried egg sandwich with Beaver Sweet Hot Mustard) and wasted an hour or so online. For those of you who don't know, I work at the First Presbyterian Church in downtown Spokane. I am a music minitries intern which means I come down for a few hours during the week and attend the worship planning meeting, do filing, do some computer work and play guitar on Sunday morning. Quite early Sunday morning, I might add. The contemporary service at 1st Pres, where most of my guitar playing is done, starts at 8:30 in the morning! This means that I have to be at the church by 7:30 which means I leave my apartment a little before 7 which means I'm awake by 6. Boy, the 11th hour is sounding nice now. 1st Pres Spokane has always had an 11 o'clock service and a 9:45 education hour, neither of which could be moved. When the contemporary service was added, many many years ago, 8:30 was the only time available. Now the early (contemporary) service has about twice the attendance of the later (traditional service) and it is starting to seem odd that this contemporary service is so early in the morning. Anywho...
The church is also without a head pastor and in a time of transition. Also, one member of the church is the scholar and musician Harold Best, a former professor at Wheaton and one of the formost authors on worship reform in the country. Also, there are several traditions that come along with being an old and large (for Spokane standards) church, such as the anual Handel's Messiah sing along which has been going on for well over 100 years. Kind of wild place, huh? It's definitely different from 1st Pres Granada Hills. At first I was worried that interning in another 1st Pres I wouldn't really learn that much or have many new experiences, but I can already tell that I was wrong on that. One more anywho...
I've started working on a journal on the things I believe about worship in general and music in specific and I think I'm going to start posting pieces of that journal on my blog. The purpose of this is not to try to sway others to my position but just the opposite; I want to create an open forum on the nature of worship and the use of music in worship so I can come to a better understanding of my responsibility as a musician in the church. In the last several years of college I have found many of my preconcieved notions on worship and music challenged for the better, and I would like to continue that trend. Look for the first post in the series soon. I look foward to your comments.
The church is also without a head pastor and in a time of transition. Also, one member of the church is the scholar and musician Harold Best, a former professor at Wheaton and one of the formost authors on worship reform in the country. Also, there are several traditions that come along with being an old and large (for Spokane standards) church, such as the anual Handel's Messiah sing along which has been going on for well over 100 years. Kind of wild place, huh? It's definitely different from 1st Pres Granada Hills. At first I was worried that interning in another 1st Pres I wouldn't really learn that much or have many new experiences, but I can already tell that I was wrong on that. One more anywho...
I've started working on a journal on the things I believe about worship in general and music in specific and I think I'm going to start posting pieces of that journal on my blog. The purpose of this is not to try to sway others to my position but just the opposite; I want to create an open forum on the nature of worship and the use of music in worship so I can come to a better understanding of my responsibility as a musician in the church. In the last several years of college I have found many of my preconcieved notions on worship and music challenged for the better, and I would like to continue that trend. Look for the first post in the series soon. I look foward to your comments.
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