Reflections on Catalyst (part 3)

I really intended to blog more about the Catalyst experience closer to the actual event. Before I go any further, let me make it clear that I have been to every Catalyst Conference from the very first one ... and I hope to go to every one from here on out. The teaching is absolutely incredible ... and (tongue in cheek, here) the exhibitors give away better and better stuff every year (this year I won an iPhone, which I then turned into an iPod for me (which was stolen), one for my wife (which she still doesn't know how to use), and some extra stuff that will remain hidden for now).

Since my iPod was stolen, I didn't get to listen to the 10/11/07 edition of the Catalyst podcast until just recently. I had to leave early to be a good husband and father (crucial for proper perspective in ministry), so I didn't get to experience the worship session that they talked about. I was appalled, however, to hear the podcast hosts talking with Steve Fee about it and boasting about the sound levels (120dB sustained for 15 minutes or so). They attributed it to the singing from the attendees, but it seems to me that it is quite difficult to get that kind of volume with just the combined forces several thousand human voices. Amplification HAD to have been a significant contributor.

[urgent need to digress here]

As I write this, I am reminded of being at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge in the Fall of 1980 when Auburn played LSU. As an Auburn band member, I had the privilege of traveling to all the away games (just ONE of the perqs of playing in a college marching band). I talked to my folks on the phone a few days before the game and my Dad commented that Tiger Stadium was the loudest place he had ever been (he did his medical internship in New Orleans). I believed him when at the opening kickoff the football was repeatedly toppled off the stand by the crowd noise. The officials would put it back on the stand and it would be stable until the crowd began cheering, then it would fall. This happened several times until it was decided to have the ball held in place by a player on the kicking team. All that to say that I know it's difficult to get those levels with just combined, unamplified voices (easier with 70,000+ people than with the 8,000+ who remained for the last session at Catalyst 2007), but to be honest I have to acknowledge that it can happen. At Catalyst 2007, however, I suspect that amplification played a larger role in those volume levels than the attendees' voices did.

[digression done]

As I heard the podcast hosts talking with worship leader Steve Fee about the sound levels and attributing it to a move of God among the people (could have been, I wasn't there), two thoughts occurred to me.

1) "Protect your hearing!!!" I can't remember who said it, but it was said of ministers in the care of their own psyches: No craftsmen worthy of his hire abuses his tools. [There's another point of digression tugging at me, but I will remain focused.] As a musician, I have a deep appreciation for how valuable my hearing is to my craft. To hear other musicians (whose own ears are equally crucial to their craft) discuss such sound levels with no apparent concern for the long-term impact it might have on their ministry concerns me. I don't want them to lose their edge because of unwise exposure to unhealthy sound levels. Further, it is the responsibility of the head sound guy(s) to protect the audience from unhealthy sound levels. OSHA has some strict guidelines for industrial sound levels and limits for duration of exposure. Those are a great rule of thumb for arena sound as well.

2) A quote from C. S. Lewis in the article On Church Music from Christian Reflections (© 1967 by the executors of the estate of C. S. Lewis, published by Eerdmans). It simply states: "Neither the greatest excellence of a trained performance from the choir, nor the heartiest and most enthusiastic bellowing from the pews, must be taken to signify that any specifically religious activity is going on. It may be so, or it may not."

Now, before the 6.5 loyal readers take me to task one way or the other, I would encourage them to check out Lewis's entire essay. While the technology and style parameters we are seeing in the cutting (bleeding?) edge of worship music today did not exist when Lewis wrote, the philosophical ideals he outlines in the article are timeless. Further, I would encourage them to keep in mind that I am sure that among the entire crowd there were many who were deeply engaged in real worship on one end of the spectrum AS WELL AS many who perhaps were merely on a volume-induced adrenaline high. Sometimes we confuse adrenaline with the Holy Spirit, and high volume levels tend to produce higher adrenaline levels.

Remember, the test of worship is not how I feel during the worship service, it is how I behave the rest of the time.

That's enough to think about for now.

Worship Evangelism Revisited

Sally Morgenthaler's name became big in the mid-1990s with a well written, well reasoned book entitled "Worship Evangelism". I've read the book. We studied it together as a church staff in late 2001/early 2002. And we learned from it.

I lamented the disappearance of Sacramentis.com from the web a couple of years ago, but Morgenthaler's pilgrimage has been taking her elsewhere. Last week a friend sent me a link to this article that is worth reading for anyone who seeks to serve in the church today.

http://www.allelon.org/articles/article.cfm?id=402

Once you've read it, you'll understand some things differently. Any time I read an article by her, that's what happens to me.

That's enough to think about for now.

A little perspective on Thanksgiving

Two things came to my attention in the past several days that have helped to clarify a perspective on Thanksgiving for me.

1) TURKEY GOBBLIN'
On Monday evening the boys went "Turkey Gobblin'" with the Youth Group. People donate turkeys to the Youth Group that they then randomly distribute in areas of our community known to struggle with poverty issues. Some of the addresses are know ahead of time, but not all. It's a "random acts of kindness" thing. My children told two stories from the event:

At one address, the woman was grateful for the gesture, but couldn't accept the turkey because her power was off and she had no way of storing or cooking the turkey. Her husband left her a few weeks ago and she has little or no means to earn an income to pay for utilities. Happy Thanksgiving indeed.

At another address, the crew was delivering the very last turkey they had. The woman of the house then asked if they had another turkey that she could give to a relative who was visiting but would be going home to prepare her own Thanksgiving meal. When the team replied that that was the last one they had, she slammed the door in their face. Happy Thanksgiving indeed.

2) THANKSGIVING DAY SHOPPING
As we were getting ready to put our turkey in the oven, it became apparent that we didn't have a baking dish large enough for the 12 pound bird. I decided to go to the church to borrow one from the church kitchen. On the way to the church, I noticed that Bi-Lo was open, so I stopped there to get one of the aluminum foil roasters instead (and to pick up something the lovely wife needed to complete the sweet potato casserole). When the cashier wished me a happy Thanksgiving, I asked her if she would get to spend any part of the day with her family. She replied that after she finished there, she had to go to work (e.g.: to another job). Working 2 jobs on Thanksgiving Day to provide for her family ... I hope those for whom she is providing sit up and take notice.

Those two (or three) brief stories have been in the front of my mind periodically throughout the past 24+ hours. Draw your own conclusions ... but conclusions must be drawn.

Peace.

The Gift of Worship

Found this through worship.com. It looks like a commercially produced video, and sometimes those don't remain on YouTube due to copyright considerations. I have the text typed up as a free verse poem just in case. I believe this hits us all where we live:

I'm frustrated by this

2 weeks ago, after having wanted one for a long, long time, I finally was able to purchase an iPod. I pondered and pondered before finally deciding on an refurbished 8gigabyte 2nd generation nano (available from the online Apple Store outlet for the same price as a 4gigabyte 3rd generation nano). It finally came and I had it for a total of 5 days inclusive when it disappeared from my office this past Wednesday evening.

I will admit that I left my office door unlocked while I went to supper and led worship in our Wednesday evening service. The lovely wife gave me the "when will you ever learn" and I joined in the kick the idiot contest (I think I probably won ... I usually do). During the time in question, a children's choir was rehearsing in the choir room right outside my office, and after that missions groups for teenage girls were meeting in the classrooms right around the corner.

I admit that an iPod nano is easy to misplace because it's so small ... and I have a proven track record in being good at misplacing stuff ... but I suspect that I had some help misplacing my iPod. If I'm right, I really don't care who helped me misplace it. I just want it back. I can't afford to buy another one. The only way I afforded this one was to win in a drawing for an iPhone that one of the exhibitors at the Catalyst Conference was giving away.

In the past 12 months I've had a wonderful guitar stolen ... and I brand new iPod disappeared. I'm bummed in a major way.