CFNaz Worship Leader Position Filled

Dear CFNaz Board, Staff and Church Family,

On June 10, 2014, the CFNaz Board voted unanimously to approve my recommendation to develop our worship band and choir as one entity with the purpose of the choir being used to lead our Sunday morning worship (see board approved statement below). The board and I truly felt this was the right direction for our church family.  However, as a pastor I have learned that the church family sometimes makes choices that allow me to see that the direction I thought was the best was an error of judgment.   Therefore, I have now come to see that my decision to see the choir as the ones leading worship was not the best choice at this time.  For instance, as you have noticed the choir has greatly dwindled in number.  I will say that the small choir that remains has truly served the Lord and led us in worship with all their hearts.  This small group has been committed to practice, prayer and demonstrated a beautiful spirit of worship.  Moreover, I want to thank this portion of the choir who has on three different occasions allowed me to share about the Worship Leader process and from which I gained helpful feedback.  In fact, the last conversation I had with this portion of the choir greatly influenced the decision I now share. 

On Tuesday, September 16, the Church Board and Staff, helped me interview two Worship Leader candidates.  Having considered their feedback, I have made the decision to hire Bryan Kandel as our part-time worship leader. Bryan is a Spanish Teacher for Perry School District.  Bryan and his wife, Robin, who once served as missionaries to Costa Rica, now have two young children.   Bryan will begin serving at CFNaz on Sunday, October 5, 2014.

I chose Bryan for the following reasons: 1) During the search process every board member indicated that they believed we needed to find a worship leader who not only could manage the technical side of the music ministry but who also felt called to and comfortable with leading the church family in worship.  Bryan has been leading worship and helping three different area churches in worship which has confirmed his calling and ability; 2) All of the board agreed that we needed someone who would consider the people and talent God has given us here at CFNaz and would help us discover and create our own unique worship style that is authentic to who we are as a church family.  Bryan not only plays hymns and worship songs, but he has written and recorded his own album, which demonstrates his ability to not only reproduce what others do, but to also find one’s own unique style; 3) The board agreed that we would want to look for a Worship Leader who has an understanding of what it means to engage the next generation in worship, but also understands the value of remembering that our congregation is made up of various generations. Bryan’s career as a local high school teacher puts him directly in touch with better understanding the next generation God has called us to reach.  In addition, his experience as a Worship Leader has made him sensitive to leading worship in a multi-generational context.

One personal God moment for me came on the night of the “End of the Summer Bash.”  One of the bands scheduled for the night dropped out at the last moment.  Bryan Kandel was invited to fill the spot.  As Bryan began to play and sing worship songs and hymns, I had three senior adults, one middle age adult and a teenager all express their desire for me to interview him.  I thought to myself, “Lord, is this not what I prayed?  That you would help us find a worship leader who would bridge generation gaps? Could he be right for our church family?”

Next, Bryan was very upfront about the fact that he does not have experience leading a choir.  At first, I thought this would exclude his name from our consideration based upon my initial recommendation to the board as stated above and below.  However, as I watched the church family reveal the error of my thinking regarding the choir serving as our worship leading team, it became clear to me that it did not make sense to hire someone who could lead a choir in hopes of rebuilding our choir, but to simply admit I was wrong and to allow God to lead us in a new direction.  Therefore, I have asked Bryan to treat our music department as though it is just beginning.  Bryan will create clear and written expectations and purpose for our musicians and vocalists.  He will then meet with any present or new musicians and vocalists to explain those expectations, interview them and then invite them to make one year commitment to our music ministry.  With this clean slate so to speak, we will prayerfully, patiently and excitedly wait to see who God raises up and what will be our own unique worship team and style.  Perhaps as the worship team grows we will again be able to have a full choir at which time we would seek assistance to provide Bryan with the necessary training or we would have Bryan recruit someone to assist him.  However, at this point none of us can know exactly how God will lead in the future.  What we do know now is that God has answered our prayer for a Worship Leader, we have the opportunity to start fresh and we will certainly get to see first-hand God doing a new thing among us. 

Will you please join me in praying for Bryan and his family?  Will you pray with me for musicians and vocalists to step forward to serve?  Will you pray for our church family as we all continue to learn to worship God in spirit and in truth? 

Below you will find the Part-Time Worship Leader job description.  If you have any questions about the job description and the decision that was made, please feel free to contact me. 

 

Letting Go with You,

 

Chad Current, Lead Pastor

 

June 10, 2014 CFNAZ Board Meeting Considerations for the Future Worship Ministry:

•The following two questions were discussed at length:

1)            Could it be said that in our attempt to please all we have pleased few, if any?  Do we have a band or an orchestra?  Presently, it would seem we have both.  Would it not make more sense to choose one?  In light of our present culture, and in our attempt to let our worship be a witness to non-believers, we would recommend we move to a band that would incorporate the same instruments that we now have in a different way.

2)            Could it be said that our choir and our band/orchestra function as two separate entities on the same stage and worship setting?  Is it not in fact treated as such since the band and choir do not practice together?  Is that point not further made by the fact that when Tim is absent he have one person lead worship and one person lead the choir? Furthermore, our band does not play the music for our choir specials and so doesn’t that further create the dichotomy? What could happen if our choir and worship musicians were treated as one entity; all working together to lead people into the presence of God through praise and worship? We voted to move in this direction to see what good God could bring.

The above was discussed at length and approved with a unanimous vote.

 

Job Description:

Title: Pastor of Worship at Canton First Church of the Nazarene

Paid position for 16 hours per week

Part-Time Worship Pastor Responsibilities:

•             Prepare music for and lead a band practice prior to Sunday and then rehearsal on Sunday.

•             Prepare the weekly order of worship using the planning center.

•             Insert worship slides on sanctuary computer.

•             Work with Lead Pastor and staff to develop the flow and intentionality of worship each week.

•             Interview and establish clear guidelines and expectations for our music ministry participants and new people that are recruited.

Immediate Supervisor: Lead Pastor

Life is Great if You Don't Weaken

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up” (Galatians 5:9). 

Think about the irony of that verse.  Doing good is referenced as being potentially tiresome.  It’s true, isn’t it? 

My Grandpa use to say it this way, “Life is great if you don’t weaken.”  Then he would talk about how all the time people do the wrong thing, the hurtful thing, the cheating thing, the lying thing, the manipulative thing and they seem to get away with it smelling like roses.  But then he would look at me and say, “But Chad while it may not be fair, but we do the right thing anyhow.”  I heard that speech from my Grandpa Current more than once as we swung on their carport porch swing drinking an ice cold Pepsi.  And yet, it is a message I want to rebel against.  There is something inside of me that wants to throw myself on the floor and throw a tantrum of sorts.  I want to scream, but that is not how it should be.  Why is it so easy to do bad and so hard to do good?  Why does it seem the waters part for injustice, but waters crush in on every side those who try to bring justice?  Doing good should be energizing, not draining. 

But as my Grandpa alluded to and as Galatians directly spoke to, doing good must be done in the perspective of the long-haul, not the present moment.  Just a verse before Gal. 5:9 Paul writes, “A man reaps what he sows.  The man who reaps to sow his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.” 

As we move through the Refocus process, I will be the first to admit that it is easy to become weary.  Perhaps you are feeling something it.  This process has its moments of excitement, but right now it has a lot of moments of just plain, hard work.  It is a good work.  It is a necessary work.  It is a work to which God has called us.  Nevertheless, it is challenging.  It would be much easier to simply look at things and say, “We’re fine.  All is well.  We’ll just sing a song, hear a sermon and go on our way.”  It would definitely be easier.  Believe me…I have considered doing that very thing.  However, such an easy way out would be sowing a harvest that we would later regret. 

Instead we look past the hard work of doing good now to the promise God gives to us.  He promises us that if we carry on; if we do not give up in the discomfort of change; if we keep our eyes on what matters most—Loving God and others and going into all the world with the gospel, then we will experience the reaping of a harvest that is better than we can imagine. 

There is only one thing standing between us now and that good harvest which is to come. There are two words the Scripture names as the deal breaker:  “Give up.”  If we give up on doing the good to which we are called, then we also give up on the good harvest God is preparing us for even now. 

So, for now, I ask you to carry on in doing good by sharing with me what you believe might be the “red balloon” of CFNAZ.  Turn in the card you received yesterday (or on any scrap piece of paper) this coming Sunday in the offering basket or email our church secretary who will keep your name anonymous. Please help us do the good work of this season of the refocus by giving your feedback.  As I read through all of the replies, I will prayerfully be looking for the common threads that reveal the red balloon God is asking us to release.  Then on Sunday, September 28, we will rejoice together as we LET IT GO!  I believe it is going to be a turning point day for us as we sow seeds for a harvest that will benefit even the generations that follow us

Light is Sown

When I read Scripture each day, I typically pray and ask God to direct me to a sentence or a phrase in that I can meditate on for the rest of the day.  On Monday I was reading in Psalm 97 and my attention especially landed on verse 11.  I have been stuck on a phrase of the verse ever since then.  Psalm 97:11 says, “Light is sown for the righteous…” 

My morning walks are in the dark just before dawn.  Today as I was walking and praying on that verse, I began to notice that while I was walking in the dark, lights were all around me.  There were the blinking red lights on the cellular tower across the way at the end of our street.  There were porch lights, a few street lights and even the light that the moon had to offer.  Even though the sun had not risen, my steps were made certain by lights sown all along my path. 

The Psalmist noted the same experience in his walk with the Father.  He acknowledges that this world can be very dark.  But his focus is not on how dark the world is, but on the light that the Father has sown before and all around him.  As a follower of God, he can’t take even a step in the dark without being made aware of how His God is shining in the darkness. 

As I walked this morning noticing all the lights in the darkness, I was reminded that the enemy wants my attention to be on the darkness.  But God is inviting me to pay attention to his light.  Where I give my time, energy, thoughts, prayers and words will determine whether I am one who is overcome by the darkness or one who is guided by the light.

Father, open my eyes to the light.  Help me not to miss the crop of light you are growing in my world right now.  Let me be just as mindful of where you are breaking in with your light as I am of any time of darkness I may find myself walking through.  Father, I pray for my friends who might read this that they too would see you sowing light everywhere they go.

Rocks, Grass and Sticks

Yesterday evening I was playing with the kids in the yard.  I picked a blade of grass and gave it a funny voice as I pretended it was a little person.  Pretty soon Seth picked up a piece of grass and started talking to my piece of grass.  Soon sticks and rocks also had voices and personalities of their own.  Now, Anna, was much too sophisticated for the child-like antics of her Dad and younger brother, so she took her share of grass, sticks and rocks and began to turn them into artistic expressions on the driveway. 

Now, it is not like my kids don’t have other things with which to play.  They have a trampoline, too many toys and even a couple of video games.  But last night we played with rocks, sticks and blades of grass.  Seth laughed until I thought he’d have an accident and Anna blew me away with how she took such simple things and turned them into recognizable art.  And God knew how much I needed that moment. 

I would imagine you have discovered this for yourself as well…ever since I have become an adult it sure does seem like life has a way of getting complicated.  Relationships easily get complicated.  Work became a curse after the fall of Adam and Eve and so it is no surprise that it gets complicated.  Decisions that need to be made can become very complicated. One might think that preaching the gospel and pastoring a church in living out the gospel should be simple, but friends, trust me even that gets complicated at times. 

Just when life is about to become so complicated that I start to feel overwhelmed, I have found the Father in heaven has a way of reminding me that in Him I have permission to simplify.  Jesus said look at the flowers of the field…look at the birds of the air…They do not worry and fret…why?  Because they do not make life more complicated than it need be.  Jesus says the key that unlocks the door to simplification is, “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be added unto you.”  It does not mean I will get everything I want—it is that very desire that makes life complicated.  Rather he promises I will gain everything that matters.  And most of the time what matters most is not what I want, but what I need.  And what I need is not complicated.  It is very simple.  I need his kingdom and his righteousness.  And when that is my focus, then life itself becomes amazingly uncomplicated and next thing I know instead of being stressed I am free to laugh until I think I might have an accident and free to see expressions of art in even the most unexpected of places.