Kathy,

I appreciate your wisdom. Actually my frustration with the worship here is
pretty much contained within the family. I've not even said too much to
them, as it is obvious to them without my saying so. The music director
knows we come from a bit different service, and he actually wants to know
more about it, but haven't set time aside to meet and talk about it. I
serve with only little encouragements here and there when it seems they are
naturally lead towards a direction which lends itself to be more worshipful
and less cold and methodical. When I returned to Texas for a visit last
March was it? Anyway, I met with our Worship Leader/Associate Pastor to
discuss stuff about worship, this while we were yet at our old church here
in Wisconsin, and that is one thing I remember him saying was to not say...
"Well in Texas we did this, at our old church we did this" but rather just
encourage for encouraging sake with subtlty. It will be interesting we have
a person coming in to do worship on January 4th, my hope is he is a
worshipper and doesn't sound like a DJ with one hour of air time under his
belt to show as an example of what to shoot for. I do not mean that
disrespectfully, but merely that our heart of worship come through without
holding back. We had one lady, actually the music director's wife which is
no longer on the team for sake of teaching Sunday school now, who was a
keyboardist on our team who is a worshipper, not super charismatic, you
don't have to be, but knew when a song was to be spent more time singing
because it was right, people were responding, and not cut because the cold
frigid power point said "song over". That is so very frustrating. I'd like
to take that power point and create a "fatal error". hahahaha. We are so
concerned with backgrounds to the power point, if the chorus is listed once
twice or what not. People will follow a leader if he sings an additional
chorus, they are not singing wind up robots, and ought not be taught to act
as such.  What am I to learn here? Probably patience? I don't know. I see
our numbers dwindling, and not that numbers are everything, but they can be
an indicator if one is being effective in the community. We hit with a
splash, but to be expected, some of that splash is dispersed outwardly as
well. I know what really made people want to come to church at COTR, and
I'd like to share that with them here. Things like including the
congregation in on what the church is doing around the community and around
the nation. If there is a missionary sent out from the church, constant and
updated reminders of the difference they are making and etc. is good to
make the people feel they are a part of a happening church making a
difference to others besides keeping the doors open and electric paid. If
there is a food drive, tell how many pounds of food helped how many people,
if you have a booth at a fair, tell how many people were affected and
talked to.  People like to see progress and growth in something. People
like to see a show for what they invest their time and talents to, they
want to see that the money they give makes a difference and just doesn't
keep the pastor there preaching to them Sunday after Sunday, but has
something more than that for it's agenda. People who come to church hurting
and needing of prayer or help, how is filling out a card and putting it in
a box in the back going to help them in their moment? I'm use to the
service ending like... "For those of you that have somewhere to go, chicken
in the oven, kids to pick up or find all is well, you can go that way
*pointing towards the doors out of the sanctuary*, for those of you who
need prayer for anything , healing, for things in your life, we are here to
help and pray with you and you come this way *point towards the platform*
and I'll or someone here will pray with you to help you with your needs".
Now if you were hurting, looking for help, and leery and unfamiliar of
church as a whole, which church might you feel to return to? Perhaps I'm on
a bit of a rant lol, but it is only because I see potential to be a help in
the community. We have a pastor that has good messages and a heart of
worship himself I believe, but it seems there is a point of plateau, a
point of needing of phase 2 to kick in with a new plan to bring about
stability. Part of that is an actual building. We are utilizing a school
auditorium, which has it's perks, but setting up and tearing down is
wearing out a few people, we've asked for help, but you know the rule
20/80, 20% do 80% of the work. I am not the pastor, I do not know all the
details of what is going on with the major plan, I do not know the
financial burdens of the church, which really ought be very little other
than the pastor's salary, but if I'm wondering this stuff, I'm sure there
are others as well who wonder where to now? What are we doing outside these
walls? We have a Connection Team to serves people at funerals and in times
of need, how about hearing how they are doing, who have they helped out? Or
how many this month. What about the youth, what are they up to, what things
are they doing to reach out? What about the Alpha program, how many people
are being positively affected by it? All these things that could be there
to charge the members and give it a reputation of a happening place and a
place worth investing your time and etc. to. So. I'll end my rant for now
lol. I'm not totally disgusted, it may seem like it, but it is a hunger I
have and a bit starved of that encouragement in seeing how we are making a
difference to others.

Brad