Inside the Sojourn

Getting out of Dodge for the weekend

We're headed to Dallas this weekend with 10 members of the worship team (singers, instrumentalists, sound engineer...).  Our plan - spy on a couple of churches with outstanding worship ministries.  Specifically, Gateway and Village Church.  We'll attend a Saturday evening service, have dinner and some fun, then get up Sunday and go to an early service, then head home - just gone overnight.  My hope is to come away inspired by the great work others are doing and maybe with some new ideas.

I'm grateful that we have a large enough team that there will be a strong group staying home this weekend to carry out the worship ministry at Sunnybrook.  One of my goals for the ministry is that I become less and less important to what happens on the platform every Sunday.  Developing leadership is the key so that when the time comes for me to pass the baton, it's as smooth as silk.  Hopefully, that won't be any time soon because I'm having a great time serving with a great team.

If you attend Sunnybrook, please be praying for the worship team, the presence of God in our services and the growth in freedom of our fellowship to worship in spirit and truth.  If you don't attend church with us, well pray anyway and thanks for reading the blog.

The future of the sanctuary space

Great public meeting spaces have a lot of thought put into them during the design phase.  When our sanctuary was first built, times were different, simpler.  There was no concept of the kind of band we have today.  There was no intention to support dramatic presentations.  All you needed was a preacher and a piano (well, maybe it was actually an organ).  For that, the room is fine.

We now live in a more complex time in which higher expectations exist for the use of technology and musical style has changed significantly.  The room no longer accommodates the needs of our Sunday morning (big house, we like to call it) ministry with the level of excellence we desire to achieve.  Two primary areas will be addressed over the next couple of years.

Acoustics -  "Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God..."  The ability to hear well is essential to getting the message across.  Our room acoustics are much too "live", meaning that when sound comes out of the speakers, it hangs around far too long.  This "smears" the sound, making it a challenge to manage something as complex as a band mix.  It also makes it harder to hear the person speaking, even when that's the only sound in the room.  We've simply gotten used to it.  But take my word for it, when we implement acoustic treatment on the dry wall portion of the room, it will be much easier to hear what's coming through the sound system.  It will take time and money, but the result will serve the message extremely well.

Lighting - I recently had a lighting consultant visit Sunnybrook.  He came highly recommended by someone I trust and has extensive experience retrofitting churches.  Like the acoustics, we have gotten used to the lighting in the Sanctuary.  Most of us probably don't realize how significantly professionally designed lighting would enhance our time together.  We have a plan for lighting the seating area and the platform.  For the seating, we plan to implement "scoop" incandescent lights. These emit the full color spectrum, will make it easier to read, and will enrich the colors visible to the eye.  The platform will be lit with theatrical lights (implemented in phases).  These will enable us to use color and to focus attention with lighting in ways we can't at present.  Our goal is not to put on a show, though some will likely choose to interpret it that way.  Rather it is to create an environment as condusive to worship and a life changing message as possible.

It was a good day

Last night our life group coughed up $400 for some pizzas (80) to give away.  As we loaded them, a couple of college age guys walked in to place an order, only to be disappointed at the wait time because of our huge order.  We gave them a pizza -- they were stunned.

As my friend drove his van to the Renaissance  day care, he realized that the freshly baked pizzas were baking him!  He emerged dripping with sweat and laughing at the unanticipated consequences.

Our team converged at 4:30 and started tracking down the parents coming to pick up their kids at the end of the work day.  We offered a cheese or pepperoni pizza to anyone that came by.  9 out of 10 people graciously accepted the gift - almost 100% asking why we were doing it.  "The churches of Stillwater are performing acts of kindness for the community." was the reply.

We heard everything from "that's a little weird" and "you made my day!" to "did you spit on it?".  The interactions were brief but good spirited.

This was the most fun our life group has had by far since we formed.  It brought us closer together, planted seeds of kindness that God will nurture in his infinite wisdom, turned our attention to the needs of others and fulfilled the command to be kind for the sake of Jesus.

It was a good day.

What's up with the balcony

You may have noticed that seating is no longer available in the balcony.  Last year, as we discussed our vision for the various ministries, we talked about the use of space.  Though a handful of folks preferred sitting upstairs, for the most part it was not well used.  This got us thinking about potentially better uses of the space...

We identified several things that could be addressed by redesigning the balcony space.  Our technical team (audio and projection) have no easy way to communicate or coordinate efforts during services because they are physicially separated.  We have a plan for improved lighting in the sanctuary and need a place for the operator (who will also function as part of the technical team) and lighting controls.  Our audio engineers share the same equipment and extremely small space for sound in the room and recording the services - currently located on the floor at the back of the room.  The recording engineer uses headphones to try and mix the music, an almost impossible task when in the room with the loud speakers.  We also have a lack of meeting space at peak times like Sunday morning and Wednesday night.

With all that, we decided to move the house audio, projection and (upcoming) lighting all to the front wall of the balcony.  That way they have line of sight communication and they are isolated from the activity on the floor so they can focus on their job with fewer distractions.  Larry Leigh, our facilities manager, has been hard at work this summer building the wall behind the team, creating a significant space that we will divide and use for two purposes. 

The room on the west side will serve as a recording suite.  The recording engineer will eventually have separate equipment in an isolated room so that we can get it right - you will absolutely hear the difference on the service CDs once we have it up and running.  This will also lay the groundwork for future webcasting and other additional production needs, including a space where we can shoot basic indoor video footage.  The east room will be a new conference room designed specifically for meetings and planning.

It will be some months before everything is complete, but the work is proceeding.  We're excited about the positive impact this will have on our technical team's ability to carry out their responsibilities with excellence.