Daniel Bergey Commotion

Should I or shouldn't I?

Last week Pastor Hans asked me if I would be willing to take over leading the worship time at our church youth group’s weekly meetings. I think that means direct the existing band, although I’m not sure. It’s not a large commitment of time — other than arriving at church earlier than I already do on Wednesday nights.

He and Josh and I had discussed the youth praise band a few weeks before over fries and shakes from Ann’s Dari-Creme. It’s my feeling that a large band with three guitars, drums, four singers, etc. way up on the stage is overwhelming for the 20 or 30 kids who come to youth group. There they stand in pews 3 to 6 in the sanctuary, half of them hesitantly mouthing the words to the high-powered praise music, the other half cutting up in pews 5 and 6. A few kids appear to be really worshipping, but the majority aren’t getting it.

“First,” I said, “I’d get out of the sanctuary.”

“Can’t do that,” said Hans. “There are no other rooms big enough.”

“Well, how about if we start out with just a guitarist leading the music solo, standing down in front of the pews?”

It was decided to use his wife Stacy’s imminent birth-giving (when the time came) as an excuse for Hans to scale back on the music and let me try it for a month or so.

Fast forward to this week: Stacy still hasn’t produced Hans, Jr., so plans have kind of stalled. I got to praise band practice (after youth) slightly late Wednesday night; Hans was by then off the radar. He’ll probably corner me this weekend, and I don’t know what to tell him yet.

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p>The bottom line is that I don’t really want to lead a youth band, at least not until kids start participating more. I want to just play the guitar and sing, and maybe I can get Hans to do some Bible Studies about worship. Or, maybe, I could squeeze in some remarks in between the songs. Hmm … sneaky.

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p>Guess I should do some heavy-duty praying, along with praying for the future of our Young Adult Persons Sunday School Class/Small Group, of which to this point I have blogged nothing. That will have to wait.


5 Comments

Daniel, leading the worship time on Wednesday night is quite a responsibility. If Pastor Hans slips away to dive into fatherhood for a little while, that leaves you with more than the logistics of musicians and singers. It leaves you with caring for and penetrating the hearts and souls of those 30 kids, especially the ones in the last pews. Although the obvious need is for you to fill in as worship leader for an hour on Wednesdays, the kids will start seeing you as a big brother or a mentor or counselor. If you feel God leading you in this direction, go for it. Do what you can. I’m sure you have plenty of ideas for reaching those kids. I particularly like the one about squeezing in remarks between songs. However, if you don’t sense God’s calling in this area, be careful. If you commit to something that your heart isn’t in, you won’t be effective, and no one will be blessed by your efforts. Whether you take on the responsibility or not, this blog can still serve as a great sounding board for any ideas that you may have to make a difference in the lives of these kids. Keep us informed.

Posted by Sue on 28 September 2004 @ 10pm

Actually, I hadn’t conciously thought about it quite that way. You’re right: it will be more responsibility than the music. I have wondered if I’m destined to work with teens … though sometimes I think my people skills are lacking compared to some of the more charismatic youth leaders I’ve met. But that doesn’t mean God can’t overcome those limitations; especially if it’s His idea in the first place. :)

I’m having dinner with Hans and Stacy on Thursday. Guess we’ll talk about it then.

Posted by Daniel on 29 September 2004 @ 3am

I like the fact that you linked me as Jennifer [Something]. No one has ever called me that. ;-)

Posted by Jennifer on 29 September 2004 @ 3pm

How was dinner and what did you decide?

Posted by Sue on 4 October 2004 @ 1pm

Ah, yes … I’d meant to blog about that. Dinner was Papa John’s pizza. :/ We talked mostly about the youth website and listened to The Bush/Kerry Show in the background. But Hans showed me some of the multimedia aids that he’s ordering, including CDs and DVDs for the band to play along with .. not my idea of scaled-down, Spirit-led worship. It looks like he wanted me to basically lead the band (along with a CD, maybe? Bleh.), and let him lead concurrently by singing. Too many cooks and whatnot.

So I decided to say ‘no’ this time. I’ve got a lot on my church plate right now anyway … and there will be other opportunities. Thanks for your support, though. :)

Posted by Daniel on 4 October 2004 @ 1pm