Greetings Brothers and Sisters. I have a situation that I am really upset about.... Sit down and relax, its gonna take a minute.
My music ministry is suffering tremendously. We had three people that played the keys and we have three drummers, and a basist, and this lady that plays the bongo drums...... So one of the ladies that played the keys got upset because she couldnt keep up with contemporary music. ALL of her music sounded like the same song.. No matter what. Same chords.... Same melody..... It was horrible. She couldnt play shout music. Nothing she played was from the radio, all from the little red book.
Then we have this other musician. Not a member of our church, but when we didnt have a musician, she was there. For the past ten years, she has played for our church, and for her church. She was taught how to play by the other keyboard player... So her playing was the a striking resemblance to the God-awful hymnal-Baptist chord killing sound that the other woman blessed us wuth time after time.
After this, a young man shows up one day, and gets up on the organ. I had never seen him before, but he sounded pretty good. Before long, he became one of our musicians... and then he and his wife made the decision to join our church. Since then, our music has some what grown, the lady who couldnt keep up, eventually left and now the keys players is the other lady who is not a member, and this dude. This guy cannot play a song unless we start singing first. He does not know progressions, he cannot read music. He never plays a song in the same key twice. He is not effective in his position. He has a horrible attitude about ministry. If he is not being paid, he will not show up.
Then we have our drummers. The pastors son, another young man, and me. the pastors son CANNOT play at all. I have offered to help him with lessons, I have offered to show him tools neccessary to do his job. But he wont listen to me. He acts as if he does not want to play, and he displays his ugliness for us all to see. I have raised him off the set in Praise and Worship because of his funky attitude, and the pastor jumps down my throat. So I handle it with a long handle spoon.
The other young man, zealous, loves to play, but has yet to understnd what pocket is. He adds crazy fills, and his timing is bad. He does not follow instructions. He has yet to develop his own style, so he bites off of mine.
Then you have me. I am commited, and striving to be the best I can be. I can be put in a sour mood real quick because of my surroundings. I practice until I am in pain. I buy DVDs , books, and invested in kits. I go to workshops. I want to learn, and I bring what I have learned back to my peers.
My issue is that I am not seeing my growth in the ministry. Sure I play better every week. But I want to be more than a good player. I get sick and tired of the back bitting, and the attitude, the laziness. The not wanting to give your best. That bothers me.
I want to leave my church. There are more reasons than I can think of, and not all pertaining to the music ministry. But I really am trying. I dont want this to be an emotional decision. I have prayed.... And I trust that God will work this out. But in the mean time, what am I supposed to be doing?/?
Our church, surprisingly, has been exposed to so much. We have been on TV a few times, we have been REQUESTED to come to mega ministries to sing and to do praise and worship... I be like
us????
Help me LGM....... I need encouragement and a sound word right now.
