Worship Update 1/23

Recent Email from Jay
Today’s news from Jay – Winds of Change

We wanted everyone in the ministry to be aware of a change for those who serve in our praise band and tech teams. Please join us in praying for our staff and these teams as they adjust to new routines. This is an excerpt from a recent email Jay sent:

I remain SO grateful to serve at this church along side so many people with good hearts, amazing talent, and great personalities!

Tyler, Jill, Travis, Janet and I have been discussing our current practice schedule/routine. As many of you know, for the tech/praise band teams our current schedule is two practices in one week. Two of the main reasons for those two practices were more time for preparation and more time for community, particularly in the early days of dealing with two service formats in one morning!

Many things have changed since we went to two practices. These include:

· Adding an additional service at 5pm which increases the load particularly for the tech team.
· Musicians have adapted and settled into the two services. Consequently it is no longer nearly as overwhelming.
· Under Travis’ leadership our tech teams are running at a higher level of efficiency.
· We (Worship & Creative Arts) and other ministries at Sunset have lost resources/support staff with the economic downturn.

Given these factors we feel like the time has come to try going back to one practice a week, for a while, on Thursday nights. This will have its pros and cons for sure. One of the obvious pros is that many of you gain a night in your schedule during the week before a weekend that you serve! In talking with many of you, I know that some will love this, and others will feel this is not ideal for being prepared. We believe it will be more important than ever for the musicians to be prepared, listening to the music and knowing it well ahead of Thursday night’s rehearsal. We won’t be able to view Thursday night as a “wood shedding or sight reading night”, but a time of putting practiced parts together. So, please… let us know how we can help you be better prepared. In addition, because we are combining the rehearsal/tech run through into one night, this will also mean a slightly longer Thursday night. We'll
plan to rehearse no later than 10pm.

Please know that we still place a HIGH value on community/devotional/prayer time. This will be true as long as God has me at Sunset, even if it takes away a little from our overall time to rehearse.

So when will this start? Next week. For those of you singing in the 9am only, this will mean a little earlier night for you on Thursdays. Here's the proposed schedule, but stay connected using our planning center for specific call times.

Thursday Rehearsal
6:00p Tech Director, Producer and Drum Call
6:15p Drum sound check with Tech Director or Sound; Band begins to arrive
6:30p Band sound check
6:45p Vocal sound check
6:50p Band moves to Green Room; Tech Director and Sound run media
7:00p Full serving team in Green Room for devotionals
7:20p Band and vocals rehearsal on platform; Tech team time
8:30p Tech run through cues while band/vocals are rehearsing
8:55p Quick Break
9:00p eleventh hour run through top to bottom
9:40p Estimated ending

Nothing is forever, but we’d like to try this for a few months to a year and see how it goes! I love living the adventure with you. Thank you, thank you, thank you for all you give for the Lord in this community.

Sincerely,
Jay

Service Opportunities

1 Dish Dinners
We are looking for people who would be willing to prepare a 1 dish dinner once a month for the team working behind the scenes at the 5pm gathering. Drop off the dish Sunday a.m. when you come to church, we’ll cook it, clean it and be very thankful to grab a bite to eat on the run. For more information or to volunteer to cook please contact carriepeeples@sunsetpres.org.

Like Creating Presentations?
If you enjoy creating presentations, then join our team! We are looking for a couple people to help create the sermon PowerPoint slides each week. If you are interested, please contact carriepeeples@sunsetpres.org.

Help needed for the “first ten”!
We are in need of ushers to serve once-a-month during the 9am, 11am or 5pm gathering each week. Let Gene Barrett (Baarrett@aol.com) know which gathering you’d prefer to serve in.

Upcoming Events
January 30 – Family Unity Night (FUN)
February 4 – Apr 15, The Alpha Course, Wednesdays, 6:15-8:30 pm (see bulletin for more detail)
February 5-6 – Orphans Overseas Fundraiser, A Night to Remember
February 13-16 – Wildfire Winter Camp
February 20-21 – Women’s Retreat, Closer Event, (see bulletin for more detail)
March 8 – Daylight Savings Begins
March 13-15 – Ironman Conference, sign up in the lobby or online www.sunsetpres.org/go/men