Worship Update 3/27

From Jay
Where we are

This is a weird time of year in the life of our church. I have been here four years and am just starting to figure out this time of year. We start in September with fall kick off, and things around here are moving and grooving; then almost immediately there begins a ramp up for Christmas. After that, we all recover for a week and the focus is how to keep momentum and focus in the New Year, and continue to keep the main things the main things. Right now there is a ramp up as we move toward Easter for sure; but this is also a time where it’s easy to feel disconnected, and wonder what’s going on. So I thought I’d write a brief "state of the ministry" letter. Though some of this will overlap church wide, my intent is to keep it more focused on Worship and Creative Arts. And one more disclaimer, my goal here is not to say a bunch of wonderful things so you will be excited about being a part in some way. My goal is to inform… and give God glory in the process because He is still at work here every moment of every day.

Some challenges…
- The most obvious would be dealing with several key losses over the year, and trying to readjust and recalibrate has not been the adventure we would have chosen! From Jocelyn, to Julie, to Tres, to Kent, to Randy things look quite different around the office these days. I’ve learned personally that you don’t "get over" these types of losses. I continue to walk in here each day and remember fondly the foundation that has been laid. I still grieve in quiet moments even over my friendship with Matt Singley. Yes, life and ministry goes on, but relationships change you. Many of us…many of you, have seen lots of turnover, inside and outside our ministry, and that is hard. And yet, that same turnover helps me learn again that this is not our church, or my church, it’s God’s; and He moves and directs and sustains and builds, on His timing, not mine.

- Before we had to scale back hours and people, we scaled back everything else. Money for training, money for food that helped us show appreciation for people like you, money for upgrades, money for music…just about everywhere that could be trimmed was trimmed. Does this mean God can’t work? No. Does this mean we can’t do ministry here? No. Does this make us more dependent than ever on God, His Holy Spirit, and us coming together as a community to get things done? YES! For sure, that is the silver lining with this challenge!

Some BRIGHT spots! (Please note, these are just a few. There are so many things and so many names I could mention, but I am attempting to keep this readable.)

- The first thing that comes to mind is Jill and the choir. I remember listening to Jill when she first came, she shared with me her dream of what choir could be, of the source of life it could offer, and the community it could create. To watch it happen under her leadership has been inspiring!! She and Scott together have brought the NINE from a service on the journey of defining its identity to a rich worship experience full of excellence, realness, and beauty.

- Dania and the theatre ministry! Dania has slowly but surely become family here. Dania and her team’s dedication, skill and creativity have richly blessed our congregation and I can’t wait to see how God continues to develop that ministry!

- Laura Vandergiessen has been doing an outstanding job leading worship at The Gathering (Sunday evenings). We believe that a service which uses less people, less instruments, really less everything needs even more quality and skill in the people responsible for creating a community and creating an atmosphere of true worship. Laura exemplifies that quality and skill.

- Tyler Braun has become, or rather shown himself, to be just a wonderful leader. His voice and insight are constantly making us better. I truly believe that right now he could lead a ministry and we are blessed to have him here.

- Prayer team! Consistently, week after week, Melinda, Christina, Nancy and Carolyn come and pray. If you would like to consider joining this VITAL and needed ministry, please connect with Melinda. melindagroth@gmail.com

- Bob Thomas is an AMAZING elder. So much of what he does he does behind the scenes, with mostly just me getting a firsthand look. But please know we have a capable, God honoring leader who is helping shape our future for the better and who I am proud to serve with.

- One of the greatest impact players I have seen in our ministry is Travis. I don’t have enough time to write how he has changed us for the better with his skill and expertise. He and Janet have raised and trained an amazing army of team members who work their tail off each week to keep us seen, heard and supported unbelievably well.

Where are we headed?
Three things I want to highlight here. The first is we are beginning to lay the foundation for using some of our own worship songs. There are several song writers on the team today, and we are in the process of figuring out how to begin collaborating and offering our songs effectively for God’s glory and to the benefit of our community. My goal over the next couple of years is to come to a point where half of what we sing on a Sunday comes from Sunset. If you have some lyrics, song ideas, etc, please send those to me at jaymckenney@sunsetpres.org. I am confident there will be more interest and more songs than I will be actually able to use; but I would rather have too much than none at all. Because of this, I humbly ask that if you submit something, please do so prayerfully and with a heart that leaves it up to God whether it is used or not. Ideally, it has already been used between you and God in true worship and that is what matters most of all.

Secondly, I am praying about and researching how to offer training opportunities in the absence of resources. Vocal, band, drama, and tech workshops, etc. can happen here if we work together and use our connections. If you have ideas, relationships, suggestions or creative ways to offer some valuable training for our ministry, please contact me.

And finally, God has laid on my heart a desire to find ways to make Sunday more interactive. In a small church setting this is easier and more natural. In a larger setting, it takes more work, more intention, and can become distracting and chaotic if not done carefully. What type of things am I referring to? A few ideas would be impromptu sharing from the congregation, praises and prayer or Scripture reading from the congregation, ideas that are more of a challenge and risk in our demonstration of worship to God. I want to break down the wall from the platform. I want the room coming together to experience and engage in praising God. Again, if you have ideas, thoughts or suggestions on things that would describe what I’m talking about, please connect with me.

Thanks for reading this…guess it turned out to be not so brief!

Maundy Thursday Service
Meditating on the events of Jesus' final days and his resurrection can be profound. The challenge for most of us is shutting out the noise and distractions of everyday life long enough to quiet our souls and listen to the Spirit of God. This year Sunset will be hosting a "Journey to the Cross" stations event on Thursday, April 9th. We are looking for people to help us put together this event for our church family and community. Would you be willing to serve in any of the following roles?

Creative Team (Sandy Reimer) Brainstorm; Create stations/interactive ideas for contemplation on campus; First meeting is Tuesday Mar 31st 6:30p

Logistics (Carrie Peeples) Shopping Set up Stations Wednesday Apr 8th 7-10p Take down stations Thursday Apr 9th 9-10:30p

Volunteer/Technical Support (Janet Fraser) Media Support- find appropriate high res images; music for event; create presentation/music playlist Room host- 2 people; 2 hour shifts all day Thursday

Please rsvp to janetfraser@sunsetpres.org

Opportunities to Serve

IMMEDIATE Student and/or Family Opportunity
On March 8th we began a sermon series titled "God’s Design for the Next Generation" and we’d love to have students or families do the prelude each weekend. If you are willing to serve in this way OR could recommend a musician/artist in our church family, please contact janetfraser@sunsetpres.org.

Are You Musical?? We are always on the lookout for talented musicians with a heart to serve on the team. Whether you play the electric guitar or the Swedish bagpipes, we want to hear you play!
Come April 5th, 1pm in the Sanctuary. Please rsvp to Tyler at tylerbraun@sunsetpres.org asap and we will get you more info on how you can prepare.

1 Dish Dinners Thanks to everyone who has read and responded to this ad. We have all of our weekends signed up!!

Upcoming Events List
April 9 – Maundy Thursday – Journey to the Cross, a stations of the cross event.
April 12 – Easter Services
(blended) Saturday Apr 11th 4pm, Sunday April 12th 9 & 11am
(modern) Saturday Apr 11th 6:30pm
Infant to pre-K programming at all services; K – 5 Sunday
April 24 – Family Unity Night (FUN)
May 10 – Mother’s Day