Impromptu Music Leader

A few weeks ago we had a youth service. The style was "camping". We set up a tent, threw a sleeping back over the altar, made a fake fire, put a couple of coolers around and did camp style worship. That meant we sang "Pharaoh, Pharaoh" and "Arustashaw" and had testimonies instead of a formal sermon. We danced. We sang. We acted silly. It was MARVELOUS!!! And at the end of the service we got up, circled up around the sanctuary, sang "Seek ye first" and then did the UMYF benediction all together.

So the impromptu music leader part of this post is that we rehearsed the songs with the youth a couple 3 times. We have a new bell director at the church who also plays guitar and knows praise music. So we recruited him to lead music for/with us. We were doing the rehearsals and he kept asking me what I wanted or how I wanted to do the music. My classic retort is, "I'm a preacher, not a music leader!" and yet he kept persisting that I should have an answer to his questions. Ironically enough, though I am NOT a music leader, I kept leading our youth, instructing our musicians, and leading the congregation. For the record, music is not my gifting. I know lots of songs, from various traditions, and sang with a pretty good gospel choir in seminary that honed some of my skills, but seriously, music is not my gifting. Nevertheless, at funerals I end up leading hymns a capella (one man even thought I was gonna do a solo....yeah. right!), in worship I lead gospel songs, and now we've taken to have me help orchestrate praise songs. Who'd-a thunk it??? Not I. I'll tell you that much.