In the first church that I served in, I was a part-time worship leader [I was a music teacher for my full-time job]. Our pastor had asked my wife and I to help start a contemporary worship service to add to the two traditional services that our church already had. We did [details are a story in themselves, and for another time, lol]. We found people who were willing to join us, and – over time – the core of that group became a band in and of itself. We started playing “gigs” outside of our church walls – festivals, camps, concerts at other churches, etc…
In retrospect, I can see that our pastor had an interesting choice to make at this point in time. He could have squelched this activity, with the justification that it pulling us away from the core of our purpose. But he didn’t. Instead, he encouraged and supported our activities, even going so far as to ask the church to support us in recording. He must have known that there was a chance that these activities would lead us away from that struggling little contemporary service – which is, in fact, what happened. One of the churches we played at several times asked me to consider coming on as their worship leader [eventually pastor]. I accepted, hoping to more effectively answer my call to ministry.
I owe a lot to our [first] pastor. He did our wedding. He hired me as part-time staff. But it goes much further. Were it not for him, I would very likely not be in ministry. He gave me a chance and supported me, even when good things for me meant difficulties for him. His mindset was to support the church – the Big-C Church – not to look inwardly. His vision was bigger than that, and I’m grateful. Thanks, Dave – you truly blessed my life.
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