Easter morning 2021, I received this text from my friend Autumn who was streaming our service online.
After walking off stage, I opened my phone, read her message here, rolled my eyes and sighed a big "huff." A lot happened prior to that moment.
BEHIND THE PHOTO
- The outdoor sunrise service started late because once we hit game time, all our sound went down. I had 200 eyes staring at me at 7am and had zero working audio. Our team frantically troubleshooted the problem.
- The band in the room had rehearsed without those of us simultaneously doing the outdoor sunrise service. They were incredible and I felt terrible that I was unable to be in two places at once.
- The second service (pictured above) started with 5 minutes to spare from the previous outdoor service. Lo and behold, no working confidence monitor as I started leading the room.
- Meanwhile, there was a mix up in our
in-ear monitor packs and we delivered the music portion listening in our ears to someone else's mix.
And so there you go! What you have in this picture is a furrowed-brow, weary, frustrated and worried worship leader by only 8:45am on Easter morning.
PAY NO ATTENTION TO THE FOLKS BEHIND THE CURTAIN
In production and worship, we try everything we can to be seamless. We want technical and musical issues to be invisible to those we are trying our best to lead to a place of worshipping God. Autumn had no idea what all was happening in this moment and I am so glad for that! There are a million things that can (and sometimes do) go wrong as we musicians and production teams work our tails off to deliver for our great God who deserves our best and for those who have come to attend.
But sometimes the face just cannot hide it. I've always been terrible at hiding my true thoughts and feelings. Maybe that's why I'm a terrible actor.
MY KUDOS TO ALL MUSIC + PRODUCTION TEAMS
So, I want to take a moment to honor and recognize the men and women who serve week by week to deliver meaningful services that draw people closer to the heart of God. My production and music friends who were a part of making Easter at Ascent happen are truly the best of the best! This team troubleshooted like bosses. They rolled up their sleeves and dug into fixing problems and collaborating as one team. I am forever grateful for these people!
Friends, our congregations may never know just how hard you work. They ask you what you do all week because "surely your work only happens on Sundays (!!!)." They will never know that while they come up and ask you to turn down that loud music, a moment earlier someone demanded you to turn it up. They may never know that the drummer accidentally got off click and now as you lead the song, you have a clanging metronome happening in your head that doesn't align with the beat the rest of the band and your singing is following. They may never know that while they read words on the screens, your word prompts are having technical difficulties and you are leading by memory.
I see you. And you know what? GOD sees you.
Your work is not for nothing. Your troubleshooting and staying in the game matters immensely. We need you. Know that whenever you walk away from a harrowing Sunday, you stand shoulder to shoulder with other music and production teams who have similar stories and have weathered glitches and gear breakdowns.
Know that there are people out there praying for you, and lifting you up while you minister in quiet and invisible ways.
THANK YOU for all you do!!!
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