First Ever

What a great weekend of worship this past week! There was a lot of energy in the room at all three services, and I believe God was greatly honored by our praise. We celebrated our Crossing Together total (over $400,000 since June 1), and we cheered like men and women who serve a great big God! It was awesome!

I will have to admit, however, that a lot of the buzz this past week was not about Crossing Together…it was about the first ever addition of a tuba to our band.

Yep, if you weren’t here, we had a tuba this past week. Dave Johnston asked me some time ago if I thought there was room for him to join the band. He told me he used to march in the band in high school and college, and he was thinking about picking his instrument back up. When I heard he played the tuba, I was thrilled. I’m brass player, but you can never have enough LOW brass. I encouraged him to pull out the old mouthpiece and start practicing.

At Covenant, the process for helping lead worship is not all that complicated, but it is intentional. We ask people like Dave who would like to sing, play, or even work in the tech areas during worship to join us for a two-part Creative Arts Orientation. As important as it is that a person be able to sing, play or understand tech equipment, our team believes a person’s heart must first be right before taking the lead. We talk a lot about humble service, and about worshipful living not just on Sundays, but on Mondays through Saturdays, too. Our emphasis is on character first. Then, once a person has completed the orientation and interview, we start talking about skill and abilities.

Dave and his wife have been regulars at Covenant for several years now. This past weekend was the first time he’s been on the platform during worship, and boy did he add to the powerful sounds of worship. One person told me, when the opening song began to play, he heard the trumpets and guitar and then a “WAHHHHH!” He asked the person he was with, “What was that?” The person answered, “THAT was a TUBA!”

I wonder…do you play an instrument? I actually had two people tell me that seeing Dave up there made them want to pull out their old instrument and try to play it for the Lord.

In the last few weeks, we’ve also had a new guitarist and a new drummer, and we’re always looking for people who would like to sing. We have a number people trying their hand at the lighting board, the cameras, and backstage computers as well. You should know that our worship DNA is to have people leading other people in praise during worship. It’s not a performance. We’re not looking for professionals. We’re just looking for people who can lend us some passion for worshipping our Lord and Savior.

Maybe you’re the next Dave. Why don’t you email Ashley Quinn about the next Creative Arts Orientation?

Anybody else have a, “Way to go TUBA!!” story to add?