Coming Together

Last Friday I spent a few hours with several worship arts leaders who gathered in Dallas at Bent Tree Bible Fellowship Church. Our host was Scott Dyer, the Worship Arts Pastor there. What inspired me most was to see how these leaders support one another, though many of their churches are on the same block or just a few miles apart. They seem to intuitively understand something that I wish all arts leaders understood – We need one another and we are not in competition. The Kingdom will not advance unless all kinds of ministries are flourishing, ministries that will be quite different from one another in terms of strategy, style of worship, and calling. But surely just as in every part of the world, Dallas is filled with a diverse group of people, many of whom are still far from God. All these unique individuals will be optimally served by one of those churches while other communities of faith may not be quite the right ministry for them. As we learn from one another, as we pool our resources and exchange learnings, we all get a little stronger and everybody wins.
Serving in the worship arts area can be a lonely endeavor. Whether we are struggling with an unrealistic job description, conflict on our volunteer teams, or difficulty partnering with the teaching pastors, the everyday challenges sometimes threaten to overwhelm us. That’s part of the reason so many arts leaders end up changing churches to try somewhere else, or worse, fall into a pattern of sin or escape that ends up disqualifying them from ministry. One of the best ways to prevent these scenarios is to adamantly refuse to do it alone, to intentionally build relationships with a few leaders from other churches who understand and can be a safe place for us to vent and confess.
My dream is that in every city of the United States, as well as other countries, arts leaders would form little communities like the one Scott is attempting to build in Dallas. I know most arts leaders think they can’t possibly make the time to invest in fellow leaders from other churches. Yet this periodic investment may very well be the key to finishing our races well, to fighting against the loneliness and despair that can so easily set in if we take the route of isolation. My challenge to you, wherever you live, is to make a phone call or send an e-mail to find a fellow arts leaders who may be right down the street or across town. Invite that person to breakfast or lunch, and begin to build a friendship. Rejoice when they rejoice; mourn when they mourn. The Kingdom will be so much stronger, and the likelihood of our persevering in the battle will rise.