Thursday, July 17, 2008

Multiple Worship Leaders

Recently, I read the Profile section of nationally published Worship Leader Magazine and noticed one of the worship leaders from South Haven First Assembly of God (Senior Pastor Rev. Eric M. Jarvis) was featured in the July / August issue. South Haven’s story is one of true perseverance and God’s blessing. As many of you know (having participated in the voting) South Haven’s worship team entered Worship Leader’s video contest titled “Upgrade Your Stage Giveaway”. After producing a DVD chronicling their development, South Haven was voted the winner in April. Pastor Jarvis comments, “You can’t look for immediate results, you have to think long term.” The Jarvis’ pastorate began in 1996. Initially, the church’s heartfelt and humble worship ministry began with a’cappella singing and simple rhythm instruments. Soon after a CD player was purchased and split tracks were used. As the church grew, Tricia DeVries led worship as musicians developed their skills and became involved. Eventually their numbers grew to the point they needed to divide. Today the teams are led by Tricia DeVries and Lisa Schneider. Their contest win provided admission to the National Worship Leader Conference, an electronic drum set and $5,000 worth of worship resources from LifeWay. What an incredible journey, praise God! I appreciated Lisa’s comments in the article regarding favorite worship resources. Her list included: Worship Leader Magazine, Song DISCovery and the Modern Worship Series DVDs (Paul Baloche) which can be purchased at leadworship.com. Churches throughout our district understand the importance of corporate worship. Developing a worship team is not easy. Lisa describes coming to the place of leadership, mentioning “One awesome thing about God is that when He calls you to do something, He supplies everything you need to accomplish it.” Those I have spoken with over the years vocalized great desire to get to point D like South Haven. But understand the real challenge is working through points A, B and C to get to D. A consistent work ethic and incredible commitment must be exampled. The leader (or leaders in this case) like all of us may not have all the answers, but this person finds the answers and sacrifices time investing in people for the future. Starting from scratch takes time. I’ve often said, depending on the level of musical ability at point A, it may take 5 years to get to point D. South Haven started in 1996. Be patient and persevere. Not bad for church with an active membership of 40. That's right... 40. Well done South Haven A/G, Pastor Jarvis, Tricia, Lisa and worship teams!

God is good,
Tim Covert

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