Howdy Doxologist-ers. Though the posting has been a little slow around here, let it be known I’ve been working on a pretty extensive song sheet / mp3 repository page that–Lord willing–should be ready to launch in the next week or two. Currently there’s tons of live MP3s and songsheets out there in the MH ether but most of it is not in one place. So even though this undertaking is kind of like re-inventing the wheel we music department folks thought it would be helpful to have it available in one place instead of having to waste time searching for it.Once this page launches please post comments on what works and doesn’t work. Please note that this page will be a work in progress and may not function perfectly at first.  Stay tuned!

Here’s installment numero dos in the Q&A series. Every so often we Mars Hill folk get ministry related questions from people in other churches. Hopefully this will be of use to some of you who are listening in. This question relates to doing community outreach through non-Christian music events in a church building.

To give some context, years ago Mars Hill used to host a venue called the Paradox where we ran an all ages concert venue. Weekly shows were scheduled throughout the week and Mars Hill had church services there on Sunday nights. I used to volunteer at the concerts by working the door, I was in bands that frequently played the venue and I was also in a worship band that served at the church. We avoided bait and switch tactics and trusted that organic evangelization would happen naturally. And it did. Hopefully I’ll have something of value to add to the issue. Anyway, on to the question…

Q: We have some kids at our church who have a real passion for reaching the metal music kids in our community. We have started an outreach ministry with a strategy to have Christian and secular bands to play the same show. We ask that the Christian kids share the Gospel from stage. Though most evangelization is done before and after the concert in more relational ways. But some of our elders believe that having the secular bands play would be promoting darkness which is incompatible with our ministry.

With all this in mind, I have a couple questions: Do you see this ministry as a biblically viable tool to reach kids within their cultural context? If yes, what reasoning can we use biblically to show that you can use non-Christian elements as part of an outreach? Does the issue change when the concert is on church property?

A: Is this a viable ministry? Absolutely! Here’s are a few thoughts on the subject. (more…)

Every so often we get philosophy-of-ministry type questions from folks in other churches. Its humbling to know that people would come to those of us at Mars Hill for answers as we feel like we’re constantly figuring things out as we go. But it is a great honor to have the opportunity to share our thoughts. Our hope is that whatever biblically faithful insights we’ve gained along the way would honor Jesus and build up the church. Here is an exchange between a ministry leader in Australia and our own Deacon Joel Brown.Brother Down Under: Our church has three male band leaders and we’re considering the Mars Hill style “band model” instead of the “worship team” model. If we move to a band model it will mean either having women band leaders, or cutting the volunteer pool for the sake of three smaller manageable bands. I’m hesitating from the second option because of the pastoral implications it could have, but am I still being faithful to scripture if women are in the role of leadership?Joel Brown: First thing to consider as you transition is, what has God called you to, specifically? As a leader of these people, if he’s called you to the band model at your church and you feel it will be the best way to minister to your people in your time and place, then the folks currently serving in your ‘teams’ need strong vision casting from you up front.I suggest you get a game plan together – some sort of proposal that tangibly lays out the best case scenario for this group that you lead. Prayerfully consider how you want the “band model” structured in your specific context. What leaders and members do you want in and which do you want out? Give this proposal to your pastors/elders and have them edit, change, or approve it. Meet with the leaders you want to keep and make sure they’re on board. Then, pesent your plan in a meeting with all of your department’s volunteers. Maybe the meeting would go something like this:

• Vision cast for the new paradigm
• Call those who will be cut to give grace and trust the leadership
• Invite those who will be cut to serve in a different area of the church where their gifts (musical or otherwise) can be used to glorify God and bless his people
• Answer questions in the group setting
• Have follow up meetings with the few people who need pastoral care 

As far as women as band leaders, I would say that there is no biblical office of band leader. So though the bible is clear on whether or not women can be pastors, the decision on band leadership is totally a matter of conscience for your church. At Mars Hill, worship leaders have very little spiritual authority and don’t perform a lot of pastoral duties in their role, so we have several woman band leaders. We work towards helping the ladies succeed when they work with men but help safeguard them from the need to lead spiritually and men leaders step in when there’s the need for a little more authority in a given situation.BDU: Bands have identities. How do we avoid glorifying the bands over glorifying Jesus? Perhaps its cultural but on the Central Coast in Australia, bands are worshipped. Does this make it wrong for us to follow this model?JB: If your bands develop identities and you see people leaning towards idolatry, then it’s time to call out your people’s sin. Idolatry isn’t caused by creation, it’s caused by our hearts and not having a right view of God’s surpassing worth over the things which catch our eye, and we all need to be reminded of that. Of course if this is a larger issue for your people then you should, of course, avoid leading them into temptation.

A couple years ago I was at a party milling around and overhead someone talking about a 100 guitar symphony. I was intrigued. Personally, I can’t think of anything more exuberant sounding than 100 electric guitars playing at the same place at the same time. The artist that conducted the event’s name was Glenn Branca.

Branca is one of the forerunners of the short lived NYC No Wave scene from the late 70s and early 80s. No Wave was basically an arty / extreme response to the “commercialization” of punk. Basically, No Wave is pretty much unlistenable music wise. But it’s interesting. Check out the documentary Kill Your Idols for more info.

Branca is conducting his 100 guitar symphony Hallucination City this friday night (hosted by the Seattle Art Museum) starting at 7pm down at the outdoor Olympic Sculpture Park. I was hoping the event would be free since it’s outdoors. Unfortunately, admission is $175. Apparently you have to be rich to experience anti-art these days.

In other news myself and a couple faithful Doxologist volunteers are busy building an extensive MP3 | song sheet repository. Basically we will have a page dedicated to providing this content together in one place so that you don’t have to go hunting for it anymore. Oh, and my beautiful first born baby girl came into the world a month ago so blogging hasn’t been too much of a priority these days. Stay tuned on the songs page.