Visit my blog at the web address above!
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I have served in Music Ministry as director of choral & instrumental ensembles, as accompanist, singer, organist, worship leader & more. My strongest spiritual gifts are in music, administration & encouragement. I am animated & told I am a dynamic leader because of my enthusiasm for what I do.

My charisma & gifting are for live leadership and I make no claim to being a "recording artist." I know that when playing and singing live, the Lord uses me to bless others and draw them into worship and that's all that really matters. The Rev. Carl Luthman, may he rest in peace, opened my eyes to that over ten years ago and I have been affirmed over and over by people coming up after worship service and telling me that something I did, said, sang or played moved them spiritually.

PLAYLISTS:

1. "Me Singing" playlist = various recordings of moi singing to tracks I recorded on my Korg. Newest vids are all contemporary. My first vids posted were audio recordings, one of which go back up to 10 yrs ago ("Think About His Love") and I used the tracks to get my feet wet using MovieMaker.

2. "Misc. Videos" is just that = Sparky, cooking, radio ad, around the house, etc.

3. "Me Conducting" playlist = four excerpts from Living Christmas Tree 2007 plus live video from a 2008 cantata.

4. "Choral Accompaniments" playlist contains exactly that. There are also a bunch of contemporary accompaniment vids with lyrics displayed which were teaching aids in helping a newbie praise team learn new songs (which is why most of those were made quickly and kinda thrown together).

PHILOSOPHY - My philosophy of music as ministry begins with my own trust in God and seeking to cultivate His people and their individual gifts and talents as I discover them. What comes first for me is the MINISTRY aspect, and secondly is the actual MUSIC. It may seem strange, but if it were music first, anyone with talent could show up on a Sunday and perform or play a "gig." One's heart has to be in the right place before we can share Him effectively with others. I have a full-time vocation; I don't expect the same level of commitment from my volunteer ensembles, but I do expect the proper heart attitudes.

I also strive as a worship leader to work myself out of a job by raising up more worship leaders and drawing the musical gifting out of my team members so that new disciples are created who then help to exponentially raise up even more. I don't use my gifts in encouragement and administration to shine alone onstage as a diva, but often as an accompanist who allows others to grow in the ministry of music.

As any of my music ministry teams know about me, I preach that God deserves more than our "it'll do's" so I first prepare myself, then I prepare my music teams, and we begin worshiping together through music and fellowship at our rehearsals. I'm a fan of the purpose-driven model and I emphasize to my music teams that they are their own small groups for study, worship and accountability.

I've always been a bit more out-of-the-box than the traditional churches I have served in and am always pushing the envelope to incorporate ideas and methods being used in newer churches today. I firmly believe that it is extremely important to meet people just as Jesus did, i.e., right where they are.

My original purpose in posting videos was to document examples of my singing, conducting and playing from some old recordings I found from churches where I worked that were traditional but transitioning into a contemporary style, thus the pre-March 09 vids have an easy-listening sound that works for blended worship. That fell by the wayside as in August 08, I began creating accompaniment vids for my last praise team to rehearse with, and there's quite a number of those.

Now, I'm concentrating on recording my favourite pop/rock music and doing my own video work vs. using stock photos. My analog recording equipment (as in a four-track cassette recorder) isn't the best, but it's functional!