A Different Kind of Fun

Last Tuesday, I had the privilege of being a part of the SHE Event. Rebecca St. James performed a concert with a message for the ladies of the Mansfield area. I was in charge of all the tech areas, of course, and had a great time working with some different people.

First, several of the guys from our college age small group volunteered to help out as roadies. When I mentioned that I was working different people, this is what I meant. They are definitely "different!" They are a fantastic group of guys with a heart for the Lord and an attitude of youth! First, they helped clear the stage, vacuum, move the drums and set up for the concert. While they were doing all this, there was a feeling of fun in the air. Sometimes, I feel like I get caught up in the "work" of what I do. It is refreshing to see someone else join in and remind me of how fun this job can be. To see them setting up equipment one minute and then "surfing" on furniture movers the next kept a smile on my face. They even had a chance to take the roadie and a few musicians from Rebecca's group out for a little R & R during the afternoon.

I overheard someone from the tour mention how great it was to see real fellowship here at Crossroads. It seems that some churches are so traditional that they keep the different age groups almost segregated. I give a lot of credit to Lori Biddle for her efforts to bring all the creative groups together! She has a heart for bringing real fellowship out into the open. She has brought the entire spectrum of ages together with the Artists Small Group. She has also started up a drama small group and the college age small group. She also has our worship leaders working with the youth who are blossoming as true worshipers of Christ. Now she tells me she wants to work with the kids in the junior high age group. If anyone is a true leader in fellowship, it is Lori!

But I digress. I also had an opportunity to work with the sound and lighting persons for the tour. Matt Grunden ran sound and worked more extensively with one of our sound guys, Jon Linton. I spent most of the afternoon with Luke Smallbone working on the lighting. I've not had an opportunity to work with a concert lighting designer prior to this visit. It was definitely a different kind of fun. Luke wanted to run the board manually. For our services, I usually program every cues and the lighting operator just hits the go button with an occasional manual slider being used. I've been contemplating going manual for some services so this was a great opportunity to see how someone else might run it. I learned a bit more about how to do some things on the board. During the concert, Luke had to leave and head to the stage. He also happens to be Rebecca's brother. He and another Brother, Joel, are also musicians. The ladies in the audience had a great time hearing them perform also.

When Rebecca came to the stage, the audience was 99.9% female. Rebecca started out with a fast song, then slowed it down to lead the audience into worship, with some teachings in between. Her mentor, Evie Tornquist was a big hit with the audience. If they come back around, and you are female, I'd recommend getting tickets.

I'm really looking forward to more events like this one. Stay tuned for details!