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September 2002 Table of Contents
Off The Top Of My Head
Building a Better Mousetrap
By Jerry Evans
 As we begin the 25th year of our history as a company, we are forced to look at ourselves and ask some very important questions. When we started in 1978, church music was sort of a straight forward ministry. Most every church had a choir program, an organist, a pianist, a Minister of Music and maybe a secretary to help him. Today the church has Praise bands, Praise teams, possibly an orchestra, several staff members, and a Worship leader, or Worship Pastor, Music Pastor, and in some cases, Pastor of Magnification. We live in a different world and we as a company have to look at new and more innovative ways to meet the needs of this new mindset. "Serving the Servants" has been our motto for the past 25 years and that will not change. We are told by all the economics "guru's" that "servant leadership" is the format by which business in the 21st century will be done. Many of you have expressed that the same principles apply to ministry in the church. With all that said, I am reminded of something a pastor said to me back in the mid seventies as I began as his Minister of Music. "Our Theology and Doctrine are not open for debate, but our Methodology is wide open for change as long as God is honored and people see Him glorified.
As we begin to make plans for our January conferences we are doing some serious soul searching. Choral music is our business and our conferences have to feature a lot of choral reading. Early in our company's history we realized that spiritual emphasis was also a major need at these conferences, so we started and still maintain a daily worship service with outstanding speakers and musicians. This will also continue with even more emphasis on meeting the spiritual needs of the musicians in God's Church. The area we have probably been the weakest in has been in the area of education. We have had the standard things that were needed in the "more straight forward church," and since that church will continue to flourish, we will continue to try to meet those needs. Seminars in areas such as "Children's Choir, Building an Orchestra, Adult Choir Motivation, ect." will still maintain a part in the major J & J Music Conferences. However in many of our churches today there is a need for seminars that help churches that are more contemporary in their approach. With that in mind, we are seeking some help. This week, my friend, Rick Muchow, Worship Pastor of the Saddleback Church in Southern California, is flying across the country to meet with us in planning next year's conferences, with particular emphasis on the first San Antonio conferences. We have told him we need to explore ideas well beyond where we could see 25 years ago. We need to look at possibilities that didn't even exist 5 years ago. We are trying our best to find ways to meet the needs of the "Servant" of the 21st century.
You can help. I would love to hear from you as to what ideas or problems need to be addressed at these conferences. What are the areas that you need help in? What can J & J Music do to help in your ministry? I am asking you to e-mail me with any and all ideas that you think would help if we could get the right person to teach on them. My e-mail address is jerry.evans@jjonline.com I assure you that every one will receive a reply and consideration. We truly want to serve you and telling us where the needs are and how you think we could meet those needs. Please understand that it may take longer than a few months to put some of these ideas into action, but I will promise you that we will make every attempt to show you that we are serious about ministry in the "Contemporary" as well as the "Traditional" church. We're not trying to define churches, just trying to reach the same goal as you, helping God Church Worship Him.
Looking for new and exciting things in San Antonio.
Jerry
Email Jerry
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