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June 2003 Table of Contents
Producing Results
The Most Wonderful Time of the Year?
By Keith McClung
Minister of Music & Fine Arts
19th Street Church of God
Parkersburg, WV
Regardless of our own time schedule, we have to face the fact that Christmas is coming and we need to be ready. So, let's look at this season coming up. I encourage you to once again..."think outside the Christmas box"...if you will. Here are some new ideas for you!
This holiday season do something different! I know you can do it! You will receive so much more of a blessing creating a musical program that is tailored to fit your music ministry and church music style.
Select Some New Favorites
Listen to the great music that is coming out this year. Many of us cannot afford to purchase four orfive different books of new music. Find one or two new projects that have some good tunes that excite you. Nobody said that you have to use the entire project. Pick and choose your favorites and use them. I encourage you to select music that can carry past the holiday season. You can always use the written narrations to "set up" what can become a "non-seasonal" song from a Christmas musical!
Visit The Past
Our choir shelves are stacked up with projects from the past twenty years...countless musical books...countless sound tracks...count-less drama scripts. Set some time with your choir officers, a few long time choir members and even some musicians. Re-visit some of the music that has ministered over the Christmas years and use some of those songs in your program. This past Christmas we cracked out an older project from Brentwood Benson titled, "Ten Thousand Joys." This book became a strong part of our 2002 program.
Make It Multi-Sensory
There are many companies out there with Christmas Stock Footage or even DVD presentations that are created for the newer works. Incorporate your video projection capabilities with select parts of your program, or the entire program. We have used moving Christmas background scenes behind our candle-lit carol singing. It works well! Use theatrical lighting to enhance the mood. Do you have a foyer table? Decorate the table with candles as guests enter. Our church has several bridal candelabras that we set up and light each year for our presentation. Set the stage for your guests from the moment they enter your church property. We have gone as far as placing luminaries leading up the walkways to our facility.
Drama Doesn't Have To Be Difficult
I found a tremendous resource in our files. I found five scripts for five different monologue presentations. Short scripts have been written for the Innkeeper, Mary, Joseph, the Innkeeper's Wife, and one of the Wise Men. We are going to add some great live string music behind the monologues and work them into our program for 2003. We have the costumes, we have the talent, and it's a new and fresh drama approach. Think about it...what would have been going through Joseph's head? Mary's Head? The Innkeeper? These scripts pull all of our thoughts together! My plan is to use the scenes throughout the music presentation.
Include The Kids!
What would Christmas be without children? A few years ago, we dressed about 120 children in angel costumes. As our soloist sang an old country song titled, "Angels Among Us" the children walked up the aisles and sat on the stage and joined in on the chorus. At the end of the song, our Senior Pastor pulled up a chair and shared the Christmas story with the children as the congregation looked on. For many years, we included the song made so famous by the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir..."Happy Birthday Jesus!" (It's a great tune!)
Soloists-Vocal & Instrumental Ensembles-and More
Involve them in the mix. Not only does it fill up some of your time, but it also allows more people to minister. It is so easy to hand over one of your favorite choral songs to a group and allow them to work on the song and prepare to minister with that song. Better yet, you are buying that new project this year but maybe you are not quite sold on the entire project. Select a few new tunes and allow your Praise Team, Soloist, or Ensemble to work on the song instead of it being presented as a full choral piece.
It Doesn't Have To End!
Invite your choir members to host an "after-presentation" fellowship. We titled our postproduction event as "Cafe' Ala Christmas!" We already have a gourmet coffee cart that is used every Sunday in our Family Life Center. Flavored coffees of the seasonwere added to the menu for the evening while choir members brought trays and trays of holiday cookies and desserts. The evening celebration was free and it served as a great time to wind down after such a busy time for all. It becomes one of the "final holiday events" that our church family shares with one another.
These are just a few ideas that may help inspire you to be creative this holiday season. Keep in mind that others can help you plan a wonderful Holiday Celebration! Ok, am I am the holiday spirit yet? Hardly! I still have a cruise ahead of me and I still have to lose 15 more pounds so I can gain it back at the superb buffets! Be well and remember...think outside the box!
Keith McClung
mcclung@charter.net
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