Reflecting Nehemiah... my life at Calvin College

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Double Duty with fifty6

the setting for fifty6’s epic musical

it’s been a while since i played for a church service; the last one was probably for madison church freshman year with nalini, then the coordinator for the mosaic program and now the head of calvin’s barnabas program. there were definitely some rough spots in my playing, but for the most part it all went pretty smoothly. there’s still a lot of work to do before i’m confident enough in my drumming ability to play impromptu sets at local jazz clubs. but heck, it’s a start right? so i was blogging away during breaks in the morning on my phone, and i’ll include excerpts from my “journal” below…

world-class 4-squarers surround me as i blog

our brave leader jim keat

mandy (our singer) waiting for the 11am service to begin

“Just finished my first service with the 5th and 6th grade group at mars hill. Lots of fun is happening around me as we sit for the 11am service in 30 min. I’m still wired from playing, but in pretty sure I’ll crash soon because I woke up at 6:30 this morning. I’m hanging pit with the rest of the band and we’re trying to stay busy to keep our energy levels up.”

me on the drumset

these notes helped me get through the sets

“Some kids invented a new game (I loved doing that as a kid) jumping off the stage over trash bins. This one kid is even cartwheeling off the stage with one hand.”

one-handed cartwheel off the stage (new parkour move)

kids waiting for the 11am service to start by jumping trash bins

“So now it’s the second service, and I’m snapping photos during breaks in the drumming. As you can see, I’m taking photos from behind the drumkit and keeping it subtle. I don’t eat to distract any kids from hearing about the Easter message right? The whole service was structured like a musical (quite ingenious really; props to the organizers) where the kids participated as the choir for the band. Everyone was involved in making the service happen; it wasn’t just a service created by the leaders and catered to the kids. I think that’s a great way for teaching kids that we’re involved in worshiping God through every aspect of our lives (and that’s an indirect quote from jim keat, on the adult leaders for fifty6).”

kicking off the service