china dispatch #12 - worship

When we first set down here in Beijing, our friend Cathryn set us up with her friend J-Bryan and his wife Cathy, who offered us a place to stay while we found our bearings. Really nice!! That first couple of weeks, we went to church with them, on the upper west side of town, a good forty-five minutes from their way-up-north apartment, and now a good hour and a half from our lower east side place.

I enjoyed it quite a bit: it's a large congregation of internationals that meets in the meeting room of an office building, and is filled with casual, friendly folk from all over. I mentioned that I'm a musician and worship leader at home, and the people there mentioned that summers are always hard when it comes to finding music leaders for church. So, I got volunteered. I'm playing or leading several times throughout the summer. It's a bit of a hike (especially seeing as the church we usually go to is only three subway stops away), but it feeds the soul.

Whenever there is any musical performance of any kind, I always want to be in on it. It's hard to be an audience member, even if it's a pleasure to watch or hear. And that's especially true in worship. I know it's a hardship for Catherine to constantly be a Band Widow in worship services, but it's so hard for me to sit still when someone else is doing the music. I want to be there, laying down a solid bass line or filling in on aux percussion, or doing some keyboard work, or whatever.

It's one of those things that they always tell you about What You Do. I'm really talented in a lot of areas, but music is my zone: that place where your skills and abilities and talents line up perfectly with your passions and desires.

So, I've been the bassist at this church, and a couple of weeks now I've been the worship leader, leading from the keyboard, having consulted with the other service leaders and speakers about the morning's themes, chosen the music, and put together the charts for the band. So nice!

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