..but before I talk about that, I want to get one more thing out of my head that's been plaguing me for the past two weeks. And of course, it involves everybody's favorite jerk, Jason!!!
You see two weeks ago, we had our Praise & Prayer Night. This is a monthly event that focuses mainly on worship through music and prayer. I play electric guitar with the band. Other than Brian being the Youth Director, this is the only other reason why I still hang out with Souled Out.
The Saturday before P&P Night, I messaged Jason on Facebook to get me the lineup for that night. Jason responds and says that some guy named Edward is playing electric guitar so I had a break.
Why the futch do I need a break? We only do these events once a month. And why did I have to figure this out by myself? I didn't even ask if I was playing because I knew I was playing at the time. I was asking for the lineup and it's like I get taken out without me knowing. And on the day before the event too!
Imagine if I didn't message Jason. I would have come up to P&P Night with all my equipment and some other guy is in my spot. Judging by Jason's leadership, I could've imagined this situation happening if I didn't ask him prior. He has a history of sucking at notifying people.
AND THEN...
Jason has the gall to ask Thomas if he's gonna play bass for P&P Night. Thankfully, Thomas had homework to do so he couldn't attend or play bass. That's a spot I could've taken over.
Now I do hate playing the bass, but it's only if it's on a regular basis. Back when I was playing for the Souled Out band I was plaing bass for them and I hated it because I am an electric guitarist. That's what I'm proficient at and being consistently asked to do it pissed me off. But I needed to stay there because if I didn't play bass, I wouldn't have a spot in the band. Plus the sound sucks without a bass. This time around if Jason asked me to play bass, I would be fine with it because I haven't been asked to do it in a while and I would probably do it on my own accord. But I said to myself, "Forget it." I'm not gonna offer myself to this band.
Jason, seriously, the way you settle things is terrible. And I can't tolerate it any longer. I don't respect you and as long as you are a worship leader at FACC and never get the formal training you should have recieved a long time ago, I never will
Now on to the real story...
I've been looking at the state of Souled Out since Frankie left, and it's been extremely poor. During the summer we used to run a YG of up to 30-40 people. Now we're back to where we were pre-me leaving and pre-Frankie. A YG of less than 20 a week. An enourmous amount of drama has since been brewing within the group and it's just not healthy.
It's made me come to a conclusion that Frankie was the glue that held the group together. Without him, there was pretty much nothing. Brian is doing his best, but it seems that he's a black man in 1960s America. It seems as if his opinion doesn't matter to them. If you think, he's still flanked by members of the old regimes; Jason, Errol, and Alula. And if you were with Souled out during those times you would know how bad it was with them.
Jason led the group from Sep. 2008-April 2009. He also led spots here and there between regimes, like in between the Rachel & John Regime and the second Nick Regime. He has been the go to guy in times of leadership. The only problem is, he doesn't know how to. Sure he's got the Bible sense, but he has no way of connecting with others because of his introverted mentality. The other thing is that he's got way too much on his plate. During his last regime, he was juggling Young Adult Ministry, Souled Out, and Worship Ministry, all of which he was a leader of, and he was still in college. You can't be the best at everything.
Errol has never taken the reigns of Souled Out, which in my opinion makes him the least qualified member. Like his brother Jason, he has a lot of Bible sense, but it seems that he portrays himself as some androgynous guy who sticks around the girls and acts gay around the guys. Errol is the ultimate CB'er, but that's not the main reason why I can't stand him. It's because I can't envision him as a leader. Judging by what he does now, he doesn't seem like he could be a leader. For one thing he's younger than I am, another thing is that he acts very unprofessionally, and third, whenever he does do the little sermons during Souled Out, it's as if he forces people to do things.
Alula is the one I respect the most out of those three. She led Souled Out for 2005 and much of 2006. During her regime, I got baptized along with 4 others during my Landmark Summer of 2006. She has less Bible sense than Jason and Errol in my opinion, but she is more transparent than the others. A great example of this was last Sunday. In our small groups, she admitted to us that she had been doing stuff in the past that she of course regretted. While she may not have gone into great detail about the things she did the fact that she mentioned them shows that she is more open to talking about her issues than the other two. I prefer an imperfect leader than a perfect leader because with an imperfect leader there are no guesses you know what's up with them and you feel more comfortable. With a perfect leader, you spend forever trying to figure out an issue with them because you already know nobody's perfect.
And thinking about these things you consider what would happen if Brian left. What if the last reason why I go to Souled Out just up and left? Well this is exactly what would happen.
If Brian left, I would leave as well. Alula is getting married next month so she couldn't lead Souled Out. Jason is planning on taking the reigns of the Worship Ministry full time as a paid staff member, so he's out of the picture. That leaves Errol, whom I'm pretty already knows that he is not qualified to lead Souled Out in any capacity.
So you're left with the current crop of membes of Souled Out: Patrick, Jorge, Sha Sha, Eddie, Janina, Marvin, Alyssa, Alyssa, Steph, Kenneth, Megan, RV, Dino, Derrick, and Raymond. All of which are not in anyway qualified to lead Souled Out in any capacity. So what's gonna happen? Souled Out Will Die, Mark My Words.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Good, But Not Great
October 18, 2009. This is represented as the first day I've led worship in a Sunday service in FACC since I offically left the church in May. This is represented as a day that dwells in delight and controversy. This is represented as Youth Sunday.
It's been a very long time since I've done a blog of this nature on blogspot. I praise God that no one know about this little operation except for those that deserve to see it.
However, I'll start this one off on a very positive note. The most important bits of Youth Sunday went off without a hitch. We did a skit to the tune of Everything by Lifehouse that was shown during the TRANSFORMED events and it was done to perfection. Everyone in the skit was dedicated to their specific role and the congregation loved it. They even gave a standing ovation. The congregation was also into the worship. FACC has had a long run of horrid participation during the worship set. Now I know that people have said that it doesn't matter how you worship God as long as you do it, but if you compare a normal worship set to the one that was done during Youth Sunday, which one would you rather be a part of. I also loved the amount of visitors that came. Granted, it was no TRANSFORMED event, but to see a decent amount of guests visiting that day was a nice thing. So like I said, the most important aspects of Youth Sunday were done well...
...except for the actual worship set.
Bless his heart, but Nante's leadership is quite possibly some of the worst leadership I've seen in a while. I know Jason can be pretty bad, but when it comes to worship I think Jason has met his match. During the sets, Nante spoke to the crowd as much as we sang. Since coming from NW Church, I've developed the "Shut up and sing" mentality, so something like this is absolutely out of line. In all seriousness, nobody came to hear somebody speak. This is why we cut the sermon from Youth Sunday in the first place. I never come to church to talk, I come to praise God. Meanwhile while Nante is going on about his gibberish (I call it that cause I had no idea what he was talking about), I'm sitting there trying to tall Jason what we should do for the next set and he shuts me up and tells me to listen. I seriously wanted to ask him, "Does he have any idea what Nante is talking about?"
Bless his heart and this is out of respect, but Brian also talked WAY too long during Youth Sunday. During the invitation, he said his piece about how Youth Sunday had touched him and those who had been touched that day should come up, old school altar call style. And that was fine. Following that, we do an invitation song that I just don't feel God's presence singing it, not to mention I was playing keys and I was having an enourmously hard time playing the song. People, however did come up to the front with many different reasons why they did, and for FACC, a lot of people came up to the front. Brian for some reason decides to keep talking...for 10 minutes! I decided right when he was talking I was going to play the chords of the invitation song on the keys so that when he was done, we could all go right back to the song and keep singing. I never expected him to talk that long. Brian, you're a great speaker, and I say that with major honesty, but this isn't a TRANSFORMED event. In all truth it's a normal FACC worship service just with the youngins leading it. Nobody in the main congreation has the same mentality of the kids that were there during the summer. And because of your extended speech it killed the buzz of that moment.
Another thing I couldn't stand was the stage set up. I don't have as much of a problem about this as the above issues, but this is still important. The band was set up far to the left of the stage so that there would be a lot of room for the skit. I understand fully why the set was done that way. The issue I have is that no one could work around the stage. For example, I closed the worship set with a song called Marvelous Light, and because of time constraints I wanted to keep it short. The intro was going to be different from the time we sang it earlier. I wanted a full loud band intro compared to the one we did earlier in the day. I kept telling Ian about it, but he just couldn't hear me because of how far we were positioned. So I told Jason with hopes that he would pass it on, but that didn't happen. In turn Thomas, who was our bass player had no idea what was going on either. In turn, the intro was a horrible clusterfutch of sound for the first 10 seconds. Nante and Ian came in quiet like the intro we did earlier. Thomas and Jason weren't playing. And I'm sitting playing the lead riff as if to say, "I wanna start here." I got so frustrated I kept yelling out "FULL BAND!" repeatedly until they got it. Anyways, the point is the stage set up was fine, it's just that communication between the band members was just plain horrible. Not to mention we didn't even practice half the set prior to Youth Sunday because Jason wanted to sleep, so most of the set was improvised, which doesn't work for Thomas because at NW Church he's used to a fluid worship practice that keeps going until everybody gets the hang of it.
But in all seriousness, aside from the aforementioned issues I had, Youth Sunday was great. I felt God's presence, especially during the Lifehouse skit.
But Souled Out, never, and I mean NEVER ask me to do Youth Sunday ever again.
Psalm 98:4,
Kuya Billy
It's been a very long time since I've done a blog of this nature on blogspot. I praise God that no one know about this little operation except for those that deserve to see it.
However, I'll start this one off on a very positive note. The most important bits of Youth Sunday went off without a hitch. We did a skit to the tune of Everything by Lifehouse that was shown during the TRANSFORMED events and it was done to perfection. Everyone in the skit was dedicated to their specific role and the congregation loved it. They even gave a standing ovation. The congregation was also into the worship. FACC has had a long run of horrid participation during the worship set. Now I know that people have said that it doesn't matter how you worship God as long as you do it, but if you compare a normal worship set to the one that was done during Youth Sunday, which one would you rather be a part of. I also loved the amount of visitors that came. Granted, it was no TRANSFORMED event, but to see a decent amount of guests visiting that day was a nice thing. So like I said, the most important aspects of Youth Sunday were done well...
...except for the actual worship set.
Bless his heart, but Nante's leadership is quite possibly some of the worst leadership I've seen in a while. I know Jason can be pretty bad, but when it comes to worship I think Jason has met his match. During the sets, Nante spoke to the crowd as much as we sang. Since coming from NW Church, I've developed the "Shut up and sing" mentality, so something like this is absolutely out of line. In all seriousness, nobody came to hear somebody speak. This is why we cut the sermon from Youth Sunday in the first place. I never come to church to talk, I come to praise God. Meanwhile while Nante is going on about his gibberish (I call it that cause I had no idea what he was talking about), I'm sitting there trying to tall Jason what we should do for the next set and he shuts me up and tells me to listen. I seriously wanted to ask him, "Does he have any idea what Nante is talking about?"
Bless his heart and this is out of respect, but Brian also talked WAY too long during Youth Sunday. During the invitation, he said his piece about how Youth Sunday had touched him and those who had been touched that day should come up, old school altar call style. And that was fine. Following that, we do an invitation song that I just don't feel God's presence singing it, not to mention I was playing keys and I was having an enourmously hard time playing the song. People, however did come up to the front with many different reasons why they did, and for FACC, a lot of people came up to the front. Brian for some reason decides to keep talking...for 10 minutes! I decided right when he was talking I was going to play the chords of the invitation song on the keys so that when he was done, we could all go right back to the song and keep singing. I never expected him to talk that long. Brian, you're a great speaker, and I say that with major honesty, but this isn't a TRANSFORMED event. In all truth it's a normal FACC worship service just with the youngins leading it. Nobody in the main congreation has the same mentality of the kids that were there during the summer. And because of your extended speech it killed the buzz of that moment.
Another thing I couldn't stand was the stage set up. I don't have as much of a problem about this as the above issues, but this is still important. The band was set up far to the left of the stage so that there would be a lot of room for the skit. I understand fully why the set was done that way. The issue I have is that no one could work around the stage. For example, I closed the worship set with a song called Marvelous Light, and because of time constraints I wanted to keep it short. The intro was going to be different from the time we sang it earlier. I wanted a full loud band intro compared to the one we did earlier in the day. I kept telling Ian about it, but he just couldn't hear me because of how far we were positioned. So I told Jason with hopes that he would pass it on, but that didn't happen. In turn Thomas, who was our bass player had no idea what was going on either. In turn, the intro was a horrible clusterfutch of sound for the first 10 seconds. Nante and Ian came in quiet like the intro we did earlier. Thomas and Jason weren't playing. And I'm sitting playing the lead riff as if to say, "I wanna start here." I got so frustrated I kept yelling out "FULL BAND!" repeatedly until they got it. Anyways, the point is the stage set up was fine, it's just that communication between the band members was just plain horrible. Not to mention we didn't even practice half the set prior to Youth Sunday because Jason wanted to sleep, so most of the set was improvised, which doesn't work for Thomas because at NW Church he's used to a fluid worship practice that keeps going until everybody gets the hang of it.
But in all seriousness, aside from the aforementioned issues I had, Youth Sunday was great. I felt God's presence, especially during the Lifehouse skit.
But Souled Out, never, and I mean NEVER ask me to do Youth Sunday ever again.
Psalm 98:4,
Kuya Billy
Saturday, August 1, 2009
New Look...Same "Great" Taste
Old habits die hard don't they?
I've given it a couple of days to cool myself over this matter but I can't help going back here and putting another what you might call "hate" blog.
I'm not exactly the best in explanation, but I'm gonna do this with raw emotion so please excuse the lack of direction.
So Tipping Point, a band from California, came to play at Souled Out's second TRANSFORMED event, which by the way was an absolutely wonderful experience. Tipping Point was also going to hold a music clinic the next day, which would be last Thursday, the day before they left. The music clinic was also very fun and I think everyone got a kick out of it.
After some dinnertime at Tita Yolly's, we decided to take Tipping Point on a night out around Seattle. Reesa, one of the TP band members, agreed that we should stay out all night after a suggestion from our youth leader Brian.
We took them to places like the Space Needle, Terry Park (I think that's what it's called, the place where you can get the postcard picture of the Seattle skyline), and the Fremont Troll. Finally we went to Dick's because any tour of Seattle would never be complete without Dick's.
Now here is where the plot thickens. We conceded on staying out all night and exploring Seattle, yet family boy Errol decides to rain on our parade. He tells everybody we're going home. Why is that? It's because him, Jason and Alula (all family) were supposed to help the Tipping Point band members pack up for the trip home the next day. It's also because they need to rest. We left for home at about 2:15 AM, nowhere near our goal of an all nighter.
Right here I can already see two issues with this:
1) According to Brian, the TP band members caried a total of 4 bags. Yes, 4 bags shared between 8 members, 5 of them women I might add. I don't know about you, but it only takes me 10 minutes to fill only one bag full of stuff. If it was me packing that would mean it would take roughly less than an hour to pack stuff in 4 bags. And by God, I sure as hell don't have assistance. Chances are TP probably filled the bags and packed them in the car by themselves anyway. What makes other people think they need the help?
2) They neeed to rest? Tipping Point conceded to staying out in Seattle all night. That means we were all gonna hang out from sundown to sunup. If anything those guys must've already known how long it would take to get ready to go and they were also willing to face the consequences of staying awake all night when they had a 13 hour drive back to Cali ahead of them. The last time I checked, Tipping Point was our guest, and as hosts, we're supposed to do our best to make our guests feel comfortable.
This whole situation left many of Souled Out confused and frustrated. For example, prior to Errol's "curtain call", Brian was talking with some of the TP members about his business plans in the future, Reesa was saying that they would like to hear more that night. Right when she said that, it was time to leave. Believe me I know how pissed Brian was coming home because I was in the car with him.
After Errol told everyone to go home, Patrick said "See ya" to TP in a manner that sounded as if we would meet up at the next location, which was supposed to be the beach. But it wasn't until he got in the car with us that that would be the last time we would see TP. He then spent the car ride home complaining about how he said "See ya" to them without giving them hugs or anything.
I myself was really fristrated for a number of reasons. For one, when we had left Dick's, I didn't get a chance to formally say goodbye to Randy and Della, the keyboardist and one of the singers, respectively. This is because they were supposed to be meeting up with more people in Seattle before joining us. Randy was probably my most favorite member of the group because of his work on the keyboard and his easygoing manner. Another reason I'm still heated over this is because it seemed that TP was about as confused as we were. Like I said, when a guest is with you, you do your best to make them feel comfortable and do what they would like to do. This is why I have argued with many of my recent trips, like my first ever trip to SF and even my most recent trip to the Philippines mostly because my mom and I never go a chance to really explore for ourselves and do what we chose to do, especially durig the SF trip. But here, it seems like the fam was doing the opposite. It was as if they had kept an itinerary of what they wanted to do. Like when, I talked to Reesa about going to the beach after Dick's she was cool with it, but when I blindly suggested it to the leaders they ignored me, which is basically the biggest "Fuck you" you can ever give to me. Another thing is that I just didn't feel that I talked about all I wanted to talk about with TP. It seemed all me and everyone else talked about with them was music, but I wanted to ask them about other things, like what do they normally do back home, what's their favorite place to shop, hell, their most favorite ice cream!
At this point you're asking me, "What's the point of your title?"
Well I named this blog "New Look...Same 'Great' Taste" because Souled Out has been undergoing a major overhaul. Thanks to our new talents Brian and Frankie, we've been doing things we could never dream of doing, inviting Tipping Point to our church is an example. And the results have been nothing short of phenomenal. Since control has been shifted, Souled Out's attendance has tripled its amount when I first left FACC. Both TRANSFORMED events have been particularly successful, each one of them topping itself in attendance. For example, our last TRANSFORMED event had about 150 people in attendance. That's even more then the highest attendance FACC ever had in the past 5 years it has been in the Shoreline building. (I think before we started dividing our church in 2001, back when we were in the Masonic building, we had more than what he have now.)
That's the new look. The same "great" taste is look who's still part of the leadership group. Errol, Jason and, most recently Alula. See the thing here? Yeah, ALL FAMILY MEMBERS. What does that mean? We're still taking a step back from what we could potentially be because of these people who for every single period where we had lacked a legitimate leader. For example, the period between the Rachel Regime and the Frankie Regime. This was the lowest point in the history of Souled Out and the reason for all my volleys thrown at FACC and Souled Out. It lacked progress. It lacked value. And most importantly, it lacked freedom.
Which brings me back to the Tipping Point situation. I believe that Tipping Point was told one thing, but the family kept the real plans to themselves. They did things according to their schedule, not ours and certainly not Tipping Point's. Hell even Brian was kept out of the loop. He, myself, and most of the youth were told the Dick's stop was just a food break before exploring the rest of Seattle. Brian is a leader, and could potentially be THE leader of Souled Out when Frankie leaves later this month, and you have the class to not keep him in the loop? That's like Congress declaring war on North Korea without the President knowing. Trust me, if decisions continue to be made this way in Souled Out, just like the US going to war with North Korea, shit WILL hit the fan.
Souled Out: New Look...Same "Great" Taste
Kuya Billy
I've given it a couple of days to cool myself over this matter but I can't help going back here and putting another what you might call "hate" blog.
I'm not exactly the best in explanation, but I'm gonna do this with raw emotion so please excuse the lack of direction.
So Tipping Point, a band from California, came to play at Souled Out's second TRANSFORMED event, which by the way was an absolutely wonderful experience. Tipping Point was also going to hold a music clinic the next day, which would be last Thursday, the day before they left. The music clinic was also very fun and I think everyone got a kick out of it.
After some dinnertime at Tita Yolly's, we decided to take Tipping Point on a night out around Seattle. Reesa, one of the TP band members, agreed that we should stay out all night after a suggestion from our youth leader Brian.
We took them to places like the Space Needle, Terry Park (I think that's what it's called, the place where you can get the postcard picture of the Seattle skyline), and the Fremont Troll. Finally we went to Dick's because any tour of Seattle would never be complete without Dick's.
Now here is where the plot thickens. We conceded on staying out all night and exploring Seattle, yet family boy Errol decides to rain on our parade. He tells everybody we're going home. Why is that? It's because him, Jason and Alula (all family) were supposed to help the Tipping Point band members pack up for the trip home the next day. It's also because they need to rest. We left for home at about 2:15 AM, nowhere near our goal of an all nighter.
Right here I can already see two issues with this:
1) According to Brian, the TP band members caried a total of 4 bags. Yes, 4 bags shared between 8 members, 5 of them women I might add. I don't know about you, but it only takes me 10 minutes to fill only one bag full of stuff. If it was me packing that would mean it would take roughly less than an hour to pack stuff in 4 bags. And by God, I sure as hell don't have assistance. Chances are TP probably filled the bags and packed them in the car by themselves anyway. What makes other people think they need the help?
2) They neeed to rest? Tipping Point conceded to staying out in Seattle all night. That means we were all gonna hang out from sundown to sunup. If anything those guys must've already known how long it would take to get ready to go and they were also willing to face the consequences of staying awake all night when they had a 13 hour drive back to Cali ahead of them. The last time I checked, Tipping Point was our guest, and as hosts, we're supposed to do our best to make our guests feel comfortable.
This whole situation left many of Souled Out confused and frustrated. For example, prior to Errol's "curtain call", Brian was talking with some of the TP members about his business plans in the future, Reesa was saying that they would like to hear more that night. Right when she said that, it was time to leave. Believe me I know how pissed Brian was coming home because I was in the car with him.
After Errol told everyone to go home, Patrick said "See ya" to TP in a manner that sounded as if we would meet up at the next location, which was supposed to be the beach. But it wasn't until he got in the car with us that that would be the last time we would see TP. He then spent the car ride home complaining about how he said "See ya" to them without giving them hugs or anything.
I myself was really fristrated for a number of reasons. For one, when we had left Dick's, I didn't get a chance to formally say goodbye to Randy and Della, the keyboardist and one of the singers, respectively. This is because they were supposed to be meeting up with more people in Seattle before joining us. Randy was probably my most favorite member of the group because of his work on the keyboard and his easygoing manner. Another reason I'm still heated over this is because it seemed that TP was about as confused as we were. Like I said, when a guest is with you, you do your best to make them feel comfortable and do what they would like to do. This is why I have argued with many of my recent trips, like my first ever trip to SF and even my most recent trip to the Philippines mostly because my mom and I never go a chance to really explore for ourselves and do what we chose to do, especially durig the SF trip. But here, it seems like the fam was doing the opposite. It was as if they had kept an itinerary of what they wanted to do. Like when, I talked to Reesa about going to the beach after Dick's she was cool with it, but when I blindly suggested it to the leaders they ignored me, which is basically the biggest "Fuck you" you can ever give to me. Another thing is that I just didn't feel that I talked about all I wanted to talk about with TP. It seemed all me and everyone else talked about with them was music, but I wanted to ask them about other things, like what do they normally do back home, what's their favorite place to shop, hell, their most favorite ice cream!
At this point you're asking me, "What's the point of your title?"
Well I named this blog "New Look...Same 'Great' Taste" because Souled Out has been undergoing a major overhaul. Thanks to our new talents Brian and Frankie, we've been doing things we could never dream of doing, inviting Tipping Point to our church is an example. And the results have been nothing short of phenomenal. Since control has been shifted, Souled Out's attendance has tripled its amount when I first left FACC. Both TRANSFORMED events have been particularly successful, each one of them topping itself in attendance. For example, our last TRANSFORMED event had about 150 people in attendance. That's even more then the highest attendance FACC ever had in the past 5 years it has been in the Shoreline building. (I think before we started dividing our church in 2001, back when we were in the Masonic building, we had more than what he have now.)
That's the new look. The same "great" taste is look who's still part of the leadership group. Errol, Jason and, most recently Alula. See the thing here? Yeah, ALL FAMILY MEMBERS. What does that mean? We're still taking a step back from what we could potentially be because of these people who for every single period where we had lacked a legitimate leader. For example, the period between the Rachel Regime and the Frankie Regime. This was the lowest point in the history of Souled Out and the reason for all my volleys thrown at FACC and Souled Out. It lacked progress. It lacked value. And most importantly, it lacked freedom.
Which brings me back to the Tipping Point situation. I believe that Tipping Point was told one thing, but the family kept the real plans to themselves. They did things according to their schedule, not ours and certainly not Tipping Point's. Hell even Brian was kept out of the loop. He, myself, and most of the youth were told the Dick's stop was just a food break before exploring the rest of Seattle. Brian is a leader, and could potentially be THE leader of Souled Out when Frankie leaves later this month, and you have the class to not keep him in the loop? That's like Congress declaring war on North Korea without the President knowing. Trust me, if decisions continue to be made this way in Souled Out, just like the US going to war with North Korea, shit WILL hit the fan.
Souled Out: New Look...Same "Great" Taste
Kuya Billy
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Back to Hating
Seriously guys, that was really messed up.
So I performed at Pista Sa Nayon again this year. According to other people, I did really well, and I also recieved a good reaction from the crowd for a virtual unknown. I was able to use my temporary star power to hand out flyers for Souled Out's TRANSFORMED event this Wednesday and many recieved them with a positive reaction. I'm not saying the people I handed invites to will come or won't come, but them accepting the invites was really nice. Again I definitely hope that this event will blow last month's out of the water.
But what I can't stand is that Souled Out didn't even go support me for my performance. I gave a quick plug about the event after my performance so that other people listening would hear that and when one of the Souled Out kids came up, they would accept the invitation. I only just after my performance find out that Souled Out left well before I performed.
What's even more messd up is that I called Frankie to tell him I was going to perform really soon, and he just said, "Okay, bye." How come you could have said "Oh we've already left." I would still be pissed, but at least you were honest about it. And what the hell is up with you guys not even picking up your phones?
So nobody from Souled Out came up to the front to support me. The band before me sucked horribly (Shantelle's band) and they had a big group come listen to them. The only people that came to listen to me were Paolo, Tito Sendy, and my mom. While it's better than nothing, I still would have liked some support from the guys I made a major attempt to back up this summer.
Listen, what you guys are doing for the masses is great, but Souled Out is losing its individual edge. I just don't know what to say, other than this was really messed up.
Kuya Billy
So I performed at Pista Sa Nayon again this year. According to other people, I did really well, and I also recieved a good reaction from the crowd for a virtual unknown. I was able to use my temporary star power to hand out flyers for Souled Out's TRANSFORMED event this Wednesday and many recieved them with a positive reaction. I'm not saying the people I handed invites to will come or won't come, but them accepting the invites was really nice. Again I definitely hope that this event will blow last month's out of the water.
But what I can't stand is that Souled Out didn't even go support me for my performance. I gave a quick plug about the event after my performance so that other people listening would hear that and when one of the Souled Out kids came up, they would accept the invitation. I only just after my performance find out that Souled Out left well before I performed.
What's even more messd up is that I called Frankie to tell him I was going to perform really soon, and he just said, "Okay, bye." How come you could have said "Oh we've already left." I would still be pissed, but at least you were honest about it. And what the hell is up with you guys not even picking up your phones?
So nobody from Souled Out came up to the front to support me. The band before me sucked horribly (Shantelle's band) and they had a big group come listen to them. The only people that came to listen to me were Paolo, Tito Sendy, and my mom. While it's better than nothing, I still would have liked some support from the guys I made a major attempt to back up this summer.
Listen, what you guys are doing for the masses is great, but Souled Out is losing its individual edge. I just don't know what to say, other than this was really messed up.
Kuya Billy
Monday, July 6, 2009
Thinking About Souled Out Again
But this time, it's a different feeling...
I was in the shower today and I pictured myself back on the worship band at FACC like I used to be, only this time Nante was the leader and Jason was in the same position I was. I pictured the old people getting excited for God again. I pictured Ian, Tito Danny, and Tito Bob actually having fun on stage. I imagined Souled Out in the front pews like back in the day with Brian and Frankie leading the charge of a revitalized youth group; dancing and singing included. We sang something other than Hillsong for our worship set, songs that people like myself or Tita Wrea suggested. And for that one single moment, I was happy to be in FACC again.
Now you may be looking at my older posts thinking, "How the hell did this happen?" Well I haven't posted a new blog here in a while so I'll catch you up to speed.
Even though I am an intern for NW Church, I do spend a lot of time with the Souled Out group. I did make sure that for the time being I would stop being a regular in the Souled Out Youth Group, but I said I would join them in any other event they have outside of youth group. In these past couple of months, I have been introduced to Frankie and a reformed Brian, both of which are really striving to change the way Souled Out gets souled out. And boy, they have come out of the starting gates way ahead.
They have held a special outreach program called Transformed which is open to everybody. Outreach has been one of the weakest points in FACC and just by doing this they have massively improved. But not only did they meet my expectations, they surpassed them. It's one thing to bring people to an outreach event, but it's another thing to actually talk to the people, and Souled Out certainly did that. I brought my own friend from NW Church, Thomas B, along with Lanze and Thomas T. And they welcomed them with open arms. Following a well done worship set, something I haven't said about FACC worship in a while, and a very inspiring sermon by Frankie, my passion for Souled Out was rekindled. Since then I have attended most every non youth group event that Souled Out has offered.
Frankie tells me that the youth group now averages 30 people a week, which is double what they had when I left. At this rate Souled Out could be as big or maybe bigger than what NW Church's YG was when I left the first time or what Northshore's IMPACT was when I left there as well.
Seeing and/or hearing about change coming from a church that was me for 11 years makes me want to be a part of it.
Don't get me wrong, NW Church has been good to me. I have learned a lot of things about leadership in the short time I have been there. NW Church has also given me its share of wonderful moments as well. NW is undergoing a major change with a new preaching minister and a new youth pastor coming within the next month, and I certainly can't wait to see what they can bring to this wonderful church. But something about being with Souled Out this summer makes me miss what I had. It may be for the better, it may be for the worst, but I continue thinking about it.
So while I was in the shower, I also thought about my internship at NW Church. I know it ends in August and Jeff B. and I will be talking about how I have been doing in NW. Do I like it? Do I hate it? Can I continue? Do I want to continue? If it was me before Spring Youth Sunday 2009, I would have said yes, but now I actually have to consider all the points.
One month to go.
Psalm 98:4,
Kuya Billy
I was in the shower today and I pictured myself back on the worship band at FACC like I used to be, only this time Nante was the leader and Jason was in the same position I was. I pictured the old people getting excited for God again. I pictured Ian, Tito Danny, and Tito Bob actually having fun on stage. I imagined Souled Out in the front pews like back in the day with Brian and Frankie leading the charge of a revitalized youth group; dancing and singing included. We sang something other than Hillsong for our worship set, songs that people like myself or Tita Wrea suggested. And for that one single moment, I was happy to be in FACC again.
Now you may be looking at my older posts thinking, "How the hell did this happen?" Well I haven't posted a new blog here in a while so I'll catch you up to speed.
Even though I am an intern for NW Church, I do spend a lot of time with the Souled Out group. I did make sure that for the time being I would stop being a regular in the Souled Out Youth Group, but I said I would join them in any other event they have outside of youth group. In these past couple of months, I have been introduced to Frankie and a reformed Brian, both of which are really striving to change the way Souled Out gets souled out. And boy, they have come out of the starting gates way ahead.
They have held a special outreach program called Transformed which is open to everybody. Outreach has been one of the weakest points in FACC and just by doing this they have massively improved. But not only did they meet my expectations, they surpassed them. It's one thing to bring people to an outreach event, but it's another thing to actually talk to the people, and Souled Out certainly did that. I brought my own friend from NW Church, Thomas B, along with Lanze and Thomas T. And they welcomed them with open arms. Following a well done worship set, something I haven't said about FACC worship in a while, and a very inspiring sermon by Frankie, my passion for Souled Out was rekindled. Since then I have attended most every non youth group event that Souled Out has offered.
Frankie tells me that the youth group now averages 30 people a week, which is double what they had when I left. At this rate Souled Out could be as big or maybe bigger than what NW Church's YG was when I left the first time or what Northshore's IMPACT was when I left there as well.
Seeing and/or hearing about change coming from a church that was me for 11 years makes me want to be a part of it.
Don't get me wrong, NW Church has been good to me. I have learned a lot of things about leadership in the short time I have been there. NW Church has also given me its share of wonderful moments as well. NW is undergoing a major change with a new preaching minister and a new youth pastor coming within the next month, and I certainly can't wait to see what they can bring to this wonderful church. But something about being with Souled Out this summer makes me miss what I had. It may be for the better, it may be for the worst, but I continue thinking about it.
So while I was in the shower, I also thought about my internship at NW Church. I know it ends in August and Jeff B. and I will be talking about how I have been doing in NW. Do I like it? Do I hate it? Can I continue? Do I want to continue? If it was me before Spring Youth Sunday 2009, I would have said yes, but now I actually have to consider all the points.
One month to go.
Psalm 98:4,
Kuya Billy
Sunday, April 19, 2009
No More Youth Sunday
Tonight I came to my last ever Souled Out. If I ever end up coming back to FACC from NW Church after my 3 month trial period is over, I made a promise that I will never be a part of Souled Out again. I am just too old, and a lot of memebers there are also too old or getting to that point where they should leave. But we got ready for Youth Sunday by creating some videos to invite people to SOYS. That was pretty much the night in general.
During that time however I got to have some friendly debate with Jason about the future of Souled Out. I explained that as part of the people that technically should not be a part of Souled Out in the first place (including Jason, Ian, Twins, Errol, Jorge, and soon to be Joseph, and Janina), we should be taking time out to train the younger students (Alyssa, Kenneth, Nathan, etc.) on how to become leaders. This is something that has eluded them in the past.
The reason why I expressed that is because I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that if for some reason all of the older gen left Souled Out at the same time, the younger gen would be more lost than a mouse looking for cheese in a lab maze. It's something that I don't want to happen even though I'm not a part of this church after April, but eventually the older gen must leave. It is unhealthy for them to stay with Souled Out. Look at the Twins. I mean, they're playing Yu-Gi-Oh! with 12 year old 6th graders and middle schoolers at the age of 19, for crying out loud. And Jason should be stepping away from Souled Out and focusing on his Young Adult Ministry, something I definitely applaud for him doing in the past, but he has since failed to keep it up. Ian is 24, enough said.
I also got to thinking, if Souled Out lost its older gen, we would probably be down to less than 6 people left in the group. Currently it's already at an all time low in attendance and with the mind set of Filipinos and their introverted methods of life, there is virtually no way that the younger gen would be able to recover their numbers.
Which brings me to my point: After this Youth Sunday, do away with it. Obviously you can see that virtually no one is interested in doing it already. Think about it, Jason and myself have basically created Youth Sunday from scratch by ourselves for the past 3-4 Youth Sundays. No one else is offering a hand in it. So just get rid of it. There is only so much that Frankie can do with 6 people. You've already lost the worship team and many of the people that actually take the name of Souled Out seriously.
Get rid of SOYS. Just for now. I say wait for the numbers of people to recover and discover hidden talents in the kids these days that you could use in the future. If a kid is tastefully creative, put him on the creative team. If someone can play an instrument, put him on the worship team. If they tithe, put them on the offering team. Heck if you wanna keep it, only do it once a year instead of twice so you'd have 11 months to prepare for it. Use the 11 months to prepare for it so it doesn't seem like some half assed attempt at making a worship service. Rome wasn't built in a day, you know.
Give it a rest Souled Out. Obviously you're sick of it and I can tell.
And for old times' sake, thanks for the memories, Souled Out. I just wish I had a picture to show them.
Psalm 98:4,
Kuya Billy
During that time however I got to have some friendly debate with Jason about the future of Souled Out. I explained that as part of the people that technically should not be a part of Souled Out in the first place (including Jason, Ian, Twins, Errol, Jorge, and soon to be Joseph, and Janina), we should be taking time out to train the younger students (Alyssa, Kenneth, Nathan, etc.) on how to become leaders. This is something that has eluded them in the past.
The reason why I expressed that is because I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that if for some reason all of the older gen left Souled Out at the same time, the younger gen would be more lost than a mouse looking for cheese in a lab maze. It's something that I don't want to happen even though I'm not a part of this church after April, but eventually the older gen must leave. It is unhealthy for them to stay with Souled Out. Look at the Twins. I mean, they're playing Yu-Gi-Oh! with 12 year old 6th graders and middle schoolers at the age of 19, for crying out loud. And Jason should be stepping away from Souled Out and focusing on his Young Adult Ministry, something I definitely applaud for him doing in the past, but he has since failed to keep it up. Ian is 24, enough said.
I also got to thinking, if Souled Out lost its older gen, we would probably be down to less than 6 people left in the group. Currently it's already at an all time low in attendance and with the mind set of Filipinos and their introverted methods of life, there is virtually no way that the younger gen would be able to recover their numbers.
Which brings me to my point: After this Youth Sunday, do away with it. Obviously you can see that virtually no one is interested in doing it already. Think about it, Jason and myself have basically created Youth Sunday from scratch by ourselves for the past 3-4 Youth Sundays. No one else is offering a hand in it. So just get rid of it. There is only so much that Frankie can do with 6 people. You've already lost the worship team and many of the people that actually take the name of Souled Out seriously.
Get rid of SOYS. Just for now. I say wait for the numbers of people to recover and discover hidden talents in the kids these days that you could use in the future. If a kid is tastefully creative, put him on the creative team. If someone can play an instrument, put him on the worship team. If they tithe, put them on the offering team. Heck if you wanna keep it, only do it once a year instead of twice so you'd have 11 months to prepare for it. Use the 11 months to prepare for it so it doesn't seem like some half assed attempt at making a worship service. Rome wasn't built in a day, you know.
Give it a rest Souled Out. Obviously you're sick of it and I can tell.
And for old times' sake, thanks for the memories, Souled Out. I just wish I had a picture to show them.
Psalm 98:4,
Kuya Billy
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Late Souled Out Rant
Last Sunday I officially made the decision to permanently join NW Church as a worship intern. This of course meant that I had to tell the FACC kids that I was leaving. As much as I don't like how things are being run at FACC and Souled Out, the truth is that Souled Out has been in my life for 10 years and no matter what they will always be my second family. Because of how I feel about Souled Out today, I could have easily just have jumped ship to NW without telling a soul that I was leaving, but I would lose their respect and that's something I don't want happening.
Anyway, that night before Souled Out was officially over, I told Souled Out the situation and said that I would be starting my tenure at NW Church on the first week of May. I also explained that originally I was slated to start in the middle of April, but I wanted to be a part of one last Youth Sunday before I left, which will be on the last week in April.
But does anyone care? FTMP, No.
Jason was all set to make everyone leave before I said my piece, but then he decided to say some tedious bullshit that I'm pretty sure no one even remembers. Hell, I don't, mostly cause none of it was related to me. It wasn't even one of those, "just because one person is leaving doesn't mean that we're gonna fall apart" speeches he does almost every week during worship practice. Jason just always wants the last word in EVERYTHING.
As a matter of fact what I was supposed to do was tell Souled Out during Highs And Lows, but we were not able to do that cause he decided that other people's are not as important as watching a CollegeHumor prank from Streeter to Amir. Then the rest of Souled Out we did a half assed attempt at trying to get ready for Youth Sunday. I am delaying my move to NW because of Souled Out's biggest day of the year and we're gonna half ass it?
Something tells me I should have just started at NW mid April if I knew that Youth Sunday was gonna end up like every Youth Sunday under Jason's administration: half assed and unmemorable.
It seemed that out of everybody that was there for Souled Out, the only people that even talked about me leaving were the Twins. You guys who follow my blogs on BlogSpot and MySpace know that I have major issues with the Twins, Paulo in particular. But what I do respect out of them is that they actually remember that I have dedicated 10 years of my life to FACC and Souled Out. Jason, Errol, and the Alcantaras seem to be completely oblivious to that. The Twins and I have grown up together all those years and even though we may have problems with the way we do certain things, each of us shows compassion for every major decision we make. When we talked about the move that day, even for a short time, I actually felt some sort of level of respect was given to me, something I have never been given in a while by anyone from Souled Out.
The Twins know when respect is due and I appreciate it.
But the fact that Jason decided to leave my leave as a backthought, that was wrong. When I stepped up to be the leader while he and his brother went to NY, All I got was a simple thank you the day he came back. I actually had to get him to say it that day. Then during practice, he doesn't even recognize that I took up the leader spot for him those two weeks. He just goes on saying more tedious bullshit nobody ever remembers. Him passing over me leaving for NW is IMO absolutely unacceptable and I will not tolerate something of that magnitude to be left alone.
Maybe I should have just left. Judging by the mindsets of the kids at Souled Out I would be forgotten by the day after Youth Sunday anyway, no matter how long I poured my heart out for these kids all these years.
Psalm 98:4,
Kuya Billy
Anyway, that night before Souled Out was officially over, I told Souled Out the situation and said that I would be starting my tenure at NW Church on the first week of May. I also explained that originally I was slated to start in the middle of April, but I wanted to be a part of one last Youth Sunday before I left, which will be on the last week in April.
But does anyone care? FTMP, No.
Jason was all set to make everyone leave before I said my piece, but then he decided to say some tedious bullshit that I'm pretty sure no one even remembers. Hell, I don't, mostly cause none of it was related to me. It wasn't even one of those, "just because one person is leaving doesn't mean that we're gonna fall apart" speeches he does almost every week during worship practice. Jason just always wants the last word in EVERYTHING.
As a matter of fact what I was supposed to do was tell Souled Out during Highs And Lows, but we were not able to do that cause he decided that other people's are not as important as watching a CollegeHumor prank from Streeter to Amir. Then the rest of Souled Out we did a half assed attempt at trying to get ready for Youth Sunday. I am delaying my move to NW because of Souled Out's biggest day of the year and we're gonna half ass it?
Something tells me I should have just started at NW mid April if I knew that Youth Sunday was gonna end up like every Youth Sunday under Jason's administration: half assed and unmemorable.
It seemed that out of everybody that was there for Souled Out, the only people that even talked about me leaving were the Twins. You guys who follow my blogs on BlogSpot and MySpace know that I have major issues with the Twins, Paulo in particular. But what I do respect out of them is that they actually remember that I have dedicated 10 years of my life to FACC and Souled Out. Jason, Errol, and the Alcantaras seem to be completely oblivious to that. The Twins and I have grown up together all those years and even though we may have problems with the way we do certain things, each of us shows compassion for every major decision we make. When we talked about the move that day, even for a short time, I actually felt some sort of level of respect was given to me, something I have never been given in a while by anyone from Souled Out.
The Twins know when respect is due and I appreciate it.
But the fact that Jason decided to leave my leave as a backthought, that was wrong. When I stepped up to be the leader while he and his brother went to NY, All I got was a simple thank you the day he came back. I actually had to get him to say it that day. Then during practice, he doesn't even recognize that I took up the leader spot for him those two weeks. He just goes on saying more tedious bullshit nobody ever remembers. Him passing over me leaving for NW is IMO absolutely unacceptable and I will not tolerate something of that magnitude to be left alone.
Maybe I should have just left. Judging by the mindsets of the kids at Souled Out I would be forgotten by the day after Youth Sunday anyway, no matter how long I poured my heart out for these kids all these years.
Psalm 98:4,
Kuya Billy
Saturday, March 28, 2009
A New Frontier?
Wow, two posts within a week? I amaze myself!
This is about a subject that is really getting to me. As the deadline draws near for me to make a choice I decided to press the issue here. I will be reposting this blog on MySpace for the public to see after a couple of things fall through.
About a month ago, Mike Brandow, a guy that has been helping me get more experienced in leading worship told me that Jeff Berryman, Worship minister, offered me an internship at NW Church. I know taking an offer like that would mean wonders for my future career as a worship minister whether at NW Church, FACC, Northshore, or wherever. Since the offer has been brought to me, I have been contemplating it ever since. After about a month of analyzing, I have come up with three pros and three cons to joining NW as their new intern.
1. Like I brought up earlier, it means more legitimate experience. At NW, I would be trained under a legitimate Worship Leader, something that has eluded me in my growth as a future worship minister. At FACC, there has never been a worship minister. There have been family appointed worship "leaders" true enough, but never a legit worship minister to truly teach the members of the band to lead worship properly. When Pat Jones was around in NW, he was the worship minister, but there was only so much a scatterbrained individual like him could do. The situation was equally as bad at Northshore. During my tenure, the worship ministers were all getting replaced/demoted. So although I could have someone to talk to, no one could really give any formal advice on what's right to do when leading, leaving me out and about one the stage doing whatever I thought sounded good in my head. Jeff Berryman has been well experienced in his field and is the current worship minister at NW Church. I know that if I were to take the internship, I would be in good hands with Jeff.
2. Another good thing about the internship is that it leads to other possible things in the future. I've stated a few times before that becoming a worship minister is one of my dream careers. Being able to gain expertise from a legit worship leader would get me one step closer to the brass ring.
3. The third good reason is that I would have more freedom in my music. In FACC, I have had no choice but to completely follow the gameplan that the CD offered. Jason hates change so I'm forced to follow his mentality. Jeff has explained that he would absolutely love to put me on the worship team. Although for the most part I'd be playing by the book when it comes to the actual worship, the worship team is currently in a major rebuilding phase and still have no idea what kind of sound they want. I would be able to bring up my opinion on the sound that the band could convey at some point and time and I would actually be heard whether they like the idea or not.
Now here are the cons. I have also included responses to these.
1. One con is that I would be away from FACC. FACC has been my home church for the past 10 years. It's the church where I had found Jesus, got baptized, and had my first stunt as a member of a Sunday Service band.
Response: You know what my response would be if you looked at my other blogs. Firstly, I feel that FACC has been turned into nothing but a dictatorship. No one's other voices are heard in the church save for the members of a certain family. I have said time and time again that with the second opinions of the rest of the congregation nothing gets done. Secondly, the church might just be going under anytime soon. True, God has saved FACC time and again from the inevitable selling of the building, but prayer can only do so much and the success of a church relies on the effort of the congregation to save FACC. Third, while FACC is the place where I was baptized, NW was the place where I first opened my heart to God and said I wanted him in my life. There is a major amount of history I have with NW Church that also equals FACC's contribution to my life.
2. Another con is that the worship team at FACC would struggle. This is probably the biggest con I have. Although I can't stand FACC in the state that it's in, I would feel completely guilty leaving the worship band. Pastor Jim has stated that without me, the "it" factor that I bring to the stage would be gone. The whole band (save for Jason) knows that I am a very important part of the FACC band and the congregation always appreciates my efforts on stage. And no matter what I'm always accepting of it. Without me, there would be no replacement guitarist save for Jason who is already up there. It's just the same as if Ian or Tito Danny ot Tito Bob quit. Without any one of those ingredients the entire band falls apart.
Response: I have given 10 years of my life to FACC. I've ate, slept, and bled FACC. In the worship ministry, I have given a 120% dedication to this band to the point where I walk from Northgate Mall to FACC every week after work to attend a practice. People recognize it, but no one respects it. That's not the point though. The point is that after 10 years of loyal service to FACC, I feel there is nothing more FACC can offer me and there is nothing more I want from it. It's time to move on and have a new experience at NW Church. Pastor Jim told me that he doesn't want to hold me back from achieving my dream to become a worship minister even if it means the worship band at FACC will struggle.
3. Lastly, people at NW would not be accepting of me. In case you didn't know. I was a member of the youth worship band for 2 years before jumping ship to Northshore for a year and ending up back in NW Church again in my same position. I can already tell from the reactions in the crowd every Wednesday night that they're not feeling it when we worship. Part of it may be cause of how worship is done currently, but another reason is because they remembered how I jumped ship. They might believe that I'm only doing this temporarily and I'll leave again when I feel there is no need to continue.
Response: Most of the people I hung out with when I was first in NW welcomed me back with open arms the first day I decided to return. Most importantly the youth band welcomed me back. From that reaction I feel that I could gain the audience back provided that I display a sense of commitment to the job at hand. Being able to stay for Sunday services is a great way to do that. As for the people that don't know me, well I work on that soon enough.
So here are the things plaguing my head. If I leave FACC and go to NW Church, I would be leaving my "family" behind. If I stay at FACC, chances are I will never get another shot at becoming a worhsip minister.
If you have an opinion, let me know, I would love to hear it!
Psalm 98:4,
Billy Pierluissi
This is about a subject that is really getting to me. As the deadline draws near for me to make a choice I decided to press the issue here. I will be reposting this blog on MySpace for the public to see after a couple of things fall through.
About a month ago, Mike Brandow, a guy that has been helping me get more experienced in leading worship told me that Jeff Berryman, Worship minister, offered me an internship at NW Church. I know taking an offer like that would mean wonders for my future career as a worship minister whether at NW Church, FACC, Northshore, or wherever. Since the offer has been brought to me, I have been contemplating it ever since. After about a month of analyzing, I have come up with three pros and three cons to joining NW as their new intern.
1. Like I brought up earlier, it means more legitimate experience. At NW, I would be trained under a legitimate Worship Leader, something that has eluded me in my growth as a future worship minister. At FACC, there has never been a worship minister. There have been family appointed worship "leaders" true enough, but never a legit worship minister to truly teach the members of the band to lead worship properly. When Pat Jones was around in NW, he was the worship minister, but there was only so much a scatterbrained individual like him could do. The situation was equally as bad at Northshore. During my tenure, the worship ministers were all getting replaced/demoted. So although I could have someone to talk to, no one could really give any formal advice on what's right to do when leading, leaving me out and about one the stage doing whatever I thought sounded good in my head. Jeff Berryman has been well experienced in his field and is the current worship minister at NW Church. I know that if I were to take the internship, I would be in good hands with Jeff.
2. Another good thing about the internship is that it leads to other possible things in the future. I've stated a few times before that becoming a worship minister is one of my dream careers. Being able to gain expertise from a legit worship leader would get me one step closer to the brass ring.
3. The third good reason is that I would have more freedom in my music. In FACC, I have had no choice but to completely follow the gameplan that the CD offered. Jason hates change so I'm forced to follow his mentality. Jeff has explained that he would absolutely love to put me on the worship team. Although for the most part I'd be playing by the book when it comes to the actual worship, the worship team is currently in a major rebuilding phase and still have no idea what kind of sound they want. I would be able to bring up my opinion on the sound that the band could convey at some point and time and I would actually be heard whether they like the idea or not.
Now here are the cons. I have also included responses to these.
1. One con is that I would be away from FACC. FACC has been my home church for the past 10 years. It's the church where I had found Jesus, got baptized, and had my first stunt as a member of a Sunday Service band.
Response: You know what my response would be if you looked at my other blogs. Firstly, I feel that FACC has been turned into nothing but a dictatorship. No one's other voices are heard in the church save for the members of a certain family. I have said time and time again that with the second opinions of the rest of the congregation nothing gets done. Secondly, the church might just be going under anytime soon. True, God has saved FACC time and again from the inevitable selling of the building, but prayer can only do so much and the success of a church relies on the effort of the congregation to save FACC. Third, while FACC is the place where I was baptized, NW was the place where I first opened my heart to God and said I wanted him in my life. There is a major amount of history I have with NW Church that also equals FACC's contribution to my life.
2. Another con is that the worship team at FACC would struggle. This is probably the biggest con I have. Although I can't stand FACC in the state that it's in, I would feel completely guilty leaving the worship band. Pastor Jim has stated that without me, the "it" factor that I bring to the stage would be gone. The whole band (save for Jason) knows that I am a very important part of the FACC band and the congregation always appreciates my efforts on stage. And no matter what I'm always accepting of it. Without me, there would be no replacement guitarist save for Jason who is already up there. It's just the same as if Ian or Tito Danny ot Tito Bob quit. Without any one of those ingredients the entire band falls apart.
Response: I have given 10 years of my life to FACC. I've ate, slept, and bled FACC. In the worship ministry, I have given a 120% dedication to this band to the point where I walk from Northgate Mall to FACC every week after work to attend a practice. People recognize it, but no one respects it. That's not the point though. The point is that after 10 years of loyal service to FACC, I feel there is nothing more FACC can offer me and there is nothing more I want from it. It's time to move on and have a new experience at NW Church. Pastor Jim told me that he doesn't want to hold me back from achieving my dream to become a worship minister even if it means the worship band at FACC will struggle.
3. Lastly, people at NW would not be accepting of me. In case you didn't know. I was a member of the youth worship band for 2 years before jumping ship to Northshore for a year and ending up back in NW Church again in my same position. I can already tell from the reactions in the crowd every Wednesday night that they're not feeling it when we worship. Part of it may be cause of how worship is done currently, but another reason is because they remembered how I jumped ship. They might believe that I'm only doing this temporarily and I'll leave again when I feel there is no need to continue.
Response: Most of the people I hung out with when I was first in NW welcomed me back with open arms the first day I decided to return. Most importantly the youth band welcomed me back. From that reaction I feel that I could gain the audience back provided that I display a sense of commitment to the job at hand. Being able to stay for Sunday services is a great way to do that. As for the people that don't know me, well I work on that soon enough.
So here are the things plaguing my head. If I leave FACC and go to NW Church, I would be leaving my "family" behind. If I stay at FACC, chances are I will never get another shot at becoming a worhsip minister.
If you have an opinion, let me know, I would love to hear it!
Psalm 98:4,
Billy Pierluissi
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Public Importance #1
I've decided to take a break from the normal cursing out of Souled Out in order to talk about something good that has happened over the past few weeks. Since I've returned from the Philippines, Laycie and I haven't been able to hang out all that often. In fact before yesterday, I hadn't seen her for 2 weeks and we hadn't had time to ourselves for at least a month. This is because the last time we hung out, we went to Gasworks. Lots of people there, you know?
During that time, things have been going on in my head. You see, recently I've had the inkling to see Evangelion again. In case you don't know, Evangelion is my most favorite anime and manga series of all time. It had an amazing storyline filled with drama, action, and a few bits of comedy in between. What I also loved were the smoking hot supporting characters, namely Rei Ayanami and Asuka Langley, who for a really long time were the subject of many a fantasy. And since last week, these thoughts came into my head once again. So I've started reading lemons that other people online wrote that dealt with the love and romance part of Evangelion. Some really good material, I must say.
Along with that, I've been in the middle of a floorset at my workplace, Hollister. There have been a lot of girls working there and myself and this other guy named Kyle have been the only two guys doing anything. Yesterday, I was the stock room folding stuff and I saw one of our female workers walk towards the bathrooms. Following her was Kyle. He checked her out for a second, then turned to me. He said, "I love this job." Somehow I was confused as to why, and he told me, "Cause we are working with smoking hot bitches!" I definitely know that. I'm a guy and I notice these things. Matter of fact, can name 5 girls off the top of my head that...never mind. Anyways, I've always known that we have smoking hot girls working there. They're really awesome to work with and I absolutely enjoy every minute I'm with them.
Ever since Laycie and I have been together, we've had many a time where we couldn't have our Thursdays to ourselves. Whenever I couldn't see her that week, I've had to hug the only girl I ever see during the week, and that's Janina. I've told her on numerous occasions that I hug her because I haven't been able to get in close contact with Laycie so hugging her is the next best thing. I also end up hugging my lady friends at Hollister just in case I can't see Laycie.
But here's the rub. If you guys and gals haven't been offended by this by now, read on. Fantasizing about Asuka and Rei may satisfy for the time being, but it's not enough. Ogling hot girls working at Hollister may satisfy for the time being, but it's not enough. Hugging Janina every week I can't see Laycie may satify for the time being, but it's not enough.
Yesterday I was with Laycie and all my evidence that shows that no matter what, I will always love her was proven. I think I hadn't been any happier in the past two weeks than when we saw each other that day. I knew in my head that no matter what happens in my life, Laycie will be Public Importance #1
Laycie is my everything. Thinking about Rei or hugging Janina makes me want to be with my girlfriend even more. She has satisfied everything I could ever want in a relationship and is usually the only highlight of my week. Whenever I'm separated, I keep thinking about we can do the next time we hang out, and if something delays us being together, I get pretty darn depressed.
This is something that I will always know and it's probably something that can keep our relationship very strong. Asuka for now, Laycie forever, for serious.
Kuya Billy
During that time, things have been going on in my head. You see, recently I've had the inkling to see Evangelion again. In case you don't know, Evangelion is my most favorite anime and manga series of all time. It had an amazing storyline filled with drama, action, and a few bits of comedy in between. What I also loved were the smoking hot supporting characters, namely Rei Ayanami and Asuka Langley, who for a really long time were the subject of many a fantasy. And since last week, these thoughts came into my head once again. So I've started reading lemons that other people online wrote that dealt with the love and romance part of Evangelion. Some really good material, I must say.
Along with that, I've been in the middle of a floorset at my workplace, Hollister. There have been a lot of girls working there and myself and this other guy named Kyle have been the only two guys doing anything. Yesterday, I was the stock room folding stuff and I saw one of our female workers walk towards the bathrooms. Following her was Kyle. He checked her out for a second, then turned to me. He said, "I love this job." Somehow I was confused as to why, and he told me, "Cause we are working with smoking hot bitches!" I definitely know that. I'm a guy and I notice these things. Matter of fact, can name 5 girls off the top of my head that...never mind. Anyways, I've always known that we have smoking hot girls working there. They're really awesome to work with and I absolutely enjoy every minute I'm with them.
Ever since Laycie and I have been together, we've had many a time where we couldn't have our Thursdays to ourselves. Whenever I couldn't see her that week, I've had to hug the only girl I ever see during the week, and that's Janina. I've told her on numerous occasions that I hug her because I haven't been able to get in close contact with Laycie so hugging her is the next best thing. I also end up hugging my lady friends at Hollister just in case I can't see Laycie.
But here's the rub. If you guys and gals haven't been offended by this by now, read on. Fantasizing about Asuka and Rei may satisfy for the time being, but it's not enough. Ogling hot girls working at Hollister may satisfy for the time being, but it's not enough. Hugging Janina every week I can't see Laycie may satify for the time being, but it's not enough.
Yesterday I was with Laycie and all my evidence that shows that no matter what, I will always love her was proven. I think I hadn't been any happier in the past two weeks than when we saw each other that day. I knew in my head that no matter what happens in my life, Laycie will be Public Importance #1
Laycie is my everything. Thinking about Rei or hugging Janina makes me want to be with my girlfriend even more. She has satisfied everything I could ever want in a relationship and is usually the only highlight of my week. Whenever I'm separated, I keep thinking about we can do the next time we hang out, and if something delays us being together, I get pretty darn depressed.
This is something that I will always know and it's probably something that can keep our relationship very strong. Asuka for now, Laycie forever, for serious.
Kuya Billy
Sunday, March 8, 2009
I got out of the house for THIS???
What. The . Fuck?
Normally I would not swear when I'm writing a blog that's religious in nature, but in this situation, it's completely worth it. Souled Out is going down the gutter.
Today is the first day of Daylight Savings Time for 2009. This means that we set our clocks one hour ahead. As a result, we lose an hour of sleep and for us Filipinos, because we don't think about resetting our clocks, we always miss certain events. Church today was a good example. I will let this slide.
But having Souled Out around this period was absolutely ridiculous. To add to our pain, Jason, our leader wasn't even there. Said he was sick or something. Then why the hell do we gather what's left of our dying group and stick us back in a building for barely even 2 hours?
We did some boring ass game, did highs and lows when no one was paying attention (and everytime it comes to me I always demand people's attention. Call me an attention whore, but what's the point of talking if no one is listening?), watched some weird movie (whaich was pretty interesting, but had nothing to do with Jesus, which is why we go to Souled Out), prayed and ate. All pretty much within the course of 45 min. Where is Jesus in all of this?
If you think about this, Sha Sha lives in Everett and every week she wastes her gas to bring herself and her little brother to Souled Out. Tonight I seriously felt her pain, because everything she did basically said " I drove 20 miles for THIS???"
Think about visitors (or lack thereof). Is that the kind of image we want to portray?
I think it's time I call it quits. I've had enough of this ridiculous circus act we call a Youth Group. Unless we turn something around, I'm out.
Normally I would not swear when I'm writing a blog that's religious in nature, but in this situation, it's completely worth it. Souled Out is going down the gutter.
Today is the first day of Daylight Savings Time for 2009. This means that we set our clocks one hour ahead. As a result, we lose an hour of sleep and for us Filipinos, because we don't think about resetting our clocks, we always miss certain events. Church today was a good example. I will let this slide.
But having Souled Out around this period was absolutely ridiculous. To add to our pain, Jason, our leader wasn't even there. Said he was sick or something. Then why the hell do we gather what's left of our dying group and stick us back in a building for barely even 2 hours?
We did some boring ass game, did highs and lows when no one was paying attention (and everytime it comes to me I always demand people's attention. Call me an attention whore, but what's the point of talking if no one is listening?), watched some weird movie (whaich was pretty interesting, but had nothing to do with Jesus, which is why we go to Souled Out), prayed and ate. All pretty much within the course of 45 min. Where is Jesus in all of this?
If you think about this, Sha Sha lives in Everett and every week she wastes her gas to bring herself and her little brother to Souled Out. Tonight I seriously felt her pain, because everything she did basically said " I drove 20 miles for THIS???"
Think about visitors (or lack thereof). Is that the kind of image we want to portray?
I think it's time I call it quits. I've had enough of this ridiculous circus act we call a Youth Group. Unless we turn something around, I'm out.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Souled Out Rant 02.08.09
I'm sick and tired of the way that the band is treated during Souled Out. Here we are trying to help other people lift it up to God and you've got people like Dino who inspire the others to not care about it. Souled Out has sold out.
It seems that with the distance between stage and audience, we feel more distant from everyone else. And becasue there's only about 8 people in the audience, there is no need for a full on band worship.
I'm just like Jason where I want to still do the full band thing, but I think outside the box and imagine more ideas whereas he wants to keep it the orthodox way. Those who know me know that I live my earthly life under two creeds: One is under the creed of God, and the other is under the creed of "Do The Damn Thing". And out of this night I came up with this idea.
Let's have the audience be part of the band.
This is what I mean. I think we should close the gap between singer and audience member. Guitarist and God lover. Drummer and deliverer of Good News. As a group with no barriers, I believe that we can all praise God as one unit.
I know that members of the YG will not see this cause they don't have Blogspot, but I certainly hope this could be an idea for the future.
It seems that with the distance between stage and audience, we feel more distant from everyone else. And becasue there's only about 8 people in the audience, there is no need for a full on band worship.
I'm just like Jason where I want to still do the full band thing, but I think outside the box and imagine more ideas whereas he wants to keep it the orthodox way. Those who know me know that I live my earthly life under two creeds: One is under the creed of God, and the other is under the creed of "Do The Damn Thing". And out of this night I came up with this idea.
Let's have the audience be part of the band.
This is what I mean. I think we should close the gap between singer and audience member. Guitarist and God lover. Drummer and deliverer of Good News. As a group with no barriers, I believe that we can all praise God as one unit.
I know that members of the YG will not see this cause they don't have Blogspot, but I certainly hope this could be an idea for the future.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Morning Rant for 1/26/09
This morning, worship for the most part was good. We performed well, and just like the message that Pastor Jim gave today, we performed as a team to hep bring thers to Christ through music.
The thing is, though, that it takes so much complaining, yakking, and high emotions to get just one worship service off the ground. Obviously when the congregation sees us they don't know that, but it's true. Week in and week out, I have found so many faults in how the band is run. The number is mounting and it really has to stop.
Last Saturday, we had our practice, and this is where Jason showcases his foolishness. You have a group of 6 people. Two singers, one singer/guitarist (Jason), one electric guitarist (Me), a bassist, and a drummer. Understandable that he has a lot of work to go through to get all these members caught up on how the songs are played, yet he never even tries to help the others and assumes that everyone knows the song and everything is gonna go off without a hitch. One person in particular that always needs assisance is our bassist. After working with the original leader for the past 7-8 years, he needs help in getting used to Jason's "method" of worship leading, but the leader isn't helping him get used to it. Instead, he decides to give a rather boring speech on preparing for worship. You don't have to tell us how to prepare for worship, and that one method cannot be the one way that we prepare. Some of us meditate, some read the Bible, some practice the songs for the week any chance they get leading up to practice and service. His delivery also is terrible, but most importantly, we all lose precious practice time because of his yakking. Preferably, I would rather have his little speech after worhsip practice, so we know everything is done.
Another problem that was pointed out last Saturday besides lack of communication was delivery of communication from one party to another. For example, Jason asked me about my week and said I'm getting ready for a big paycheck in two weeks and I explained that I'm gonna buy the pedals I need to finish up my set. He then said in a rather harsh tone that I should buy a new amp. First off, I don't know why I should. I haven't had that amp for even three years and it hasn't died on me yet, nor it produces bad sound. I treat my equipment with loads of respect and I can get around 7 years out of that Crate before it starts dying on me. Second off, and much more importantly, I did not like his tone. This is something that I've had a problem about with his entire family because they do talk very harshly, but Jason and his brother are the major ones I have a beef with, mostly cause they're the ones I talk with the most. The delivery in this specific sentence was very sharp and had a very diminuitive tone (sorry if I spelled that wrong). What I mean is that when he said that he made me feel like I'm some nobody to him. Definitely not true. I am a quite experienced worship leader even with only 4 years under my belt. I learned from an actual worship leader for two of those years and just recently I'm starting again to get a new crash course in how to run a band. I've led two youth worship bands, one in Shoreline and one in Everett, the latter of which is a very well known church in this state. I've led his own worship team for a time. Jason should not be talking to me like I'm nobody. I tell him every week of my accomplishments in some way because I'm proud of them. And IMHO, I probably could run the worship team better that he can simply from formal knowledge alone.
Yeah, I said it.
And then this morning, he almost messed it up again and it was up to me and the drummer to save the day. First off, there came a time when the drummer was late and we wanted to sing a song just to get the rest of the band started. After that song, the drummer happened to show up and we practiced the rest of the songs. But when one of the singers asked to do the first song again because the drummer needs to get ready as well, he was reluctant. The truth is, no matter how many times you've covered the song, it is never a bad thing to go over it again. That's how you would know whether a performance is gonna go well or not. Not only that the bassist still wasn't ready to go, so the drummer and I ended up doing the leader's job while he left for Sunday School and we helped the bassist get used to the song. We shouldn't be doing that. That's his job. But people like me can never proceed until every puzzle piece fits, so I'm obligated to help with whatever. Even during this practice I was helping provide harmonics for the other singers in case the song got too high for them. It's not my job, but I'm obliged to fix it.
Jason, you are a leader of probably one of the most important branches of worship. I think it's time that you started being one.
Psalm 98:4,
Billy
The thing is, though, that it takes so much complaining, yakking, and high emotions to get just one worship service off the ground. Obviously when the congregation sees us they don't know that, but it's true. Week in and week out, I have found so many faults in how the band is run. The number is mounting and it really has to stop.
Last Saturday, we had our practice, and this is where Jason showcases his foolishness. You have a group of 6 people. Two singers, one singer/guitarist (Jason), one electric guitarist (Me), a bassist, and a drummer. Understandable that he has a lot of work to go through to get all these members caught up on how the songs are played, yet he never even tries to help the others and assumes that everyone knows the song and everything is gonna go off without a hitch. One person in particular that always needs assisance is our bassist. After working with the original leader for the past 7-8 years, he needs help in getting used to Jason's "method" of worship leading, but the leader isn't helping him get used to it. Instead, he decides to give a rather boring speech on preparing for worship. You don't have to tell us how to prepare for worship, and that one method cannot be the one way that we prepare. Some of us meditate, some read the Bible, some practice the songs for the week any chance they get leading up to practice and service. His delivery also is terrible, but most importantly, we all lose precious practice time because of his yakking. Preferably, I would rather have his little speech after worhsip practice, so we know everything is done.
Another problem that was pointed out last Saturday besides lack of communication was delivery of communication from one party to another. For example, Jason asked me about my week and said I'm getting ready for a big paycheck in two weeks and I explained that I'm gonna buy the pedals I need to finish up my set. He then said in a rather harsh tone that I should buy a new amp. First off, I don't know why I should. I haven't had that amp for even three years and it hasn't died on me yet, nor it produces bad sound. I treat my equipment with loads of respect and I can get around 7 years out of that Crate before it starts dying on me. Second off, and much more importantly, I did not like his tone. This is something that I've had a problem about with his entire family because they do talk very harshly, but Jason and his brother are the major ones I have a beef with, mostly cause they're the ones I talk with the most. The delivery in this specific sentence was very sharp and had a very diminuitive tone (sorry if I spelled that wrong). What I mean is that when he said that he made me feel like I'm some nobody to him. Definitely not true. I am a quite experienced worship leader even with only 4 years under my belt. I learned from an actual worship leader for two of those years and just recently I'm starting again to get a new crash course in how to run a band. I've led two youth worship bands, one in Shoreline and one in Everett, the latter of which is a very well known church in this state. I've led his own worship team for a time. Jason should not be talking to me like I'm nobody. I tell him every week of my accomplishments in some way because I'm proud of them. And IMHO, I probably could run the worship team better that he can simply from formal knowledge alone.
Yeah, I said it.
And then this morning, he almost messed it up again and it was up to me and the drummer to save the day. First off, there came a time when the drummer was late and we wanted to sing a song just to get the rest of the band started. After that song, the drummer happened to show up and we practiced the rest of the songs. But when one of the singers asked to do the first song again because the drummer needs to get ready as well, he was reluctant. The truth is, no matter how many times you've covered the song, it is never a bad thing to go over it again. That's how you would know whether a performance is gonna go well or not. Not only that the bassist still wasn't ready to go, so the drummer and I ended up doing the leader's job while he left for Sunday School and we helped the bassist get used to the song. We shouldn't be doing that. That's his job. But people like me can never proceed until every puzzle piece fits, so I'm obligated to help with whatever. Even during this practice I was helping provide harmonics for the other singers in case the song got too high for them. It's not my job, but I'm obliged to fix it.
Jason, you are a leader of probably one of the most important branches of worship. I think it's time that you started being one.
Psalm 98:4,
Billy
Sunday, January 18, 2009
I Figured It Out
This is the true reason why Souled Out is faltering...
Jason.
No it's not because of how he preaches like I originally figured (although he still needs to work on it. It's also not because he doesn't know how to plan events ahead of time. It's definitely not because of him and his bloodline.
The number one reason why Souled Out is faltering is because everybody knows Jason.
Yeah, I said it. Everyone knows Jason. Jason has been with the church from the beginning, just like the rest of his family. He grew up in Souled Out when it was Souljaz Of Light and Brian and Co. were still a part of it. And because of this, we know him so well. We didn't need a pre-hiring meet up to see if this guy had the chops. We know he's a guy Souled Out for God. Last Sunday, Pastor Jim was saying that in order to learn more about the Bible, you should find somebody who quotes scriptures all the time. Jason is that guy. Jason is everything a youth pastor should be. The only problem is, we already know that.
And that's why he can't be taken seriously. We've been so well acquainted with Jason that we can't take him seriously. I don't know how, but that's how things have ended up. How do I know? From experience.
When I took the reigns of the youth worship band at NW Church, the youth already knew me two years prior. I had a chance to grow as one of the youth group. they knew me as something already. A kid who like to go wild, run around the place, and be energetic. I don't want to be pompous, but I was actually pretty popular there IMO. And that's what almost led to my downfall as a youth worship leader. For much of the beginning, I could not get the audience to stop focusing on what I was gonna do next and have them focus on the Lord. Near the end of my first tenure there, however, I had begun to create good chemistry. Just as I was making it I ended up following Nick to Northshore.
Northshore was a very different environment. Not only was I the new youth worship leader there, but I had to generate new bonds. This time, I knew it was gonna be different. I had a completely new group of kids who had never seen me before and thus did not know about how I was back in NW Church or anything. All they knew was that I was their youth worship leader and technically one of the staff. What this meant was I was able to create great bonds but I was also treated as a leader that could be taken seriously at the same time.
Jason you'll make a good leader someday, but just not in Souled Out.
This is why I'm so excited for Frankie coming. He's a completely new persom whom other than a couple visits, he hasn't really stayed with the group for too long. In the end it will mean the same thing I experienced in Northshore; great bonds with the youth while still maintaining a sense of authority amongst the group.
In Souled Out's history, virtual unknowns has been of great success in the past. Pastor Vic, Pastor Mike, Pastor Nick, Rachael, they did well becouse we had no history with them prior to them becoming our youth leader. Even Alula did a great job FTMP and she was a relative of Jason's and a former member of Souljaz Of Light. We may have known her, but she had that special ability of maintaining authority throughout.
I'm syked for the arrival of Frankie. I know the rest of Souled Out is syked for Frankie. And judging by our past with virtual unknowns, I know Frankie will do a great service to Souled Out.
Psalm 98:4,
Billy Pierluissi
Jason.
No it's not because of how he preaches like I originally figured (although he still needs to work on it. It's also not because he doesn't know how to plan events ahead of time. It's definitely not because of him and his bloodline.
The number one reason why Souled Out is faltering is because everybody knows Jason.
Yeah, I said it. Everyone knows Jason. Jason has been with the church from the beginning, just like the rest of his family. He grew up in Souled Out when it was Souljaz Of Light and Brian and Co. were still a part of it. And because of this, we know him so well. We didn't need a pre-hiring meet up to see if this guy had the chops. We know he's a guy Souled Out for God. Last Sunday, Pastor Jim was saying that in order to learn more about the Bible, you should find somebody who quotes scriptures all the time. Jason is that guy. Jason is everything a youth pastor should be. The only problem is, we already know that.
And that's why he can't be taken seriously. We've been so well acquainted with Jason that we can't take him seriously. I don't know how, but that's how things have ended up. How do I know? From experience.
When I took the reigns of the youth worship band at NW Church, the youth already knew me two years prior. I had a chance to grow as one of the youth group. they knew me as something already. A kid who like to go wild, run around the place, and be energetic. I don't want to be pompous, but I was actually pretty popular there IMO. And that's what almost led to my downfall as a youth worship leader. For much of the beginning, I could not get the audience to stop focusing on what I was gonna do next and have them focus on the Lord. Near the end of my first tenure there, however, I had begun to create good chemistry. Just as I was making it I ended up following Nick to Northshore.
Northshore was a very different environment. Not only was I the new youth worship leader there, but I had to generate new bonds. This time, I knew it was gonna be different. I had a completely new group of kids who had never seen me before and thus did not know about how I was back in NW Church or anything. All they knew was that I was their youth worship leader and technically one of the staff. What this meant was I was able to create great bonds but I was also treated as a leader that could be taken seriously at the same time.
Jason you'll make a good leader someday, but just not in Souled Out.
This is why I'm so excited for Frankie coming. He's a completely new persom whom other than a couple visits, he hasn't really stayed with the group for too long. In the end it will mean the same thing I experienced in Northshore; great bonds with the youth while still maintaining a sense of authority amongst the group.
In Souled Out's history, virtual unknowns has been of great success in the past. Pastor Vic, Pastor Mike, Pastor Nick, Rachael, they did well becouse we had no history with them prior to them becoming our youth leader. Even Alula did a great job FTMP and she was a relative of Jason's and a former member of Souljaz Of Light. We may have known her, but she had that special ability of maintaining authority throughout.
I'm syked for the arrival of Frankie. I know the rest of Souled Out is syked for Frankie. And judging by our past with virtual unknowns, I know Frankie will do a great service to Souled Out.
Psalm 98:4,
Billy Pierluissi
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