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