I had signed up to attend a Worship Ministry Retreat November 5, 2011 from 9-3. Lunch was provided.

I had made a deal with the devil. A friend is a photographer so I told the friend I would sign up to attend the worship retreat if they would sign up to help with church directory pictures.

I did and they didn't.

If the photographer opportunity is as fulfilling as the worship ministry, their failure to sign up is a mistake.

When we signed up we were greeted with a return e-mail and a link to download sheet music and MP4 files of the music we were looking to learn. I printed out about twenty pages of sheet music.

I would estimate there were about 75 people attending the retreat.

Immediately we were divided into the the four part harmony groups. Bass, tenor, alto and soprano.

Part of the purpose of the worship retreat is to add to the "pool" of praise team members to draw from, to have available the numbers to increase the praise team from four to eight, when deemed desirable, and also to form a choir for some up coming events.

Lots of basses and altos. A fair number of sopranos, and only a few tenors.

I would make a note to say that two of the attendees were former members of the group Acapella. So we had some quality!

Brian, the worship minister, knew exactly what he wanted and did a good job of teaching it. During the course of the day we would turn the arch to the center and the two halves sing to each other. Very impressive. It can almost stand the hair on your neck on end.

At lunch I sat at a table with three of the Elders. Ed Emerson, Eddie Chrane, and Mark Viertel. Near the end of lunch Brian Randolph (the worship minister)came and sat with us. It was a very enjoyable lunch. It is amazing how small the world can be. All three Elders and I had ties somewhere in our past. (Of course I roomed with another elder there at Southern Hills when I was at ACU).

Earlier we had to write down two truths and a lie on a 3 x 5 card with our name on the reverse side.

For my lie I wrote down that a friend encouraged me to attend the worship ministry retreat and they were in attendance too!

At lunch the elders and Brian were laughing about my friend. When Brian sat down I explained that my friend loved him and his leading the worship at Southern Hills, but I had texted my friend with good news and bad news.

The good news was the elders had fired Brian as worship minister and elected me to replace him. The bad news was my friend was now the featured singer for Sunday's worship.

We all had a good laugh!

Lunch was catered by The Olive Garden. I think we may have had a few more mouths than expected or else Olive Garden cut it a little close. We made it though!

I will say that after eating the meal we lost some more sopranos. (I had a distinct feeling that some of them were taking naps in closed class rooms).

To be honest, it was a very enjoyable day and I would do it again!

Many of these people floor you with the immense talent and confidence they possess.

Thing is, I can sing with these people too!

Before leaving we had to turn in sheets about ourselves and what we would be willing to do in this ministry. The last thing they asked was for us to put down was a yes or no for funeral singers. (I drew the line at wedding singer).

They intend to add additional praise teams, but also want a list to draw from in emergency situations. They are fixing to begin using a worship planner software and we will receive an e-mail asking us if we are available for certain dates and services. We will also be able to block out any dates we know we will be gone.

I think they are going to try to have these retreats on a regular basis to teach new music. Also if your praise team is up, they are planning on having rehearsals for Wednesday and Sunday Services.

This morning they had a four person praise team. Three of the four they used to a large degree yesterday!

Phil was out of town today so Stephen subbed.

I had told myself I was going to begin the Starting Point series today but my foot hurt so bad and we had a twenty minute break from church to class. I slipped out the door and home.

Hope your weekend was a good one!