Mental Musings

I arrived at church this morning to see two police cars parked in front of our church. There was only one other car in the lot and that belonged to our security guy who arrives early to unlock everything. As soon as I entered the foyer I could see why the police where there: the foyer had been ransacked and the door leading into the worship center had been broken into. Within a few minutes after I arrived, the police decided that the church needed to be sealed up as a crime scene. With five services planned for the day, they informed us that we would not be able to access the worship center, Preschool and nursery area or most of our adult bible study rooms for at least three hours. With the help of about forty people, we quickly prepared a makeshift worship area in another building. No hymnals, no computer, no projectors, no sound equipment, no music stands, etc. We scavenged for anything we could find. The youth pastor brought out the youth ministries projector, the sound team found s...

Our eleven performances of the Living Christmas Tree ended today with a very busy schedule. After arriving at church around 7:00 am, we left tonight a little after 6:00 pm. We had our normal three morning worship services at 8, 9:30 and 11 followed by a 2:30 matinee of the Living Christmas Tree ending with a large meal for the 200 plus people who have helped with the Tree. Next we have the Christmas Eve mega round with five worship services 8, 9:30, 11, 5 & 6:30. At least we get some downtime before then. Following Christmas we are heading to the MusicFlorida Conference in Orlando and a week vacation after that in Vero Beach. As a pastor friend of mine always says: “Peace out, man.” Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Our Christmas Letter from this year... (BTW - I loved the FoxTrot comic strip from December 4-8 about these yearly letters) Last year at this time we were almost certain that we would be moving to Maryland. We were preparing for the performances of “The Christmas Post” at our church and Steve was about to fly to Maryland to view the Living Christmas Tree at Oak Grove Baptist Church in Bel Air. Since then, we did move and Steve is now the Minister of Music and Worship at Oak Grove (www.oakgrovebaptist.com). Steve has had to get used to a completely different style of ministry. He has many more meetings and much more paperwork, but he also has much more help from paid and volunteer staff. More than 100 people are on his Living Christmas Tree team and about 90 people in the choir. Steve is getting rather spoiled. He has many people (especially his Ministry Assistant) who pamper him. He has surprised many people by actually showing up to help with things like decorating or constructing t...

Yes…it’s that time of year. People bundled up as they brave the chilling temperatures, huddling together on cold concrete walkways, taking turns running to the restroom so they don’t lose their place, camping out overnight or for days in front of any electronic store for the smallest hope of getting their hands on the Nintendo Wii or Playstation 3. If only God could draw such attention. Oh, wait. He did, back in His day. You remember the men who cut a whole in a roof just so they could get their paralyzed friend in to see Jesus? Or how about those magi who planned and traveled for nearly two years in search of the prophesied Messiah? And then their were the crowds who followed Jesus all day with no thought of food, forcing the disciples to bring a little boys’ lunch to Jesus only to see Him use it to feed thousands. And there are even current stories from other countries of how people walk miles to attend worship services. Some people stand through entire services that last several hou...

We often hear long discussions on how as Americans we must be tolerant of others who are different. Public schools, government institutions, colleges, newspapers and many businesses spend small fortunes in tolerance training. I thought about this today as we sat in a fast food restaraunt with our youngest son with his newest, loud, verbal tick that sounds like a pre-historic cat trying to cough-up a furball. At what point do we go too far with our expectations of tolerance? Is it right for us to expect others to just accept our son's disruptive behavior in public? Should we become incensed when people glare in our direction because of his constantly annoying sounds while they attempt to enjoy their lunch breaks? The advocates of political correctness would insist that everyone else pretend that our son was perfectly normal. They would campaign to get everyone in the country to treat children with autism in the same manner that nuerologically typical children are treated in public....

See how well you are doing homeschooling your children. Give them this quiz. Passing requires only four correct answers out of ten. How long did the Hundred Years War last? Which country makes Panama hats? From which animal do we get catgut? In which month do Russians celebrate the October Revolution? What is a camel's hair brush made of? The Canary Islands in the Pacific is named after what animal? What was King George VI's first name? What color is a purple finch? Where are Chinese gooseberries from? What is the color of the black box in a commercial airplane? ANSWERS TO THE QUIZ How long did the Hundred Years War last? 116 years Which country makes Panama hats? Ecuador From which animal do we get catgut? Sheep and Horses In which month do Russians celebrate the October Revolution? November What is a camel's hair brush made of? Squirrel fur The Canary Islands in the Pacific is named after what animal? Dogs What was King George VI's first name? Albert What color...

"Admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God." (Colossians 3:16 NIV) Most theologians will agree that this verse describes various styles of music. Psalms were the traditional music from the book of Psalms written for instructional purposes as well as praise. These had been sung for nearly one thousand years when the book of Colossians had been written. Hymns were songs of the early Christian church, which often helped to teach theological beliefs in God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Spiritual songs are generally considered to be more emotional in content. Why did God feel it important enough to mention these three different styles of music not once, but twice in the New Testament? I believe that God understands His creations enough to know that we would have very personal opinions and tastes in the creative arts. Modern churches continue to debate what styles of music are appropriate for worship (...

Fall is perhaps my favorite time of the year. Living in Maryland once again has helped me remember some wonderful falls when I was younger: walking around outside with the crisp air and all of the wonderful colors, jumping into a pile of freshly raked leaves, hayrides through pumpkin patches or just sitting inside by a raging fire. Almost twenty years ago I wrote a poem that intrigued those who read it, because they thought it was rather morbid. It was never my intention for it to be so, but it was supposed to draw the reader to the newness that lies just beneath all of the decay that we see. Let me know what you think. Content With Death © Steve Poole Although the wind outside is cold It's warm inside with a blazing fire I hear a fierce and mighty gust And see some leaves of red and gold As gently they fall, then rising higher Descend to a shifting grave of rust The wind will speak a stronger wail Like music of an aspen branch As death continues on beneath it And then the snow I k...

It was one of those Sundays. You know...soloist for the choral anthem could not attend because his wife was in emergency room; choir attendance for early service is way down because of the churches 75th Anniversary dinner Saturday evening; acoustic guitar player for praise band was out as he was the same one at the hospital with his wife; praise team and band had horrible microphone and monitor problems because much of the sound equipment had been used at the Community Center on Saturday night for the dinner; three of the praise team members were losing their voices; the soloist for the last service could not get the sound team's attentione to turn down the blaring monitors and wound up forgetting her words (something she has never done and of course happens in the service while we are live on the radio); and I could not see when the pastor was finished with the Baptism, so I sat there waiting in silence for a while before I realized he was done. I am a true believer that we are to...

There is a profound thought that I have held fast to ever since my study of J.S. Bach’s philosophy of church music as constructed by his actions. This thought has helped to guide my ministry in every situation regardless of most every other circumstance. It is a very simple thought that seems obvious at first glance. The thought: Bach made use of the resources he had. How does this relate to church music? How often have you heard or even thought such things as, “If we only had a good drummer,” or “Wouldn’t it be nice to have a good keyboardist,” or “Just think of what we could do if only we had a bigger budget.” I am sure there are many other examples. But Bach did not leave letters of complaints about what he did not have. Instead he based his music on what was available. This is one of the reasons for some rather unusual voicings in his church music. If he had castrati he wrote music for them. If he had violist he included a part for them in the accompaniment. Too many churches look ...

For several thousand years the synagogue (and later church) was the formal educational center for most communities. If children could not study in their synagogue or church, the were educated in their homes. Higher education was handled through apprenticeships. Boarding schools began to appear prior to the Medieval Age when children were sometimes sent to live in Monasteries where they were educated. In AD 850 the University of Constantinople was established and the shift from apprenticeships to the formal classroom began fro higher education . Private tutoring at home remained the norm for the aristocratic families, but after the sixteenth century it was increasingly accepted that adolescents of any rank might best be educated collectively. The government run public school for secondary and elementary education is actually a relatively new concept. On January 1, 1643, by unanimous vote, Dedham, Massachusetts authorized the first U.S. taxpayer-funded public school. Churches throughout...

Today Ashton and Zachary did a science experiment in chaos. I know when I was in school chaos was a normal part of our school days. But their science experiment was designed to give them a creative way to think about where everything came from. It started with a bunch of Lego (tm) bricks. They threw the Legos into the air and watched to see if they created anything. Of course, all that happened was that the Legos fell to the floor in a mass of disconnected bricks. Then they took the bricks and created something. Ashton created a dragon. I am not certain what Zachary created, he wouldn't tell me. Then they were asked which seemed more likely to them: everything just happened to fall together in some amazing explosion or that somebody created everything. A really simple experiment that I would think anybody could understand. Unfortunately not all scientists are as free thinking as Marilyn vos Savant who stated in Parade magazine, February 4, 1996, “I think that if it had been a re...

I know, I know, my vacation has been over for more than a week. But it has taken me this long to get caught back up. But it is done and I am back to blogging.

Well...we made it back from our vacation. We really had a great time, but we did have some interesting things happen. To sum-up our trip: we drove through 15 states (Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia--stopped for 1 night, Alabama, Mississippi--stopped for 5 nights, Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri--stopped for 5 nights, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio--stopped for 1 night, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and back to Maryland. The map below shows our route. Blue dots are places we stayed overnight. In Mississippi: both boys took a trip to a walk in clinic for ear infections; we toured the war zone on the coast; we met a pastor friend, his wife and three kids for lunch in Daphne, Alabama (Eastern Shore of Mobile Bay); we discussed my father's health which is failing quickly with a weak heart as well as his frame of mind with Vietnam flashbacks and depression; Zachary bought a trumpet in Alabama and is going to take lessons from me; met with Tracy and Charlie, my 27-year-old niece a...

We have had a very interesting vacation so far. It started on Friday, September 8, at around 6 am. As we were just leaving Baltimore, about 45 minutes into our trip, Zachary throws up in the car. We are just entering the D.C. traffic and no exits in sight. Zachary insists he isn’t sick. Wendy gets him cleaned up and we continue our trip. The trip was going smoothly. We were expecting to arrive in Atlanta around 4 pm. Wendy and I were alternating driving. I had not told her what road we were to turn on next and she never asked. Sometime around 3:00 pm I realized that we had never taken our exit off of I-95. By that time we were already two hours off course and had to take some alternate roads (including one that I doubt anyone outside of the area had ever been on before). We made it to Atlanta around 8:00 pm after an extra four hours of driving. Last night my mom woke us up to tell us that Zachary was crying. Wendy checked on him and he was complaining of severe earache. I sat up with h...

Today we went to worship service at the church I attended as a teenager ( Temple Baptist Church ) in Big Point, Mississippi. It is the first time I have been to this church in over eight years. Two of my nieces were singing a duet today and did a wonderful job. The church has made some major changes since I was last a member in 1983. The worship service was a blend of choruses and hymns. The worship center had good quality sound and projection equipment. The praise team and choir used flat-screen monitors for lyrics in order to keep their hands free. They has hung some white banners from the choir loft ceiling and projected red lights onto the material to create a more contemporary atmosphere. Plants were used to hide floor monitors and floor light canisters. The worship leader played keyboard and bass, they used another keyboard player along with a pianist and organist. A six person praise team sang with a choir behind them for a few choruses and then joined the choir. The choruses we...

We spent most of our Labor Day weekend painting our den and preparing for our vacation next week. We are going to be driving 5 days and spending 5 days in Mississippi on the Gulf Coast and 5 days in Branson, Missouri. Wendy has prepared travel journals for the boys so that they can make notes about the 14 states we will travel through. Isn't it amazing how we work overtime trying to finish up work before a vacation and then return to extra work that is waiting for us. We spent extra hours packing for our trip and then extra hours when we return putting things away. We try to fill every hour of our vacation with activities or visiting friends and family. Once we return we are worn out and need another vacation just to recover from our vacation. Oh, well. Maybe I will find time to blog while on my vacation.

Often I am asked to read a skit or poem or to listen or sing through a song created by someone’s child, husband, grandmother, etc. I wish I could say that all of these creations that I have been asked to review were excellent. I wish I could say that about all of my own creations. The ugly fact is that sometimes what we created just stinks. And even though it hurts me deeply when people do not like something that I created, I need their honest evaluation if my creativity is to grow in a healthy direction. [ NOTE: One thing that the American Idol television show has proven is that relatives and friends are not the people to ask—they will always tell you what you want to hear, not what you need to hear] Perhaps the most frustrating art form is writing. Why? I think it is because virtually everyone considers themselves to be adequate writers. It is by far easier to imagine ourselves writing “ The Lord of the Rings ” or “ To a Skylark ” than to consider ourselves with the ability to pain...

Can you remember visiting your grandmother’s home? What things stand out most in your memory? Take a few moments to describe everything in detail to yourself. Did you mention the things you saw (quilted bedspreads, hand-made tablecloths with a protective plastic cover, 30-year old appliances, etc.)? Do you remember the way things sounded (crackling fireplace, creaking rocking chair, the hum of the fridge, etc.)? What do you think is the strongest memory that you have of your grandmother? Amazingly, studies have shown that the memories which most strongly remain with us have to do with smells. The clean, antiseptic smell reminds us of a hospital. The scent of certain flowers may remind us of a wedding or funeral. The smell of cookies baking can remind us of some fond childhood memory. Smells trigger something in our brain that can virtually transform us to many years in our past instantly. Only a few churches, Greek Orthodox for example, still use incense as part of worship. Most of us ...

I did not blog this past weekend because I have been painting. No, not like Rembrandt. Maybe like Michelangelo, although I think the Sistine Chapel was slightly more artistic than my work. My work could best be described as suitable for the toilet. Literally. Our boys have wanted to have a SpongeBob Squarepants bathroom ever since they first saw the SpongeBob toilet seat cover at a Walmart. We found the SpongeBob border, SpongeBob hands-free trashcan and SpongeBob handtowel all at Walmart as well. Wendy put the border on and is very proud of her first wallpapering experience. The SpongeBob toys are from Burger King. The lighthouse is something I made from ceramic and painted in 1981. It won first place in a county fair. There is a little light inside that lights up the windows and beacon. Wendy made the lifesaver out of a styrofoam ring, ribbon and yellow rope. She actually made two, the other one is over the toilet. The den is our next big painting project. There is a theme for it als...

Every ministry needs to decide if they are going to reach the community around them or simply satisfy the current membership. Do your members actively seek ways to reach new people? Are they willing to try creative things that will attract non-members? Or do they want to make things comfortable for themselves? What is their vision? Discovering what the members believe to be the vision of your ministry will determine how you should proceed. Sometimes God may give you a vision that does not reflect what the people want. I will be brutally honest and say what we often try to dance around: “Regardless of what God wants, those who pay your check have certain expectations.” It is not always an easy task getting the church membership to see and accept the vision that God has given to you. Does this mean you should do things according to their desires? Not really, but you may need to adjust your ministry plans a little if you wish to continue ministering to the membership. A healthy church sho...

The average church member has no clue what goes into preparing for weekly worship services. They come expecting that everything will work, there will be no mistakes, everything looks nice and clean and, we hope, that people will experience God. These members may not say a word when everything is working, but they will complain when one area is weak. Many church members want their worship services to look and sound professional. Knowing the importance of making everything as close to perfect as possible, the behind-the-scenes teams work extremely hard to get everything right: musicians practice long hours to learn and feel confident with the music, media teams arrive well before most people in order to check and prepare equipment, etc. This attention to detail makes the difference between a good worship service and a distracting one. This is not a problem for most artistic people since they tend to be perfectionists. The path to excellence is often one of the biggest problems in worshi...

Poems are often very effective in making a point. Most hymns and songs are simply poems put to music. I thought I would share a poem I wrote 5 years ago for part of a Patriotic service. It is based on personal memories of my father leaving to return to Vietnam. He was a career Navy officer and a true hero. I thought of this again recently as my father, who is now almost 70, is suffering from some severe flashbacks. War Never Ends © 2001, Stephen R. Poole I stood there near a ship Looking out to sea I hardly knew the man He hardly knew me His eyes spoke of hardships Things too hard to tell His hands rough and cracked And then I heard a bell He turned and looked at me His voice choked, yet strong “The war continues raging I cannot linger long” He turned, faced my mom The tears began to flow His fingers wiped the tears I heard the whistle blow Boarded, bound for somewhere I watched him as he went Whenever one fell wounded Another one was sent I never really knew him Until the very end The...

Most music tends to follow certain stylistic characteristics that allow us to group it into a category or genre. There always seem to be exceptions, and often you cannot get people to agree as to what style music written in the past twenty years would fall. I hope that this helps you to understand what people are talking about when they discuss worship from Classical to Emergent church. Classical/Liturgical – this does not only refer to music written in the Classical Period (1750-1825), but also refers to a style of worship. It may use music of composers such as Bach , Beethoven , Brahms or Bernstein for choral anthems, but most of the congregational worship includes hymns written prior to the 1800s. Much use of strict liturgies ( Preludes , Postludes, Lord’s Prayer recited, Creeds recited, Responsive Readings, Doxologies, etc.). Hymns such as “ A Mighty Fortress is Our God ” or “Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee” would be common. Hymns are often based on teaching the faith of each parti...

I can still remember the uproar when the youth song, “Pass It on” was first introduced to church worship services. I was thankful that our church was much more accepting of the new songs. I attended a church that had an amazing balance of music for being a small country church. We often sang Gaither choruses as well as traditional and classical hymns. Adding some more youth oriented choruses like “Pass it On” and “Kumbaya.” Unfortunately churches today still struggle with what are often referred to as Worship Wars. Individuals with personal tastes, opinions and needs have trouble understanding that others have different tastes, opinions and needs. Is it possible to provide for the needs of all members in the same church? Probably not. Worship is a very personal act that is performed for an audience of One, but we still must attempt to provide a style of worship that meets the needs of those who have joined with us to present their offering to God. Metropolitan churches have the luxury ...

For the past 14 years I have always used seasonal musicals that incorporated lots of drama. I prefer the so-called "broadway-style" musicals which are perfect for choreography, dance, drama and include a great gospel message. These musicals require enormous resources in sound equipment, lighting, costumes, sets and props not to mention the incredible requirments for available, talented and dedicated personnel. I have been to churches that have some unbelievable presentations: live animals, flying angels, a rising Jesus as He ascends into heaven, automobiles onstage, and one even had a section of the stage which slides out automatically to reveal an ice-rink on top for a figure skater. The expense must be mind-boggeling. The question often arises as we are sweating through rehearsals or stage building or costum making..."Is this really worth it?" After all, how can we possibly compete with something like "Star Wars" or a musical like "High School Music...

I have always been the techno geek in the family, yet I have been lagging behind lately. My son has been learning HTML programming and has his own website and then suddenly I find out that my wife has her own blog . Sooooo, I guess it is time I get more wired. I hope to keep this updated with some good tidbits about music and worship in general. I am the Minister of Music and Worship at Oak Grove Baptist Church in Bel Air, Maryland. I am daily working with creative individuals and hope that some of our enlightenments will be of interest to others. Forgive me if I occasionally go on a rant about something controversial. Most creative people have very strong opinions and we sometimes just have to let it all out. Check out my Music History and Hymnology Timeline .