Mental Musings

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 .