Sunday's Video

On Sunday, we ran a "baby dedication video" as our families came up on stage.



Baby Dedication Video from Todd Wright on Vimeo.

The service was really neat. I tried to grab some video from the sanctuary, but my angle was all weird and people stood in front of the camera!

Getting Ready for Easter!

Here's our new "Easter parking promo" we shot Wednesday morning. This one went pretty fast...editing went quick, a little excerpt from the Fail Blog and we were good to go. Mark did a great job.


Parking Promo from Todd Wright on Vimeo.

JAMAICA!

Early this morning, a team from Bethel left for a week of ministry in Jamaica. Sounds like a sweet gig, I know, but in fact, these folks are going to be doing a ton of construction and clean-up for the "New Generation Camp," a fantastic Bible camp for Jamaican children.

In addition, the Bethel team will host a Field Day for the nearby "Basic School" for children ages 3-6, a school desperately in need of strong male influences that are healthy and Godly.

We ran this video this morning as a way of reminding our people here to be praying for our team. I am constantly humbled and inspired by Bethel's passion for taking the message of Jesus wherever He calls us.



Jamaica Promo from Bethel Bible Church on Vimeo.

I Love Working Here..

A lot of folks (Tyler and otherwise) have asked how we're liking Bethel. Our answer is always the same.

WE LOVE IT.

One of the most fun things so far about working here has been making these little short video clips to send to our people (via Facebook, the blog, etc.) We've tried some goofy stuff so far, but this most recent one takes the cake. I couldn't believe how great my co-workers were about shooting something like this and every time I watch it I'm grateful for these very fun (and funny) people that God's placed in my life.



Bethel Encourages Its Congregation from bethel bible on Vimeo.

One of the things I love about working at Bethel is the obvious passion that my co-workers have for the Word of God.

I've said it before and will say it again. These men and women that I work beside know the Word and find their joy and contentment in study and application.

I'm so honored to attend this conference next April. The Gospel Coalition Conference is going to be jam packed with insight into scripture and I'm really looking forward to it.

You can go here for more information.

The New Guy

Hey gang, if you're not part of the Bethel Bible Facebook page, then you haven't seen our newest video, "The New Guy." We posted it Wednesday on Facebook and it went on the Bethel Blog early this morning.

Swing over to the church's blog and check it out!

www.bethelbible.typepad.com

Thanks!

By the way, posted a new poll over on the right sidebar for RSS kids. Click on the blog and let your voice be heard!

Skribit Friday...

Hey, look at that! The Skribit suggestion box is active again.

Well, let's take a look and see what we think...
WHAT ARE YOU FIND MOST AWKWARD ABOUT YOUR NEW SURROUNDINGS?

Great question. The most awkward thing usually happens when leave our house and hit this little four-way stop to head into town. Almost every day, we've looked at each other and said...

"We live in Tyler!"

It's been weird...to wake up every morning and realize that almost everything you're going to experience that day is going to be brand new.

Secondly, it's strange to not know where stuff is. We're constantly asking for directions. That's something we're not used to.

Lastly, getting to know a whole new group of people is interesting. Some folks you have an instant connection with...others require a more time to get to know.

WHAT TO DO WHEN BAND MEMBERS DON'T DIG THE WORSHIP LEADER'S STYLE?

Man, I hope one of my team didn't send this one in.

This is a great question, but it is a bit extreme (The original question said when "none" of the band members liked the worship leader's approach.) I would think it highly irregular for an entire team of musicians, singers, tech staff, etc. to dislike what the worship leader is doing. I guess it's a possibility, but I would think rare to be that intense.

But it does happen in smaller doses, I think. I can only speak from experience, and gladly, I don't have much in this area. Regarding my time at First Methodist and even my first few weeks with Bethel, I've had team members who have exemplified a Christ-like attitude. I've heard countless times "I'll do whatever you need" or "I'll serve as little or as much as you prefer" and I've seen enough to believe it!

I think a dislike of methodology or style is really an issue of trust. A team member doesn't like the way a leader is doing things because, for whatever reason, that team member doesn't trust that worship leader's going to maintain the integrity of what's been accomplished. (Sometimes, there are valid reasons to fear this!)

In what little experience I have in ministry, I have found that most team members don't voice this. Most of the times, this bitterness or resentment stays dormant, which is never good.

When I do have team members who come to me with dislikes of this nature, I try to do a few things:
1. Listen honestly to what they're saying. God speaks to us in many ways. Wisdom in a multitude of counselors, right?
2. Investigate the complaint. Rather than be dismissive, I try to make sure I've got the information, then I spent some time thinking and praying about what's been said. I never want it to be said that I didn't take correction.
3. Give feedback. When it's all said and done and I think there's a valid and healthy reason for the way I do my job, I try to communicate that. It's okay to say, "You know, I think this approach is beneficial and healthy and I'm not going to change it." Other times you say, "Gosh! You're right. I can do that better."

Musicians in general tend to dislike confrontation or criticism, so I usually do ask those with concerns to be patient with me. I really am a nice guy. And I want to do what's right.
________
Okay...that's it for Skribit Friday. Remember...if you've got a question or topic you'd like us to hit on the blog, share it! It keeps me from running out of ideas!

Baptism At Bethel!

Baptism at Bethel 9/7/08 from bethel bible on Vimeo.

CONFESSIONAL!

I normally post these over at worshipnotes, but I figured I'd throw this one on the Todd Blog because it was my first day!

The Bethel Story, Part III

Back in Tyler, Bethel's pastor went to work.

Pretty soon, he called back with a plan. We were scheduled to head up on a Monday afternoon to take in a few meetings. First, I met with Elizabeth, an amazing woman who has given so much time and energy to leading the praise team in the absence of a leader. I sat down with her, got some info on the team, asked some questions, then met with the Pastor, Ross, again.

A couple of hours later, Ross and his wife, Leslie, picked up Kristen and I at the hotel and we headed out to a dinner with the Elders of the church. It was a great time...very relaxed and fun. We loved meeting the elders and their wives. (And they were great to us - just four days prior, Kristen had been released from the hospital after her pancreatitus [sp?] and gallstone episode. They were very considerate of her and had obviously kept up with her recovery!)

The night was great. Kristen and I led a few songs, then gave our testimonies. After that, we fielded some questions and got to ask a few questions of our own. The meal and the q & a was more fun that I ever expected!

We got back to our hotel around 10:30, but I was too jazzed to go to bed. (I really should have, though, because Ross had scheduled me for a follow-up meeting with some of the Elders at 6am. Yeah. You read that correct. 6:00 AM.) Let me be clear: I can get up early. I can. I promise. But I don't like to...

The breakfast meeting was good. Some of the questions got a bit more interesting...nothing bad, just a little more in-depth. After that meeting, I headed to the church to look over some budget stuff then off to meet the pastoral staff at a coffee shop.

And then, there was lunch!

We met with the whole staff of the church for some fantastic Bruno's pizza and lots of fellowship! We enjoyed meeting everybody and were impressed by their sincerity and friendliness. We walked away even more convinced that God was preparing the way for us to be a part of this family.

The Bethel Story...Intermission

I've had a few folks who have asked me how we "knew" that Bethel was the place for us.

That's a great question...if you've ever served in a church or if you even been close to a minister, you probably know that leaving a church to take a new place is a pretty weird thing.

I believe God "speaks" in many ways, but for us and for this particular move, here's what led us to accept this position:

PERSONAL

• This is what grabbed us first and foremost...every person we met at Bethel seemed like a long lost friend. This may not seem overly spiritual, but from the very start and on the surface, Kristen and I both felt like we were meeting people that we would enjoy serving alongside.
• Bethel's mission was in-line with what I consider our family's ministry philosophy. I group that in the "personal" category because Bethel's mission was voiced by many different folks from many different walks of life. That encouraged us...we knew immediately that the leadership of the church had worked hard to instill in the congregants and understanding of the driving force for the church's existence.
• It should also be stated that the previous two factors were definitely present at First Methodist, too. Sure, Bethel's a little bit different from FUMC, but these same two ideas - friendliness and mission - reminded us of what we liked about First Methodist from our very first Sunday.

PEACE

• We left our initial visits very encouraged by what we had seen and heard. But, we wanted to be careful and spend time praying about our decision. We had lots of reservations, concerns, questions, etc., about leaving FUMC and Lufkin. As most of you know our parents and extended family live in Lufkin, so we were fully expecting this to be a tortured decision. And then...it wasn't. Kristen and I both instantly felt God's assurance that this move was right. It's as if we knew were supposed to be upset/scared/stressed, but God was giving us tons of peace. It was amazing.
• Through prayer, I also had a very real sense of peace regarding the future of FUMC. If you've read some of the "Bethel story" already, you know that Chris (from my team) knew what was up. God began to work ideas and plans in my heart and mind regarding Chris and the other members of my Sunday morning team

PARTICULARS

• As ministry goes, this new church had needs that fit right in my skill set. I have learned a ton of stuff at FUMC, especially in trying new things that I had no experience doing! It's been a great learning experience and I feel confident in taking those abilities to Tyler.
  
• While Tyler is a new town and a bigger place, it's still so close to family, which is important to us.
• A lot of folks have asked if I'll continue playing "gigs." I'm not sure. I enjoy heading out to lead worship as it provides a whole new set of challenges, approaches and rewards. In my time at FUMC, I tried to limit my travel dates so that I'd be able to serve on Sundays. In a new place, I'm sure I'm going to be very busy getting settled in and I have a lot of ideas about stuff to try at Bethel...I'm guessing that may push the gigging out of the picture for at least a little while.
• I'm excited to begin writing songs within a new church...I really enjoy getting to know the people and trying to write songs that capture where we are as a church.

Next time, we'll continue the actual story of Bethel...parts 3 and 4 get GOOD!

The Bethel Story, Part II

A few days after talking to Bethel's pastor, I was scheduled to preach in the Sunday morning contemporary service. That Sunday morning, I play acoustic in the band while someone else leads, and then I preached.

At some point during worship, I noticed two women out in the crowd. Their faces weren't familiar, but that's not all that strange. Our service at FUMC tends to bring a lot of guests, so I didn't think much of it.

But then, as I'm preaching, I noticed they were very intent on the sermon. My first thought was, "Wow! I am nailing this sermon," but then, knowing my sermon skills, realized that something was different about these two new faces.

After the sermon, our associate pastor stood and served communion. I noticed the two ladies took communion and were still very obviously watching what was happening on stage, pointing, assessing what was going on.

As soon as the service was over, I was on stage, packing up my gear, when my keyboard player, David, hands me a phone.

(I realize this sound very cool and rock and roll...as if members of my entourage regularly hand me phones at various times. The truth is that Kristen had our phone with her.)

I answer the phone and it's Chris, upstairs in the sound booth.

"That's Elizabeth from Bethel," he says. "And she's got the pastor's wife with her. They're headed up to the stage right now."

I hang up and turn around to see Elizabeth and Leslie Strader standing there.

After a few introductions, Kristen and I started asking a few things about Bethel. It was a little awkward...I didn't really know how conversations like that are supposed to go, but both Elizabeth and Leslie were so normal and down-to-earth that we were immediately at ease.

We found out some info on the church, thanked them for coming and then went on our way.

Later that night, I email Ross my resume and mention meeting Elizabeth and Leslie.

He emailed me back and we planned to talk on the phone sometime on Monday.

Over the next week, Ross and I talked on the phone a good bit. Again, the calls were mostly finding out about the church and the Wrights. I immediately liked Ross - seemed like a genuine guy trying to lead a church in way that honors God.

We began making plans for Krist and I to visit Bethel one day - just to check it out. Both FUMC and Bethel had pretty busy weeks ahead, but we finally nailed down a Friday to visit.

We packed up the kids and headed to the church.

We met with Ross, asked him about 10,000 questions, then went to lunch with the whole Strader family. (He took us to Double Dave's. That's a God-thing. How else could Ross know I have a serious crush on Double Dave's?)

After lunch, we headed over to the Straders' house. The kids played and we sat around for a little bit just getting to know each other.

As we left, Ross followed me out to the car and said,

"Pray about it. Call us if you're interested."

So we prayed. We felt a sense of God's peace and provision. A few days later, I let Ross know that we were definitely interested.

The Bethel Story, Part I

Had a couple of Skribit suggestions last week regarding my new position as worship pastor at Bethel Bible Church in Tyler. This may get a bit lengthy, but figured I'd give you the whole scoop!

Alright...I made my official announcement to the church yesterday. The Methodist church handles these things a bit differently than most, in that they typically will mail a letter to the congregation. This does a couple of things - allows the church leadership to be the primary source for info, communicates encouragement and joy for the staff member leaving, and gives a tentative schedule for a staff member's departure.

It works pretty well, and it really helped me with the whole "shocking" aspect of dropping it on folks during a Sunday morning service. (I had actually planned to leak it to the church, but as those things go, tons of people already knew it was a possibility. How does that church grapevine thing work, by the way?)

Back in March, Chris called me. Chris works for a guy named Dave. Dave is married to gal named Elizabeth. For the past year, Elizabeth has been managing the worship team at Bethel, where she and Dave are faithful members.

Through Chris, Elizabeth was following the worship-related stuff on the blog. When "All The Freed" was done, Chris gave her a CD. Then in March, Chris calls me and it happens something like this:

CHRIS: "Can Bethel call you?"

ME: "Huh?

CHRIS: "They love the CD. They want to call you."

ME: "They know there are professional players on the record, right. They realize I'm not going to sound like that, right?"

CHRIS: "Yeah....can they call you?"

So, I say yes. I'm tell Chris to give my number to the senior pastor, a guy named Ross Strader.

So, Ross calls me. But never gets me. At least I don't remember talking to him. I hate to use the phrase "phone tag," but there's no denying it - we played phone tag and never really got in touch with one another.

I decided to leave it alone. I gave up on calling him. And he kinda' did the same.

This is the part where you fast forward a couple of months...to May 30th.

It's Friday, May 30th. My anniversary. At about 10 that morning, Kristen comes rushing into the bedroom, where I am gasping, sweating and pushing my body to the ultimate limit on my treadmill. Seriously, gang...like 6.6 on the speed. That...is...cruisin'.

She's got the phone covered with her hand and she's mouthing...

"Ross Strader. It's Ross Strader!"

Since I couldn't speak and pant at the same time, I communicated to Kristen through the skillfull use of hand signals something like this:

"Can't. Talk. Need. Air. Tell. Call. Back."

I also might have thrown in something like "call 911-I can't breathe," but I'm not sure.

I get off the treadmill eventually and call Ross back. We talk for about 10 minutes about Bethel, my ministry, whether or not I'm "looking" for a new place, that whole deal. I tell Ross that I'm not out there pursuing a new job, but that I would send him a resume.

He says great, and we hang up.