Passing it Forward

President’s Blog:  Pass it Forward

As we come upon a season of graduations I have been reminded once again of our sacred responsibility as professionals, especially in the area of worship and arts in the church, to serve as mentors for the next generation of worship artists in our midst.

I’ve had the great opportunity this year to serve as a co-mentor, along with my colleague, The Rev. Marcus Womack, in serving as a mentor for Collin Echols-Richter. Collin is finishing his senior year of high school and part of his senior year program involved selecting a field in which he wishes to study and serving as an intern in that field during his senior year. For his internship Collin selected to study Worship Design and Worship Leadership. Over the course of the school year we covered many of areas of concern in the field, all of which culminated in Collin designing and leading a worship service, which included an original song he wrote specifically for congregational singing!

God is going to do some amazing things through Collin’s future ministry. Perhaps even more important, God is already doing some amazing work through Collin’s ministry right now.

I recently read an interview with ?uestlove, the drummer for The Roots (who also serve as the house band for The Tonight Show) who spoke at great length about the need for artists to mentor those who are coming up. I couldn’t agree more! I would not be a worship artist today if it weren’t for the many mentors I had through the years, several of which I still call on today!

I’m sure your experience has been similar.  I wonder, what would the future of the church look like, really, what would the future of the world look like if each member of The Fellowship took the time to mentor, to pass on, the craft that we have worked so hard to perfect in our own lives? How could we create opportunities for younger folks to lead? What could we learn from those who are just entering the way of life that many of us have known for so long? Might even the most jaded among us be energized and refreshed in our own calling?

How will you pass it forward?