Welcome To City Church Band!!!
We are so thankful for the opportunity to serve you and to assist in helping you serve through music. We cannot express to you just how honored we are that you would partner with us as a band member at City Church. Let me take a moment to outline the expectations for all music ministry volunteers. We set these prayerfully, trusting they will provide us with a professional atmosphere that will both bless you and bring about excellence in our musical worship. God is worthy of our very best and that’s the mindset we carry into any music we serve our church with. These are standards that we all hold ourselves to. Upon accepting your position with the band, you are understanding that a higher level of leadership is being required of you.
“7 For an overseer, as God's steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain, 8 but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined.” 1 Titus 7-8. We must live our lives in a manner that is worthy of our calling. We cannot claim to love God from a platform and live a contradictory lifestyle or one that would call our actions into question. This extends to our family, friends, romantic relationships and especially what we post on social media.
You will also receive a band culture booklet that will further describe and explain our responsibility and charge as a band member. If you do not receive one on your first scheduled event, please make sure to ask any music ministry leader for it.
In short form, as a City Church Musician, we expect you to be:
Punctual. Most of our sound check times are hard-start. For example, if the sound check time is 7:00am, it means that, the you are 100% set and ready to play/sing at 7:00am. So, if you arrive at 7:00am, you're late. So far we've built a culture of being a little early to get warmed up and enjoy some fellowship. Let's keep that going! As your band director, I will do my best to lead you in this area by arriving early to serve you.
Prepared. Because of the value we place on excellence, we require that you be fully prepared for rehearsals and services. This means that you must completely learn parts for the songs prior to rehearsal. We use rehearsal as a time to tighten up each part and exercise creativity. If you aren't prepared, you hold back the entire team from being able to honor God and serve the church. Heavy, isn’t it!? lol! We completely understand that everyone has different skill sets, so if you don't have the music that you need to be prepped properly, please inform us so that we can get you what you need. We utilize Planning Center to ensure that you have mp3s and charts, weeks in advance. We use an in-ear monitor system. You are welcome to purchase or bring your own in-ears. We recommend any headphones with dual drivers (or more) and sound isolation. We currently have a limited number of Shure SE215 in ears that you are able to use when available. We also have an endorsement with Alclair Audio that provides a 10% discount on all website pricing should you ever want custom molds.
Prayed Up. At City Church, you aren't just a musician. Hundreds of people in our services and through the internet are looking at you to lead them in worshipping God through music. You must be connected to the Lord through the week and on Sunday to be able to lead our people effectively. As ambassadors for the gospel on Sunday, our integrity off stage is just as important as it is on stage.
These 3 things are vital to our success and obedience to God's calling on our ministry. It is not limited to this but we feel these create the strong foundation on which to build our music ministry. It’s a heavy responsibility, but one that brings us tremendous joy! We get to play music that we love and it's called being a servant...crazy, right?
So, with that said, we will hold each of you accountable to the 3 things listed above and the band culture book, not just because it makes us better, but because we believe that this makes YOU better.
If we feel like you are falling down on any of the above expectations, we will give you grace, but you must understand that you may be dropped from the roster if you are often late, unprepared, or spiritually unhealthy. We are not trying to be legalistic but we cannot preach one thing on Sunday and live a life contradictory of our gospel values. We are simply aware of the high calling placed on us and want you to join us in it!
We know that you desire to become the best musician you can possibly be and we want that for you too. This isn't just about what you give to City Church, this is about what Jesus and City Church will build in you.
Thank you so much for your participation and your heart for God and the Church. This is just the beginning for us; the best is yet to come!
Psalm 20,
Todd and the City Church leadership