Praise and worship is one of the most beautiful offerings we can give to God. Churches have set up special worship teams and choirs that practice many hours. The national and regional choirs of NAC India are no different; they spend many hours practicing and honing their skill – in singing or playing instruments. Since music is such an important part of the New Apostolic Church, District Apostle Helper David Devaraj organized an All India Music meeting on 9 March 2017 in Bengaluru.
Fine Tuning the Music Ministry
Apostle David, National Choir coordinator Rev. Abraham Mythri and Deacon Gedeon Ngondi met with Deacon Moses Mark and Priests Abhishek Jacob, Samson Bhaiwale and Jones Jonathan, all who had recently been appointed as National choir leaders. Before the meeting could start, they all spent time in prayer. Apostle David started the meeting with a review of the past year’s choir activities after which Priest Samson made his presentation. He started with plans for the Chief Apostle’s visit which was scheduled to happen in November 2017. He spoke in detail about the regional choir groups and all the new members that had recently joined the choir. He covered a number of other points as well – appointing a new leader for the regional group, travel allowances, regional level practices and plans for the New Apostolic Church’s 50th anniversary.
After Priest Samson finished, Priest Jones was ready with his presentation. He spoke about the importance of discipline, commitment and zeal in the choir. He then moved on to the strategies for the development of the regional choir and concluded with drawing up a list of do’s and don’ts for the choir.
After the first two presentations Apostle David gave his observations. He reminded them that because the choir was so rich in diversity, not everyone would respond positively or abide by the rules. The choir members needed to understand that the choir leader had been appointed by their Apostle so they needed to respect and submit to his authority. He shared that leadership was about developing leaders and not just showing leadership. Each of them needed to be committed and disciplined when doing any of God’s work – including coming for choir practice. They needed to create a new music policy while keeping in mind the old policies. The choir directors needed to add to their musical knowledge – learn notes and how to keep to timing.
Behind the Scenes – Administrative Duties and Functions
The group enjoyed a lunch break and then resumed the meeting – this time focusing on the administrative part of the choir. Budgets were discussed and leaders were asked to work within their allocated budget. Each of them had to maintain and submit reports after any future programmes or events. They all needed to learn how to manage events better and follow the protocol.
Each one pitched in ideas on how to improve choir relationships. It was suggested that a core committee and a few sub committees should be formed. The Hindi belt would be promoted more.
The last session was held by Shanthala and Robert who gave the group a few administrative guidelines to follow. Each leader needed to be more active and collect and share information about music programmes happening across India. They each needed to help in building up the network. The leaders were asked to identify people who could be a hub or contact point. They ended their presentation asking each one to promote the Musescore app and request choir members to use their Bluetooth speakers when listening to music.
NAC India @ Musescore
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The Songbook App @150/- (Save songs for offline use)
The All India music meeting finally came to an end and Apostle David closed the meeting with a prayer. It was a productive meeting and each choir leader felt happy with the points that were discussed and the action plan for the choir.