KEYS
PATIENCE | Ed Kerr
Bruce Adolph , the editor of Worship Musician magazine , has been a professional colleague and friend for many years . He ’ s given me so many opportunities to coach and encourage worship musicians . He ’ s inspired me as I ’ ve watched him live a life of faith through some challenging seasons . The other day I texted Bruce about something and asked him to pray for me . His response surprised me .
He texted me his prayer .
I thought his choice of words was significant for me . He asked God to give me patience . He didn ’ t ask for faith or grace or peace . Patience . I ’ ve been letting that prayer marinate in my heart for several days now . Bruce ’ s words mattered for me , and in this article I want to encourage you with the importance of patience .
I ’ ve been a songwriter for decades . Many of my songs have been recorded by well-inown worship leaders and sung in churches around the world . Though it ’ s been a while since one of my songs was released in this way , I ’ ve still been writing worship songs for my home church . I ’ ve been working on recordings of some of my favorite songs . Like any of you who are songwriters , we have amazing opportunities to let people around the world hear our songs online . By the time you read this article I ’ ll have released “ What A Love ”, a communion song I wrote with my friend Sheila Rabe . I love what the song says and am excited to share it with the church worldwide .
I could ’ ve released the song months ago . Why didn ’ t I ? Because I kept comparing the arrangement I ’ d created to worship productions from major artists . I kept making slight changes to one of the tracks in my arrangement or adding more tracks . A friend who ’ s a fantastic guitarist heard my track and sent me some
guitar parts for me to consider . More changes . I hired an engineer to mix and master the song for me . I listened to the mix and had him make a number of changes in a second mix .
And I still didn ’ t release it . Here ’ s where the patience thing comes in . If I ’ m being patient I ’ m not demanding that a certain outcome happen with the song . If I ’ m being patient I don ’ t let myself be disappointed if results don ’ t happen as quickly or substantially as I ’ d hoped .
I think you and I as keyboard players in modern worship have lots of opportunities to be patient with ourselves .
• We can be patient if we ’ re finding that the computer we use for our musical contributions to our worship team isn ’ t able to host the latest software for creating great keyboard sounds .
• We can be patient if our keyboard we ’ re using is outdated and only has a few sounds usable on our teams .
• We can be patient if our only keyboard choice is an acoustic piano since neither the church or yourself can afford a modern keyboard .
• We can be patient with ourselves if implementing Mainstage or other software into our worship has proven more challenging than we ’ d expected .
• We can be patient with ourselves if playing solidly in time with a click track is just not working for you or your team yet .
• We can be patient with ourselves if our team is smaller than what we see on worship videos or if we meet in a sanctuary that doesn ’ t have any modern lights or haze or multiple screens .
I let my list get long here in the chance that you might see yourself in one of these points . There ’ s an important addition I ’ d like to offer , too , that sometimes we need to be patient with ourselves when we ’ re weary of the challenges involved in being involved in ministry .
• Be patient with yourself when all you can think about after the service is how you messed up an important keyboard line or couldn ’ t find the sound you needed when you needed it .
• Be patient with yourselves if the challenges you ’ re working through in your life are making it hard for you to “ feel ” the truths that your songs proclaim .
The most beautiful reality in all of this is that God is patient with us . Every day . If you find that you ’ re beating yourself up over a musical challenge I listed above or a personal or relational challenge , take a deep breath . Remember the revelation of God ’ s love that first brought you into His family . Remember those special moments that you ’ ve experienced so many times as you and your worship team made music together . Remember that whether all of your MIDI gear works perfectly or you play a Tuba sound instead of a warm pad sound you are loved with an everlasting love by the Living God .
Remember . We use that word a lot in moments when we ’ re sharing communion together . It ’ s an important concept I developed in “ What A Love ”. You can listen to it by clicking on the link here . Next time you need patience in any situation you face , remember Jesus was broken for you , poured out for you , and that He rose for you .
Ed Kerr Ed Kerr lives in Seattle with his family . He serves as worship arts director at First Free Methodist Church , teaches keyboards in Paul Baloche ’ s leadworship workshops and is a clinician with Yamaha ’ s House of Worship . He also manages the Yamaha Worship Facebook group and invites you to join the group . www . KerrTunes . com