During this time of our Stewardship campaign, I have been reflecting on how the estimate of giving is so important.  Turning in a commitment card is extremely important because that is what we use to make our budget for the upcoming year.  Without the commitment cards, I cannot effectively plan all the expected and extra events within the Music Ministry.

To begin with, let me just say that I am a relatively thrifty person.  I don’t shop a bunch (besides groceries), but if I do, I shop at Target, WalMart, and Kohl’s.  I always use coupons and often hunt for the best deal.  I also like resale shops and thrift stores.  To me, as a thrifty person, running the music at Trinity is expensive.  It’s all the little things you don’t think about.

For example, when the choir sings a new piece, it costs around two dollars per copy for that anthem.  Multiply that by 45 copies and we’ve almost spent a hundred dollars.  Most of the anthems we own don’t have enough copies for the size of choir we have, so every year I try to add some extra copies to our standard, beloved anthems.  Within the music ministry, we purchase new sound equipment as well as repair the music and sound equipment to keep it in tip-top shape.  Our praise team wouldn’t be able to function without mics and speakers and a keyboard, etc. and a sound engineer to run it.  We obtain music for the youth praise band and the adult praise team by paying a license for a website that allows us the use of those songs.  Sometimes, I buy new mic stands, guitar stands, or music stands because those items eventually wear out.  For the children’s musical, we purchase music, an accompaniment CD, and the scripts along with sets and costumes.  Recently I purchased stand lights for the bell choir because their new location in the sanctuary makes it harder to see.

For the big celebrations of Easter, Christmas Cantata, and Christmas Eve, we bring in professional musicians to play for us because truly we need their level of musicianship, experience, education, and talent to make it as polished and enjoyable as possible.  Our Christmas Cantata, which is a huge event, does require a decent amount of the music budget because we purchase music at $9 per copy for 50 copies, instrumentalist fees, practice CDs for the choir members, and the conductor score and instrumentalist copies.

Notice I haven’t even touched upon salaries within the Music Ministry.  Without tithing to the church, we wouldn’t be able to pay the amazing staff I/we have that all give their jobs 110% and are truly irreplaceable.  We have Jordan running sound, Amanda leading Refuel, Vinny directing the children, and Marcin playing the piano and organ.  What would Trinity and our worship services be without them?

All of this couldn’t be possible without everyone contributing to the pot, so to speak.  And if you ask me for my future goals within the Music Ministry, I could give you a lengthy list because I want to expand our music ministry and make music more prominent for our congregation and our community.  In 2019, the Music Ministry will be presenting the entire masterwork of Vivaldi’s Gloria.  I would love to bring in a few professional musicians to enhance the performance; Marcin plays wonderfully but wouldn’t it sound beautiful with strings added?

It’s all up to us.  How much can we contribute to this church that we love? Where do we see Trinity in our future goals and how can we get it there? Are you willing to support our church to be the best church we can be?

And don’t forget, TURN IN YOUR COMMITMENT CARD!