Goals for 2009

I don't like resolutions. They seem to me to be a set-up for failure. But I am goal-oriented, and so I do like setting goals. So here are some goals for 2009. Some are my personal goals, and some are part of larger ministries that I participate in. But it's helpful for me to get them out there, both from a process aspect and from an accountability aspect. So - in no particular order:

• Worship Team - focus on quality more than quantity. 2008 was a huge growth year for us, not only in skill levels but in the depth of our catalog. But it's possible we've gotten ahead of ourselves a bit. I'm not sure how many new songs we've introduced this year, but it's probably in the 15-20 range. That's on top of the 15 or so new songs for the Send Judah First choir. So this year, Josh shared his vision to simplify things. At first I was a little put off, but the more I think about it, the more it makes sense. So we're going to cut our catalog of about 80 active songs down to a more manageable 50 or so, and hold off introducing new music for a while. We want to focus on getting better, and having the congregation be more of a participant. And that comes with familiarity.



• Worship CD. We go into the studio next week to start recording. This is going to be a big focus for us in the next month or two, but it kind of goes back to point #1: excellence. If we're going to be recording (and hopefully this will just be the first) we need to hunker down and get better. Which leads to...



• Getting better. I need to spend more time practicing and developing new skills. I play pretty much by ear right now, although I do have some music theory under my belt. What I do know is mostly self-taught. I want to develop a better understanding of music theory -modes, harmonies, melodies. I also need to develop my ear-training some. I have a hard time sometimes explaining to people what I want or think, because music is largely intuitive to me. I need to develop the language better. (This is why it's hard for me to teach music; I can't understand that people don't hear or feel what I do.) I don't know what kind of goals to set here; perhaps some commenters could offer suggestions.



• Expanding the Children's Ministries. KidzPort and GLCCKidz are going great, especially KidzPort. It has already grown beyond expectations in a few months, but that's not enough. I really want the Children's Network to be a focal point of life at Gospel Light, to be something that really draws people in. It already has - the network is growing all the time, and already there are parents that children have brought in. But I want more; God wants more. I want to have a revival weekend this year just for children, and I want to have at least two KidzTrek events. (One is scheduled for February!)



• Expand our web presence. The GLCC website has been getting more hits than ever, and we've been adding content to it on a regular basis. But while it has been a great took for seekers, it still lacks for members. We need to develop better content that will be of more use to our members, and make it more of a resource. Come to think of it, I'd like to overhaul the whole thing.

• Do more home ministry. This one should be almost intuitive, but often the home takes a hit when time falls short. I want to focus more on spending time with family, doing things together and worshipping together. We keep talking about doing a family night - I think we really need to just do it.

• Get that twelve-string. OK, this is more G.A.S. than goal, but it's still something I want to do. I think it will add dimension to certain songs.

• Raise up another guitar player. I think that adding a second guitar will add a lot of dynamic to our sound, and give more flexibility in terms of parts and styles.

• Meet some of the folks whose thoughts I read every day. I spent a while on the phone with Billy last year, helping him through some stuff (I hope). I live less than two hours from Joel and really want to see what he's doing in that cool church of his. I'm hoping Fred somehow does pull off a TWC conference this year, and I'll meet Chris and Russ and Brent and Johnny and Windbag. I plan on being in Boston looking at colleges for Shannon soon - maybe Mandy and Drew will be nearby. And of course, everyone is invited, whenever.

So that's some of it. I suppose there's more, but there's 360 more days to blog about it this year.