My Story - Advice would be Appreciated

[nuts4cmptrs]

Then we become spiritual parents, pouring ourselves into other lives. Even in the tech world, this applies. I cannot keep my skills to myself. I must give them away, invest others with them. I won't be here forever (Thank you Lord!)

I am in Virginia too, sis. I serve at Western Branch Community Church in Chesapeake. Visit us on the web at wbcc.net.

Thank you very much for the encouragement! Amen to sharing our skills with others - I am so fortunate to have an educational job that I can share my technical skills with teachers and working with their students, and I want to continue to do that in my service to the Lord, wherever He leads me. That is something that I continue to pray about.

I checked out your website!

[MediaGuy]

Hey... you can't help your congregation? Help all of us! help the world! If you ache to express your worship in media, but cannot do it for your church, take your Sunday morning services and create the media for them on your own - and post them here! or on youtube, or facebook, etc. Don't let your own worship of God, in the way He wired you to do so, be stifled by people. Maybe it's not right for your church, but it is for you. I serve passionately at my church, but continually find my own usage of media doesn't quite match up to the church's plans. ...but no matter, I serve my church as I can, but also reach outside my church, too.

Just because you can't use your gifts in your church like you think you should - it doesn't mean you aren't called to that church, or that you can't use your gifts outside the church.

If you're being fed by the pastor and small groups, etc., before you make any decision - to leave the church, specifically - I encourage you to take a few steps back and see if God has another purpose for you being there, completely unrelated to media. It could have been that your purpose in that church is for your benefit - to grow and develop characteristics no one really ever wants to develop - like patience, humbleness, etc.

Find your joy in being with Him, regardless of how you serve Him.

[nuts4cmptrs]

If you ache to express your worship in media, but cannot do it for your church, take your Sunday morning services and create the media for them on your own - and post them here! or on youtube, or facebook, etc. Don't let your own worship of God, in the way He wired you to do so, be stifled by people. Maybe it's not right for your church, but it is for you.

I encourage you to take a few steps back and see if God has another purpose for you being there, completely unrelated to media.

I am so appreciative of the discussion concerning my original post. I do share here on ChurchMedia and on Flickr Shared Worship Graphics group. Actually my daughter said the same thing to me. In this area I will begin to devote more images to both sites. I enjoy this site and everything it offers. I also appreciated your encouragement about taking a good look at if there is another purpose and you have basically affirmed why I am making the decision to leave. I did participate in a major church planning over the summer and suggested some ways to make our seasons and missions more meaningful. Unfortunately, the church has limited volunteerism - mainly for the issue that I mentioned in my first post asking advice - things stay within a small group of members who for whatever reason seem to stay with what they know best.

This conversation and discussion has been good for me in that I have been able to examine and look at all the areas that I have served in. Thank you.

[dantheman2]

nuts4cmptrs - - I am just coming out of a church relationship of 8 years with similar situations as yours. The thing you need to be concerned with in your church is why are all the old members leaving? You should go ask some of them why they left. God may reveal something to you about the leadership of your church. This is what happened in my case. Read Ephesians 4:11-16. Read the first part about teachers and leaders of your church. Are they teaching people, maturing people? Are people leaving because they are immature and not receiving God's word? Maybe just in your case, this grudge you have for the other leaders is causing you to stumble. Members who keep doing the same old may be blind to the reasons people are leaving, dismissing it as they are immature. Maybe they ARE immature, but why is that? Maybe the leaders are not teaching to maturity. They are too set in their ways. They may only care about something else. Are people in the church loving you? Are you loving them back? This is what's important, not the quality of the slides or the music. Sure, the musicians are to be skillful, etc., but they as leaders need to be teaching, loving, and encouraging you. If they are not, you have to move on. Your grudge will continue to keep holding back your spiritual growth. Don't leave if your only reason is that the slides aren't the best they can be. That reason sounds pretty shallow. On the other hand, what caused you to think in this shallow state? Lack of love and teaching possibly. Find a church body you fit in and do it now. Don't look back. God's church is much bigger than your little church. Seek out the members who have left, consider the source and what they are saying.

Dan

[nuts4cmptrs]

Thank you for your advice. You have made some very valid points. I have to tell you that they are not "loving" back. My husband is on the music team and I have not gone back there in several weeks (probably more than 2 months at this point). Not one person has called or emailed me to see how I am. When I did not see some of the members who I knew as an active member, I called or emailed - basically just checked on them. For some reason, this church has lost something. It's good for me to search my personal feelings also. But I am sure as of now, that I need to move on. A good friend and colleague passed away 2 weeks ago with leukemia. She was 36 year old mom with 2 elementary aged children. She was my teaching partner at work and we collaborated on many lessons. She was also a Christian, active in her church, and had a wonderful dry sense of humor that brought smiles to anyone in conversation with her. During the time she was ill, through all the ups and downs of good news and not so great news, the love, outpouring of prayers, and support left me speechless. That is what a church family is about - in good times and bad. She belonged to a local church - not the church that I belong to currently. That is what I long for, a supportive, loving, church family. The last 2 weeks was finally a time when I finally could verbalize what I have been feeling and missed for so long. I will miss my friend dearly. As far as the media graphics, yes, I strive to give God my best, but even in my day job as an ITRT, technology is what it is, so that is not an issue, when it is not totally the way it should be. I am more critical of myself because I want to give my best when I work for the Lord and that includes my day time job of teaching. I am getting the impression that in the church I am with now, there is a change of how the worship is looked at, and it has reverted to media being a distraction instead of an enrichment in the total experience (overall experience) of connecting with people - so they want to really disconnect it from the service experience. I can't figure that one out. This is a recent change, I would say in the last 9 months or so, I have seen it go this way. As I look at the wonderful images on this site that would be value added to enrich any service and connect with people, I have to wonder why anyone would not want to use it.