Big Apple Adventure Premier at LifeWay

Wow!!!

Oh how I wish you all could have heard and seen our kids as they premiered "The Big Apple Adventure" for over 800 people on Thursday night and again Friday night (to a different group of 800+) of last week. The audience was Children's pastors and VBS leaders and Children's workers from all over the USA. And they were a great audience!! They clapped and cheered and carried on - and all for good reason. Our kids were AWESOME!!!

Here are a few pictures for you.

We got there a little early Thursday night, so we had our picture made with Billy Graham.

The actors were wonderful and all knew their lines. (Well, Bro. Tim had his hidden - sorta - in a Bible and on a clip board)

Traci did a great job teaching the kids all of their really cool moves. And they were wonderful.

Here's "Tourist Tim"

Look in the middle of the back row and you'll see the world famous - or at least VBS famous - Jeff Slaughter. He's the one who writes the music each year and comes up with all the cool dance moves.

(Of course we don't call them dance moves because it freaks out some of my Baptist friends.)

I'll post more pictures tomorrow.

The Big Apple and Children's Choirs

Bro. Tim and I went to LifeWay today. Not the store in Clarksville, but the big whoop-dee-do headquarters in Nashville. Some of you older types probably remember it being called "The Sunday School Board."

Today was preview day of next year's VBS theme. There was fun music lead by the one and only Jeff Slaughter (who writes the music and creates the motions (dances) every year, some nice drama of the biblical characters the children will learn about and a preview of the videos that will be shown. The videos always have a great story line that ties in with the theme and ties all of the daily stories together.

Here's a picture of the backdrop of the Big Apple. I'm sure our ladies who make such fantastic sets for us will easily make this - or actually one even better! Hooray for Ramona and Misty!

I wanted to have my picture taken with Jeff Slaughter - the music guy. But when the preview deal was over he and another guy were on stage and were going to continue the live webcast with a Q&A time.

I wanted to stop them and tell them that I needed a picture and that thousands would see it on my blog and on FaceBook, (hahaha) but this sorta mean looking lady with a headset was pushing us on out the door since we weren't staying for the Q&A. (OK. She wasn't really mean looking, but it wouldn't sound the same if I said this nice lady gave us one of those "I know you want your picture made with Jeff but you are in the way" kind of looks.) So we headed on out the door.

Here's a short clip of Jeff leading one of the songs.

Speaking of the songs from The Big Apple Adventure. (Here's where the Children's Choir part comes in.) We've been asked to premier the VBS musical next January AT LifeWay! How awesome is that?

With our new Fall schedule of doing new things on Sundays we have adjusted our music schedule and now Children's Choirs (for the Fall) will be on Tuesday afternoons.

Let me say that again in a bigger font.

This Fall

Children's Choir (grades 1-5)

 will be on

Tuesdays from 4:30-5:30

beginning August 24.

I will be leading the choir and Bro. Tim and some others will be helping me. If you want to help, give me a call or send an e-mail. We'll meet in the choir room. The side door will be open. I'll have a big sign there so you'll see where it is. We'll have a blast!

A Dynamic Week

Oooooo, I have a crazy week this week. You probably do too. I think that's just the way life is now. Right now I'm getting ready to go to Grace Baptist Church in Tullahoma for a one night revival. I'm also making some arrangements and double checking on several things for the Chorale to sing this Friday night at the Schermerhorn Symphony Hall in Nashville. LifeWay is having a HUGE celebration with many famous people (even more famous than me - ha ha ha) as they introduce and celebrate their new Baptist Hymnal. I'm also "staging" my house so that while I am on mission to Rio my realtor can show it and get a bidding war going between a few families so I can sell it for even more - (dream on.....)

But the dynamics I want to talk about are the choir's! Wow! We have had several weeks lately where your dynamics have been incredible. The softs have been very nice and the louds and been good and powerful and not over-sung.

There's an old musician's joke - (the joke is old, not the musician writing out the joke). The directors says, "let's really emphasize the dynamics here" (or something like that) and then some guy yells from the back, "Dynamics? We're playing as loud as we can!"

So, thank you for your sensitivity and for watching and for singing beautiful dynamics.

See you Wednesday.

I still have Fine Arts Camp pictures to post. Perhaps tomorrow...

A Fun Concert

Cheryl had to work this morning. You may already know that she is one of the recruiters at the corporate offices of LifeWay. She had to hire checkers and courtesy clerks for the Southern Baptist Convention and today she had to make sure they showed up and that they could clock in and know how to run a cash register or put a book in a LifeWay bag and to say, "thank you, come again" or something like that. Actually, other people do the training. She just makes sure the managers have the people they need.

While she was working I went to a concert at the Artsgarden in the Circle Centre Mall, downtown, Indianapolis. It's a cool mall and a cool "art" place. There are several hotels and a mall and other things all connected with "sky walks" over the streets. The Artsgarden is above the street. This is a picture of it from below.

The concert was by the "Athenaeum Pops Orchestra" http://www.athenaeumorchestra.org/ under the direction of Lee Jones. It was very good. It was a Leroy Anderson Centennial Concert.

You would probably recognize some of the music they played - like "Syncopated Clock" and "Typewriter".