This past week we held a 4-day worship music training school called BandCamp (I couldn’t think of a better name) at my church. Intentionally keeping it small in number to give more attention to each student, we had 14 young people ages 12-17 join us for training in acoustic guitar, bass, electric guitar, keyboards/piano, and voice. In addition to music lessons, we had daily seminars, prayer, food (of course), and our students got to see the workings of our mid-week service. Big thanks to my team of Randy Martins, Quinton Brogan, and Sarah Warner who helped teach the classes and coordinate each day’s events. So good to have people around we can entrust our youth to.

BandCamp was an idea I’d been kicking around for a few months. The way things run at our church, special projects for worship are always my initiative. As is with recordings, conferences, special worship nights, no one forced me to launch BandCamp, and I was tired and honestly looking forward to a summer of just developing our current team and running our services. The past two summers have been pretty crazy for me…last year we did a live recording and the year before I ran an internship. Throw in organizing and launching the Outloud worship conference this past May, I was pretty spent! After spending weeks in the valley of indecision over BandCamp, someone encouraged me not to let go of the idea, and I’m really glad I didn’t. Our goal was to plant seeds, and though I may never personally see the fruit of everything sown this week, I guess that’s what legacy, ministry, and church is about.

I had such a good time with these young people! It was a reminder of Matthew 19 and the innocence we should have towards Jesus and in worship and worship ministry. It helped me continue keeping things in the right perspective. We had some huge laughs (5 electric players simultaneously roaring notes out of nowhere, random bass notes shaking everyone in their seats, people drooling on their guitars because they were concentrating so hard) and it was great to see how quickly our students learned. I wouldn’t be surprised if some of these kids got involved in worship ministry down the road. I was also glad to see some of my team members in action. Parents, if your child needs lessons in guitar, piano, or voice, don’t hesitate to call these guys! They are trustworthy, talented, and have hearts of gold. Email me at mikekimmusic@gmail.com and I’ll put you in touch with them if you’re interested.

Oh, and I will never ever forget our rendition of Our God on the last day. Ever. =)