Page 9 - CBFK SUMMER Newsletter 2020 flip

by Dr. Kevin B. James,
Sr. Executive Minister of Music St. Stephen Baptist Church
I will never forget the day, the fourth Sunday of December 1986. It was my first day on the job as minister of music at St. Stephen Baptist Church. I was the church’s first full-time employee.
Back then worship was held in the “chap- el” which seated maybe 250; our choir stand held 39 seats.
An old-fashioned studio microphone hung above the front row seats, and the pulpit was right there to the left of us. Life was simple then, we had only one service on Sunday (11:30AM) and Wednesday night bible study.
It is hard to believe that was 35 years ago. Since then our church has grown ex- ponentially: six weekend services, three mid-week services and three campuses in two states. We also have a downtown high-rise satellite church for financially and physically, challenged individuals.
Because we believe in the our Church’s mission and man- date which is to EXALT God in worship, Our music min- istry boasts: four adult choirs, one youth choir, one young adult choir, three men’s choirs, three children’s choirs, one 100+ voice senior choir (ages 60-96), one handbell choir, one orchestra, four praise teams and three, four-piece bands to accompany the singers.
In addition to all of the weekly worship services, there is also no less than four choir concerts per year, from celebrating our se- niors in February, our Pastor’s birthday in July, to Thanksgiv- ing, and Christmas concerts to round out the year.
Wow, What a robust worship agenda! Then came Covid-19. We got the order back in March, that in-person worship ser- vices would no longer be possible. The decision was made to shift our ministry to solely online to help stop the spread of the deadly virus.
We suspended all choir, praise team, instrumental ensem- ble rehearsals, and asked our full-time worship leaders to be the praise team for our online worship service. They stepped
up to the plate, and in compliance CDC guidelines (masks and social distancing) they lead our congregation in worship every Sunday at 9:30am and everyWednesday at 7:00pm.
We went back to doing church like we did in 86’.
Though we were forced to drop several services, this move tru- ly allowed us to expand our reach. Along with live streaming our Sunday andWednesday services, we stream Sunday school classes, youth lessons, ministry talk programs and our pastor, Dr. Kevin Cosby does a daily devotional. Our digital platforms report nearly 35-thousand views per week!
We are still seeking ways to keep our people engaged. For ex- ample, every week I send the choir a weekly devotional, that I designed specifically for them, along with links to vocal warm- ups andYouTube clips of songs they must learn for service.
Charles Wesley’s Hymn, A Charge to Keep I Have, reminds us:
To Serve the present age,
My calling to fulfill:
Oh, may it all my pow’rs engage To do my master’s will!
What I’m Learning About
Resiliency
During Our Pandemic