Daren Sirbough

Last Friday we had our annual Church Youth Ministry fundraiser event “Reach Gala Night” and we needed to pull together a musical item to represent the Young Adults of our Church. As I was thinking of a song to do a few weeks before the event, I had to consider what it is that young adults are and what they love. This is what I came up with

• High thinking capacity
• Looking to be original and fresh
• Looking to challenge the status quo personally and socially
• Not afraid to question the status quo personally and socially

We needed something which involved these elements with the main focus of Fun, Creative, Fresh and Challenging. We chose the song “Tightrope” by Janelle Monae. This is how it came out.

It’s amazing to think that a Volunteer Music Team can pull that off! Here are some of the reasons why I believe it succeeded.

• It was fun: Sounds simple but when your project is boring, people don’t want to commit, especially young adults. Plain and simple
• It released their passion: When the task lines up with a persons passion and gifting, the individual wants to improve, rise up and succeed. They will push themselves. You won’t need to do much.
• We prepared: The charts were sent out early and there was an expectation for each individual to bring it!
• We encouraged each other: No attitudes. No drama queens. No criticisms of each other. It’s not to say I didn’t correct mistakes but most of the time we just ran with it and it usually fixed itself. Encouragement brought the best out of each individual. If others feel encouraged and accepted, they in turn will encourage others in their own way.
• This became ministry: This project brought us closer as a team and as friends. As it brought out creativity, it brought out people’s personalities. As people opened up, there was an environment which allowed the personality to be accepted. It became a really empowering environment to be in. It released people to be themselves and to help make the song great. It made the music and the stage an electrifying place to be. I believe that is what ministry is all about.

I learned that people will work hard and succeed at difficult tasks if you believe in them, nurture them, care for them and work alongside them to succeed. I learned a lot because I needed to also work hard! People see right through you and know whether you actually care. You can’t fake that stuff. If you’re going to do anything significant, I believe the first thing you must have is the ability to care about others. If you have that, then I believe you can accomplish anything challenging!