Lessons Learned from a Bar Gig

I'm in a band called Vanakkam, which had the chance to be part of a team of people who went to India last March. We played several concerts in the Tamil Nadu region of India. It was a fantastic experience for us all.



This past Friday, We had the opportunity to partner with Dan Blacketor and The Rhema Project. We were part of a concert at a bar called Legend's on the campus of Notre Dame. It was a fundraiser which featured the band "The Ricki Lake Effect" (great guys!) while Vanakkam was the warm up act.  On Saturday/Sunday, we then served at Granger Community Church, helping lead worship for all four services.

I think we learned a few lessons on the way.

1. First, we found that the art we performed had both missional elements and attractional elements in it. At the bar, we were literally going to the people. We made some cool connections with the Ricki Lake guys and others who were there. At the same time, it was attractional. We helped people gather for a great cause and later in the weekend to worship God in church. This is the essence of what we'll be talking about at our conference this Fall called "The Genius of AND".

2. We have a deeper sense of community. Our band has played and practiced so many times recently that I think of ourselves more like a family than a band. I love these people now at a much deeper level than I did before we began this journey back in February as we prepared for India. The weekend was just a further deepening of that.

3. We are better musically. Our Friday night set was the tightest I think we've ever played. We now know what's coming up and how we can intuit what the others will do. For people who have played in bands a while, this is a normal thing. Since our teams have been rotating for years at church, this is new for us. (More news on this in a later post)

4. We feel USED. (in a good way!) It is amazing to think that God not only used us "over there", but continues to use us "over here" to bring glory to Himself. How this fully plays out has yet to be seen.

We're excited as to where God is taking us, not only as Vanakkam, but as an entire worship team at GCC. These lessons, I think, will continue to teach us more of the "how" and certainly the "why" of a vibrant arts ministry.

Location:Notre Dame, IN