Stillwaters Jazz Band

This is Justin Dickson from Jonathan's church... long time listener, first time caller. Anyway he asked me to write on this blog about the jazz band we have started. So here is the story.

About two months ago, our pastor hosted a sort of "family meeting" with we who attend the church regularly. He spoke on a few subjects, but the one that caught my attention was our role in the surrounding community. He asked questions to the effect of, "what are we really doing to help the people out there we don't know?" and "if we ceased to exist as a church next week, how much would the community of Salisbury really be affected?"

For some reason these questions stayed with me for the remainder of the day (I blame the Holy Spirit), and my wife and I discussed them afterward. I am an introvert by nature and the idea of helping out at a soup kitchen or something like that really bothers me... and yet I felt like I needed to do something to make a difference and do some ministry out there in Salisbury.

Now a few weeks earlier, we played a song or two in our church worship band with a sort of New Orleans jazz feel to them. We really enjoyed playing like that together and thought it would be fun to do it again some time. Personally, I have always loved playing traditional jazz and blues more than any other kind of music.

So eventually I had the idea to put together a small jazz band for the purposes of music ministry. The idea is not necessarily to preach from a soap box and ask for an alter call in the middle of every performance, but rather to show the Gospel to strangers by giving our time and talents to them for free. The hope is that people will turn their heads when they see a group of people give up their Saturday afternoon to come play fun music for the sick and lonely in retirement homes, hospitals, etc.

I hope the conversation comes up at least once every time we perform.
"So you're not getting paid for this?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"We don't really want to do it for money."
(blank, confused facial expression)
"This is just our way of showing that someone out there is thinking about you and cares. We're based out of Stillwaters church in Salisbury and we thought you might enjoy a little music today. That's all."

After four years of being a camp counselor at a Christian summer camp, I've learned that most people don't want to hear about the Romans Road or what is going to happen when they die if they don't get down and pray right now. Most people just need an honest hug, about 10 minutes of our time, and for us to just shut up and listen to them. They don't want a tract or a clever slogan on a church marquee, they want help and understanding as they deal with their dying little sister or divorced parents. They need to be honestly loved from someone who doesn't have an agenda or a pre-written script full of cliches.

They need to be loved the way that Jesus loved the poor and needy people he encountered. He didn't throw theology and a list of church membership requirements at them; he immediately diagnosed each individual's greatest needs (spiritually or physically) and met those needs through selfless acts of love and miracles. This is ministry, and it will never lose its power.

I hope ministry is exactly what we accomplish with our music. We have been blessed with enough talent and time to make it happen. We already have a good sound together, we're having a lot of fun in practice, and I hope to start getting out into the community in November. There are four of us right now: myself on trumpet, my wife on piano, Jonathan on guitar, and Gillon Jones on bass guitar. Gillon was a senior at South Rowan last year and played bass in the school jazz band for me, and he is now starting his career in the ministry. I hope you get the chance to meet him soon.

I will close with the verse from 1Peter that really explains the heart of this whole thing.

“Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others,
faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms.”
1 Peter 4:10