The P.R.A.I.S.E. AWARD 2019
The P.R.A.I.S.E. AWARD 2019
During our Open House CHOIR Fellowship on 5-26-19 the Music Ministry continued recognizing outstanding music ministry servants at SOBC.
*Last year we awarded our first ever P.R.A.I.S.E. certificates to Kim Steele, Lynn Rippberger, and Becky Burt. These women earned the recognition for their outstanding contributions to our Music Ministry.
Why did we do this? We were seeking to identify and highlight those extraordinary qualities in our ministry partners that are vital to a healthy and sustainable music ministry. These are but a sampling of the many persons currently in our ministry who are candidates for this prestigious award. Of course, we are blessed to have an awesome music ministry team who truly love the Lord and desire to serve Him! Yet because of their excellent service, these few are the “gold standard” for our music ministry and for defining the “healthy ministry culture,” we aspire to. This award is a benchmark of excellence. It sets the standard by giving us a clear measurement by which we can maintain and continue to build a healthy music ministry.
This year’s recipients are some of the wonderful men who lead in our Ministry; they are Jack Stidham, Steve Vanciel, and Ed Booth.
Jack Stidham has run our sound board during our services and rehearsals for many years. His support to choir ministry has been invaluable! His work in sound has been outstanding for its consistency and overall excellence. He has a “great ear” for balance and volume for supplying the perfect sound mix; especially for the choir, soloists, ensembles and sermons. He makes sure all systems are “go” before major musicals, worship services, sees that all mic batteries are ready, and CD’s are set for the vocal team! Thanks Jack!
Steve Vanciel has been our lighting engineer for many years and has led our media team for all our major Christmas, Christmas Eve, Easter productions, STOMP CHOIR, Night of the ARTS, Summer Music Camp and much more! Not only is Steve an expert with lighting but he is and has been a major creative consultant on each of our major programs giving great insight on overall design and staging. On top of that he has steadily built an excellent lighting system for our church over the years. He is the perfect balance to the sound team making both visual and auditory metrics enhance each other to glorify God! Thanks Steve!
Ed Booth has been our media specialist for many years. Ed makes sure the words to the choruses and hymns, the videos, and the Pastor’s sermon notes, all happen in real time to match the tempo, theme, and flow of the service! No easy task!
In fact, he’s usually the busiest person in the sound booth right before the service as he gets things thrown at him at the last minute and somehow consistently makes everything work out! On top of that he and his wife Terrie have led the award winning SOBC puppet ministry too. This ministry has won numerous “excellence” awards and supports our Children’s Church ministry and other special events! Thanks Ed (and Terrie)!
All three are 2019 recipients of the PRAISE AWARD. Praise God for these faithful servants!
Some others for honorable mention this year:
Ed Mabe who is ever behind the scenes assisting Lynn and I creating videos and wall art and printing amazing backdrops for our special services/performances.
Thanks ED!!
Also, Aileen Ingram is stepping down this year as our costume designer and creator. Aileen’s is an expert seamstress who has worked countless hours making costumes for people of all ages in our ministry. Her work has been extraordinary and faithful. She deserves our thanks!
Thanks Aileen!
No, they are not perfect. But yes, they are faithful servants, selflessly serving God and others. In awarding these servants, I believe they are receiving the recognition they rightly deserve along with defining and establishing the spiritual culture for our ministry.
P.R.A.I.S.E.
What does the P.R.A.I.S.E. AWARD stand for?
PROVEN- RESPONSIBLE-AMAZING
INVESTING-SERVANT-EVANGELIST
P-Proven– First, the persons chosen for this award are already obvious to others in the ministry and church. They are consistently leading, consistently serving, and have a clear and visible track record of humble service. They don’t serve to be seen, but their outstanding service is seen and felt by many in positive ways. The outcomes of the ministry projects they are involved in are consistently excellent. They are tough and resilient. Steady and sure.
They are on mission to serve Christ at any cost, even when our teams are not functioning at their best.
Further, they are faithful to pursue ongoing personal growth and dig deeper when things get “tough”. In the end they simply love their church and want to see success and growth for God’s glory. Soli Deo Gloria!
And when things don’t go right they don’t start blaming or making excuses; they find a way to get the job done for the good of all. In their humility, they are quick to own their own mistakes. They consistently minimize the faults of others and maximize their own shortcomings. They serve patiently and respectfully under their leaders, year after year. PROVEN!
R-Responsible These persons “do” what they say they’re going to do. “Put it in the bank” if these persons are on the lead team. They won’t need constant reminders and hand-holding to finish a project. They are already visualizing how to get it done as it’s being discussed. They are good listeners. They are faithful. They are planners and strategists, always thinking things through to the desired outcomes and accomplishing tasks with care and consistency. Simply put they are reliable and dependable.
If they are tasked with a project, they strive to get it done regardless of the obstacles they face. Here’s the truth: Rarely do things work perfectly in local church ministry. Yet these leaders excel in succeeding at specified outcomes, improvising as needed, or recalculating timelines to deliver the finished product. They are patient and sure.
There is a special quality found in all these individuals. They look at all ministry service through a particular spiritual lens. They are motivated to serve as servants of the King of Kings and walk humbly under the Lordship of Christ, not just service to man. They understand that they answer to HIM first and foremost! Need something done at the church? Ask a P.R.A.I.S.E. AWARD recipient. And don’t worry, they are quite capable of getting things done and are flexible to lead or serve under others. Kingdom ministry accomplished! RESPONSIBLE!
AMAZING- This is the wow factor. This is the idea of “I want to be around these people as they serve and lead”. This is the notion of “I am so blessed to know and serve alongside people like this, thank you God!” This is the inner reality of “I can sense God’s gifting and calling on this person’s life and ministry, PRAISE God.”
The quality of “amazing” goes to identifying a supernatural and holy gifting from God in this person. God has created this individual with a unique and amazing skill set and abilities. Further they thoroughly enjoy using to serve God and others. They are God’s precious gift to the church! They are deep thinkers. They are creative. They are skilled at a high level. They make participating in local ministry fun, rewarding, and exciting! AMAZING!
INVESTING- These servants naturally gravitate towards a long view of ministry service. Often, they have a short, medium, and long-range perspective on their ministry plans. They see the enormous value of planting spiritual seeds today and harvesting later. They don’t mind spending precious time to mentor and coach both young and old alike. They understand that investing in others will ultimately help the overall church to be healthy and grow. “Lay up for yourselves treasure in heaven” is their guiding ministry verse.
They create opportunities for ministry with workshops and the much-needed teaching seminars to help others grow in discipleship. Caution: They won’t stand still or accept the status quo for long. These servants are always looking at opportunities for growth and expansion. They are ever considering and planning for the future and praying for successful outcomes. They are unselfish. They are generous. They are industrious. INVESTING!
SERVANTS- To be a servant is to be humble first and foremost. These persons exemplify the word “humility.” They are exhibit “A”. They are forever offering to help others rather than asking for or demanding it for themselves. These people have a loving attitude towards others that is rooted in genuine caring and empathy. It’s in their DNA. They are always identified as other-centric not self-centric.
They are workers. Hard workers. Staying late after an event and arriving early to serve others is their status quo. On their own they find and look for new ways to help and serve others. They don’t wait to be told. They are proactive in seeing the ministry need and then meeting it.
They clearly see their own identity as Christ’s representatives, His chosen ambassadors, His servants and followers, humbly reaching and serving others in Jesus name. They are tireless. They are selfless. SERVANTS!
EVANGELISTS- These people love Christ and are loved by Christ. They passionately desire to share Him with their community.Every aspect of their ministry grows from the knowledge of Matthew 28 and the Great Commission to go and make disciples. They rejoice when others are baptized in the name of Christ. They strive to share Christ where ever they go.
They model Christlikeness in their daily walk as to draw people to Christ. Because they are radically saved and know the measure of grace they have received, they passionately want to see others saved as well. Their quiet inner life directs and guides their ministry life toward God and others. Every ministry task is colored with the end being Jesus Christ glorified and the church edified. Their own life is a steady example of the Gospel, The GOOD NEWS.
By their deliberate actions they are daily giving Christ away to the world. Nothing brings them greater joy than to see people saved! EVANGELSITS!
So, give thanks for these outstanding Church members and continue to pray for them and others so we can build healthy, sustainable, and effective, ministries at SOBC!
-Ephesians 2:10 says-
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
Our scripture verse for 2019-20
But when He (Jesus) saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered,
like sheep having no shepherd.
Then He said to His disciples,
“The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few.
Therefore, pray the Lord of harvest to send out laborers for the harvest.
Matthew 9:36-38