So, I had just finished my first year of Bible college in Portland Oregon and was all
set to come back home to San Jose for the summer. I had secured a lucrative,
prestigious job cleaning carpets during the hottest 3 months the Bay Area serves up.
Oh, it wasn’t your high-end carpet cleaning business…oh, no. It was that “2 rooms
and a hallway for $19.95” that sends you to the darkest regions of the Silicon Valley
cleaning carpets upon which greasy motorcycle engines sit. I saw some of the most
disgusting things get sucked up the hose one could ever hope to imagine.
Wait, that wasn’t the best part of my summer. I had also been offered a summer
internship at my home church, Calvary Church of Los Gatos. Bill and Diane Allison,
were the worship and music pastors who were willing to give a young music student
with virtually no church experience the chance to learn and grow. I had the
responsibilities to work with the various church musicians, arrange music, lead
rehearsals, lead weekend worship and even take over the direction of one of the
bands for the summer.
I learned a ton those few months. I also made a bunch of blunders. But more than
anything I was mentored. We had no formal program or curriculum we followed.
But I got to just do life with Bill and Diane. I got to see how they handled conflict. I
got to see how they interacted with others on the church staff. I was brought into
the inner workings of how the worship department interfaces with the lead pastor.
These two modeled for me a real heart for worship and pastoring others. They were
musically brilliant and of high spiritual integrity. I didn’t have their same musical
skill set, but I wanted to be like them. That summer I was mentored in a way that
put me on a trajectory to follow in their footsteps.
Their investment in me is one of the reasons I want to be a part of ANTHEM School of
Worship. I want to help pass on some of the same experiences I had under their
tutelage. I love next generation worship leaders. I feel like there’s a bunch I can
learn from them. I also feel that if there’s anything God has given me that’ll
strengthen a future worship leader, I want to give it to them.
If you don’t just want to learn a bunch of cool things about worship and music, but
also want to be mentored, I hope you’ll consider ANTHEM.
Disclaimer: You won’t be expected to clean any carpets.
- Mark Averill and the ANTHEM Team