Devon Church, Chicago, Illihnois

Michael and I boarded a train for Chicago, and Marge and Maryellen took the weekend off. Michael and I had a pleasant trip on Friday. We met my sister Beverly at the union station which was as crowded and chaotic as always.

I had been asked to come and teach on running sound. The seminar I taught was called "Sound Principals: Ministry Through Technology". When we arrived at Devon Church I noticed their mural. It says, "We will not hide these truths from our children, but will tell the next generation the glorious deeds of the Lord."

That's a powerful, life changing promise.

It was the first time I had conducted a Sound Principals seminar, but the people that came had lots of questions, and it was an excellent time of learning and discussion.

The premise of the seminar is that in the body of Christ we all impact the group. We either add value to each others lives or generate waste. It's the "value chain" principal of manufacturing. To a degree it certainly rings true in our lives as believers.

It also is true for the components in the audio chain from the microphone to the mixer to the front-of-house speakers. At each point in the audio chain we can add value to the sound or create something that hinders the listener (waste).

I was thrilled at how well the presentation was received. It was also the first time that my son Michael has served as my "tech" on the road. I gave him the outline and he put together the PowerPoint presentation. I like that, because I'm really not good at creative presentations. I'm better at the design side, but never can get it to translate onto the screen. Michael made a great team mate.

We stayed over night and enjoyed leading worship with the worship team at Devon the following day. It was another chance to play bass guitar. In the train station going home, having a bass guitar strapped over my shoulder was a conversation starter.

Adam