Finding True North #4: Conference Calls and Being a Real Adult

I am a real adult. I pay my own rent, utilities, gas and food. Sure, I'm still on my parents' cell phone plan and the family car insurance, but whatever. I am a real adult. I am a part of conference calls with people in 3 different states planning events. Sure, I dialed in 5 minutes early because I was nervous and worried I couldn't access the call, and I spent most of the conversation sitting at a gas station just over the South Carolina border from Charlotte not contributing anything and doing things like accidentally turning on my stereo so I freaked out the rest of the group when Rob Bell's voice boomed out of the speakers, but whatever. I am a real adult.

It did feel kinda cool to be on a conference call. Here's a little background to explain what that was about and what it has to do with field ed: Marcia McFee is a professional worship designer who plans and leads worship for all kinds of events, including several Methodist annual conferences each summer and, in 2008, General Conference. I emailed her a while ago about shadowing her sometime, and whaddaya know, she's leading worship for the 2011 Indiana Annual Conference in a few weeks, so I'm going to be her student intern (read: coffee and bagels girl). This morning, she invited me to join a call with the folks involved in planning conference events. Having had no information ahead of time, I was just there to listen.

But I am excited about the opportunity to shadow Dr. McFee at conference. I'm going to be doing a ton of worship arts stuff with Brenda at NUMC over the summer, but this will be something a little different. McFee literally travels all over the country doing large-scale, visually-oriented, liturgically-focused worship design. I may never employ the level of performance and staging she does, because I suspect it wouldn't suit most local churches, but I am in sponge mode right now and am taking every possible opportunity to learn about worship, and I can't help but see God's providence in my placement at a church that was going to take me to Indiana AC anyway when it turned out McFee, who I'd emailed with for some time, would be there. Thanks, Jesus.

I have to laugh at myself for being on #4 in this blog series when I'm not even in Indy yet. Friday's coming, though. I can't wait.