GospelJelly96FollowUp
From Christian Collegiate A Cappella Notes
Derek Linden emailed the groups on May 21, 1996
Howdy all, and thanks to those who replied to our last email about the upcoming GospelJelly. If you have not received a prior email about this event, please let us know and we will forward it to you. It was quite informative and well-written, if I do say so myself... :)
Just in case you have no idea or recollection of what we are talking about, let me summarize...for many years, the groups in the collegiate Christian a cappella community have gathered for Gospel Jams where we put on concerts, hold workshops, etc. These are held in the Spring. At the 1995 pitch retreat, we had a vision for how great it would be to have a gathering in the Fall, where we would have as many groups together as possible for a time of group-building, individually and collectively. We wanted to focus on equipping and motivating groups at the beginning of the year so that their opportunities to use what they learn and experience would be as great as possible. Hence, the name Jelly sprang from this concept of "gelling" the groups together, while the "Jams" are generally more focused on jamming together. :)
Anyway, we now have a solid date for the Jelly. It will be on October 18-20. Just so everyone understands (and we apologize if we sound inflexible), this was the only weekend when the extensive resources (like large lecture halls) were available here, so it is extremely unlikely that we would be able to change the date. If you think you might be able to come, please put this on your group's schedule, and let your members know as soon as possible so they can start clearing their schedules.
We also wanted to let you know a little more about the content for this "conference." Let me start by stating our understanding of one of the big needs in the collegiate Christian a cappella community. The groups in this community almost always have significant musical expertise, or can obtain it through school resources or other a cappella groups, and we each have a heart to reach our campuses and audiences for Christ. But what we often lack is expertise when it comes to group dynamics and functioning as a unified, focused team. We have all had some mixture of the following problems: personality conflicts, differences of style and taste, differences of goals, lack of clear purpose or vision, lack of communication, lack of accountability for tasks to be done, frustration with each other, hurt feelings, misunderstandings, and so many other problems that sap our strength and distract us. We generally focus on the music and the message, and kind of muddle through the group stuff when it comes time to produce concerts and events.
Wouldn't it be great, though, if we could spend some time early on in the year strengthening our singing groups and learning some of the ways to work together as a well-run, undistracted team focused on reaching our campus for Christ? As nice as that would be, most of us know little about how to do such a thing. While we may know a lot about music or about reaching others, the vast majority of us do not know much about group dynamics and team-building, and even less about how to effectively teach what we know to others in a practical, useful way. It seems advisable then to turn to someone who can instruct us.
However, unlike professional musical instruction, which is relatively easy to find, professional instruction on a Christian approach to team-building and group dynamics is fairly difficult to locate and, once located, usually difficult to obtain.
But God has provided us with just such an instructor! The father of one of our members has taught thousands of people about these issues. His name is Robert Linden. He is a very strong Christian who has worked in the field of group development for many years, and has given instruction to corporations, churches and students. He is planning to speak about and help us with leadership and group development during the Jelly. His material will be tailored to our needs as Christian a cappella groups, and will be tied closely to Scripture (i.e., won't be just secular management material, though there will be some items drawn from that field. Why? Because the best techniques have been shown to work, and they can usually be found in Scripture in one form or another anyway!). Lest one figure that the leadership portion will not be for them, the leadership he will be speaking about pertains not just to the pitch or office-holders of the group, but to all the individuals in the group, and regards how they can influence the group properly and positively, and become productive, active members--i.e., self-leadership and responsibility. Mr. Linden will not only speak on this issue, but will also have some short, clear exercises and self-appraisals to help each of us to develop in this area.
After hearing about and working on personal leadership, we will spend a large portion of the Jelly on group development, which will include developing values, purpose & vision, goals, a plan for conflict management, and followership. There will be extensive group time in between relatively short lectures in which groups will be able to work on these items. To facilitate productive group time, pitches will have a special session in which they are more extensively briefed on what they should do during these group times, and how to lead productive discussions. The procedure for each step of developing the group will be clearly detailed, so that each group will know what they are supposed to do. These techniques have been shown to work in many teams working toward diverse goals, and where appropriate, these items will be tailored toward our unique musical and Christian situation. The goal is for each group to come away from the Jelly with a clear sense of purpose and vision, a clear understanding of the group's values, a new closeness and openness with each other, and a strongly shared eagerness and excitement for what they can do together in the upcoming school year.
The Gospel Jelly will be very useful to groups regardless of their age and experience. An older group may have an easier time with some basic items and be able to move on to tackle some of the more difficult issues. A brand-new group may require more time to explore the group's basic values or purpose, but that's great: building a strong foundation early in the life of the group will prove to be a very wise investment. I expect that all groups will admit that they can use improvement in their inner workings, and a purpose of the Jelly is to give each group what it needs to move forward in its development. Even simply going through the process of coming to these decisions as a group can strengthen communication and closeness in the group, and it is highly likely that the decisions made at the Jelly will affect the workings of the group for the rest of the year, and perhaps for years to come.
About a concert: we may or may not have a concert, but if we do, it will be on Saturday night, with everyone, and each group will only sing ONE OR TWO songs. Even so, that will make for a very long concert, but the short set we each will have to put together should help us to focus more on the learning aspects of the Jelly, especially those groups that will have just started their year.
We are hoping to send out a brochure with more detail next week via snail mail, so it would be great if you could please reply to this message with a (postal) mailing address for your group. We would like to hear from everyone, whether you will be able to attend or not, unless you have sent us email already saying you will not, and your status is unchanged. (If you sent email saying you would attend, we would greatly appreciate a short note confirming that these dates will work for you.) Also, if you could state approximately how many would be coming from your group, that would be very helpful in our planning process. If you don't know for sure whether you can attend or not, please send your postal address immediately anyway, so we can get you a brochure in the meantime.
We are very excited about this event, and we hope you are too. And, lest you think we are somehow above all this group-building, we are really looking forward to learning how to work together better as Cross Products. (What, you think we're perfect already? Nice of you to say, but "as if!" :)
back to GospelJelly
Thank you for your time, and we hope to see you at the Jelly!
The Gospel Jelly Committee
