CONFERENCES
THE CHRISTIAN MUSICIAN SUMMIT – 34 CONFERENCES LATER … | Bruce Adolph
In 2003 , I believe the Lord gave me two great ideas ( and I am so glad I listened !).
One of them was to start this very magazine . Which about 100 issues later , I have seen God ’ s faithfulness over and over again .
The second idea was to look at starting a training conference where I could gather some of the columnists and writers from [ WM ] and blend their # BetterBySunday approach ( back then a hashtag was just still the pound key ) with gifted worship leaders and Christian musicians for a time of learning and inspiration .
I didn ’ t have to look far as in the next town over Matt Kees was serving as a long-time worship leader at his church , where he had started the Puget Sound Worship Leader
Network . This group of local worship leaders from different churches and denominations would gather to discuss their various issues as well as share songs . Matt had actually done a regional conference at his church already called “ Worship More …” that I came alongside and offered some help by getting a few sponsors .
We hit it off instantly and began to plan the first Christian Musician Summit conference in Tacoma , WA . Oddly enough , Washington state is the number one un-churched state in the country and our neighbor state to the south , Oregon , is the number two un-churched state . We didn ’ t let that stop us !
Now , after 34 conferences , 16 years , 5 states , and 10 ’ s of thousands of musicians reached , we are looking forward to hosting our flagship
CMS conference back in Tacoma , WA on November 2 and 3 .
I believe one of the reasons I was born was to produce “ live ” events . I have had the honor of promoting over 100 Christian concerts over the years too , but for the last 10 years or so I have focused on CMS . Why ? There is something really special about training and equipping lead worshippers in the Church , as well as having top drawer clinicians and artists teach workshops for vocals , guitar , bass , drums , keys , tech , songwriting , evangelism and teams . When we all strive for excellence , it honors and gives glory to God . Our mission statement is to improve skill and inspire talent for God ’ s glory . Each and every year at the CMS conference , the Lord shows up in new and memorable ways , and this has always created a really
144 October 2018 WorshipMusician . com