I suppose I've mentioned before that we have started working as volunteers for the concerts hosted in the building where our church meets. The church was actually started with a heavy dose of music in mind. There are two separate entities, but they work in conjunction with one another.
While we will have an occasional "Christian" show, most of the time they are purely secular affairs complete with a bar and all. One of the main classic rock stations in town is very familiar with our place, as are most of the musicians around here. It's a great small-ish venue put together by none other than Sweetwater sound (the world's leading music technology and instrument retailer), and most concerts are televised on late-night TV.
The wife and I have attended a great many shows here over the past fifteen or so years the place has been operating, and we didn't discover until becoming a part of the church that it is almost all volunteers working these concerts (other than sound tech and lighting people). We were actually quite thrilled when we were finally approached about helping.
We quickly discovered that most people don't like working the ticket counter - due to having to handle money as well as the sometimes mad rush of people in the door - so we thought we might as well do that. It seemed an area of need, and neither of us actually mind it. So, most of the time we are either manning the ticket counter (taking and selling tickets), or the "Gold Circle" seating side. Gold Circle seats are those to the front closest to the stage and are higher priced. They also require a wrist band to signify that you belong there. Sometimes it is reserved seating and sometimes not. They are also sometimes allowed a 'meet-and-greet'. Depending on the show, Gold Circle requires from 2-5 people, and the ticket counter can be 2-3.
Thus far we have worked the following shows: Savoy Brown, Coco Montoya, the Mersey Beatles, Victor Wooten Trio... and maybe another one or two that I'm forgetting. Most of the time I'd say we need to sell at least 200 tickets ranging in price anywhere from $15~$50 to break even (after paying the band, tech people, and building costs). I think capacity is around 400 people - which happens occasionally.
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One thing I've noticed as we work these shows is that people seem to be overly concerned that we not overwork ourselves. This is actually something we are quite happy to help with and we usually offer to come in early and stay late to clean up. Inevitably when we offer to help out we are told, "Oh, that's not necessary. Why don't you go on home." I truly believe people are intending to be nice, but sometimes it almost feels like we are being deprived of doing something we want to do. So it's a little weird like that.
I can't speak for Jane, but I know for me part of why I like it is simply being around music people. However, I think the other part is that I "get" the founding pastor's vision of a church interested in reaching this segment of society. Plus it's done in a very subtle way. Some folks have no idea about the church side - it absolutely does not look like a church building - but there are some obvious signs and no one hides the fact. It's certainly not a church for some people, and that's okay. But it's exactly the kind of church some others are looking for (though, again, they are two separate entities).
I've stated before that when I was in seminary and considering a church "planting" path - which is what I had in mind when I started seminary - this was EXACTLY the type of church I envisioned. So the fact that we have now ended up here is quite ...coincidental.
Anyway, that's a lot of words I didn't intend to gurgle out just to say that we feel pretty fortunate to have landed where we did. It is far from a perfect place - it flies pretty close to many flames - but this seems to be a good fit for us, and I'd venture to say we are even... happy.
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