Today, Stephen and I were honored to visit the wonderful people of East Center Street Church of God of Prophecy in Lexington, NC. We sang praise and worship with Stephen on the piano/guitar and myself playing the bass with a brand new set of hot pink strings! Yeah! The service was awesome and the people were all very sweet and welcoming to us. We shared our vision of what we hope Mission 403 is to become and everyone seemed excited about our new ministry. God blessed and the people gave. It was a great day!
However, something else happened today. After the service, Pastor Gerald Shean told me that a five-year old girl made her grandfather take her up onto the stage to examine my bass where she proudly announced, “Jessica is a rock star! I want to be like her!” She was fascinated by my instrument and to be fair it is pretty unique looking. It is glittery-gold with a pink strap and now of course, the hot pink strings. It clearly belongs to a woman. But that is not what’s important. What’s significant about the little girl is the impression my bass made on her. Today she learned she could play too.
Over the years I’ve noticed a common trend within the church- the lack of female musicians. Next time you’re in service take a look at who is doing what on the worship team. Usually, it’s men playing the instruments while the women sing. Maybe every now and then a female might play the piano, but you never really see a woman playing something like the drums (Just a little side-note, my sister Stefannie is a really good drummer). Now I’m not trying to discourage our fabulous male musicians from using the talent God gave you. Nor am I saying that female singers are less important than those playing instruments. If God has blessed you with a voice then by all means please use it. What I’m asking is why there is such a division of the sexes in our praise and worship teams?
One of my personal goals for Mission 403 will be to empower girls and women to express themselves in music however they see fit. As a female, if you want to sing, then by all means develop your vocal talent for God. But if you want to play an instrument, be confident in the knowledge that you have all the necessary skills and intelligence to develop your craft. You are not limited to the traditional instruments you’ve seen other women playing. If you want to play the bass, then play the bass. If you want to play the piano, then play the piano. If God has put the desire in your heart then who are humans to say otherwise? Break the cultural norms and live how God wants you to live. Don’t be afraid to step-up to the plate. You might be the only female musician for a while, but you never know when you’ll inspire a little girl and plant a seed for a future female musician to grow. For the little girl this morning, boundaries have been broken. I am excited for her future and I hope she realizes that she can do anything she sets in her mind to do. With God, there are no limits.