"God was very clear in His desire and direction for me to go to OTW" - Megan's Story
Off the Wall is such a hard thing to describe. It is unique enough to walk the line of intriguing and frightening (but I think often the things God has for us tend to be that way).
The basic overview of my time in OTW is that I attended for three years, the first two as a student, and the last as an intern and member of the School of Worship.
God was very clear in His desire and direction for me to go to OTW, but as you may hear from many alumni, it was not my plan or my first choice. I still cringe when I remember the phone interview with Terri Johnson where I told her “I don’t want to come here and I probably won’t, I just need a backup plan.” (Shout out to Terri for her patience and willingness to continue the interview even after I was such a punk.) But when I asked God to close either the college or the Off the Wall door, and the next morning got rejected for a scholarship I needed, it was pretty clear where He wanted me.
Being a student in OTW prepared me for the next stage of life in several ways. First, practically speaking--while in the program, I learned a ton about music and about worship. My first two years I was a part of a worship-focused class, and my final year was the inaugural year of the School of Worship. Both of these grew and stretched me not only as a musician, but also as a worship leader--they balanced the spiritual with the practical aspects very well. We talked about the spiritual value and discipline that worship was designed by God to be. We learned how to play our instruments, how to communicate with a team of musicians, the basics of running sound and words and all the non-glamorous but deeply important details of running a worship team. There were ample opportunities both in the OTW community and the greater area to serve as a worship leader, and it was so special as a young and very fresh worship leader to have the chance to serve the local church and members of the Body of Christ that I sometimes knew, sometimes didn’t, but was always pushed to love and care for. All of this experience prepared me to be an on-staff worship leader at a local church, as well as a private music instructor. Had I not had the practical music theory and practice, I wouldn’t have the skill needed to teach; and had I not had the spiritual disciplines and pouring-into I received, I wouldn’t have the passion for worship and the understanding of what God designed it to be that I need to be a spiritual leader for my team and my congregation.
Outside of the music world, there are a thousand ways that my time in Off the Wall shaped me. I came into the program ready to get in and get out as quickly as I could. I came in ready to project judgment on the spiritual leaders around me, with my walls built and armed to the teeth. What I found was a community of people who poured into and loved me on all sides, who took the time out of their lives to shepherd me, who challenged me and did not tolerate me staying the same as I came in, who shared their love for prayer and the Word and worship and service with me, who did their best to embody a God who does these things perfectly. What I never found was an expectation of perfection, an allowance for stagnant faith, people who were clawing their way up the ladder for glory, or leaders who claimed to know it all. Five years and counting later, I still go to the people who shared their lives with me for advice, Godly counsel, and love--discipleship doesn’t stop when you’re done at OTW, even if the specifics look a little different.
The evidence of the Lord’s work can be found everywhere in my life, not the least of which being that the person who entered the Off the Wall program was wildly different from the person who graduated three years later. God was, is, and forever will be faithful in my life and the lives of the people around me.
The basic overview of my time in OTW is that I attended for three years, the first two as a student, and the last as an intern and member of the School of Worship.
God was very clear in His desire and direction for me to go to OTW, but as you may hear from many alumni, it was not my plan or my first choice. I still cringe when I remember the phone interview with Terri Johnson where I told her “I don’t want to come here and I probably won’t, I just need a backup plan.” (Shout out to Terri for her patience and willingness to continue the interview even after I was such a punk.) But when I asked God to close either the college or the Off the Wall door, and the next morning got rejected for a scholarship I needed, it was pretty clear where He wanted me.
Being a student in OTW prepared me for the next stage of life in several ways. First, practically speaking--while in the program, I learned a ton about music and about worship. My first two years I was a part of a worship-focused class, and my final year was the inaugural year of the School of Worship. Both of these grew and stretched me not only as a musician, but also as a worship leader--they balanced the spiritual with the practical aspects very well. We talked about the spiritual value and discipline that worship was designed by God to be. We learned how to play our instruments, how to communicate with a team of musicians, the basics of running sound and words and all the non-glamorous but deeply important details of running a worship team. There were ample opportunities both in the OTW community and the greater area to serve as a worship leader, and it was so special as a young and very fresh worship leader to have the chance to serve the local church and members of the Body of Christ that I sometimes knew, sometimes didn’t, but was always pushed to love and care for. All of this experience prepared me to be an on-staff worship leader at a local church, as well as a private music instructor. Had I not had the practical music theory and practice, I wouldn’t have the skill needed to teach; and had I not had the spiritual disciplines and pouring-into I received, I wouldn’t have the passion for worship and the understanding of what God designed it to be that I need to be a spiritual leader for my team and my congregation.
Outside of the music world, there are a thousand ways that my time in Off the Wall shaped me. I came into the program ready to get in and get out as quickly as I could. I came in ready to project judgment on the spiritual leaders around me, with my walls built and armed to the teeth. What I found was a community of people who poured into and loved me on all sides, who took the time out of their lives to shepherd me, who challenged me and did not tolerate me staying the same as I came in, who shared their love for prayer and the Word and worship and service with me, who did their best to embody a God who does these things perfectly. What I never found was an expectation of perfection, an allowance for stagnant faith, people who were clawing their way up the ladder for glory, or leaders who claimed to know it all. Five years and counting later, I still go to the people who shared their lives with me for advice, Godly counsel, and love--discipleship doesn’t stop when you’re done at OTW, even if the specifics look a little different.
The evidence of the Lord’s work can be found everywhere in my life, not the least of which being that the person who entered the Off the Wall program was wildly different from the person who graduated three years later. God was, is, and forever will be faithful in my life and the lives of the people around me.