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The Connections Band is a group of United Methodist pastors from the North Texas Annual Conference who join with other gifted musicians to perform tribute concerts to raise money for missions. Our venues are largely United Methodist churches, which publicize and host the shows in a coffeehouse format.

To schedule a show, we ask the host church to agree to the following items. Please return a signed copy of this covenant to Rev. Rusty King at Spring Valley United Methodist Church (7700 Spring Valley Road, Dallas, Texas 75254, fax 972-233-1758).
 
Our Mission
To support our United Methodist connection, serve the church, and build community through evenings of quality entertainment.

Our Goals
** To perform quality "tribute" shows that honor the artists we love.
** To raise funds and awareness for United Methodist missional causes that help alleviate human suffering.
** To serve the church and build community with the shows we offer.
** To provide an outreach tool that is inviting to those beyond the church's traditional ministry.

Connections Band asks hosting groups to covenant to the following:
 
Guarantee a Crowd of 150 Persons:
Our experience has shown the love offering to be an effective and fun way to raise donations for missional causes, especially when the audience learns that our musicians are all volunteers, committing to countless hours of preparation. Because we care about our beneficiaries, our own time, and achieving our band’s goals, we have found that small crowds can result in disappointing offerings.

We are happy to provide a publicity schedule and sample posters, if that would be helpful. Our concerts with highest attendance have been promoted both within the church family as well as in the local community.

If you believe you will have trouble meeting this attendance threshold, you may consider hosting with another church. If that is not an option, let us know your best estimate of audience size, and we can consider the options available.
 
Pay for our Sound Engineer:
The band’s only required payment is for our sound engineer, since he is providing his professional time. These fees are to be paid at least two weeks prior to the concert date and may not be taken from the proceeds of the concert’s love offering. Venues within 20 miles (one-way) of Spring Valley UMC are considered “local.” All others are subject to the non-local fees. For venues outside the D-FW metroplex, additional mileage costs may apply.

Rates for 2008 Shows
Local $250
Non-local $350

Rates for 2009 Shows
Local $350
Non-local $400


Make check payable to:
Ultimate AVT, Inc
17000 Dallas Parkway Suite 219
Dallas, TX  75248

Our engineer uses state of the art equipment and is experienced with us enough to get a great sound from our large band. Should your church have its own staff/volunteers, they may be involved at some level, but we request that the technical decisions of our engineer be respected.
 
Provide Dress Rehearsal Space Night Before or Day of the Show:
When possible, it will be our goal to rehearse in your space the night or day before the event. In those cases, we will agree with you on the exact time. When the band rehearses in your space on the previous day, we need your permission to leave our equipment in the secure concert venue during the day of the concert, so that we do not have to set up twice. If you cannot guarantee that the equipment and instruments will be safe, we request a nearby locked room where the items can be stored between the rehearsal and the concert.
 
For shows where we have only day-of access to the venue, we will need full access to the room eight hours before show time. This is to allow our engineer and band adequate time to set up and rehearse.

We ask that you provide any available carts or dollies so that we can quickly and efficiently unload and reload our instruments and equipment.
 
Provide Meal for the Band and Crew:
On the show date, between the sound check and show, we ask the host church to provide a light meal for our band, typically 1 1/2 hrs before showtime. We are not picky eaters, and the meal does not have to be elaborate. (Nor do we usually stuff our faces just before shows...) This is very helpful, as we have found that we do not have time to eat elsewhere and make it back in time for the show.

Provide a “Green Room”:
With such a large band, we need a secure, quiet place to gather before the show. This could be the same room where we eat.
 
Provide a Team of Volunteers to Set-Up/Decorate the Room:
We cannot help with decorating, as we must be getting ready to play. We find that coffeehouse-style settings of round tables work well, as this is the best format for our love offerings and audience participation. Any other theme or decorations you wish is up to you.

Provide a Team of Volunteers to Bring Refreshments/Desserts:
We find that this atmosphere lends itself to church volunteers bringing desserts and drinks, and the audience sharing them around tables during the show. You can provide them any way you wish (buy, donate, etc...) but we request that volunteers staff the refreshment tables, too.
 
Provide 2-4 Strong Bodies to Help with Tear Down:
After the show, it takes a while for us to tear down our equipment. We ask that you designate between two and four of your members to be honorary roadies for the night.

Ensure that 100% of the Concert’s Donations Benefit Missions
All of our musicians offer their time to rehearsal and performance with no payment, so that all of the proceeds can be given to our mission recipient (either UMCOR or Nothing But Nets). Host churches agree to pay other expenses, including sound engineer, meal for band and crew, refreshments, etc., out of separate church funds. Throughout the concert, we invite the audience to make contributions to the baskets we provide at each table. We ask that the host church provide staff to count the offerings twice during the concert so that receipts can be announced to the audience.

The host church agrees to remit the entire love offering to the office of the Conference Treasurer within 30 days of the concert.

___________________________________________________________________

We understand and have read the above requirements for Connections Band.
Our church/venue agrees to abide by them:
 

__________________________________ __________________________________
 name of church date of show

__________________________________ __________________________________
 name of contact person contact person phone and email

____________________________
 pastor’s signature


Please also see a separate document, “Frequently Asked Questions About Connections Band.” It is also available for download.



(Covenant last updated on: 8/3/08)