One of the best things about planning is preparing artists. Artists love preparation. Planning allows for more creativity, more thought and consequently more impact a piece might have on an audience.
During our recent message series titled The Gospel, I spent some time with some highly creative people about eight weeks prior to the start of the series planning and brainstorming possibilities. Several ideas came through that session and proceeding sessions that I believe were highly artistic and memorable.
This is one.
The series would be four weeks long, take us through Easter weekend and be composed of four main ideas: Creation, Fall, Redemption and Restoration.
We chose to have an artist paint live during the services, which has become a semi-normal element in The Orchard’s weekend gatherings. In a conversation with the artist, I outlined the process we wanted to take for each week of the series, each week building on the next, to create a piece that would be unique to anything we had done before.
We had Julie Vogt paint a picture that depicted the creation. Julie was very gracious as an artist and after collaborating together, painted a representation of a familiar art piece – Creation of Adam, by Michelangelo. She did an amazing job and because the paintings she did (one for each of our three weekend gatherings) were a part of the weekend experience, many wanted to buy the paintings. Creation shown through art.
The next week we displayed the piece she had painted during the corresponding weekend services the weekend before, and at the end of the service, had our lead Pastor Scott Hodge take a knife and cut the paintings between God’s outstretched finger and Adam’s. The service ended abruptly at that point and we told people the story we be continued on Easter. The fall had occurred bringing damage and separation in our relationship with God.
The next weekend, during our Easter gatherings, we had another artist (Lisa Price), use a thick red thread to sew the cuts in the paintings back together to illustrate the redemptive power of Jesus’ death and resurrection.
The last week of the series, we again had Julie take the sewn canvases and paint on them to show the healing that we are a part of in restoring humanity and creation to what God had intended it to be. She also depicted a city to show the progression of the story which began in a garden and will one day end in a city.
There were a lot of creative ideas, planning and artists that helped put this together and it was a powerful piece. So much so that I have heard several families explaining the art to friends and family they have invited to our gatherings since – all without anyone telling them about each piece of the puzzle. The story and purpose behind the art was a clear message on it’s own.
Thank you to all of you who were a part of bringing this piece, from idea to conception, to life for our church community!
This is the video we showed this last week at the Orchard. We wanted to use the idea of regifting and get people thinking toward something we are calling Compassion Weekend - a chance to make a difference in the lives of children around the world. We had a great time during the shoot and I think it turned out great!
I had the pleasure of getting a sneak preview this last week of the latest technological breakthrough from the Digerati team at lifechurch.tv lead by Bobby Gruenwald and Terry Storch. This team has developed some amazing things over the last couple of years and their latest is nothing less than brilliance!
As a follow up to the very successful mobile application YouVersion (which in short, allows you to carry many bible versions along with your notes on your mobile device anywhere you can access the internet), this new addition available in October gives mobile app users the ability to have live interaction within scheduled event.
The event does not have to necessarily be a worship gathering, but tied to YouVersion makes it seem like an easy fit. YouVersion Live allows event participants to take notes with a predetermined presentation outline, answer questions, submit prayer requests, give online, respond to polls (that can have results posted live for people to see)… just to name a few options. The setup on the event side seems very easy and my opinion opens the door to two-way conversations to take place. People want to be able to interact in an event and what better way to do so by using the technology most event participants already have at their disposal… web enabled mobile devices.
You can check out details and get a glimpse of the power of this FREE application online here. I can definitely see the use for this in worship gatherings at The Orchard where we have already seen the usefulness of live texting through tools like Jarbyco. What better way to get a pulse on what your crowd is thinking and feeling and how they are responding to what is being presented?
Are you ready and open for conversation?
Check out this brief interview I had with Tony Steward of Lifechurch.tv on the new YouVersion Live! Can’t wait for what’s next!
No this blog is not dead. Just neglected it a bit. I see it everyday and know that it’s there but so much has happened over the last several months.
I actually started feeling a little overwhelmed…haven’t posted in a while, what should I write about? It has to be something good to bring people back to reading it (though I am honored that many of you have continued to be faithful).
As a start, I wanted to share some pics from our Christmas Eve services at the Orchard (courtesy of Jen Cresse).
Here’s our music setlist from that weekend (with links to purchase the original recordings from the artists listed): Beat It – Fall Out Boy Happy Day – Kristian Stanfill Great In All The Earth – Starfield Saving Grace – Planetshakers Call Me When You’re Sober – Evanescence I Surrender – Kim Walker
Props to my team… you guys totally rocked the house! Joni, Taylor and Amanda – you three did phenomenal on vocals this weekend!
Hosting a live event and wish you could interact with your event participants?