sound

I had the privileged of addressing my favorite House yesterday on the subject of production and its value within the Church world. The impetus came from my Senior Pastor, Kirk Gilchrist, who never shies away from taking issues head-on–one of the reasons I so appreciate his leadership. Rather than let people wonder why (or why not) we run our sound system the way we do, or why we use graphics, or why our lobby looks the way it does, he informs them preemptively before rumors have a chance to become destructive.

As the Creative Arts Pastor, yesterday’s production explanation fell on me.

And I was was excited for the chance.

Training a community how to value beauty is one of the most significant steps toward teaching a culture how to value life.

The response to my short presentation was so overwhelming that I decided to answer the requests for my notes and the message link by providing both below. Feel free to use as you need and pass on to your own church leadership or staff. I’d be happy to answer any questions you might have and help you in your process. ch:

DOWNLOAD NOTES: Why We Beautify

WATCH MESSAGE

What role does production play in your church services? How has it impacted people’s hearts for Jesus? If production is not something utilized by your congregation, how might elements of lighting, audio, video, graphics, printing, or stage management improve the message you’re attempting to communicate?

First off, thank you for all your prayers for Jennifer. While she has been extremely weak all day, she seems to be in better spirits. She stayed in bed most of the day resting, and her temperature fluctuations have been much less dramatic. I believe the antibiotics she’s on are kicking some butt, and hope tomorrow brings even more signs of health. I was just sharing with the staff here how grateful I am for technology and the ability to inform thousands of people around the world of a prayer need in only a few seconds.

On to the rest of the day…

To sit in a class and receive teaching is, for the most part comfortable, if not challenging. But when the teacher suddenly changes gears and makes the students act on their knowledge, things can get rather exiting (for the teacher), and nerve wracking (for the student, especially when it involves standing in front of people).

Among all the other material, one of today’s exercises was making the students write a song to the Lord, in 20-minutes, and then sing it in front of the class. For some it was normal, for others is was their first time writing a song and, even more, standing in front of people.

Ethan, shown crafting his song above, had a joyful call-answer clapping song that you might hear around a playground, while Abby had a sweet, lofty melody of adoration. Not everyone had to share, but those that did really blessed the rest of the class.

After lunch, the entire school put on a mini-concert for the elderly residents that live in the apartment building of the church (what an awesome ministry to have right inside your church!). They were really touched, and expressed their appreciation of having so many young people around.

After a quick siesta, I did a workshop with the students on team-building in a worship setting, audio basics 101, service layout, song selection, sound check, and ran a basic practice with them (in preparation for a service they’re leading Thursday night). And at the end, we had a rather spontaneous class on prayer as they laid hands on one of the French students who is deaf in his left ear. While he wasn’t healed right there, we’re believing for it this week! Belief for miracles seems to be a theme as Kevin (one of the staff) and I prayed for a Muslim soldier in a Moroccan restaurant last night. He had lost his eye in the war, was so open to Jesus, and was really touched, as were the restaurant owners (who gave us free food afterward!). ch:

Production Within the Church

SOW Day 2