Newest on the Fall series

I had a worship design meeting with the pastors on Tuesday. Here's the latest.

We've decided to keep the curtain upstage, about 6' from the back wall. It will wrap from screen to screen, so it's going to be very wide and go from floor to catwalk. There were a few reasons for keeping it upstage. We are going to keep the words in the curtain, painted on fabric (muslin).

TASK: What we now need to do is come up with about 10 words that will work for the muslin pieces. We're looking for character words, not words that specifically represent each week or message. I'm going to have another meeting this Tuesday and the pastors will pick a few (3 or 4) that will end up on the actual curtain. 10 words gives them some options to pick from and makes their job easier. =)

ON A DIFFERENT NOTE:

This blog doesn't seem to be attracting much attention, as I seem to be the only one who actually posts any ideas. I feel like the email chains were much more productive as far as sharing ideas. After this series is set, I will be returning to the emails. If someone is reading this and strongly disagrees with that, please let me know.

Also, if there is anyone that you know that might enjoy getting on the email chain, please feel free to either give them my contact info or forward their info to me.

Fall Series, 2010

Thanks to those who participated in last night's meeting. I felt it was an extremely productive time.

We mainly addressed two issues: the fabric wall and the title of the series. First, during a meeting I had Tuesday with the pastors, the idea was brought up that the proposed title (Raising Your Relational IQ: Applying Romans 12 to Everyday Life) had a very intellectual feel, whereas the proposed stage design had a very flowy, organic feel. The two "styles" didn't mesh all that well.

At our meeting last night, we used a thesaurus and started with words from the original title. We then used words from the scriptures that Pastor Jonathan is going to focus on (Romans 12:9-21), such as "Relational", "Link", "Elevate", "Capacity", "Whole", and "Relationship".

We came up with this:

RELATIONAL FOUNDATIONS 101:

Learning to Elevate One Another

We felt this had a much more organic feel to it. It's still "learning", as we all have to continue to do, and it also includes the application of the lessons learned.

Any other ideas, feel free to post them.

Also, it appears as though we'll have the pit filler IN for the series. With this in mind, we talked about different places to hang the fabric wall, different shapes and applications, the meaning behind the wall itself, etc. I know that Willard and Pastor Jonathan had mentioned this before, so we talked about putting words directly into the fabric wall. One idea we liked is to have fabric "banners" with words painted/stenciled on them. Words like "Honor", "Love", etc. We could select words directly from Romans 12, but they wouldn't have to apply directly to specific weeks (like the speech bubbles from a few months ago). They'd be more general character words. We would then have the fabric running between the banners. (I'll try and get a sketch up asap). We also talked about the fabric colors getting lighter the higher you go, representing the "elevation".

The placement of the wall was a subject we talked about in length. With the pit filler in, we talked about having the fabric hanging near the DOWNSTAGE side of the pit (that's towards the congregation). This would put MOST of the stage BEHIND the fabric wall. We talked about having the spaces in between the strips of fabric big enough that people would pass through some of them. This also would allow for people to see the video screen through the fabric wall. This accomplishes 2 things: 1.)The wall is virtually transparent, as we should be. Our relationship with other people should be one of transparency, allowing them to see the Love and Power of Christ in our actions and in the way we treat others, and 2.)In order to become who Christ calls us to be, we must separate ourselves from our own sinful tendencies. We must "tear down the wall", as Pink Floyd would say. If we are able to pass through the wall physically, then it no longer represents a barrier.

As far as timing goes, we have 2 weeks until we have to have the title and concept set. At that point, graphics come into play. I'd like to have the entire set totally planned in 4 weeks, as this will give me ample time to get "builders" together and put together this massive fabric wall.

Understand, of course, that all of this has to be ran by the pastors. I do think, however, that we have an excellent idea. I think we can very effectively communicate the idea of Romans 12.

Fall Series

Hey there! I actually have time and access to make a post. Woo-hoo!

The idea of the multi-dimensional background is intriguing, though I admit I cannot visualize the size and depth of the work without thinking of a spider web. Of course, since being bitten by a black widow as a child, I've always been a bit touchy about this.... Perhaps this should be a caution if following this idea, and there should be an effort at having the look of a net, if possible. A net captures us when falling, so there is a symbolic attribute to offer.

However, to offer another train of thought, in building on the idea of IQ, how about a sign that reads, "2 + 2 = 5."? That is, you may think you have your relationship formula figured out, but things may not turn out how you expect. There's always going to be something you miss, and combined with the unexpected, the obvious result to your perfect formula suddenly becomes not-so-obvious. Here's where we need "The Net" -- God's hands and Christ's love.

Food for thought.

Can't make weeknight meetings, so I'll say "God bless" now.

Shine, brothers and sisters.
Willard

Fall Series, 2010

The idea of the next series (September 19-end of October) is "Relational IQ". I spoke with Pastor Jonathan today regarding the series, and he is contemplating using Philippians 2 as his central scripture. Understand, of course, that this is a fluid and organic process. Pastor Jonathan will focus on going where the Holy Spirit leads him to go with this series. That's what makes him such a great pastor.

The idea of the series and scripture is Christ is present in every relationship (not only family related, but work relationships, friendships, neighbors, etc), although not everyone recognizes Him. Philippians talks about living with humility, looking at the interests of others. What does that look like in our everyday relationships? And for those relationships that we have with non-believers, it is all the more important to live that out as it will then open up the doors to ultimately share the Gospel with them.

Pastor Jonathan mentioned a few times to me that Christ isn't necessarily the central figure in every relationship. We know this, of course. Think about the last conversation you had with a family member, friend, or co-worker that DIDN'T involve Christ. I DO THAT EVERY DAY! But the underlying message is that Christ is in the background, always present. Our job is to live with humility, always loving, always shining Christ's light for others to see, although not always verbally proclaiming it. How much more affective is it for someone to notice when we are honest, hard-working, compassionate, or to say "how do you do it?" That is the opportunity then to verbally introduce Christ into the relationship. We earn that opportunity by how much we invest in our relationship with them.

I saw something a few months ago that I really liked, when I was visiting BW. They had made an entire wall from different colored strips of cloth, varying lengths, some patterned some not, all tied at different random angles to each other. I really thought it was incredibly interesting visually. I got to thinking about how all relationships are different. Every single one is unique in itself, with no two being the same. I imagined the entire back wall being covered with this knotted up, random lengths of fabric at different angles. In the sketch, I had placed a cross that would stand out in the center of the fabric, thinking all relationships in our lives are based upon our relationship with Christ. The cross itself would have been white fabric or something that would stand apart from the rest of the wall. I will sketch a quick pic and attach it to this blog. Again I would go with multi-colored fabrics, some patterned, all at random lengths and angles, all knotted together in some way.

After showing the sketch to Pastor Jonathan, he asked about perhaps putting the cross BEHIND the fabric wall, again pointing to the idea that Christ isn't always the focus of our relationships but is always present in them. He also talked about perhaps forming words inside the fabric wall with certain pieces of fabric. He didn't have any specific words, but it's something to think about.

One more thing to ponder. There is no official title yet. Let's get creative with that as well.

Ladies and Gentlemen, START YOUR IMAGINATIVE ENGINES!

First blog

Hey all- I wanted to create a blog spot for everyone to comment and post pics for the stage design team. I'm not sure if this is going to be simpler or not, as it might just be one more thing to check. I know that I will have to have it linked to my email so that I remember to check it often.

If you could all comment on this so that I know everyone got logged in and can participate, that'd be great. Thanks!

Charley