The Worship Artist

Came across this video from Fellowship Church of their 2008 Easter Service. I was really impressed with the video and graphics and how they timed it with the live song. I was specifically impressed with the production element of this service and how I didn’t feel like it was a distraction… I actually felt like every element really aided to the message and the church’s worship.

True Love from FC Post on Vimeo.

I’ve noticed (over the past few years) various labeling of Christians. Some still label themselves as “Christians,” but other’s are labeling themselves as “Christ followers.” I don’t think that the label is wrong or incorrect, but I’ve wondered the reasoning or motive.

The best thing I can figure is that they do not want to be put in the same boat as most “Christians.” Almost as a way to say, “You can like me. I’m not like all the other Christians. I’m different. I’m purely a follower of Christ.”

Any thoughts?

Beyond Church, in the UK, had a very innovative church launch. They had an artist come in for their first service to produce 12 paintings, in one hour, exploring the question of, “am i your God?”

Here’s what the artist said about the evening:

A few months back through my good flickr buddy asboluv www.flickr.com/photos/asboluv/ i had the opportunity to exhibit a painting for the Moot organisation in a swanky gallery in london. Both Asbo and i sold pieces to a brighton based vicar called Martin.

a few weeks ago i was contacted by Martin and was asked to take part in a live painting session as part of a christian based project exploring peoples view of God. I explained i was not a man of god but he said it didn’t matter. He loved my work and thought it would be interesting to see how i approached the topic from an artists perspective. So i said ‘yeah, why not!’, well you would wouldn’t you?! (he was offering to pay!)

Now i don’t know about you but i’m a rather secretive painter, hiding myself away in my studio (well, family room) doing my thing – thats what us artists do – after all as much as we’d like, we’re never going to be rockstars!

I really struggled with this brief.
-my view of God.
-one hour to paint in.
- in front of a live audience.

i decided to use my stick men as a basis and produce 12 canvasses exploring the question “am i your God?”. the idea was to produce slight variations on the theme. it was hoped that the audience might be drawn to one specific painting, identifying some aspect as something they associate with their own idea of ‘god’ .

12 paintings, one hour – it was only when i got there and someone did the maths, that i realised i had given myself 5 mins per painting! i had added the colour to most of them before getting there. but to say i was bricking my pants was an understatement.

what made matters worse was the place. a beautiful and rather big theatre. what does a theatre have? a stage! and there in the middle of the stage was my table. back lit by huge spots.
i was part of an exploration of what is meant by god, images of god through nature, god in us and god incarnate. video and sound projections and interactive webcam activities.

I approached Martin with idea of giving the work away to those that associated with a particular painting and he was well up for it!

i’m not great at estimating but i’d say there were well over 100 people there. i got all but one picture completely finished in the time.

it was a fascinating evening. explaining my work to strangers gave me a real chance to get my own head around what i do. people seemed to really ‘click’ with certain paintings and many were able to give powerful reasons for that association. that was pretty powerful.

if someone told me 12 months ago that i would be painting live on a stage to a bunch of 100 people, people o f faith, i’d have fallen about laughing. it’s through this mad and fascinating world of flickr these opportunities have opened up to me.
Thanks all. thanks for all the great comments, the wonderful collaborations, wacky projects and great friends.

sorry for the rant.

I’d encourage you to check out his flickr account (My Dog Sighs) and see the comments from artists of the community. It seems to have had an impact on the church, the artist, and the artists around him.

Lately I’ve been reading Rob Bell’s book “Velvet Elvis.” I haven’t made up my mind as to how I feel about the book or Rob Bell (thus I’m not ready to endorse it yet). But I did like his views on how Christians label things “Christian” and “non-Christian.” His point was that it is dangerous to label things (other than people) as “Christian” because it then automatically labels everything else as “non-Christian.” What ends up happening is that Christians then accept everything that is labeled “Christian” without ever questioning it.

I would agree with Rob Bell, in this case, that we are in a dangerous place when we start labeling things (besides people) as “Christian” because it assumes that everything that’s not labeled “Christians” is “unChristian.” I also feel like labeling things Christian has almost been a marketing gimmick. Music, T-Shirts, even little mint candies… it’s quite ridiculous actually. Christians not only label things “Christian” but also “Sacred” or “Spiritual.”

Is it possible that everything is created by God and belongs to God… thus, everything by default, is “Christian,” “Sacred,” and “Spiritual.” This isn’t to say that everything honors God, but that everything is/was originally created as honoring to God.

Here’s an interesting video I found on the same topic: Chris Seay – “What Is Sacred?”

Rob Bell – “Everything Spiritual”

What if…

the church was not only relevant, but at the forefront of innovation?

With if…

the church was making culture rather than just trying to keep “relevant?”

What if…

the church strived to find new ways to show their love to God in worship?

What if…

the world looked to church for cultural relevance?

What if…

the church decided to leave traditions passed down from the years of Christendom, and asked the question, “what does it mean to be a Christian in today’s culture?”

What if?