rainy Saturday and the red door...

Every curious about how stage designs get done?
This is part of our Creative Team, who gathered on a rainy Saturday to prepare a stage/set design to support an in house sketch written for Easter Sunday. We had a really great time!


Here is the actual performance from Easter.

And this is what the stage looked like on the morning of Easter.

Last, but not least this is the image that was created for our newspaper ads. Love it!

I spend a LOT of my Saturdays, preparing the various elements for the stage design each week. Trust me they don't just magically appear.

bronze planters, l.c.d. votives & little lambies…

Stuffing a a cute lillte lambie in the brazen alter? What in the world? LOL. Yep that is what I did. For our next set of lessons, I went to the Dollar Store again, and looked around for various individual pieces that we could use to interact with.
Over the next three weeks, we broke down the individual pieces of the tabernacle. The goal was to create child friendly pieces for the children to interact with. I broke the lessons down in the same order I did the first week. Outer court, inner court and Holiest of Holies.
Each week we would talk about what would happen at each place in the tabernacle and how it relates to things we do today.

We had rubberized mats with outlines of the tabernacle elements.
1. A bronze planter represented the brazen alter.
We talked about the difference between a sacrificial offering and a thanks offering.
2. A stuffed lamb to represent the unblemished animal that was sacrificed on the brazen alter.
We talked about the link between the unblemished lamb used for the sacrifice – to how Jesus was considered to be the “Perfect Lamb of God”. I found it to be very interesting that they actually got that concept. Never underestimate the mind of a child.
3. A plastic bowl was the laver. (painted bronze).
4. An L.C.D. votive light stood in for the lampstand.
5. We used an actual small incense burner (painted gold) for the incense alter.
6. Painted a little cardboard container gold with 12 round pieces of brown felt to symbolize the showbread table.
7. Then Gold angels on a stick, to be a symbol for the Ark of the Covenant. We have been talking about how Holiest of Holies was the place where God rested with the Israelites. But, no one had access there, since God was so Holy and people were not.

And the very last piece was a simple paper towel. With Easter coming in two weeks, we discussed how the Perfect Lamb of God, died on the cross. But the real miracle that happened was at that very moment, the veil in the temple tore in half. (I didn’t go into the difference between the tabernacle and the temple). Allowing everyone access to be in relationship with God. Then we ripped the paper towel in half. They got it! They got it!

Each week, we sang and had coloring sheets. The last photos in the slideshow: I had printed as photos that the children had more realistic images of what we had been talking about, wth the name written on the back. Sort of like flashcards. At the end everyone went home with a red bucket and pieces for our own tabernacle set, including the very loved lambie. Even the youngest children (18 months & 2 years old), were able to place the pieces of the tabernacle where they belonged. It was really cool.

It was really fun for me that each week during the adult series in Psalms, a reference would be made in the message on the exact portion of the tabernacle study I was working on with the children. How cool is that!
This is the end of our 5 week study. I look forward to doing it again.

Palm Sunday 2011

Simple, simple, simple.
We focused on corporate communion.
These more traditional liturgical banners were created by the wonderful Emily Firestone. She is the lady who God sent - as an answer to prayer for someone who could sew.
It all started with the fact that we were celebrating a Messianic Passover with one of our sister congregations Kehilat Sar Shalom for the second year. We were needing some type of space design for the venue of this event.
So we created the idea of emphasizing the communion elements. They were sewn by Emily.

When the banners were finished, we realized that they would be perfect for our Palm Sunday.
So they were used twice.

turning dollhouse furniture into the tabernacle...

How do you turn dollhouse furniture into mini-models replicating the O.T. tabernacle? I just finished teaching the second session of the pre-school Bible study. For the first week’s lesson, I created a mini-tabernacle made from cut up doll house furniture and other random items.

You are able to actually purchase a Tabernacle Model Kit for $49 plus shipping/handling. It looks nice. But I didn’t feel that would work, since I like to send the children home with items they are able to interact with and tell the story over and over again.
I had an idea of what shapes I am looking for. Have some thoughts on where I could find the various items. Like for the tabernacles articles. I thought it might be good to go to Michael’s and look for doll house furniture that could be taken apart and used in pieces.

Then I went shopping. Went to Michael’s, then Wal-Mart & World Market.
Michael’s I found several pieces of doll house furniture, mini-angels. Wal-Mart: wooden dowels, shapes & glue. Found the bowl for laver at World Market.

Next I cut up the furniture, took off the metal hardware, painted and then reassembled.

I found a really cool laminated brochure that I used.
For the lesson, I explained each item in the tabernacle, what it was used for and passed around the little models. I showed them where they went in the tabernacle, and what they were made of.

Outer Court (items made of bronze)
brazen alter
laver

Inner Court (items made of gold)
lampstand
alter of incense
table of shewbread (showbread)

Holiest of the Holies (cedar & gold)
Ark of the covenant.

Each week we sing our song “The More You Know the Bible”. This particular week we ended with the importance of praising and worshiping God. So we did just that.
We sang, danced and played instruments to:
“You’re Love Never Fails” (Jesus Culture)
“Praise Awaits You” (Matt Redman)
“Facedown” (Matt Redman)
The first and last songs are personal favorites of the children in the study.

So, there you have it.

seeing the bigger picture...

Just a short note here. I am now serving on a local Human Trafficking Task Force. We are simply a group of people from various churches that have a passion for ending human trafficking. While we are focusing on finding and filling the "gap" here in our county; I keep seeing a much bigger picture.
I'm talking a ginormous, big, hairy picture.
It's hard to completely define at this point but:
It includes creating a dance/performance arts group. And I don't dance (LOL)
Building a place of restoration for victims of trafficking and abuse. Called "La Casita" a little house making a big difference. This concept geared more towards a community center, has been on my heart for years.
Creating some sort of nation-wide coalition of believers to address the issue of modern day slavery.
Creating some way of getting the word out about trafficking. To engage people I meet on the street about the issue. Maybe t-shirts?
Don't know where this is going. I am being transformed. I see it, I don't get where it is going. But, that's o.k. I learned a long time ago, when God is speaking, I just wait, listen and don't ask a lot of questions.
Just letting it percolate...

right choices are always followed by right feelings...

This week was a personal testimony of restoration from a wonderful couple.

Testimony of Restoration

creativity is easy, implementation is hard work...

A lot of creative elements is work and some is just thinking & vapor…
Sometimes I imagine that some people think a stage design just shows up in my car and we put it together. Not so… Sadly it is hard to explain what the creative thinking entails. Looks so simple, when I look at the photos. And sadly I didn’t get pictures of the laver and brazen altar fire. Oh well…


Here goes: This is How to Create the Temple Elements in 60 Easy Steps:
1. Meeting one: by txt. Can we do temple set-up again. Think. Pray. O.k. Will need extra people.
2. Research previous temple set-up. What do I still have, what do I need. How am I going to do it?
3. Shopping at two different Walmarts and Michaels.
4. Draw out ideas and set-up
5. Meeting:
6. In between shopping at Ikea.
7. Think. Pray.
8. Type up general directions for set-up team and meeting. Posted on basecamp.
9. Search pictures on-line for team.
10. Think.
11. Found laver. And items for brazen altar.
12. Oh yes, in between all of this I read 2 Chronicles.
13. Took notes.
14. Painted laver gold. Wrong color. Ugh!
15. Research the Temple set-up. Think.
16. Looked at all the cloth in car. Need to find all the shiny cloth (bronze, gold and silver) and chiffon (at least 4-6 pieces)
17. Type up general directions for set-up team and meeting. Posted on basecamp.
18. Meeting. Work on details. Prep team. Explain how it will work.
19. Think: Decided not to do brazen altar.
20. E-mail reminder for 6:30 a.m. call at school for set-up.
21. Think about setting up crown and think about the nebulas idea of the “glory of the LORD”.
22. Went to CVS for power strip
23. Get bread mix.
24. Clean two folding tables.
25. Pulled out plug-ins. Get urn.
26. Make bread.
27. Take bronze plate down from wall (it hangs in my living room), get legs out of attic.
28. Study temple set up again (location of the elements in the temple) online and confirm various materials (gold vs. bronze, etc) each element was made of.
29. Make a list.
30. Type more detailed instructions for team. Printed out.
31. Never found incense bowl used before. Came up with alternative. An old salad bowl.
32. Painting incense bowl bronze.
33. Load half the things in my car.
34. Located and gathered safety pins.
35. Go to office. Found bronze cloth and 3 pieces of chiffon. And candelabras, left two because they did not fit in my car.
36. Ran some cloth thought the dryer to get wrinkles out. Rolled up.
37. Rolled up yet more cloth.
38. Txt to find other cloth.
39. Finish list. Bed.
40. Wake up at 5:00
41. Finish loading car.
42. Camera, coffee, Bible, bag, cleaning material..
43. Pray. Drive to school for 6:30 call.
44. Decided not to use crown.
45. Unload car and haul it in.
46. Bronze piece for laver didn’t dry. Ugh! Bronze paint everywhere.
47. Txt’s. Some people are running late.
48. Did the showbread set-up while waiting. Organized various pieces.
49. Lampstand done by producer.
50. Deploy team with instructions. One team on laver, one team on cloth on stage, one team on incense.
51. Will need ladder.
52. Set-up plug-ins for incense smell. Had to work with person.
53. Future note: need to label the various scents.
54. Need to raise level of certain pieces. Think. Move rolling cabinets all the way around to raise one piece. Cover in cloth.
55. O.k. I am going to do it. Create on the fly the “glory of the LORD”. It worked. Yippee!
56. Asked to raise a second element higher. Hmmm…get conductors platform from back stage and wrap in golden cloth.
57. Asked to add in fire (brazen altar) after all. Think.
58. Pastor happy. Go team! Said some thank you to people.
59. Break all of it down. Seems like that takes longer than setting up.
60. Help load trailer; then got help to load all the temple stuff back into my car.
Now all of it is still sitting in my car…

Since we do a lot of Old Testament Study, I can see the value and am seriously looking at taking the time and just making a nice set of temple elements to use in the future & box it up.

how does God do that?

This week I had NO IDEA where the Chris' may be going with the message. I always find it interesting when praying, reading and preparing for the stage design to see where God leads me. This is where God led me this week.

First I was drawn to the great story about Elijah the prophet in 1st Kings 19: Elijah was waiting on the LORD in the mountain and the Lord comes to Elijah in a gentle whisper.
Then, I decided to add 1st Kings 18 when Elijah was challenging the false prophets of Ba’al.
Hopefully this reflects both.
The first two pics are what I drew out as the concept.


(fb friends link to http://designingforphilistines.blogspot.com/ for pics.)
I then found out on Friday, the last song was going to be “Fire Fall Down”. Perfect.

Pulled everything together. This morning when I was told what the pastor was talking about today. I got flat out excited! It was 1st Kings 18, with an emphasis on 1st Kings 19.

So everything was set up at the rear of the stage (mid stage right)
Here are the plans we had. Mostly the same as last week; grey tech cart covered with black cloth.
This week we wanted to raise it up higher.
So were thinking about adding ½ of the cover for the sound board on top of grey cart and also covering it in black.
Placing the crown on top of that.
Then hanging either purple or red satin (hopefully red, if we can find it), vertically behind it.
Then placing an oscillating fan behind the material. The hope being that the fan will billow the material and cause it to move gently, reminiscent of the fire the Lord sent and the gentle whisper.

Well, it worked. And the oscillating fan gently moved the cloth…
But, I was moved by the same still voice of God that helped me create the stage design this week.
WoW! Gotta love how God works!

going, going, gone…

I am sure the only person that will care about this is Jim Drake. I design with a lot of fabric. It is so quick & easy to use, particularly for a mobile church. And it fills up an empty black stage really well.

A couple of years ago you could find tons of material at Walmart for only $1 a yard.
Gotta love Walmart
Then about a year ago, Walmart decided to close out most of their fabric/sewing departments.

So I researched and found one location that still would continue to carry fabric in my area. It’s only 8.5 miles away, but in the DC Metro area that is about a 40 minutes drive. The cost of the fabric slowly crept up to $2 a yard. O.k. I dealt with that. So, every 8 weeks or so, I would travel to Fair Lakes and see what they had in stock. Probably spending $40-$80 each time.

Well, Thursday I made my little trip to the fabric Walmart. Oh, everything was 25% off. Yippee! Then I found out why. They were closing out their sewing/fabric department there also - to make room in the store to convert it to a Super-Walmart.

Ugh! Oh, no…
What am I going to do now?
Yes, I know there are other fabric stores. But when designing on a budget, there is nothing like getting fabric for $2 a yard vs. $4.95 and up at other fabric retailers; especially when it comes out of my personal pocket & when I purchased around 15-20 yards at a time.
I bought extra Thursday. They may get another shipment, so I will make another trip (or two) out there and stock up.
Thankfully I have quite a bit of fabric now in stock. We are currently organizing, hemming and measuring all the material we have on hand.
In light of all the praying and reevaluation we have been doing, I gather it is time to revamp my thinking. We will see where this journey shall lead.

extrapolating experiential elements from extreme sheep herding....

While I've seen sheep herding with lights before; this is extreme sheep herding. And it reminds me of an experiential element I've thought about for church.
No, I am not going to rent a bunch of sheep; simply because that is really expensive. No seriously, renting animals is expensive and yes I have checked it out.
So see this...



...this combined with: we were talking about a previous designing for Philistines post this week at creative team-where GCC plays Simon Says (April 2008)

see this...

Camp Friendship Plays Simon from Grant Ferguson on Vimeo.

Obviously this would be for fun; but it could work when discussing communication, doing what God asks you to do. Actually that is why we were discussing it at our creative team meeting. We were planning for the 1 Chronicles message later this month. Thinking about what you are willing to do when God asks you to do something and/or where would you draw the line...
Thinking several things.
For example: Creative movement/percussive element
Lights out.
Dancers entering from the back, walking up the aisle creating movement light designs with glow sticks to a percussive beat. Maybe handing out glow sticks to people in the crowd. Lead into opening worship set. Band with glow sticks encircling their arms?
That's just one idea I was thinking about.
Just thinking...

yesterday I went to an adult oriented sex store with a man, not my husband….

Often with me there is a story behind what I say; this is no different.

Here is the back story…
It all began with just a few seconds in time, a few words quoted from a newspaper article.
In a special message given by my friend Greg Genter, May 30, 2010, entitled “My Lavish Lifestyle”. Nestled in his message (about 38 minutes), he briefly mentioned a newspaper article.
This is what he said (quoting from the article)…

3 massage parlors were shut down in Sterling (a local community in our area) because of sex trafficking. Congressman Wolf described the crime as this “Sexual services performed at a businesses operating under the guise of a massage parlor or other business store fronts This establishment is forcing women into sexual trafficking through debt bondage, isolation and other manipulations to keep women indoors at all time, unable to escape.”
Wolf announced his intent to encourage all local officials to begin further investigation into human trafficking In addition he will be asking local religious organizations to begin provided temporary housing for those rescued from human trafficking.

Those few seconds have snowballed.

Since Congressman Wolf had asked specially for faith-based organizations (that new pc word for churches) to step in, our pastors talked and called his office. They got to meet with the Congressman in person.
During that time, we found out that Congressman Wolf’s office had sent out somewhere around 400 letters to various churches in our local area asking for help. Sadly not one responded. We were not one of those churches.
We called simply because of that little blurb in the newspaper that Greg read to us.
One of the things that was shared in that meeting was the police are aware of various locations in our area that are trafficking people sexually (including children) in this area and are prepared to raid them-but the problem is there is nothing really established to provide after care for the victims.

Now the second part; our pastors are involved in a Pastors Consortium in our county. The consortium has decided to take stopping Human Trafficking in our area on as a cause.
Then they contacted and invited in Polaris Project to come and present a training session on how to identify the various types of human trafficking in our neighborhoods. It was cool. We had at least 50 people, representing 9 churches in our county and multiple organizations involved in this issue.

Next, one of the previous members of our church was in town and had lunch with our lead pastor. Just a catch up lunch. During lunch, Dan Clark was sharing what he has been doing in Ohio. He and his wife had started an organization called Doma International, Among others things, Doma steps into the judicial system and stands with the victims of Human Trafficking and provides after care.

This has lead to developing a local Human Trafficking Task Force for Loudoun County/Northern Virginia. I am part of that task force.

Can you see how God is moving to bring all these pieces of a puzzle together?

We are currently meeting. We are praying for discernment for God’s will on what we should be doing to help this issue. Part of it is finding on what is needed to see if we are able to contact all the services we can find in our area and put the pieces of the puzzle together, help them to work together, and then see where the missing puzzle piece is and fill that gap. Then the pastors consortium will take present this plan to their churches and let people know-this is how you can personally get involved.

We know that we will be hosting a second training session on victim identification education program by Polaris Project. This time we probably be using a 2,000 seat venue, And afterwards offering people places to put action behind their feelings of wanting to serve.
It’s in the beginning phases, but we are very excited to see where God is going to lead us.

So back to, why did I go to a adult sex store? A friend thought they might be interested in at least providing materials to their customers and helping support this project. Strange bed fellows you may think, but this connection will reach people that you and I can not reach. The first meeting was a success. They are willing to have materials displayed in their store and they are willing to e-mail their “Friends” list informing them of the next victim identification education program.

What we did may not make sense to you. But it worked. This is a very real issue in many areas; chances are it is happening in your town. You may simply not be able to see it. If it burdens your heart - I challenge you to do something.

before it went viral...

I know it is way early to start talking about next year (or is it?), but I had a thought for next Christmas.

It started with Campbell’s question and comments at the leadership dinner last week. (121210)
The question was, which person from the Christmas story do you identify with and why?
Then his message was on how important telling "stories" are.
Then I received this vid from Igniter Media "A Social Network Christmas" (121610). Check it out.




Perfect intro.
So for next year I was thinking about short vignettes about each person in the story of the birth of Christ. Either live and/or videos.
Who would you be…
STORY of the nativity
Work with the pastors as to what each person would be feeling.
Zechariah -
Mary - with a photo montage of pictures of a 12 year old girl - when you really think about her being about 12 and seeing 12 year olds - it feels very different. (thought came from Mark Driscoll)
Elizabeth -
Joseph -
Shepard(s)
An animal

So, we will see how this plays out for next year...

capturing the convoluted process of creating a stage design idea…

This is the thought process for me, behind creating a stage design.
1. Read the synopsis: “Unpack the seven or eight identifiable attributes of spiritual maturity that we seek to gain; use the stories from (1st & 2nd Samuel, 1st & 2nd Kings, 1st & 2nd Chronicles) etc. to identify example of those who got maturity right, or those who didn’t as positive / negative reinforcement. “
2. Try to get more details. Ha, ha. That didn't work, until much later.
3. Prayer, lots of prayer…
4. Study 1st & 2nd Samuel. Re-read “Tale of Three Kings” (Gene Edwards) since I know our lead pastor really likes that book. I also recommend it. Study the “Relevant Word” (our study guide for the year). Based on this, it is a fairly safe bet that the teaching pastor will be covering Samuel/Saul/David...
5. Glean info: obedience, waiting on the Lord, & having total trust in God's intentions for
our lives. First two by prayer and reading, last one from an e-mail from the pastors wife.
Now go...what do you think the stage design should be?

6. EUREKA: An idea! A crown!

Now this is the part of the creative process I can't explain. It just happens. Input information and out pops an idea in my brain. I give all the credit God.

(fb friends, pictures here)

7. Draw out idea (I often do this on a Starbucks bag, during lunch at work).
8. Make a list of things to do.
9. Ask dear sweet hubby to get Coroplast in Springfield (1 ½ hrs)
This is my first time working with coroplast.
10. Measure twice, cut once.
11. Cut the crown out of the coroplast with a box cutter/utility knife and (drill/punch) details out. Ugh! Here is the point where I bemoan the fact I am not artistic or handy. I AM creative, but sometimes implementation is rough (face/palm).
12. Glue on details.
13. Finding gold spray paint (it may be in my garage or at the church offices). Finally found the spray paint. Hubby had hid it.
14. Paint it, let it dry…Remembered to wear gloves this time, so I don't have gold fingers and nails.
15. Get jewels. (Two stores. WalMart & Michaels)
16. Add additional detailing of jewels.
17. Get the crown in the car and transport it to the school (easier said than done)...
18. Get the tall ladder. Decided not to fly the crown, but just set it up above band.
19. Hang it up.. (forget that detail)
20. Ta! Da!
21. Take it back down, put in trailer.
22. Put ladder back.
Repeat 17. - 22. for several weeks.
There you have it...

visitor jitters...

I didn't anticipate that I would feel so nervous & apprehensive about visiting another church this Sunday.
But it is a good thing. I used to visit other churches frequently. So having a free Sunday gave me the opportunity to explore the feelings of making the decision to attend a church and what it feels like to be a first time attender. It's always good to get a fresh look at what others are doing.

First off, I checked online...some had good information. Some did not and were hard to navigate.
I was looking at about 4 or 5 churches. I think the deciding factor for me today was ease and the fact that they had visitor parking and said so up front. Also there was a possibility I might know a person or two there.
A couple had shuttle services to satellite parking. Didn't want to face that. Ugh! I am actually a very shy person in new situations.
I knew some of what to expect from the website. Directions were easy to follow, though I did google it to be sure.
It was nice to have a sign directing me to the visitor parking as i entered the parking lot and they had ample visitor parking near the front door. Cool!
Welcome Center right in side the door. Not comfortable going there.
Lots of greeters, opening the door, saying "hi!" and handing out bulletins.
Like the fact that they had the announcements rolling on the screen during the countdown. I learned a lot about what was going on. Easier to see and watch than trying to decipher the bulletin. Too much information.
Worship right up front. About 20 minutes. Most songs I didn't know.
Then the greet and meet. Stayed seated. Didn't know anyone. Not approached.
NOTE to self: Make sure to look for people sitting down and go out to greet them.
Service was smooth, though I didn't know where it was going, since I didn't see the order of service in the bulletin. Is that important?
The message was good from a guest speaker.
Communion at the end, really nice. Picked up a neat little idea from that.
After the service; I actually ran across someone I knew from my church. We didn't have services today at XC (that is a whole other story). It was nice to see someone I knew.

Now, from my creative point of view. I wish I had brought a camera. The stage design was great.
A snapped a couple pics with my cell phone:

I would love to be able to sit down and talk to the person who does the stage designs for them. I think that could be possible, since our church does have connections with the church I visited.
All in all, a nice experience.
If I was searching for new church I probably would give it another try.

another BLANK stage...

Yes, another blank stage.
O.k. so we had a few poinsettias.
December 20th, we performed a Willow Creek drama. Lots of busy-ness on the stage.
So, no real stage design.
In the meantime trying to plan the stage design for January literally on a wing and a prayer (o.k. lots of prayer).
Then for Christmas Eve, it was requested that we decorate the interior of the auditorium to somewhat reflect a traditional Christmas decor. In addition to another drama sketch entitled "Stolen Jesus".

Along with praying about January; we are still taking time to reevaluate the contribution and value of the stage designs, particularly when it meets the crush of a Sunday only set-up and tear down.
The stage designing is not going away.
Yet...
Can we continue to implement creativity in so little time?
Are we in the way of the other teams?
Does it really impact people's journey?
Does it entice the skeptic, challenge the lukewarm & ignite passion in the believer (to go into the world)?
This ENHANCE team prays and designs so the stage reflects the message being given, just like the other teams. If it was simply decoration, I wouldn't be doing it. We design experiential elements that hopefully land the truth of what is being shared. We work to engage ALL the senses in the worship experience.
After the holidays, the leadership often will offer to let us take a break from creative elements. That means dramas, videos, dances, etc.
For example, just in the last several weeks; we have done a dance/movement element, 2 drama sketches, 2 videos pieces, 4 take-away or experiential experiences-challenges.
Well, that break doesn't really include the stage. *smiles*.
This is the synopsis that we have to work from for the next couple months:

Unpack the seven or eight identifiable attributes of spiritual maturity that we seek to gain; use the stories from (1 & 2nd Samuel, 1 & 2nd Kings, 1 & 2nd Chronicles) etc. to identify example of those who got maturity right, or those who didn’t as positive / negative reinforcement.

That's it. Now go...what do you think the stage design should be?

envisioning the future…

I envision it now, fb filled with images of Menorahs to commemorate the festival of lights, pictures of Ashura pilgrimages, the meditative thoughts of Bodhi Day, the time of devout and penitential preparation of the soul for the proper and worthy celebration of the great feast of Christmas for the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, the celebration of family, community and culture of Kwanzaa and, dare I say it?
Christmas Nativities to celebrate the birth of Christians long awaited Messiah…

Today my profile pic isn’t a nativity…but more importantly a reminder of the expectancy….

THIS is what excites me in my faith journey about the season. To imagine what it was like back then...patiently waiting for the long awaited and prophesied Messiah.

Can you imagine the years of anticipation that lead up to this moment in time?

By next year, maybe people of the Christian faith will be posting Nativities, those who simply celebrate the Santa man, could post pictures of Santa & elves...

If you choose not to believe any of it…well, then keep your profile picture of whatever…

Start a revolution…

Don’t muzzle or deny others, but humbly share the excitement that fills your life.

all riled up...

Not sure what has finally gotten me all riled up about Christmas today, but I definitely am.
Was it because I was shocked today when the man at the bank actually said "Merry Christmas" to me; I was so surprised. I turned around and said "Why, thank you. Merry Christmas to you."
Was it yet another story on fb about the offensiveness of the Nativity, or no wait, was that a Christmas tree?
Or was it the song about the 12 days of "winter"?
That's it. While I respect the beliefs of others; I have the right to believe what I belive. I'm not telling anyone that they have believe what I do.

I believe in Christ. I believe in celebrating Christmas. You are free to celebrate or not celebrate, whatever you wish.
"But, as for me & my house" we celebrate the birth of Jesus.
Therefore, I am going to post a different pic of the Nativity as my profile picture from ...now-through Christmas. And you know what, no one can stop me!
I already have posted my first one as my profile pic.

Here are some others that I am considering...


Merry CHRISTmas!

SHOUT...

Nothing big and flashy, just a simply SHOUT element. We were studying the book of Joshua a couple of weeks ago, and I can't think of Joshua without the battle of Jericho. Think about it, seriously...God tells a group of warriors, strong, bold, courageous...hey there, just walk around the city
once every day for six days with the seven priests carrying ram's horns in front of the ark.
On the seventh day you big strong men march around the city seven times and then the priests blow their ram's horns.
That's what they did-and gave a war cry. The walls of the city collapsed, and the Israelites were able to charge straight into the city.

The stage was very simple.
Bought and painted some trash cans and buckets. Sorry, I am so not a graffiti artist.


So this is what we ended the service with...
SHOUT element at about minute 44
Let it buffer, then watch...

how to make teeny, tiny books....

Link to how you make teeny, tiny books...

intentionally BLANK stage design for church…

The next few Sundays the stage design @XC will mostly be BLANK.

There are still some who prefer a BLANK stage for a variety of reasons. While I won’t delve into those reasons, suffice it to say the naysayers have it this month.

Trying not to let the negative comments overcome us. Simply taking time to reevaluate the contribution and value of the stage designs, particularly when it meets the crush of a Sunday only set-up and tear down.

When we were discussing the implications of going to a Sunday only set up, we tried to explain that the added in stage elements (drama, dance and stage design) would have the toughest time with implementation.

So the stage design team is praying and talking. Thoughts?