life in 6 words...

Love, love, love spoken words...



Saw this awhile ago...

simple inspiration...

I frequently search flickr.com for inspiration. I feel bad, the first photo in the slideshow is the inspiration for our January stage designs and now I can't find who to give credit to.
This was our stage design at XC for 01/03/10 and 01/10/10.
Really simple-the material panels were safety pinned to the top rear border curtain.
Then we cinched them. The first week we tied knots in the cloth to cinch. The second week we accordion folded the material and safety pinned.

creative fuZion lab //21// simply packaged...

Welcome to "creative fuZion lab" at designing for Philistines (on Thursdays)...

This is the blog kingdom where freaky creatives are able to share the chaos created in their minds for THE Kingdom.

This is the place to share whatever creative element you are using in your weekend service or just something you have been dreaming about.

Come and see what others are doing, come and share what you are doing. Let's spark each other's creativity...

So here’s what you do…

Ready to begin? Here we go.

Let the creative fuZion begin.

Spread the Word.

Dorothy (vicar of vibe)

Today is mostly a repeat of last week. A very simple stage design. But, I got pictures of how I tied the other end of the cloth to the props cage at the school.

I started by attaching on end of the cloth with safety pins to the rope that opens and closes the stage curtains. Then tied it off on the opposite end of the stage to the props cage. Same for the cloth in the front, but it was tied off to the bottom of a mic stand.

I encourage you to utilize whatever you have stage wise. This has been my journey recently. I use everything I am able to get my hands on like this rolling tech cabinet.

So what have you been creating in your mind recently?

creative fuZion lab //19// simply packaged styling...

Welcome to "creative fuZion lab" at designing for Philistines (on Thursdays)...
This is the blog kingdom where freaky creatives are able to share the chaos created in their minds for THE Kingdom.
This is the place to share whatever creative element you are using in your weekend service or just something you have been dreaming about. Come and see what others are doing, come and share what you are doing. Let's spark each other's creativity...
So here’s what you do…
1. Each Thursday YOU post on your blog on whatever creative church element sparks your passion.
2. In your blog, link back to this weeks specific creative fuZion lab.
3. Then post the link to your particular post at the NEW Mr. Linky below.
4. Then come back and comment. If you don’t blog yet, still feel free to share your idea in the comments.
5. Then off you go. Go visit other people’s ideas, comment and share.
6. Ready to begin? Here we go. Let the creative fuZion begin.
Spread the Word.
Dorothy (vicar of vibe)
__________________________
This week "Simply Packaged" idea: Styling the stage with cloth...

Next, my family has asked me to stop climbing on ladders. Several things have happened to me recently and they are concerned for my safety. So this adds a new dimension for planning the stage designs. Either not hang cloth or have someone else climbing the ladders. I've been asking God what He thinks I should do now...
This idea hit me a few weekends ago. We opened the back curtains. Then attached cloth (with safety pins) on the the rope (that opens and closes the curtains) and then closed the curtains, which raise the cloth up like a flag on a flag pole. It took a couple of times to get the placement correct, but it worked extremely well. The pictures of this week are the ones with the red satin cloth.
Then we stretched the cloth across the stage and I had a tall person simply safety pin the other end of the cloth as high up as he could reach.
That's it.

Our creative elements this week was a video that parodies a Swiffer comercial. We are refocusing on the simple things. This week was "love God".

Swiffer Commercial Parody from CrossCurrent Ministries on Vimeo.

Again, our media team (and drama team) hit it out of the park. I can't say it enough. They are mad creative.

Last but not least, over the last three weeks of utilizing our prayer wall, we've had about 200 prayer requests come in. Cool, huh?

So, now take time and tell me about where your creative juices are flowing.
Here is Mr. Linky...

how to use a griff clip...

This seems rather simplistic, but we have been training a couple new people for our ENHANCE team and realized it might be helpful to include simple instructions on how to use a griff clip...



We have several griff clips pre-hung (that remain in the rafters each week). It is a simple inexpensive way to hang cloth. And adds a lot of flexibility. After the gaffers are tied onto the fishing line, the fishing line is then flung over the various light bars and curtain rods.














Pretty much if you see cloth hanging in one of our designs, that is how we do it...


XC purchased these griff clips several years ago. If I am able to find out where they purchased them, I will come back and edit.

Have you used griff clips before?

Will you consider using them now?

creative fuZion lab //7// simple packaged - homeless man

Welcome to "fuZion lab" at designing for Philistines (on Thursdays)...
Once upon a time there was a blog kingdom where freaky creative’s could share the chaos created in their minds for THE Kingdom.
Sadly, it went away. Yet the creative minds keep blogging.
Now there is a place to share all those creative elements again at the fuZion lab on Thursdays.
So here’s what you do…
1. Each Thursday YOU post on your blog on whatever creative church element sparks your passion.
2. In your blog, link back to this weeks specific creative fuZion lab.
3. Then post the link to your particular post at the Mr. Linky below. (It will pop up in a separate window)
4. Then come back and comment. If you don’t blog yet, still feel free to share your idea in the comments.
5. Then off you go. Go back to the pop up window 'Mr. Linky" and visit other people’s ideas, comment and share.
6. Ready to begin? Here we go. Let the creative fuZion begin.
Spread the Word.
Dorothy (vicar of vibe)
________________________________________________________




Creative Elements this week at XC:

This creative package should be fairly easy to recreate.

Focus: People Jesus met: in pain; compassion healing; how should we (how did Jesus) meet people with compassion.

The seed of this element was sown out of a real life person named Steve, who hangs out in front of my Starbucks. I have always wondered how people would react if Steve showed up in a church. He sleeps in the park, is dirty, smelly and his hands are beet red and swollen to double in size due to being in the last stages of severe kidney failure. We contantly have to kick him out of the store bathroom, where he shoots up and leaves his needles.
Yet we try to treat him with dignity and respect.

We used an actor (from another church) to portray a homeless man. Grubby faced, scraggly beard and wild, unkempt hair, he sat on the bench with his shopping cart outside the front door of church (we meet in a middle school) as people entered today. He purposefully wouldn’t interact with people.

We had a "handler". Like the "handlers" that work with Disney characters. He would intercept people at points, as needed.

Very interesting to see peoples reactions. It was one of those elements that would either fly or fall flat on it’s face. It flew. People where talking to him, praying for him, bringing him food, offering help; one man wouldn’t even go into the service, he didn’t want to leave him.

Our pastor, Chris Eads started his message standing in the middle of the auditorium, reading a passage from "In His Steps (What Would Jesus Do)" by Charles Sheldon, written in 1898. This is really a classic must read. The "homeless man" was sitting near him. As our pastor made his way down to the front of the auditorium; the homeless man followed with his shopping cart.

Big impact.

Later in the message Chris had a interview Of two men in our congregation who used to be homeless. Two incredible stories.

We have an amazing congregation.

How do you think you would have reacted to a homeless man sitting in front of your church?

creative fuZion //3// simply packaged…

Welcome to "fuZion lab" at designing for Philistines (on Thursdays)...
Once upon a time there was a blog kingdom where freaky creative’s could share the chaos created in their minds for THE Kingdom.
Sadly, it went away. Yet the creative minds keep blogging.

Now there is a place to share all those creative elements again at the fuZion lab on Thursdays. So here’s what you do…

1. Each Thursday YOU post a blog on whatever creative church element sparks your passion.
2. In your blog, link back to this weeks specific creative fuZion lab.
3. Then link your particular post on Mr. Linky here.
4. Share your name, a brief description of the element and most importantly the link to your blog post where you share your details (and pictures. I love pictures).
If you don’t blog yet, still feel free to share your idea in the comments.
5. Then off you go. Visit other people’s ideas, comment and share.
6. Ready to begin? Here we go.

Let the creative fuzion begin.
Spread the Word.
Dorothy (vicar of vibe)
________________________________________________________

(click to see pictures)

simply packaged…

One of things I love to do is encourage others to branch out with experiential worship elements.
There are simply things that everyone can do.
This week I thought I’d challenge you to try adding baking bread during worship.
We have done it three times this past year. Twice it was simply white bread and we had people come up after church to have some to eat. This week it was cinnamon bread and we handed bread out during the message for everyone to eat. That was a big hit!
Here is a detailed explanation of how we pulled this element off.

DETAILS:

WHAT YOU NEED:
All you need is a bread machine or two.
Bread Mix
Volunteer

ROLL OUT:
We sent out an e-mail to various people to ask if they had a bread machine we could borrow. (I now have 4 people on my list to tap for future bakings). We used two machines this week and it worked well for a 400 seat venue.

Machines: Get the machines ahead of time. I found it critical to test each machine, to find out how long it took and where each machine “beeps” in the cycles and to see if they actually worked. It wouldn’t do to have the machine beeping during a cycle during prayer or the sermon etc. I wrote down the timing.
This was important, especially after discovering one of the machines (the Breadman) made a lot of noise when it was kneading. And it beeped a lot in the beginning cycles.
The timing of the entire process varied (from 80 minutes (Oster machine) to two hours (Breadman machine).

The commonality we found was: the last rising and baking for each machine was 1 hour. This meant there wasn’t any noise going on during that last hour. That is how we determined the timing.

We babysat each machine and unplugged it when it was down to one minute on the timer. That way it didn’t beep at the end.

We carried the machine with potholders out into the hallway to get the loaves out of the machines.

Bread Mixes:
We used Hodgson Mills White Bread Mix (under three dollars a box). It was simple to use, it included the yeast and we only had to add warm water and oil.
Get enough bread mixes to test each machine, to have one available for the pastor to use as a prop, and enough to feed people if you plan on using it for communion, etc. it’s probably good to share it at the end, since I guarantee that people WILL be hungry after smelling bread throughout the worship service.

TO TAKE:
This is what I had to bring with me to church to implement the element at church.

Oil
Measuring cup
Scissors
Big thermos with hot water for bread
Potholders to carry machines and bread
Cloth napkins to wrap bread in
Baskets to put bread in
Paper towels
Various wood, rubber and plastic utensils to loosen bread, etc.
Cinnamon and Sugar mixture

INTEGRATE:
The key is to have it actually relate to the message or theme of the worship that day. But, that is relatively easy to do. This week we were emphasizing the letter to the church at Pergamum in Revelation. Our pastor linked it to provision (manna) and hospitality (lacking in Pergamum).
The previous time, the bread element was linked to the Temple in the Old Testament. The various staging areas in the temple.

If you need help linking the idea to your services, feel free to contact me. I’d love to help you out!

Waiting to figure out how to add popcorn smell one day. Let’s see I need small microwaves…
Seriously.

Tell me, do you like this idea of sharing packaged elements? Do you think this is useful?