When the guru sat down to worship each evening, the ashram cat would get in the way and distract the worshipers. So he ordered the cat be tied up during evening worship. Long after the guru died, the cat continued to be tied up during evening worship. And when the cat eventually died, another cat was brought to the ashram so that it could be dutifully tied up during evening worship. Centuries later, learned treatises were written by the guru’s disciples on the essential role of a cat in all properly conducted worship. (Source Unknown)

“The answer to the church’s problems doesn’t lie in greater creativity or better music or more relevance or a better understanding of culture or even of the arts. The solution lies in asking better questions. Or at least that’s where we need to start. If we don’t ask the right questions, we can fall for the Ashram Cat fallacy.”  – Mark Pierson (from his upcoming book release “The Art of Curating Worship”)

Last November, Bill Swaringim came to me with an idea: to create a gathering, a space to facilitate community and dialogue surround the topic of “visual worship”. Months later, we gathered in St. Louis. We had no expectations and braced ourselves for what might take place. And people came…hungry for community and for challenging dialogue. Not only did 20+ people attend, but 60+ people tuned in online for the majority of the day’s conversations.  The day seemed like a success, and we left with that “cloud 9″ kind of feeling. We knew this had to be the beginning of something exciting.

Only two months later, we decided to host a similar gathering in the Nashville area. The approach was the same, but the content of the day’s discussions was different than that of St. Louis. The online community forged over twitter and blogs went offline and grew even deeper over philosophical discussions on worship, new expressions of art, cutting edge technology & many bowls of chips & salsa. For it’s one thing for a “tribe” to connect online, but if you ever take your community “offline”, then you will quickly form a belief that social media is simply a means to an end.

For a while, we created a make-shift website that served as a home for information & registration for these first few gatherings. But this week, I’m excited to announce that we have a new online home @ VisualWorshipRoundtable.com! And for the sake of blog post titles, I’m calling it “VWRT 2.0″! A big shout-out to Katie Strandlund for coming on board and designing the new site! Thanks Katie!!

Visual Worship Roundtable gatherings (VWRT for short) were launched to challenge visual worshipers and the Church to use visual media to help others experience God and be transformed into who He has called us to be. Each VWRT is designed to be a space for intentional dialogue and relationship building among the visual worship tribe, which includes anyone who believes that visual media has the potential to add depth and meaning to our corporate worship gatherings.

These are not times to find out what the latest, greatest methods & tools are…nor are these times to be trained or learn how to do our jobs better. Instead, we dedicate the day’s discussions to why we do what we do and to dig deeper into the purpose of corporate worship and how the visual plays a role in that. By taking this approach, we believe we will develop into better visual worship leaders & curators.

On the new site, you will find out what to expect at a VWRT, a little about who’s leading these conversations, ways to continue the dialogue beyond the roundtable events, and information on upcoming gatherings.

Speaking of upcoming gatherings, I’ve got two to tell you about today!

1) ECHO – if you are registered for ECHO (taking place in Dallas next week!!!), then you will be able to attend our late night VWRT hang out on Thursday night! There will probably be an announcement made during the event sometime, but if not, just pay attention to the official @VisualWorship twitter feed for more details. The after-hours session will probably only last an hour, but it will be a good time to connect with each other and maybe dive into a discussion or two. And there just might be an announcement made about an after-ECHO lunch on Friday, but you’ll have to come to find out more. :)

2) STORY – for those of you attending Ben Arment’s STORY conference in Chicago, we are working on a lunch for those interested in visual worship for one of those days. More information will be given at the conference. But we are also hosting a post-STORY VWRT that Friday night and Saturday. If you aren’t able to come to STORY (which is a tragedy), you can still come to VWRT. We will have registration available for those dates soon.

Be sure and follow @VWRT for all the latest information and announcements as we continue to unfold this dream and facilitate future gatherings for our tribe!

Every Monday night, Mark Pierson curates a worship gathering called “Transient”. It’s unlike any worship event you’ve probably been to. There’s no stage, no band, no “front”.  It’s not meant for a large crowd but designed and hand-crafted for just a few. You won’t hear any well-known worship songs, in fact, you probably won’t sing at all. There’s no real start time, however, you are greeted with a “reflective space” that lasts for a half hour or so. When the mood feels “right”, the curator welcomes everyone, leads a responsive reading & prayer time, then goes on to explain the theme & direction for the night. The room is set up with stations for the worshipers to interact with. Jesus-centered & thought-provoking activities that allow you to express a prayer or response in many ways. It’s sometimes messy and left unfinished…and I’ve learned that sometimes that’s the whole point.

Last night, Mark invited me to curate with him by projecting visuals around the room. It was an experience I will never forget; I was left inspired & challenged. It tapped into some dreams and visions that I’ve had for a while but never really fleshed out before. I don’t know what it would look like, but I really want to carry this back home and try this out in my own community.

I’ve been asked before how “visual worship” (in the projected media context) could translate into small, intimate group settings. I’ve never really had a good answer… until last night.

I heart New Zealand!

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I didn’t realize it before, but I think I’m part “kiwi”. I absolutely love it down here in New Zealand!

I arrived Monday night (after flying 12+ hours and scoring a free upgrade to business class!) and jet lag has not affected me in the least bit. I think I’ve destroyed my body clock or something….. oh well! :)

One of the first things I did when getting here was go to the top of Mt Eden in the middle of the city. You can see everything from up on top. But here’s the kicker: it’s a VOLCANO! How cool is that?!

I’m spending most of my time in Auckland, which is an incredible city. Great vibe…very cool, simplistic & industrial design/architecture everywhere, friendly people, cool “euro” vibe and very laid back… oh, and there’s a coffee drink here called a “Flat White” that I’m already addicted to. It’s a hybrid between a latte & a cappuccino, with lots of froth. Mmmmm.

My main connection down here is a guy named Mark Pierson. You may have heard me talk about him here and there, and you are only going to hear about him more as time goes on. I met Mark at an Emergent Worship conference back in 2004 via Sally Morgenthaler, and we’ve continued to keep in touch. Mark is a “worship curator” and is providing a new language and vocabulary for what many of us are already doing in the realm of creating environments for worship. He has a book coming out later this year called “The Art of Curating Worship: redefining the role of worship leader”. Those of you coming to my session at ECHO will hear a little more about this concept of “curation”. I am digging it BIG TIME.

Every Monday night, Mark curates an event called a “transient worship service”. It’s a very alternative type of worship gathering, and anyone in the city is invited to come. It takes place in the basement of a church downtown. It’s a very non-linear, interactive worship experience. When you first walk in, there is a quiet reflective space and time for meditation. Then, the curator leads the group through a liturgy of prayers, confessions, and times of reflection. It’s very rich with media and images, but not in a high-production context. Very “lo-fi” and simplistic, yet uber-creative. There are also stations spread out in the room where you can reflect, draw, read scripture and take communion.  I found it to be a great opportunity to unwind and disconnect and to experience God in a very fresh and contemplative way. I see what Mark is doing with these environments as a small glimpse into what the future of our worship gatherings might look like. Who knows!

Mark has some pretty cool friends. One guy does all the soundtrack mixing for Peter Jackson’s films. Another is U2’s lighting guy. And one other was on the team that projected visuals onto the Sydney Opera House. Just drool over this for a moment, why don’t you:

On Tuesday, Mark & I met with Naomi Lamb, one of New Zealand’s top VJs. Naomi found my blog while doing research on VJ-ing for her Masters Thesis… yes, a thesis on VJ-ing!! She’s not messing around, folks. She’s very creative…projecting onto rocks, cliffs & rivers, and throwing parties where people come dressed in white and paint is splattered everywhere. I was very inspired by what she had to share. All the theory and concepts she was talking about made my approach look like child’s-play.

Mark also works at World Vision’s New Zealand offices as the church relations manager/liaison. This morning, Mark & I led the chapel service. I got to share my story, talk about visual worship, and show some examples of churches that have been transformed by visual media.

After the Chapel Service (and another “Flat White”), a guy named “Goff” came to pick me up. Goff is THE MAN in New Zealand when it comes to production. He has many connections in the world and has a huge heart for the Church. He owns “The Production Company” in Auckland and produces events for all sorts of people (like Brooke Fraser, New Zealand’s top pop artist). Goff is the one leading the Frequency Conference, which is the main reason I’m here this week. Goff and I went to City Impact Church for a site check (where Frequency is being hosted). It’s a pretty sweet facility, completed built by the congregation! They have three 6500 lumen Christie projectors available, so we brought them to the back of the room….( just to see what it would look like)… the results were amazing!!! Looks like Frequency’s gonna get hit with a little Environmental Projection this weekend! :)

Afterward, we joined back up with Mark Pierson for some lunch. We also met with Evan Cowan & Wayne Huirua from Equippers Church. Evan is their all-things-media/creative guy, and Wayne is their worship pastor. Wayne is also the mastermind behind the Parachute Band/Music/Festival that is huge in New Zealand. Today came full-circle for me b/c the first band I VJ’d for (after graduating college) was Parachute Band …but we hadn’t met until now!

Funny story: I asked Wayne if he had any PowerPoints or Keynotes for his talk at Frequency this weekend. His response: “All of my points have power, mate! And all my notes are key!” haha

So on Sunday, I get to lead/curate some visual worship for Equippers Church! They have all sorts of cool stuff going on… including these live worship recordings that you should download! They bounce between a few venues, but this Sunday, we’ll be in Aotea Theatre in downtown Auckland. Kind of small if you ask me, but I guess it’ll have to do. ;)

Today was a new milestone for me in that I did my first ever radio interview!!! Sure, I did a few little radio spots here and there back in High School, but this was a totally legit show about being a “worship VJ” and explaining what “visual worship” is all about! I thought it was interesting to have a conversation about a visual medium on a show that is delivered via radio. But it went really well. The host and I just jumped right in and had a quick 10-minute conversation, just like it was over coffee, except that tons of people were tuning in. Crazy! Shout out to the peeps at LifeFM of Auckland for thinking outside the box and allowing for a such a unique conversation on the air! Here’s a short section of the interview that I recorded with my iPhone:

LifeFM interview

Goff and I ended the day by grabbing some dinner (or “tea”, as they call it down here) with Sarah (his wife) and a girl named Katie, who just spent 3 months in Haiti doing relief work. And this being right after 3 years of relief work in Darfur in Sudan! We had a beautiful backdrop for our seafood meal… right on the harbor, getting an incredible view of the Auckland skyline at sunset.

So that’s just been the first three days! I’ve still got another week and half to go!

Frequency kicks off on Friday night, so I’ve got a lot to prepare for tomorrow…. setting up projection, creating playlists, prepping my keynote and workshops. I’m pretty excited for the church techies here, as this is really the only gathering they have each year for their “tribe”. There’s talk of doing this type of thing more, maybe based around a breakfast or lunch…. sounds like #CTDRT New Zealand Chapter in the making!!

Next week is sure to bring more adventures. A few things in the works: bungee jumping off the harbor bridge, speaking on visual worship at a university, curating a transient worship service with Mark Pierson, tour of Peter Jackson’s studios in Wellington, meeting up with @JonoHale in Levin, road trip to Rotorua (where I might bungee jump again), and a possible tour of Hobbiton!!! Yes… one of the actual places where Lord of the Rings was filmed. The Shire really does exist!

Alas, it’s almost 2am my time, and most of you reading this are just now waking up and getting out the door. Time to get some sleep. It’s a long way to Mordor from here and I need my rest.

“If I take one more step, it will be the furthest from home that I’ve ever been.” – Samwise the Brave

•  I’ve been on the road way more than usual lately. I’m typically home (in Nashville) about 1-3 days each week. People ask if I’m burnt out or tired, and I can honestly say no. In fact, I’ve enjoyed it a lot more lately and strangely find “home” to be wherever I am, as long as friends are there with me. For the first time in my life, I feel truly nomadic! It’s definitely not for everyone…and it has it’s downsides…but I’m loving it right now! And it’s hilarious when people ask me, “Why do you even have a house in Nashville?!”

•  My mom just turned 60 and we threw a huge surprise party for her! She had no idea I was coming home…it was awesome!! the whole family (and the whole church) showed up at our house. My dad even brought in a string trio to play Andrew Lloyd Webber & classical music! Happy Birthday Mama!

•  Most of my time on the road has been with the Living Proof Live events (LifeWay, Beth Moore, Travis Cottrell). I’m thankful for these events and for the family-like team I travel with. None of these events are cookie-cutter…each one is specifically designed for each city. So it keeps me on my toes and brings some really creative challenges to my role! They are the best leaders I have ever worked with…they make room for mistakes (which allows for authenticity) and empower each of us to operate in our gifting with great freedom. And they encourage me like no one else does. We always say, “We’re not slick, but we’ll give you everything we’ve got!” I heart them big time!

•  Last week I got the privilege of subbing for Nate (my biz partner) on the GUNGOR tour. It was one of the most creative experiences I’ve ever been a part of. And Nate did a killer job at creating the VJ playlists for the tour. A new addition last weekend was hanging a scrim in front of the band & shining work lights from behind to create shadows. Similar to what I hear the Sigur Ros tour did; I hope to see them one day. Then I would project content onto the scrim at various moments. We did this at the beginning of each movement (there are three movements during the concert) and then pulled the scrim back (or up) to reveal the band. The anticipation & “reveal” moments it produced were infectious.

•  Speaking of Nate, we’ve been trying out a new concept called “Art Fusion”. We think it’s a big part of our future together at GI. I’ll have to share more on this later…deserves it’s own blog post, esp since we’ve been documenting the process and capturing live moments on video.

•  Speaking of GI (our company), it’s been a season of handing it all back over to God and allowing Him to do something new. Truly, a process of death and rebirth. This has resulted in some re-strategizing and re-structuring, and so far, it’s turned out to be a very successful & seamless move that we’re both thankful for. Here’s to GI 2.0!

•  As many of you know, Nathaniel Schweinberg joined us this summer as our intern. It’s been an incredible experience getting to show him the ropes of Nashville, creating original motion graphics, and taking him to a few events. His new site/blog “Fight the Current” is about to launch. Very excited for him and his future!

•  Content creation (at least the type that we sell on WorshipHouse) has never been our forte, but we are proud of the few gems we’ve released so far. In the coming weeks, there will be an influx of new loops, and some of them were shot all over the world! Pretty stoked about it. I’ll announce when they are released. Hopefully by ECHO. Here’s a sneak peak:

•  Speaking of ECHO, it’s just a few weeks away!! I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty excited about returning this year. Camron Ware and I are working on our brand new session entitled “Visual Worship: Environment & Content Curation”. I’m pretty stoked about sharing these new concepts & the VJ workflow!

•  Katie Strandlund has come on board the VWRT team and is working on a brand new official Visual Worship Roundtable site, as we have a few gatherings scheduled (namely at ECHO & STORY). I can’t wait for you to see it. I’m very excited about the direction it’s taken.

•  New Zealand: today, I embark for Middle Earth where I’ll be teaching and VJ-ing at Frequency, a church production conference, as well as visiting some other churches, universities, and more. Mark Pierson, the genius behind this “curation” concept you’ll be hearing more about, will be my host. Below are pictures of City Impact Church in Auckland where Frequency will be hosted. Hopefully along the trail, I’ll get to see some spots where they filmed Lord of the Rings!


•  Poland: remember Mat Smalec that i featured a few months ago? Well, he’s organized a “worshipVJ” conference that he and I will be leading together in Warsaw for the youth of the Church in Poland. I leave in September, but will travel to Belfast, Ireland first to hang with some friends of mine, including the world renowned VJ & Quartz master Shakinda!

•  Hong Kong/China: it looks like the Lord is opening up another opportunity to travel back to my home away from home!!! This time, I’ll be going there with my mentor Roy Cochran (of worship foundations int’l) on a vision trip. We’re hoping to find ways to send worship leaders and their teams over to China for a week or two. We’ll also hook up with ELIC and travel to Mongolia. Two of my bromances, Biscuet & Matt Stowell, will already be over there, as well as Nate, so we’ll all be traveling the countryside together!. I love that my story is continuing to unfold in Asia, and better yet, it involves figuring out ways to get people like YOU over there!

•  Then in October, Integrity Live kicks off the new seminars4worship tour. Luke McElory will be out on the tour with me, as Playback Drive/Orange Thread will be a sponsoring the tour. And if you are near the Boston area, you are in for a real treat…b/c Camron Ware will be VJ-ing & teaching!

So this turned out to be more of a list of upcoming events than anything. But it’s still the update on my life…b/c that’s about all I’m doing these days! I’m really thankful for the community I have in all these places and for God giving me a lot of extra grace and strength to not only maintain a healthy balance on the road, but to absolutely LOVE what I do!! I am truly blessed. Especially when Mexican food is involved! Love me some fajitas!!!

I prayed a while back, “Lord, show me Your global Church!” He has not been slow to answer that prayer. Whoa! He’s not joking around when He tells us that if we take Him at His Word and make ourselves available to Him, He will BLOW OUR MINDS. He is so faithful and has a specific unique plan for each of us!

I leave you with some creative inspiration that a friend of mine showed me this week. Get ready for this. This 26-year-old conductor & these Venezuelan teens are about to make you crap your pants:

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( HT: Collide )

Props to Allan White & Brian Holt for discovering the tools & methods necessary for making this happen. Here are a list of resources to help you set this up:

- Air Display app for iPad

- Brian Holt’s method for mirroring specific displays

- and obviously an iPad, Mac, WiFi network, & ProPresenter 4.

You can use this with virtually any software or simply create more desktop space for your work-flow. I can’t wait to try this out during an event and to see how ProVideoPlayer responds. What’s great about Pro4 & PVP is its simple UI & large thumbnails, which makes controlling via touch much more accessible.

Now the question for all of us is “How can I apply this?” One way I’ve thought of is if you want to take advantage of Stage Display but don’t have a back-wall projector or confidence monitor; the iPad can rest comfortable on a music stand right on stage with the band!

What other applications can you see involving this method?

There are few moments in time when such a large group of like-minded creative individuals gather together, united in their passion for new ways of expressing their worship & building the Kingdom of God. ECHO is one of these unique moments.

I was asked the other day by a worship pastor & mentor of mine, “If there was ONE conference this year that you & your team could go to, which one would it be and why?” My honest answer is ECHO…and here’s a few reasons why:

- I don’t trust marketing or branding…I trust leadership & the people behind it all. I can tell you this: Scott, Marc, Trent & the team at RT Creative Group have earned a great deal of trust & respect. I am impressed with their hearts, convictions & willingness to be a voice for creativity in the Church today.

- if you are a senior pastor, worship leader or any other leader who is leading creatives, ECHO is for you! You will be inspired beyond your imagination, and you will share an incredible experience with your creatives that you can take home with you. This will open your eyes in amazing ways & will help you better understand the digital/visual/media world & how it can impact your ministry & community.

- there are many tech conferences & trade-shows out there…and they are all well & good. However, ECHO focuses much more on the heart & inspiration behind the creativity. You will still learn A LOT & be exposed to tools & techniques like never before, but you will also get the heart behind it all, which is extremely important & foundational.

- the community you will find at this event is incredible. So much of the “echo community” stays regularly connected throughout the year via social media & other gatherings, but for most of us, this is our “mecca”. Come and connect with others in your area of passion & quit trying to do all of this alone on that desert island of a job you have! :)

- Camron Ware & I will be teaching together. We’re cooking up something brand new that we’ve never taught on before; it’s special for ECHO! We’ll be focusing on a concept called “curation”, which might be new to most of you. You can read more about it here.

- come experience a taste of what the Visual Worship Roundtable is like! We’ll be hosting a late night session on the Thursday night of ECHO!

- other random reasons: see an iPad control ProPresenter in multiple ways…experience the goodness of Pappasito’s Mexican food…see how many gallons of water you sweat in the summer heat of Dallas…laugh til you cry during Jon Acuff’s keynote session…check out all these people coming that you’ll be able to connect with!

So have I convinced you yet? Still on the fence? Seriously, take my word for it… you do NOT want to miss out on ECHO. By any means possible, get yourself there! You won’t be sorry, I promise.

If you haven’t registered yet, you can do so here. Use the code “stephen” and you will get 20% off registration. However, the code expires on July 1st! So you’ve got one week left to get in on that action.

Leave a comment if you are planning to go this year! I’d love to know who all will be there because I would love to connect with you!

A friend of mine, who shall remain nameless, was recently inside North Korea (legally) and was able to attend one of these events. He filmed as much as he could with his cell phone and passed it along to me, giving me his blessing to share with all I come in contact with, even on this blog.

When I first saw this I was jumping out of my chair, laughing & saying “Shut up! SHUT…UP!!!! Are you kidding me?! NORTH KOREA?!” It was one of those moments like watching the Opening Ceremony to the Beijing Olympics where your jaw is to the floor, tears well up in your eyes, and you are simply dumbfounded. I have never seen such a creative collaborative effort on such a massive, epic scale. This makes me want to throw in the towel, and yet it inspires me to pick back up again and dream bigger.

I’ll never look at a projector the same way again. Every time I see a little pixel, I will be reminded of North Korea, where they don’t need projectors, and where thousands of people have one job: to be a single pixel. I hope I get to visit there one day soon.

“Worship” is a term thrown around a lot these days. Vicky Beeching recently wrote about how the usage of this term (as our culture uses it) might even do more damage than good, as it can be “misleading & theologically unhelpful”. Worship is a LIFESTYLE…it’s much more than singing songs & meeting together once a week. We worship in so many ways…from singing songs, to being obedient, to loving others, to enjoying a majestic cloud formation & sunset. But for the majority of the “worshipVJ audience” (or “visual worship tribe”), we are in charge of designing, facilitating, curating & leading corporate worship on a consistent basis. I could flesh out “3D Worship” in many ways, but for now, I’m going to focus on the Sunday morning/corporate gathering aspect of our worship. And not just “worship” in general, but specifically the visual layer of leading worship (media/lighting/art/etc.)

I believe in stepping into “the box” and meeting our people where they are at. Only then can we lead them “out of the box”. Standing outside of the box and being frustrated with people “stuck” in the box does no one any good. That’s not how you affect change. So then, how can we meet our people “in the box” where their eyes are drawn? And how can we lead them further and deeper into worship through the use of visuals?

Let’s think about the 3 dimensions: up, across & out. I believe our worship services should contain moments of each…some days might emphasize one more than the other. It doesn’t have to look the same or have an equal portion of each every single time. Let’s think about our songs; you could probably categorize each of the songs being sung: “Here I Am to Worship” is UP… “Made to Worship” (”you & I were made to worship”) would be ACROSS… “God of This City” would be OUT. Our singing is the audible amplification of our worship. The main point I’m trying to make here could be stated in a question:

Are you visually amplifying your worship in the same direction that you are amplifying audibly?

Pause & think about it.

Another way to put it is simply making sure your visual content matches (or at least doesn’t compete with) your context.

I see & hear about lots of moments when people are audibly worshiping up, however, the visual is amplifying across. A good example that might help you better understand this would be iMAG (live video) during worship. (yes, i’m going there!) If we are singing of the great and glorious splendors of God, we are audibly amplifying God vertically (up). However, if all we do visually is project the face of the worship leader & band, we are visually amplifying each other horizontally (across). The two dimensions aren’t lining up…and that’s why so many of us struggle with this. (Now don’t get lost on the “iMAG during worship” debate…hang with me here. I’m not saying it’s bad all the time. It’s different for everyone…but it’s something we all need to consider & wrestle with.)

Worship leaders are more guides than anything. To me, leading visual worship is like shining a flashlight while giving a tour of a cavern. I’m shining light on different aspects of the cave while I’m telling you about it. I wouldn’t be very effective if I only lit myself while I described the jaw-dropping beauty & story of a 2000-year old stalagmite formation.

Here are a few applicable examples:

UP – images of creation (both earth and the heavens), writing out prayers on art walls, names of God, the Cross, the empty tomb, broken bread & wine. The same approach can be taken when choosing colors that correspond to the emotion of the message.

ACROSS – iMAG, testimonies, baptism videos, stories from the Body. The same can be applied to levels of lighting, even the direction & brightness of the lights. Who are we drawing attention to? Someone on stage, the baptismal, the congregation?

OUT – images of your city, hurting people, the homeless, different tribes & nations, those suffering b/c of poverty & injustice. Even THIS. It might even be expressed by stories of serving (whether across the ocean or across the street). Instead of a picture this time, I want to lead you through an experiment: 1) download the song “God of Justice” by Tim Hughes. 2) Watch this video while listening to the song (be sure to mute the volume of the video itself.)

My friend Paul Briney told a beautiful story at one of our Visual Worship Roundtable events where the middle school kids of his church went around and collected pocket change for victims of a recent natural disaster…and at the end of the worship service, they came and dumped all their buckets of change all over the altar….which turned out to be hundreds of dollars. They totally showed up the adults! What an “out” moment of visual worship!

Wow.

But what about abstract visuals?

If you haven’t already noticed, most of my examples have been very literal & direct (real, focused imagery, film content, etc). When I VJ, I lean much more towards literal than abstract. Using literal imagery is harder to “pull off”; it requires a lot of experience, practice & balance. And if timing is off, it’s a huge distraction. I don’t recommend going literal with your visuals on every song on every Sunday…use literal imagery sparingly! It’s very easy for it to come across as cheese-ball, & when it’s too redundant, then future moments become very predictable and not very special. If “Names of God” was used all the time, it would become the new waterfall or girl-with-the-hands-raised-on-the-mountaintop that we’ve seen 100 times. The more you use a certain piece of media, the more you devalue it.

Abstract imagery is powerful in that it gives your congregation a break (visually); they don’t have to think about what they are seeing and can concentrate more on the emotion, mood & lyrics of the song. Abstract visuals help to reinforce the moment in an aesthetically pleasing way. They can also carry meaning in the tone, movement, color & design…and sometimes, your visually-wired people might see something specific that aids them in worship that no ones else sees!

And check this out: one of the most powerful abstract images of all is black! Why else do people close their eyes during worship? I guess you could say that “visual silence” in golden. (translation: don’t be afraid to let your screens or lights go to black…and stay black.)

It’s ok to be visually neutral. Just b/c the moment is “up” doesn’t mean the visual has to be overtly “up”, too. But I encourage you to try both approaches…mix it up…change is good…step out of the box a little and see if your people will follow! And have fun while you’re at it! Enjoy God to the fullest while preparing, practicing & leading. Love your team well. Speak encouragement and life to everyone around you. And remember that all this “worship” isn’t for people..it’s for GOD. Make much of God…even visually! And when we make much of Him, it’s the most satisfying thing in the world!

So there it is. Pretty long blog post…sorry. :) And this even doesn’t really sum it all up for me…but my hopes are that these posts serve as a catalyst & a conversation starter. This is only the beginning. Let’s dig deeper!

Do you have any stories or examples you’d like to share involving any aspect of 3D Worship?

I want to introduce you to Nathaniel Schweinberg, a good friend of mine and my new intern this summer!

I met Nathaniel at Gurus last year. And throughout the year, as I was following him on Twitter, he just seemed to stick out. Overall, he just impressed me. Later on in the year, he asked if I had any internship positions open. I normally don’t, but I wanted to make the exception for him. So this summer, Nathaniel is working with me and helping GI/worshipVJ out in a lot of areas. I’ve also asked Nathaniel to contribute a few guest posts to this blog, so be sure to look for those throughout the coming months!

Here’s s a little more about @nathanielks:

Nathaniel is a young creative who recently graduated from The Florida State University. He has a degree in Media and Communication Studies, which means that he knows how to talk to you, be it one on one, in a small group, or in a large group/mass venue. It doesn’t matter how or where, he can communicate a message! And that’s what he loves doing: communicating. His main venue? His designs.

Nathaniel is primarily a graphic designer, but also loves delving into motion design as well. A designer of 4 years, he is still green in comparison to some more established designers. But don’t let his relatively small portfolio fool you: he is growing quickly and is very excited about where God is taking him with his art. Not only is he passionate about art and technology, he is also fascinated with the philosophy and theology of design & technology. “Why?” is a question often running through his brain, and if there is no answer, it doesn’t make the cut. His desire is to share his passion with the rest of the world. If it will listen to him, of course.

God has placed a burden on Nathaniel’s heart for the Church. He has shown Nathaniel that the modern church is not what He desires it to be, and is seeking change. He knows that God desires the church to be one, just as He and his Son are one (John 17:20-21), but Nathaniel isn’t quite sure how God will use him in this endeavor. He does know, however, that God is faithful and will show Nathaniel in the proper time. The exciting thing is that life is an adventure and God wants us to explore and figure out exactly what it is he wants us to do (Romans 12:2).

Nathaniel is Proctor’s awesome summer intern at Grateful Incovenience. He does it all: somersaults, push-ups, and spit balls. Be careful: if you see him in the wild, he may walk up to you and give you a high five. Go ahead and follow him at http://www.nathanielks.com and @nathanielks!

Check out one of his latest creations: “Visual Liturgy” – it’s a finalist in the ChurchMediaDesign.tv Film Festival (Mini-Movies: Small Church)…currently it’s ahead…be sure and vote for it when you get the chance!

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Preface: This may be one of the dodgiest sketchy posts I’ve ever published. But I can tell you it’s 100% LEGIT. I would never want to waste your time or lead your astray.

I get to travel a lot. It’s one of the perks of my job. When I was on a flight to Dubai a few weeks ago, I watched “Up in the Air” starring George Clooney. I found myself in that story….well, the frequent flier part of the story…not the sleeping-around-with-people-on-the-road part of the story. ;) I would say half of the Int’l trips I’ve been on have been FREE b/c of frequent flier programs. In the past few years, I’ve flown to Hong Kong, Cyprus & Dubai…all for FREE…b/c of saving up miles!

While hanging w/ my bro Brian Wurzell, he was telling me about the Southwest Visa card. I had thought about signing up for it but hadn’t made the move yet. Turns out when you sign up, you get a free round-trip flight, and you earn points for dollars spent. If you can manage the credit/payments well, you can earn free flights pretty quickly. I’m not one for signing up for credit cards & living in debt…but I do have a business and have to use a credit card on the road a lot, so why not earn a free flight at the same time?!

Here’s where you come in: I decided to waste your time & my reputation & tell you about this offer, because, well, it might actually be worth your time checking out. Why? You might be looking for a flight to go to an upcoming conference (like ECHO), or you might need to take a much-needed vacation from your job where you’ve been working straight for 14 months. A week in New York, Portland, San Diego, or Nashville could do you a lot of good. It’s done me wonders (taking breaks) and so I’m just forwarding on the love.

Simply Call: 1-888-230-6865

Be Sure to Provide All of This Information to the Agent:

• referred by: Stephen Proctor

• referrer’s rapid rewards #: 00000369222674

• referrer’s zip code: 37208

When you sign up for the Southwest (Airlines) Visa Card and make your first purchase (even a cup of coffee), you are awarded a free round-trip flight. There IS an annual fee of $40-60, plus a fee or two for the flight booking…but overall, you’re getting a free flight out of the deal. You can always cancel the card afterward.

Again, I don’t condone or support or promote the use of credit cards when you don’t have the cash to back it up. I don’t want Dave Ramsey showing up at my doorstep and giving me a beat down. I’m simply saying that there’s an art to traveling, and when you play the game, you can score some pretty cool perks. This is just one open door into that world…and a pretty easy way to earn a free trip to the destination on your radar.

See you at the Admiral’s Club!

I’m not going to pretend that I know what “worship” truly means. There seem to be many definitions out there, but I don’t think any of us ever fully “get it”. However, that doesn’t stop me from learning, exploring & wrestling with what worship looks like…for both my daily, personal life as well as the corporate gathering of the Church. At the end of the day, it’s all about amplifying God with our lives.

3D is all the craze right now; thank you, James Cameron! I’m sure one day 3D technology will be as accessible as an iPod, and it’s inevitable that a church somehow somewhere will implement 3D technology for worship. Maybe it will come via 3D glasses, Hologram, or some other technology invented just yesterday that we have yet to learn about. Who knows.

But as this new technology makes itself attractively accessible to us all, let’s make sure that WE are shaping the Church, instead of letting technology shape it. Let’s also remember that worship is for God…and not for us. So slippery a slope it is to lead worship…if we aren’t careful, we can start to “worship the worship” and even the leading of it. I struggle with this on a regular basis.

So if it’s really for God, what does 3-Dimensional worship look like through God’s Eyes? I stumbled across something that might help us better understand this. There are three dimensions to worship. Check this little graph out. (I’ll try not to go all “math” on ya.)

UP

“Up” is the vertical dimension of our worship. It’s a direct dialogue between God & His Church. It’s amplifying Him by declaring Who He is, what He’s done, and what He’s yet to do. There is revelation, and there is response. Corporate moments like this might include songs about God, prayer, & communion. This is the main dimension most of us think of when we talk about “worship.”

ACROSS

“Across” is the horizontal dimension of our worship. Yes, our worship is directed towards God, but there is an element of community & togetherness involved. These are those “one anothers” we hear about in the Scriptures. “Across” moments bring ourselves into the light, whether it’s through times of encouragement, edification, confession, forgiveness, celebration, healing, baptism or simply sharing someone’s story/testimony.

OUT

“Out” is the action part of our worship. This is where we put it all into motion & BE the Church. These are the moments of compassion, mercy, justice & mission. Sometimes it’s as simple as engaging in someone’s story with no agenda other than loving them or doing something for them and expecting nothing in return. It’s being the hands and feet of Christ. As it says in James, it’s going to the widows & the orphans…this is pleasing & acceptable worship to God. This is what makes our worship 3D! Without the “out” dimension, our worship is 2-dimensional and flat. Sure, we declare regularly Who God is and what He’s done, and we may get “community” like nobody’s business…but if we don’t do anything about it and love the world around us like Christ calls us to love, then we become stale, lukewarm & stagnant…and God will spit us out of His mouth eventually. Worship not in motion is a nasty, foul stench to God. We must be salt & light. Faith without deeds is dead.

Sometimes I wonder if our “out” is actually “in”. To be missional means to step out of your own context and into someone else’s, meeting them at their point of need. I’m not against inviting people to our churches & events, but if that’s the all-end of our efforts to “reach them”, I think we are missing it.

The great tension that I live with is trying to get all this with my own life, when I spend most of my days designing worship events & using new, cutting-edge technology. I see so much need out there…so many injustices…people who have never heard the name of Jesus… and yet I come home to help those of us (who have already heard) use motion backgrounds, triplewide screens & do worship “better”.

But I cannot discount the power of sacred times set aside for the Church to worship together…and I love to create environments where we can gather and meet with God. I see these times as exclamation points to our week of worship…and a launching pad for the next week. So I believe our content should be as 3D as possible! I’m all about leveraging technology & imagery to express in new, creative ways the things that are close to the heart of God.

The content of our gatherings usually falls into one of these dimensions. Even if there’s a moment that contains an aspect of each, there’s still a dimension that’s dominating the moment.  I look at the context I’m leading in, and I do all I can do make sure the visual content I’m choosing aligns with the focus/dimension of the moment.

Think about your worship services…the songs, the visuals, everything. What moments could you categorize as “up”, “across” & “out”?

More to come.

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Here is the continuation.

The NEWLY designed Continental teams are students who hit the road for 4 to 5 weeks (after a rehearsal week in Los Angeles), who will creatively advance the message of Jesus in a cool way through the performing arts (music, media and movement)!

There is a need for visual media directors for two summer tours. Each tour needs a tech director as well as a film-maker/storyteller.

One tour is for the “Young Continentals”. Ages range from 13 to 17, and the dates are June 26 – Aug 2.

The other tour is for the “Continental Singers”, which includes a live band and vocals, ages ranging from 18 to 25. The tour dates are June 26 – Aug 9. This tour will go through Barbados as well as part of the U.S.

You would be given the chance to work with a production team consisting of top notch professionals who are involved with GLEE, Disney, American Idol & the Veracity Project.

For more information, visit www.continentalsingers.org and if you are interested in going, then contact marco@continentalsingers.org or ashley@continentalsingers.org.

Many of you already know about Barton Damer. And those of you who follow him probably saw that he just launched his new site today. But for those of you not “in the know”, this post is for you!

I would say Barton is one of the best visual artists I know. His work not only inspires me but leaves me with my jaw dropped to the floor and usually one word …or sound… “uhhhhhhh.” Words like wow, cool, awesome, neato, groovy, epic, etc… they all fall short.

His portfolio and client list includes Igniter Media (where he used to work full time), Collide Magazine, tobyMac, Scion cars, Owl City, Wolfmother, Integrity Media, Story/Wibo, Catalyst, and a few skateboard companies. His company and blog URL “Already Been Chewed” lives up to it’s name in that, like gum, no one likes media that has already been chewed. Seeing his work is as refreshing as popping a Mentos in your mouth.

The world can be a drab and boring place. There is visual disease all around. And then “BAM!” a Barton Damer video hits the streets and it’s as if the world went from black & white to technicolor! Don’t believe all this hype? All I can say is watch this. It speaks for itself:

Over the past year, I’ve gotten the privilege to know Barton, and he’s as real as it gets.  For him, his relationships come first and his artistry/career come second. I’ve also been one of the fortunate ones to hire Barton for a few projects. Our first was a doozy… wow. We had to produce three concert visuals to be VJ’d in a feature-length film starring Tim McGraw & Gwyneth Paltrow. It was my first true “Hollywood” experience and I learned a lot about how the industry works (or how it doesn’t work, I should say.) It was a classic case of the client not knowing what they wanted and going back and forth like nobody’s business, but Barton was a trooper and delivered what they called a “homerun”. We thought otherwise…but that’s another story. ;) But the best part of that project was getting to work with Barton, hands down. I’ll let you know when the movie releases!

Brad Zimmerman (CMDtv) interviewed Barton recently; I highly recommend watching it. And if I haven’t been obvious enough, go check out his new site and let some fresh visual goodness into your life!