Focusing on Ideas for Stage Design

Stage Design on a Budget - these photos are from a blog highlighting the display idea in a store that led to a church stage design inspiration.





Since I am a painter by training, I have not had much experience with stage design.  But it occurs to me that this is a crucial component of any church's worship service.  And it is closely related to painting, but verging on sculpture and environmental design as well.

The use of inexpensive, simple drapery and lighting for the setting of a service can dramatically affect the audience.  I have been researching this important element of the arts in worship lately with the thought of bringing some of that information to the conference.  I am also looking into the possibility of getting materials like long sheets of white or light-colored cloth, thin wood lattice, thin/transparent filter materials and other things that are relatively inexpensive and can be used by a local church to enhance the worship environment. Whether it will be possible to bring them along or ship them ahead remains to be seen.

Cubans are incredibly resourceful.  And what better employment of that ability than to enhance a worship service.  So I am sure as I spark the imagination of my brothers in Christ over there, they will begin to discover amazingly creative ways to make due with what they have in this area of the worship arts.  I'm sure I will end up learning from them!

Here are some ideas for church stage design I've come across on the web:

Most popular church stage design ideas of 2013 - last year's best ideas

Worship Set Ideas - a great list of many ideas

Creativeworshipideas blog - a nice blog highlighting various churches' approaches to set design

Redesigning Worship - a nice site with great ideas

Church Relevance - a listing of verious years of "best of" church stage design ideas

There are numerous others.  Just a simple Google search for "church stage (or set) design" will yield a multitude of great sites.

Last Year's Huellas Conference promo video

Here is a video of the 2012 Huellas de Adoracíon conference in Moa, Cuba. I am very impressed with the creativity shown in this little production. Even though it is is Spanish, it will give an idea of the breadth and scope of the conference. I am looking forward to this year's version!


 

Brian Stewart

  About three years ago, I started thinking, praying and searching for ways to go back to Cuba with a purpose.  I had previously wanted to go for nostalgic reasons, but that motivation just didn't seem to make much sense anymore.  Many years ago I had wanted to go to the mission field in Latin America, but things didn't work out.  Today, that desire is still within me, probably because God had not let it expire.  With my renewed desire and availability (I'm retired) I began scouring the web for ministry opportunities in Cuba.  Somehow, I believe God directed me to the man you are about to meet.

Here is a little information about Brian Stewart, the man who invited me to be part of his team in Cuba this March.  He is a great guy with multiple talents, gifts and abilities, all of which he puts to work very enthusiastically.  The following information is taken from his Cuba ministry blog which you can visit here.

Brian writes:

I have been serving with Action International Ministries (ACTION) since 1995. I am the Associate Director of the USA office as well as ACTION’s Cuba Director.

Starting in 2000 I began making three or four trips a year to Cuba. I am also constantly in contact with my colleagues through email and phone calls. The Lord has blessed the work so that I now oversee numerous projects.

Our primary contact and legal representative in Cuba is the Iglesia Cristiana Pentecostal de Cuba, and we also work closely with the Convención Bautista de Cuba Oriental. I have good friends in other denominations as well, such as Lutheran, Pinos Nuevos, Iglesia de Dios Ortodoxa, Iglesia de Dios en Cuba, Gracia Soberana, Evangélica Libre, Biblia Abierta, and others.

In 2010 we also began working with the national pastors’ organization, CIMPEC (Confraternidad Interdenominacional de Ministros y Pastores Evangélicos de Cuba).

Some of our ministries include pastors’ conferences, discipleship camps, marriage retreats, and scholarships for Bibles college students.

These ministries are carried out with the approval of both the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the US Treasury (OFAC) and the Oficina de Atención a Asuntos Religiosos (OAAR). I am grateful that in spite of political differences between the US and Cuba, both governments make allowances so that those of us who serve Christ may pursue our calling to walk alongside and serve the evangelical churches in Cuba.

On a personal note, I am a graduate of the University of Washington, with a degree in Spanish. My wife and I have been married for 26 years and have four children.

Action International Ministries

It is only appropriate that I feature the organization under which I will be working while in Cuba.  Action International Ministries is based near Seattle WA.  It was officially incorporated in 1974 but its roots go back to 1961 in the Phillipines.  Several missionaries from various organizations started with youth rallies in Manila and in a few years a strong mission organization was functioning with a staff of 166 workers, many of them Filipinos.

Today Action numbers 200 workers in 25 countries including: Austria, Brazil, Cambodia, Canada, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, Honduras, India, Mexico, New Zealand, Philippines, Spain, Uganda, Ukraine, United Kingdom, USA, and Zambia..  Their activities include evangelism, discipleship, economic development, and education.  

Action is what is referred to as a faith mission.  It depends entirely on contributions from believers who care about the work being done around the world to reach others for Christ and build them up.  You can learn more about Action at their web site here.  

Material Concerns

I just received an email from one of the Cubans who is helping to organize Huellas de Adoracion.  It was phenomenal to just receive the email, let alone read its marvelous contents.  I am communicating with another believer in my country of birth about two passions we have in common: art and faith!   I just marvel at how God is making this happen.  But why should I be surprised?  He IS God after all! 
Aside from giving me a lot of information about the conference, this colaborer of mine also answered my question about the need for materials that I may be able to bring to assist other artists in the various workshops planned.  He said that large sheets of paper are needed as support for possible painting and drawing.  I also surmise that there is a need for paint and drawiing media.  I am in the process of finding out how to transport the material.  But I will make a bold request here for anyone who might have an interest and access to materials if they would be willing to donate to this endeavor.  If you are an artist, printer, art store owner, designer or even just an art enthusiast, you can help.  Actually, anyone can help.  Contact me directly and let me know what art materials you are willing to donate. 

"Huellas de Adoración" Fingerprints of Worship

"Huellas de Adoración" or Fingerprints of Worship is the title of the Christian artist's conference in which I will be participating in Cuba.  It's an apt title.   Think of the information we have in our fingerprints.  It is truly amazing how the uniqueness of its patterns for each person are diverse enough to identify every individual on the planet: all 7.2 billion of us!  Yet in that diversity, we have a trace of the eternal: God's own fingerprint, as the Steven Curtis Chapman song goes, in all of us.  We are all made in His image.

Civilization was made possible by the use of our fingers.  The dexterity in our hands has enabled us to fashion technologies that led to tool-making, art, music, farming, transportation, writing and much more.  We affect each other with our hands.  The artist paints and draws attentively with his fingers.  The musician plays skillfully with his fingers.  With our fingers we trace the profiles of each other's faces in loving fashion.  We can also brutally destroy each other with our hands.  How does God want us to use our hands?  This is a primal question for the Christian artist.

I have been reading Michael Card's book, "Scribbling in the Sand."  The title refers to the passage describing Christ's dealing with those who brought the adulteress to him for judgement.  His response was a non response initially.  He simply scribbled with His finger on the sandy ground without saying a word.  Only when He was good and ready did He challenge everyone with the words, "Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her."  But the text continues by saying that He simply returned to stoop down to the ground and scribbled more without saying much of anything else.  Slowly, all the accusers went away  convicted and dropped their stones.  Outside of a few words for stubborn hearts, scribbling with His fingers was all He needed to do.

There's great power in non-verbal communication.  Sometimes it's the most powerful way to communicate.  The arts have this potential power, especially music and the visual arts.  These forms communicate things in nonverbal ways that are powerfully effective.  God has given us power at our fingertips.

A Productive Anxiety?

I recently read a revealing post by a man who has been plagued with anxiety all of his life.  It was a long and grueling read until the end.  After a gripping account of his struggles that put me as much on edge as I think he has probably felt all his life, I was rewarded with his somewhat positive and hopeful conclusion.  Whatever "anxiety wiring" we are born with, there is the possibility of balancing it with enough encouraging nurture to make us productive and content.  Studies have shown that we all need a little pressure to get things done.  The key is not to let that pressure become so great that it becomes paralyzing stress.

As I prepare for this trip, I am in the midst of that dreadful dance: almost paralyzed by the fear of failure and thus virtually guaranteeing it by the inactivity.  But I  heard an encouraging message Sunday by my Pastor, Bill Hybels.  He said many examples in Scripture point to the way God works to empower us: with just enough of His provision to enable us along the way.  The key is to initiate movement as a show to God of one's faith or trust in His help and empowerment.  We always want the power up front, he said.  But God gives it along the way.

So this blog is my attempt to show movement.  And as I write, I am looking for God's provision along the way.  So far, I see the process working.  I think He is true to His word.

It's Getting Real

I will leave for Cuba on March 7.  That's less than nine weeks away.  It will be the first time I have returned to the island since my family left in late 1960.  I was 10 years old at the time, and my most pressing concern was what would happen to my extensive collection of comic books represented by a stack as tall as I was.

It would be a real surprise to find my stack of comic books: the concern of childhood that I no longer have.  But what do I value as much today?  Do I have a different kind of stack today that is just as important as my comic books were back then?    Will I care as much about leaving that stack behind?

We all have stacks of different kinds.  Most stacks are made of things.  But we can have stacks of people, too.  Precious to us indeed.  Sometimes we are forced to leave these behind.  Sometimes just for a short while.  Sometimes for a lifetime.

I'm not sure whether I am reluctant about the possibility of leaving behind any kind of stack, either temporarily or permanently.  But I think if it is true that God wants us to want what He wants, then whatever stacks I have, I have to be willing to leave them behind, for as long as He wants.

On a Dream and a Prayer

I can't tell you how long it has been since I have had a vision to travel to Cuba.  I must confess that at first it was for nostalgic reasons: to visit the place of my birth before I die.  But that initial desire has evolved over time.  My heart has gradually become more other-oriented.  Even though I was always concerned for Cuba and its people, I never put their needs in front of mine.  Recently, my own situation has changed, and my needs no longer seem as imperative as before.  For the past few years, I have been praying about this and for Cuba and its people.  I have learned that God never ignores our prayers, but in this case He has been very deliberate in His answers, albeit they have become reality in gradual stages.

At first He allowed me to go to Honduras for a few days to slop around in mud for a few days helping to dig a well.  Then He gave me an opportunity to go to El Salvador where I helped with a small construction project, and learned about special needs children that a very small, poor church is concerned for in their own neighborhood.  I also enjoyed giving a very brief art lesson in a local grade school.  On the last day of my visit in El Salvador, I got an email from a missionary friend inviting me to go to Cuba next March for a Christian artists' conference on using the arts in worship.  So here I am, in the middle of what I truly believe is God's will for my life, and it is as exciting as it is scary.