VISUALWORSHIP

VOL075

A WORSHIP HANDBOOK

DEEPERTHE VISUAL WORSHIP LEADERHANDS ONWHAT I LEARNED AT THE MOVIESHEADS UPNEW RESOURCES PAGEFOR WORSHIP LEADERS ONLYWORSHIP, MISSION AND A FORGOTTEN VERSE

2 We live in a society that is increasingly visually-oriented. The number one online music destination is apparently not iTunes, Amazon or Pandora – it is YouTube. God is no stranger to this phenomenon. He created a visually striking and beautiful world all around us – we are hard-wired to interact with the world around us visually.

The Church throughout history has had a direct relationship with the visual arts. Some of the most frequented tourist sites around the world are the great cathedrals. Viewed in their best light, these works of art are monuments reflecting the creative nature of God in a visual form.!

These days, we are regularly moved by gripping portrayals of biblical themes in mainstream movies and television. The power of visual media is undeniable.!

What should this look like for the church today? How do we as leaders and pastors use the visual arts to foster and inspire worship? Are there fresh ways to take a more visual approach to how we conduct our congregational worship times – the lan-guage we use, the use of media, the spaces we gather to worship in, the treatment of these same spaces?

Some of us are experts in the use of visuals in worship. Some of us are just getting started. Ours is a creative ministry from the outset. Let’s ask God for fresh creative revelation and the empowering of the Holy Spirit as we seek to both engage our culture and focus our hearts on God in worship.

Casey Corum

Leading WorshipIn A Visual Culture

C A S E Y C O R U M

Chief Creative Officer

Vineyard Music USA

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Leading WorshipIn A Visual Culture

THE VISUAL WORSHIP LEADER: CREATING IN COMMUNITYN A T E R A G A N

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SYMBIOSIS – a mutually beneficial relationship between different people or groups

THE DIGITAL CANVASThe rise of digital multimedia projection in our worship experiences has come a long way in the past decade. From its utilitarian roots as a way to provide song lyrics when hymnbooks weren’t available, or to show film clips as sermon illustrations, this digital canvas has come to take a prominent space in our houses of worship – spaces that were once reserved for icons, murals and stained glass.

As this use of the digital canvas continues to grow and mature, many of us who have been called to fill this space each week have begun to ask some of the larger questions:

Do the visuals we project reflect our theology?

Are we leading the congregation in worship?

How can we meaningfully add depth to the worship experience?

What is often seen as the simple task of selecting images for worship now becomes a thought-ful examination of both the philosophical and practical concepts of what it means to be a visual worship leader. When matured, this approach plays out as a beautiful, artistic flow, leading our congregations in worship and calling them to leave as changed people, ready to impact the world around them.

4 THE VISUAL WORSHIP LEADERAs one who leads others in corporate wor-ship, whether through song, spoken word, visuals or other media, there are a few com-mon questions we all ask when determining how to form the worship experience. Most liturgy is constructed around the follow-ing questions, but for many churches who aren’t rooted in that tradition, these are good questions to keep in mind. We’ll ad-dress these from the perspective of a visual worship leader.

Invocation – How do we welcome our con-gregation into this place? As the band starts playing, we may choose to ease the congregation into a place of worship, warming up their eyes, minds and hearts as the band warms up their voices. This may take the form of subtle, dark objects and soft colors, or a Scripture passage based around the theme of the service or first song.1

Alternately, we might abruptly shift their focus into place, starting off with vibrant mo-tion and color, awakening the senses like a shot of espresso.2

Celebration – How do we engage our con-gregation in powerful worship? As the distractions begin to fade, we lead them into a time of thankfulness and remem-brance of the God who has brought them through another week to meet again in this place. By now the band is well into their set, and we celebrate how God has been work-ing through our lives, even being called to

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5ate the overall flow of the service and tweak individual elements to make them fit together seamlessly into a series of “moments.”

One of the ways we’ve recently begun to in-corporate new ideas into our worship services has been through the use of on-screen Scrip-ture and poetry in the midst of our worship set. Combined with the use of film footage and visual storytelling, these elements have the ability to continually shift the leadership role from the band leader to the visual artist, creating a beautiful, symbiotic harmony and a compelling worship experience.

To illustrate this concept, I’ll use a recent “moment” that you can learn more about (and watch a video of) at my blog,VisualSetlist.com. WITH EVERYTHING – DO NOT WORRY REMIXDuring a recent sermon series we were explor-ing the topic of “Why Do Bad Things Hap-pen To Good People?” and ideas of how we, the Church, can bring Hope and Light into the dark moments of our lives. The Hillsong United tune With Everything was a perfect fit for this week, and seemed to be a nice moment where we could linger and reflect at the end of our worship set before the sermon.

The Verses & Pre-ChorusOur arrangement of the song starts off with the first two verses and a pre-chorus, the mu-sic staying fairly mellow with a bit of a driv-ing tom-tom groove. The lyrical themes focus

remember Who and where He is when things aren’t “all as they should be.”

Personally, I tend to gravitate toward film footage and photography rather than ab-stract motion graphics, as the concrete imag-ery (even out-of-focus, grainy or soft images) are excellent tools for visual storytelling. As-sociating complex or dated lyrics and distant themes with real-world objects or situations can help to bring a personal connection or a fresh perspective in the moment.3

Response – How do we challenge our con-gregation?We are called to live as changed people, continually being renewed in that calling through corporate worship experiences. As worship leaders, we may voice this challenge through a stand-alone video, or in the midst of a reflective worship time. For example, a long instrumental portion of a song is a great place to weave Scripture and imagery that visually-harmonizes with the theme of the service or the song.

SYMBIOTIC LEADERSHIPAs a visual worship leader, my goal is to help create fresh worship experiences for our con-gregation on a weekly basis. Our services usually come together through several brain-storming sessions throughout the year with a large creative team, and a weekly meeting comprised of our senior pastor, worship leader and me. While we all come to these meetings with initial song, sermon and visual ideas, it’s during these meetings that we will cre-

6 on opening our eyes to the world around us, being the Church and loving with open arms. At this point, the visuals are taking the back-ground role, providing a subtle palette for the lyrics and complementing the subtle en-ergy of the music. The visuals show footage from an impoverished area of Mexico with abandoned buildings and bleak conditions, but with hopeful shots of children playing in the streets, soup kitchens providing food and neighbors helping one another.

The band repeats the second verse and a pre-chorus, but this time the visuals change to noticeably-American city streets with tall buildings and traffic jams. If opening your eyes to the pain in another country is too far-removed, we can certainly see the walls of tall buildings we’ve isolated ourselves inside, and the impersonal interactions we have with hundreds of other people throughout our day.

The Instrumental BreakAfter repeating the chorus once, the band drops their level back to a quiet-piano driven instrumental break, and it’s at this point that the worship leadership shifts from the band leader to the visual artist. To further bring home the theme of the week, I used a Visual Liturgy piece from TheWorkOfThePeople.com called “Don’t Worry About Tomorrow.” The on-screen Scripture was from Matthew 6:25–34 and the visuals highlighted mo-ments from our lives that often cause us to worry (like going to the doctor, for exam-ple). The band was acting as the soundtrack

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7for this film, continually building intensity, and underscoring the Scripture and story being played out on-screen. (As a technical note, we used a countdown clock on the teleprompter to let the band know how much time remained in the video.)

The BridgeAs the video ends, the band erupts with en-ergy, once again leading the congregation in singing. They sing one round of the “woahs” and the first chorus, an anthem proclaiming that with everything, through everything, in everything, we will shout for God’s glory. At this point, the visual intensity matches that of the band, using bright colors and a strobe-effect, alternating between images of nature and everyday objects, and stone statue im-ages of Christ and the Cross.

The EndingAs the band continues to build intensity, they explode yet again into a chorus of the “woahs” and the first chorus. It is at this point, after the congregation knows the lyr-ics and is singing at the top of their lungs, that the symbiosis happens.

The band leader is leading the congregation in singing, and the visual artist is no longer displaying the lyrics, but leads the congrega-tion using another Visual Liturgy piece taken from Colossians 1, with more footage from Mexico and the theme of “Jesus Holds It All Together.”

It is at this moment where the band and the visual artist co-lead the congregation in an unforgettable multi-sensory moment that provides a perfect transition into the sermon for the day.

The topic of the message is now very much on their minds, as they’ve just taken a jour-ney to ponder and proclaim God’s faithful-ness throughout their lives. And on it goes, continuing to weave togeth-er a beautiful mosaic told by many voices from many perspectives, but joined together around the greatest Story we’ve ever known.

1 TheWorkOfThePeople.com provides excellent Visual Liturgy videos.

2 CenterlineNewMedia.com and IgniterMedia.com are great resources.

3 HighwayMedia.org, Vibe Videos and WorshipFilms.com LongPlays.

NATE RAGAN is on staff as a Visual Worship Leader at Rolling Hills Community Church in Franklin, TN. He is also Director of Product Development at Me-diaComplete, makers of MediaShout presentation soft-ware. Follow him on Twitter at @mediashout and @visualsetlist.

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THE MOVIES

The heavens are constantly telling the glory of God. The earth showcases his art-work. And the silver screen echoes that telling and showcasing eight days a week.

A picture is worth a thousand words – or originally, a thousand pieces of gold. Hollywood understands that math. Also, some words are worth a thousand pic-tures. Together, words and pictures are the ultimate double whammy. An 8th century Chinese proverb says this: “That art is best which to the soul’s range gives no bounds; something beyond the form, something beyond the sound.” Some movies achieve this best.

SOME OF THE DROPS SPARKLEWhen you look to the silver screen and its repertoire you will no doubt find both moral and artistic drivel, and much that should be avoided at almost any cost. But it was Jesus who said, “It is not that which goes into a person that defiles them; but that which comes out from them.” What defiles originates in our own darkened hearts and then flows out in hurtful and false words, and hateful and deceitful acts.

But back to the movies. As King Arthur said to King Pelinore in the musical Camelot: “One of what we all are, Pelly – less than a drop in the great blue motion of the sunlit sea. But it seems that some of the drops sparkle, Pelly. Some of them do sparkle!”

Some films in the great ocean of theatrical releases do sparkle like droplets of water in the great blue motion of the sunlit sea. And some do reflect the glory and craftsmanship of the Maker and Redeemer of all.

So much wisdom. So much truth. So much splendor. So many movies and so little time!

D A R R E L L A . H A R R I S

WHAT I LEARNED AT

10 A LOVE AFFAIR WITH THE MOVIESMy love affair with the movies began in 1955. I was six years old when I first saw James Dean on the big screen. His brooding character, Cal, was coming to terms with the soiled dove that was his Mother, then angrily destroying the valuable ice that could transport his father’s crop to market by train, and finally caring for this aging, ailing self-righteous patriarch and making peace with all. A six year old cannot possibly process all that information. But fifty-six years later I sure remember the way those things made me feel. They made their mark.

The deal was sealed when I was seven. That’s the year I met the adventurer Ishmael, the eerily tattooed Queequeg and the hate-driv-en Captain Ahab in Moby Dick. The bloody, barbaric whaling industry made another in-delible mark on my young sensibilities.

The Searchers with John Wayne came along that same year. I don’t know if there actually was a 3D release or not. But the arrows shot by the Comanche braves seemed to zip off the screen right into my chest. This was my first recollected exposure to racial prejudice. And I learned from John Wayne’s conflicted Ethan that it could be trumped by love.

Anyone who feels like they are stuck in a dys-functional family should see 1968s The Lion in Winter. It is set in Henry II’s Christmas court of 1183. When his three potential heirs are trying to take the life of their tyrannical father, with knives provided by their mother,

Kathryn Hepburn’s Eleanor of Aquitaine, she says: “Well, every family has their ups and downs.” Indeed. And in that moment any dysfunction in my family or yours seems to pale by comparison.

IT’S A WONDERFUL FILMI have learned of servant leadership from James Stewart’s George Bailey in It’s A Wonderful Life; of the glories of adolescent puppy love in 1979s A Little Romance; of tempestuous, star-crossed young love in 1969s Romeo and Juliet; of true love in The Princess Bride.

I have learned to cheer for the good guys and hate the bad guys. I have learned that good guys are capable of some very bad moral choices and that bad guys are capable of some surprisingly good ones. I have learned the hills are alive with the sound of music.

From Moulin Rouge and Across the Universe I have learned that the musical is not a dated, dead genre. And I have come to value more than ever the power of the popular song (and the longevity of the Beatles’ repertoire).

I never served in the military. But from the movies I have learned that war is hell. And I’ve also learned that oftentimes hell is hap-pening right where we live in our families, our workplaces and our churches.

LEARNING FROM THE STORIESFilmmakers are capable of drawing charac-ters as richly on the screen as any Dickens,

“Show and tell. Tell and show.”

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11Tolkien or Rowling ever did on the page. The Cohen brothers do this so powerfully in Fargo when they use as grisly a tale as you’d ever want to hear to promote val-ues that would get a loud “Amen!” from Dr.!James Dobson.

I have learned from Shakespeare in Love and Anonymous how the Bard’s plays may actu-ally have been composed. I have learned from Black Swan where idolatry of any kind inevitably leads.

I have learned from Amelie that childlike wonder is appropriate for grown-ups. I have learned from The Unforgiven that “Deserve’s got nothing to do with it.”

I have learned from several Tyler Perry mov-ies and from Moonstruck that sometimes the African-American community and the Roman Catholic community are better at merging church and everyday life than are we evangelicals and charismatics.

SHOW AND TELLMost of all I have learned that God goes to the movies. He meets me there so often. And “His” glory literally sings off the screen.

Art making is part of our humanity; it is part of us reflecting the dynamic essence of our Maker. Last year’s Cave of Forgotten Memories from Werner Herzog shows that the most ancient cave-wall paintings we know of are all so imaginative and so very vivid.

Let’s return to that magical marriage of words and pictures. Movies are show and tell. Show and tell.

That is what our worship was designed to be. Word and table. Table and word. Tell and show. Show and tell. With the service of the word, with the hearing of scripture publicly read and the preaching or teaching applying it to life, we tell our story. With the service of the table – when we break the bread and share the wine – we re-enact the story.

We show. We tell. We have much to learn from the movies.

“Show and tell. Tell and show.”

DARRELL A. HARRIS is the Chaplain of the Robert E. Webber Institute For Worship Studies, and a mentor to artists and musicians around the world. In the early days of the Christian music industry, Darrell began Star Song, and led the way in developing some of today’s most influential worship voices. He lives with his wife of 42 years, Janet, in Franklin, TN.

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I LOVE YOUR PRESENCE VINEYARD RECORDS UK This new, live album from Vineyard Worship was recorded live at the Burn Bright: Wor-ship and The Kingdom Of God conference, hosted by Vineyard Worship. Several hun-dred worshippers gathered in the Arizona desert to explore the nature of God’s “King-dom” through music and teaching from some of the Vineyard’s most gifted communicators and musicians.

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Some of the best Bible verses are the ones that no one memorizes – those hidden gems that come right before and after the really famous bits that everyone knows, or at least used to know, when they were still getting gold stars in Sunday school for committing them to memory.

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For Worship Leaders Only:Worship, Mission AndA Forgotten Verse

John 3:16? Check, got it! John 3:17? No clue, but I think I remember it being pretty good. Matthew 28 is a perfect example. The last two verses of the chapter have, historically, had most of the gravitational pull, holding disciples for the past two mil-lennia firmly in their orbit. It’s understand-able – these are Jesus’ last words before he leaves the planet!

Lost in all the drama, tucked between resur-rection, final instructions and ascension, is a moment of worship. Matthew 28:17 says, “When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.”

Gathered worship, with songs, public read-ing of the scripture and communion, all form the “space,” the “kind of moment” where God can speak the missional word into our communities – and have it heard.

Worship moves the abstract, intellectual concept of God’s presence “into the room,” where we become aware of the One who is always present but largely unnoticed, always speaking but not always heard.

Worship causes the call to disciple all nations to become personal – not just Peter, James and John’s mission – but our mission. It’s far too easy to treat the scriptures as simply a historical document, a collection of sto-ries about things that “happened.” Worship brings us into the presence of I Am – the God

who is here, now, and speaking to disciples today as He did then.

Worship is the beginning of a life that is rightly ordered, acknowledging that there is a God in heaven – and that we are not Him. There is a Creator, and we are His creatures. Worship is the bowing low of the heart and as such, anticipates His word. When we wor-ship, we have already begun to posture our-selves for mission – Father, not my will, but Yours be done.

Each week, when we gather together before God with songs resonating within our bodies, listen for the still, small voice. The One that is speaking between the melody and the har-mony, is speaking to you in the middle of giv-ing your heart to Him. In the middle of this, you will find His heart being given to you.

A D A M R U S S E L L

ADAM AND HEATHER RUSSELL

Adam (Folks Like Us, Wildfire) is a worship leader turned pastor, serving at Vineyard Campbellsville lo-cated in Central Kentucky. Along with his wife and three children, he also farms wine grapes and works in the family winery. You can also follow Adam’s blog here, at www.indigenousworship.com.

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PublisherVineyard Resources USA

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