The Problem

I declined the job I currently hold for the same reason I am writing of it now: I don’t want to produce a worship experience. And, you shouldn’t want me to produce it, either. It results in a degradation of experience for us both as it demands consumption.

As a Weekend Experience Director, it is my job to…Direct the Weekend Experience, as one would imagine. The problem with this is that it assumes an Experience can be “managed.” Now, truth be told, some experiences can be shaped, planned, and crafted —artists, Disney, and Starbucks do this all the time, to name a few. However, never can it be “managed,” that is, controlled. The unforeseen is always the Other.

Others will always be a Wild Card; Others will always come with their own lenses and luggage and wounds and love —wild cards. And this should be celebrated!

Moreover, when your occupation is held within a local church, you are always, thankfully, at the mercy of the Spirit. A spirit which is not unlike the wind; the Holy Spirit can not be directed, managed, or controlled.

Others and the Holy Spirit create an epic X-Factor. And this should be celebrated!

The Turn

So, what led me to accept my job and write this piece? The single thought that I could, in some way, intentionally create spaces and opportunities for all others to experience the love of the Father and the presence of Jesus by the power of his Spirit. It’s this idea that I could creatively think of the Other in the context of Worship and Gathering.

This works itself out, as far as I can tell, in two distinct ways: Positive and Negative elements.

The Positive Elements in Creating An Experience

That we could, and should, work with everything around us as artistic means to a glorifying end: practicing the presence of God. Lights, Songs, Stages, Design, Media, Greeters, Candles, Spaces, Teachers, and more, all working in harmony to say the same thing.

Every tangible element from the feral and unhewn to the artificial and synthetic is being implemented for the purpose of telling the Story. I use the term Positive, because these are those things which enter into the Space. These atmospheric sort of elements will register in the minds and hearts of people and cause a reaction: that much is given: what I am hoping, is that it will cause a response of Wonder, Warmth, and Curiosity towards God.

The Negative Elements in Creating An Experience

Opposite the above are those things which I can, in a concerted effort, ensure do not enter into the Space. It’s why we train our FOH Engineers on how to eliminate feedback, for example.

Naturally, the Negative Elements are harder to speak of, but would be those measures or people you put in place to harness the art of removing distractions. Now, this is to say nothing of those things which just happen and should be treated as a gift in the moment. It’s always a dance, trying to balance Spontaneous and the Simple.

The key, I have found, is this: we ought to be well acquainted with the anticipation of the Gathering, each turn, each sequence; but, we ought to bleed grace and mercy when the unforeseen or accidental or mini-disaster strikes.

One note about the above paragraph. I used to be the biggest critic of saying such things, living by the Seat of My Pants, right? And, to be sure, there’s a benefit in learning to adjust well. However, I have found that no one dislikes a well-thought out artistic expression, no matter how experimental, fun, or spontaneous the ingredients.

In Conclusion

The truth is, every weekend we, as Creative Directors or Service Producers or whatever you may call it —we have a limited amount of time to utilize a limited amount of space in order to reveal the unlimited love of God. That is a great responsibility and a worthy artistic endeavor.

So, here’s to helping everyone and everything around you succeed: in the sense that it can be redeemed, bought and brought back into the realm of the love of God, in order to help us all experience the love of God.