Painting In Worship
A Little Personal Story
This idea of painting during worship did not begin with me and the discussion of using painting in worship will not end with this post. I start from my beginning. When I was younger I enjoyed drawing and painting — cars, building, landscapes, and people, especially my family members. I would sit for hours with a picture of one of my siblings or my parents and sketch their faces. Creating shadows across the face and neck, and texture and dimension to hair, skin, and eyes. Twenty years later, I am still drawing and now I serve as a Creative Arts associate at my home church. I am also the director of our Kids Worship Arts program and in the past several semesters we have incorporated painting to the list of track we offer each semester. The idea took root when I saw a YouTube video of a church that incorporated painting into a Sunday worship service. In the following year, our Pastor invited the Jesus Painter Ministries to visit and share in our worship services. It was there that the seed in my mind sprung up from the ground. It was a merging of monologue, testimony, and painting that lead to initiating a painting track the next semester.
Important principles of worship design
When it came building consensus and buy-in with our worship pastor I had to be the docent — the person that could guide and explain how we were going to take what we saw on stage that awe-inspiring night and translate that into a feasible option for kids. It began with content. What should it be and how would we sift through the hundred plus kids involved to find the ones with the natural gifting?
Some guiding principles for the painting track were this:
- the content needs to be God’s character, attributes, or actions,
- keep it childlike not childish,
- and make it accessible for all age groups to participate.
If we followed those principles we were on the right path.
Implementation
How did we implement this with kids from age five to twelve? We started by casting a wide net. The first semester we introduced it I was the assistant director and had the ability to lead the track. In the month leading up to the kick-off of Kids Worship Arts, we had some small painting projects before the teaching time on Wednesday nights. This gave the kids something fun to do and me the chance to see if there were any big fish talent in the bunch. In the end, our team decided to keep the track limited to three, mainly because I was drawn immediately to three amazing paintings done within that previous month. The group was made and we began with the content, what would we paint? Remember, keep it simple. I realized that when you have kids painting on stage, and you have nine minutes to complete a painting, nothing is simple. Less is always more. Our painting track has now blossomed into a track of twenty-five kids from all grades, adult painters within the congregation emerged, and now they lead the track. Our only limitation now is classroom space for all of them paint.
When it comes to allowing different age groups, allow your stronger painters to do the heavy painting and the younger ones with easier details. For example, the group who painted a tree painted was done in phases. First, the stronger painters painted the trunk and added detail to the bark. Next, the younger kids came up and put painted handprints as the leaves. This allowed for active participation from all age groups and makes each group feel as though they are equally contributing to the painting.
Recommendations
With having done the painting track for four semesters we have learned many things and have a few pro-tips for anyone trying to implement a painting aspect to worship. This all began with our Lead Pastor. Find what your pastor appreciates and create dialogue around the subject. It’s our responsibility as curator and docent to help lead others in seeing the beauty and potential of how painting can illuminate aspects of a Sunday worship service.
Next, you need someone who is a skilled believer leading the track as well as someone who has the ability to delegate to other lay leaders who need to have some minimal painting skills but who can take direction.
Keep the subjects simple and the canvas big so that during the service it can be seen from the front to the back of the room. Some example subjects from the past included crosses, trees, hearts, anchors, and landscapes. Jesus Painter Ministries used 4’X6’ canvases but we made our 4’x4’. Also, find someone in the church who can use a saw, a drill, and a staple gun and ask them to make the canvases because it is much more cost effective than buying.
Be sure to explain to the congregation what the kids are going to be painting or at least allude to what the subjects might be. If you have a theme, scripture, or biblical story that you are drawing from be sure to have it spoken either at the beginning or during the performance.
The last bit of advice for worship leaders: do not focus on the perfection of the painting. While excellence is valued, it is not supreme. It is our job to encourage and disciple the kids as they use their gifts and abilities to enhance the worship of God by bringing our gifts before Him. The Jesus Painter Ministry website quotes Colossians 3:23–24.
“Whatever you do, do with all your heart as working for the Lord, not for human masters since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”
