The Tyranny of Theme Part 1

I see it every week. On Twitter. On Facebook. On various network loops I belong to.

The quest for the perfect “feature” or “special” song to use on a Sunday.

Typical scenario:

1) Someone decides upon a theme.
2) A team brainstorms what movie clip/music they can use to support said theme
3) Some songs make the cut and then the music person asks their network for ideas

Maybe there is a missions conference happening. So, the senior pastor puts it out to his “creative team” to find the most pertinent—ahem, most obvious—“mission” songs.

Typical Tweet: “Looking for a killer energetic opener for the missions conference. Last year we did “Takin’ it to the Streets.” Ideas?”

God forbid the theme is something like Ananias and Sapphira to send the poor music person on a quest for a song about an untimely death.

I’m having fun, but I think it is time for us to retool.

Food for thought . . .

Are we willing to let the song stand on its own? I seldom give a song a setup or explain away all the mystery. I want it to speak for itself. Art is dialogue.

Yet, in our theme-heavy church services, we take away the guesswork for people. The most fun and effective part.

Sometimes, usually because a pastor can’t live with tension or doesn’t want people to get the “wrong idea”, someone will give away the whole punch line of a song before it begins. Example: “This is a song about how we need to get along and stop bickering. It is a sad song about how a person is hurt by words. It is a great story about a dad and his daughter. Listen to the words. Ask how you use words. Do you need to change?” And one and two and three and four and . . .

Boring. No adventure. No discovery.

One of the things I love about watching LOST is the conversation that happens outside of the program. The endless search for deeper meaning. Clues. Suspense. Metaphor.

ABC did something with their new series, “FlashForward” after week one that made me furious. At the commercial breaks, the commentator gave us hints as to the clues. He would say, “did you catch that name? Could be important!” Or, “Did you see the kangaroo? That probably means something.”

I almost stopped watching. I’m not an idiot. Don’t dumb it down for me.

I wonder if we sometimes do that with our “creative” process. “Hey, everyone . . . here are the clues. Here is what to listen for. This is the theme for the day. Get it? Get it?”

A Theology of Rhythm

This weekend at Westwinds was one of my favorite weekends ever. “A Theology of Rhythm” was the vibe for the weekend. I seldom blog our service orders but there were so many wonderful moment collections this weekend I thought I would share:::

An acoustic and very percussive version of Fee’s “You are the Light” kicked things off. Percussion was provided by our friends Eric and Stacey Jones—regular Westwinds friends also known as “Equal Temperament.” Their percussion duo is phenomenal and rocked the rest of the weekend.

Dave did a phenomenal job of tying in musical concepts and ideas into everyday experience and the spiritual journey. My favorite part of the message was Dave’s explanation of a heavy beat coming in after a musical rest or breakdown—the reason the drums are so significant and wonderful is because of the rest. Deep, Dave.

Interspersed through all of Fusion were percussive pieces and faith story videos. In a move to create a fun and light moment before the first piece we showed the famous “more cowbell” SNL clip.













Then there was the baptism! Baptism fit nicely with the Theology of Rhythm and gave us a chance to talk about seasons/measures, commitment, markers, movements and meter/tempo. My favorite baptism story was of the wonderful woman, Sandy who called me during the week and asked me if she was ready for baptism. "All I know is I want to follow Jesus." Yes, Sandy. That's enough.

I always tell folks I live from baptism to baptism. I think there is no greater forum or ritual or experience to portray life change. No video or life story moment ever eclipses a baptism in my mind.

For this baptism we built a large rock garden complete with two smaller lit ponds and a basin full of floating candles. The baptismal pool was a large lit hot tub that was donated by one of our own who owns a hot tub company. Over 2 tons of rock was used in the garden.

At the rear of the room was a table full of glass bottles and a basin of water. We invited everyone to take a bottle and fill it with water, pray for those being baptized, and then dump that water in the baptismal pool. This was to signify our participation as a community of faith and our commitment to one another in the journey. It also spoke of our level playing field. This was a significant moment—being baptized in the prayers of the saints.

I highly recommend a moment like this for your next baptism. Everyone was able to take part. The picture was moving—people with their arms around each other praying while holding the water—praying for new Jesus followers—praying for community—all while we sang “The Least I Can Do” by Mark Roach.

Everyone who was baptized was given a corked bottle with a vinyl Westwinds logo filled with water from his or her own baptism as a memorial of the day.

Altered Collaboration

If you know me, you know I am addicted to and energized by “altered books.” One such book is on display in the Vertizontal Gallery.

A friend in California got me started creating altered books about 10 years ago. Altered Books are a wonderful way to journal or simply display artwork. Better yet, an altered book is a piece of art in and of itself.

I pick books based on title, feel, size, or anything I deem special or magical about a book. My books sometimes become my prayer journal, my conversation with God, spiritual musings, and record of my recent journey. Sometimes, they are simply a way for me to stretch my creativity.

One of my favorite ways to make an altered book is to think of my artwork working in connection with the author of the book. It is a partnership of sorts--a creative collaboration. So, a book with an interesting title might have art that coincides with the title and chapters of that book. Or, it might be in complete contrast.

Bottom line : : : someone else’s book + my art = altered book.

So, today I “stumbled upon” this cool site lookatbook.com.

(P.S. You NEED to check out StumbleUpon)

Over the course of almost a year, four artists—two in Belgium and two in New York—exchanged a book wherein one artist would create art and send it off to the next who would then make an entry/spread in response to the previous spread. The artists did not communicate concerning the content of the book during the project.

“Book” traveled over 60,000 miles in 8 months.

I love this project. Great idea. Great execution. Great follow-through.

As an artist and a pastor, I have a few thoughts on creative collaboration. To show my cards, I usually don’t like it. For creative collaboration to work for me we need to define some boundaries and set up some rules.

But, without me diving too deep into my psyche, let’s hear from you. Here are some questions to start the conversation but, add whatever you want . . .

• What would church look like with more creative collaboration?
• What would have to line up for an artist to allow another artist into their creative space?
• What do you do when people praise creative collaboration and you think someone else’s ideas “dumb down” the whole?
• What is the best creative collaboration result you have ever had?

Please comment. This post is also part of Ragumuffin Soul's Creative Chaos.

Wax On Wax Off

I love wax museums. Ever since I was a kid. I vividly remember the first time I went to Madame Tussaud’s as a 9 year old where the Chamber of Horrors enthralled me. Creepy. Fun. When we were in New York recently, I wanted to go with the guys but I was outvoted in favor of Ripley’s Believe it or Not museum.

Anyway . . .

Today we went to my daughter’s “living wax museum” at her school. The entire third grade picked famous people, studied them, wrote reports on them, and then dressed like them for the museum. Throughout the cafeteria and up and down the halls, the kids stood still in their pose of choice while parents observed.



The kids stood still for 30 minutes.

The rules for parents were : : :

• No talking to the statues
• No scaring the statues
• No touching the statues
• Pictures were okay but we were not to coax the kids to smile

Following the museum tour, the parents watched PowerPoint presentations the students put together on their characters. Then, when the characters were called by name, they “came alive” and told the parents about themselves.

My daughter was Judy Garland a.k.a. Frances Gumm a.k.a. Dorothy.

My favorite moment in Kasidy’s presentation was the ending of her oral report portion when she “came alive.” She ended by saying, “I think I was a great loss to the world. I need a moment.” Followed by her head in her hands and fake Dorothy Gale tears.

Let me just say, I was so impressed. Yes, with my daughter but also with my daughter’s teacher, Mrs. Fortress.

Mrs. Fortress is one the most creative teachers I have ever met. This was her brainstorm. I wish we had more like her working/serving/dreaming in the church.

Other highlights included : : :

• 2 “white” Rosa Parks’
• Hulk Hogan whispering out the side of his mouth to me “hey, dude, hey, guitar man”
• Hulk Hogan, The Rock (see photo), Dale Earnhardt—true heroes
• Amelia Earhart’s pose? Holding her nose in a drowning position.

This post is part of Watercooler Wednesday over at Ethos and Creative Chaos over at Ragamuffin Soul. Check them both out!

A Site 2.0 Behold

Imagine having a staff where, 4 years ago there were 15 people doing the work that 6 people now do because of budget restraints.

Imagine that same 6 people turning up the heat and creating some of the most innovative art and hatching some of the most intriguing experiments to engage the church in conversation that we have seen in the church’s 20-year history.

Welcome to Westwinds.

Whenever I meet someone who says they could not possibly do the things Westwinds does because they don’t have the budget, resources, or staff, I chuckle inside. Lie.

One of the things I am most excited about recently is the brainstorm of my partner in crime—David McDonald. David, as our Narrative:Coriolis has begun creating websites dedicated to individual teaching series we have here at Westwinds through the use of iWeb.

We have been publishing “teaching atlases” of each series for the church which have been full of great art and notes and sidebar conversations surrounding the series’ for some time. They fly off the shelves.

Now, people will have an option to visit a series’ site, download all the notes and manuscripts, pdf’s, vodcasts, and podcasts of the series.’

Our maiden voyage begins with the series “Smoke and Dust” from the book of Ecclesiastes.

Be watching for future series sites. All artwork and material is created in-house. The artwork is usually Dave’s art, my art, Angie’s art, or any combination of those. This Smoke and Dust series is all Angie’s artwork and Dave’s material.

P.S. Angie is my assistant. The artwork you will see on the site is all because we said, "Angie, we want it to kinda look like the Sin City artwork." Done. Angie rules.

There is no other staff on earth I want to work with at this time.

This post is also being featured as part of Creative Chaos over at Ragamuffin Soul. Face the Chaos.