Leading with Light: Advent is for Longing

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Advent is for Longing

While not precisely on the topic of visuals in worship, I recently published a reflection on the intentional emptiness of Advent as a counter to our cultural expectations of increasing revelry through December, only to crash on the 26th.

Imagine, as one church did, wreaths of grape vine and sticks through advent, replaced with holly and poinsettias on Christmas and through the tweleve days of Christmas and Epiphany.

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Lights on the Path

Stance

The “Stance” sequence shows how a single visual element changes as the worship service unfolds. The mannequin, representing our posture before God, changes positions as the congregation’s liturgical task changes. This sequence also intentionally leaves space for text, but can also serve as a plain banner. These images are courtesy of Jubilee Fellowship Christian Reformed Church in St. Catharines, Ontario.

Kids' Mosaics

The “Kids’ Mosaics” sequence is an example of found art. Children in the congregation had earlier created paintings and paper mosaics during Lent. Several of these were selected and organized to follow the liturgical pattern. They were photographed under even light and cropped. This sequence of photographs became a congregational favorite. These images are courtesy of Jubilee Fellowship Christian Reformed Church in St. Catharines, Ontario.

Lament Sequence

This is a sequence of images used in a service based on a psalm of lament. The backgrounds were used as "banners," meaning they never had text or lyrics over them, though they could be used that way.

Psalm 23

This sequence presents the first part of Psalm 23 as an artistic rendering of plain text. Simple shapes, such as colored lines, are used as well.

Globe & Cross

The “Globe and Cross” Liturgical Sequence is good example of a composite image that builds as the service progresses. Beginning with a nearly blank screen, elements are added to the image at each stage until reaching a final, full image. The images are either darkened or lightened when used as a background, allowing the overlay of white or black text.

Renewed on the Journey

This Liturgical Sequence was developed for the opening worship of a regional worship conference. The theme was "As people of faith on a journey, we come to be renewed in God's strength." The first four images were the basic backgrounds used. They were designed to follow the major movements of the service. The rest of the images show how the backgrounds were used with text overlaid. Note that the text varies in position and color, depending on whether the words were God's words to the congregation, or the congregation's words in response to God.

Kids' Paintings

The “Kids’ Paintings” sequence is an example of found art. Children in the congregation had earlier created paintings and paper mosaics during Lent. Several of these were selected and organized to follow the liturgical pattern. They were photographed under even light and cropped. These sequences of photographs became a congregational favorite. These images are courtesy of Jubilee Fellowship Christian Reformed Church in St. Catharines, Ontario.