Just wanted to say thanks for the props on the backgrounds. They look great on your screens! The stage design looks fabulous!

Nice site as well! I’ll be checking back regularly!

thanks for the response!

I think my view of media/tech has probably changed over the last few years. When I graduated college in 2003 I was all about media and design and the church. I was gung-ho on finding a job as a minister of media. Upon finding encounter I hoped to do something similar there but more and more I’ve found greater significance in building community and relationships and found that (at least at encounter) people are far more interested in face to face interaction and intentional relationship than a great moving background or a fancy stage setup.

But of course as the “tech/media go to guy” at encounter I’m always striving to find ways to better communicate our message and build relationships through the process. I just battle with – is this necessary and will it leave anyone out? We used textmarks for a recent sermon series so people could send txt messages in and ask questions. We debated doing that because we wanted to be sure we weren’t leaving anyone out. We made certain that folks knew they could also ask questions in person, via email or on the response cards.

Perhaps my passions have just changed or maybe my overall view has changed. Either way I am excited to see people find their passion grooves and put their passions to use in the kingdom. Heck – I’ve been working with the Christian Wrestling Federation for the last 3 years! Ha! Try and justify that one .

Either way — thanks for the response! Glad to continue the conversation.

Thanks for commenting on the set design. No attacks here! For us, if we can decorate the stage to reinforce a theme, then we like to do it. In fact, it may not do anything to bring people closer to God. But if it reinforces a truth or helps somebody see something in a different way, then we consider it worth it. I also look at it like this: If I am having special company come over, I am going to help my wife in dressing up our house a little. The truth is that we have people visiting us all the time at Fellowship. I don’t think we have to knock it out of the park each week, but I would like for a newcomer to at least have the impression that we care about what we’re communicating and how we’re communicating it. Lastly, it’s an artistic expression – a way to celebrate the colors, shades, tones, textures, reflections, etc that God created and we have the opportunity and responsibility to redeem.

Something that’s important to me when it comes to our stage design is dynamic range. I’m not talking about audio and music here, but rather, a dynamic range of how large and grand a design is. If we have a busy, very decorated set each week, then i can get kind of numbed by it, or even overwhelmed by it. I think sometimes the set can overpower the message if we’re not careful. So I try for an ebb and flow to our stage designs. The one before our current design was a simple set of panels on the back wall of the stage with a cross in front of it.

I would keep asking yourself the questions you wrote. We’re doing it all the time. Would love to hear any other thoughts you have on these matters.

Take care,

Brian

We didn’t paint the Coroplast or roofing material at all. We bought the Coroplast in Grey and, white, and kind of a translucent material. All the colors are coming from the lights hitting the panels. The roofing material was white as well. The ladders (we called them trusses) were painted with aluminum spray paint.

But in all seriousness — great design! Great look! Great imagery!