Last summer my wife and I had the opportunity to drive along West Michigan’s lakeshore. It was a warm but windy day with occasional rain showers, so our attention was drawn more to the houses lining the lakeshore than to the gray lake and misty beaches below.
As we drove, slowly dodging the silver-haired power walkers we shared the pavement with, my wife and I kept up a running commentary on the mostly very large and very expensive houses built on these shifting sands. I was struck by how our comments were not what they might have been years back. No longer were we wondering how expensive the houses must be, or how the people who owned them made their money. Our conversation was more about the colors or textures that were combined for good effect, or how the landscaper deftly made the transition from beach grass to manicured lawn. As we drove, we wondered aloud what might be behind various design decisions.
More Critique, Less Coveting
Our real estate musings might seem far removed from thoughts about worship visuals, but they illustrate an attitude I’ve been trying to cultivate recently. We’ve been attending a much larger church than we used to—one where both the talent and budgets available for worship visuals outpace my experiences with visuals in smaller congregations. Do you struggle with this too? What’s a small- or medium-sized church to do? Here are a few thoughts:
- Hone Those Appreciation Skills: Even after all those art appreciation classes I was required to take, it’s taken me a long time to be able to appreciate something I’m not able to do myself. Rather than trying to emulate what more money might enable, figure out what elements make something work well and apply that learning to what you can afford.
- Go Deeper: When we see something we like or that moves us, we often are too quick to respond with something like “That’s cool.” Without needing to enroll in art school, you can learn the principles of art and design—contrast, emphasis, movement, pattern, rhythm, variety, unity—and use these words to describe why you like (or dislike) something.
- Discuss Ideas With Others: One of the best ways to enlarge our appreciation vocabulary is to talk about our ideas in a group setting. Yes, you’ll all have to wear your thickest skins, but there’s nothing like a lively conversation around a bunch of ideas. How do you get a bunch of ideas? Require everyone to come with at least three.
- Stay Offline: Idea-sharing sites like Pinterest might have their place in designing visuals for worship, but too often they contribute to the we-could-never-do-that feeling. And because these sites are trend-driven, there’s also a certain sameness to the ideas found online.
Whatever you decide to do, make it your own. Make sure your visual worship design acknowledges the types and tastes of the people with whom you are worshiping and fits the style of the other aspects of your worship.