I have discovered and embraced a new idea…the visual worship leader. Spent a day this past week with a group of church leaders, at Visual Worship 2010, who create environments for people to gather for worship and a round table discussion in St. Louis. You may call these people tech leaders, creative directors, creative pastor’s whatever but what they do each week is help lead worship. Our environments help people engage God or distract them from the God who made their soul. The visual worship leader uses staging, lights, projection, pictures, art, and architecture help share the message being communicated. every week our hope is communicate a message to the people who gather in our churches. The visual worship leader helps that message be intentional. I am passionate about environment. I have always felt as I produced (planned, ran lights, projection, or directed) a service I was helping to lead worship. Seriously I love seeing the environment assist the worship lead and speaker as we communicate the message. This week I met other people with that same passion. Go check out the discussion going on at http://worshipvj.com/ and http://www.visualworshiper.com/
Also know that your environment matters. When a person walks into your worship / small group / Sunday School / fellowship SPACE your environment is communicating something. Make sure you are intentional about that message. Leverage lighting, projection, music, art, stage arrangement, and room setup to communicate a message YOU WANT through your entire service or event.