Creating a Moment

Do the creative arts have the power to move a heart toward God? A man who had been an atheist for many years told of how he sat in church, week after week, unconvinced about the truth of the gospel. One weekend at church, they showed a video. It was a low-tech clay animation video about a small figure that walks along and looks up in the sky with wonder and concern. The figure turns around and leaves the scene, only to return with an armful of gifts. He holds the gifts high in the air and then lowers them with sadness as if the gifts were somehow inadequate.

The figure leaves the scene once again to return this time with a handful of money. He again holds the money up to the sky and then has the same sad reaction. Finally, he has a “light bulb” moment and leaves the scene for the final time. When he returns, his arms are empty. Looking up to heaven, he stands and reaches into his clay chest, pulling out his heart. He holds his heart up high and waits. Then a large hand reaches down to him and scoops him up as the small clay figure smiles with joy.

After the video ended, the man realized that his shirt was wet with tears; he had been captivated. The video had captured his heart in a way nothing else had. This simple clay animation video caused this man to give his life to Christ that day. That man’s name is Lee Strobel. Since then, he has gone on to be one of the most popular authors and Christian apologists in the world.

Many people (myself included) feel close to God when we watch something beautiful; we engage in worship when we watch a video depicting a life changing video story or when we read Scripture on a screen with accompanying music. When I stepped into my current position as the Creative Arts Director at Calvary Community Church, my goal was to create “God moments” in our weekend services; moments that bring people into the presence of God. It is both a huge joy and a challenge to come up with such impactful moments each and every weekend all year long. In our church, we understand that the preaching of the gospel is the center of what we do during weekend services. However, it’s up to the creative team to communicate the written word by utilizing various elements of the arts. Jesus taught in parables and sometimes our dramas and or videos are just that—modern day parables. This helps engage and compel creative artistic types towards spiritual transformation.

That said, I want to acknowledge that although our hearts are hopefully in the right places, we creative artists can fall prey to overprogramming. This is where we fill too much space with cool creative stuff. A great service can and should have reflective moments—spaces for the Spirit of God to dwell and work in people’s hearts. I know what you’re thinking: “We only have seventy minutes and so much to accomplish.” Yes, but be careful not to overpower the service with too much programming.

There is beauty in a self-reflective prayer time with a musical background or even a few minutes of quiet. For example, during communion, we only put a video element on the screen that has a flickering candle with bread and wine. We don’t sing. We are just quiet before God. We also put Scripture on the screens between worship songs and ask the audience to reflect quietly. We do not have to be loud and fast-paced to reach the unchurched. On the contrary, the seekers that I meet these days, especially the ones under 30-years-old, yearn for the church to help them slow down.

There is no greater group of individuals who need an opportunity to slow down than our women. With Mother’s Day fast approaching, I’d like to share some tips and ideas on how we can best serve our ladies. First rule of thumb from one who is female: please do not over-feminize your service just because it is Mother’s Day. Having said that, a flower given at the door or, better yet, a chocolate bar is always appreciated.

The great challenge in planning a Mother’s Day service is that half the audience is not a mom. Be sensitive and show consideration to those who are not married or do not or cannot have children. One way that we show love to all the women in the congregation is to make sure your pastor prays for those who have lost a mom or a child, or for those who long to have a child and have not yet conceived. This should be presented as a sacred moment and not an afterthought.

Here are some creative ways you can use multimedia to celebrate Mother’s Day in your church:

Show a video of a mom and daughter or son where the mom came to Christ because of her kid’s relationship with Christ. These stories add a twist to the typical story of a mom leading her child to Christ. This also shows a mother’s ability to humbly learn and be taught by her kids.

We’ve done a video based on a biblical passage on showing love, and we interview kids with the question, “How does your mom show you love?” Their responses are often funny and can be surprisingly thought-provoking.

Interview moms in the foyer for a live feed as they enter the church. Ask them, “What are you looking forward to today?” For an extra element of fun, consider adding a red carpet for them as they walk in!

Because acts of service are important to moms, prepare printed coupons in the bulletins that can be filled out by the attendees to write down one way they can serve the moms in their life. Make a video with funny possible ideas presented in graphics or interview form.

Create a humorous pre-service video titled something like “What NOT to get mom on mothers day” ( for example, a cookbook, a trash can for the kitchen, a makeover unless requested, or other stereotypical gifts)

Last year, our pastor taught on “marking moments,” as Jesus did throughout his ministry. Our pastor challenged the congregation to stop and mark moments in their own lives. In response, we showed a video called “Mom’s Miracle Moments” that interviewed people on their best mom memories so they could mark and remember them.

Let your service be filled with creative moments that impact peoples’ lives, both this Mother’s Day and in every “regular” Sunday. Experiment with different aspects of the creative arts and media to move your church members’ hearts toward God. Who knows? The next Lee Strobel may be sitting in your church.

Sidebar: Telling “My Story”

One of the most powerful elements we can use to move hearts during worship services are real stories of lives that have been changed because of Jesus Christ. We put those stories on the screen via video partly because not everyone will (or should!) speak in public. With the help of music, Scripture, or graphics, we tell a story and can create a truly heartfelt moment. There have been numerous times when people have told me that a specific video spoke to them and compelled them to cross the line of faith.

I’ll give you an example. Recently at our church, we showed a video story of a woman who had gone through a difficult marriage and was considering leaving her husband. The day before she planned to leave him, she came to our church and heard the message on forgiveness. God took hold of her heart and she chose to forgive her husband and try again.

After the service, a man came up to one of our staff members and told the staff person that he was about to leave his wife, but the video had really “messed” with him. The man admitted he needed help and his marriage was saved—because of this video that God used in his life. The more real we can be in our media, the more opportunities we give God to work.

We call these parts of our services “My Story” and try to correlate the story theme with the message topic for the weekend. Because we’ve found stories to be so powerful, we use several methods to deliver the story:

One simple option is to have people write down their stories and then read them live. When you do this, it is best if someone reads and edits the story, and if the person rehearses several times to ensure effective delivery.
For a more artistic flair, we’ve also used our drama team to read or enact real life stories. Recently, we had four actors on stage (you could also do this on video) under four spotlights reading stories. The catch was that the last line of each story became the first line of the next story. This made it appear as if it was one cohesive story of how God changes lives.
For a more interactive format, we have written out the story on video in a letter to God, as a journal entry, or a Dear Pastor note. The audience then reads the text quietly to themselves while appropriate music plays in the background. Obviously, you would get permission or omit the personal identifying information as needed.

—Andrea Minor