The Redemption Tree, August 2014

In August of 2014, Sandor Fejervary preached a wonderful sermon on Creation, and we reflected on how we have not always been good stewards of our world. He asked the Arts Team to help with a "visual", and this is what we came up with. We made a tree out of cardboard that sat at the front of sanctuary before and during the sermon. As people entered for worship that morning, we handed out pieces of trash. After the sermon, you could come down and hang your trash onto the tree. The hope was that we would transform the tree, symbolically be redeemed, and possibly be reminded to become better stewards. 

 Nancy Livengood setting up the tree before worship.

Nancy Langham and Nancy Livengood preparing the tree.

Tom Livengood and Paul Cropley prepare the trash that will be handed out to the congregation.

Here is the tree after it has been "transformed". Katie Archibald-Woodward is on the Arts Team; she also sings with the Worship Team and is in the upper right corner of this picture. 

Here's another view of the tree - this picture provided by Katie Archibald-Woodward.

Peter Langham is an auxiliary member of the Arts Team and is pictured here with an early prototype of the tree. He came up with the much-improved idea of covering it with corrugated cardboard and spent many hours with a hot-glue gun making it happen!  

VBS in Haiti, July 2014

Some of our congregation traveled to Haiti in 2014 to lead Vacation Bible Study in conjunction Haiti Outreach Ministries. The Arts Team contributed by making some props to help with the Bible lessons.

 Here is Jo Ditzel trying out the hand puppet that we hope will help bridge the language gap. 

 

And here is Jo trying out the crown that "King David" will wear during one Bible story. 

 This is Colin Edwards practicing to be the tree that Zacchaeus will climb.

Advent 2014: Picture Perfect

Regrettably, we have no photos for any of the projects we did for Advent, 2014. Something different was done each Sunday, including one Sunday when we provided candles for people to light on their way back to their seats after Communion (symbolizing the idea that we are moving from darkness towards light as we approach the birth of our Lord.) The lit candles were placed in a central place, that was tiered, and it made an effective display. 

The coolest venture we undertook that month was Live Painting. Each week of Advent has a different theme: Hope, Love, Joy, and Peace. For the week of Love, Nancy Livengood and Paul Cropley each bravely volunteered to paint a work of art (to completion!) during the worship service. Both of them are such accomplished artists that they each rendered beautiful compositions that were quite different from each other, yet perfectly representative of the Advent spirit.    

Sidewalk Liturgy! Palm Sunday 2013

For Palm Sunday, 2013, we engaged the Word by spreading coats on the ground to herald Jesus' arrival.  We also wrote Scripture passages with chalk on the sidewalk, such as Hosanna! and Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! We called this project Sidewalk Liturgy (props to Will Norman who helped us brainstorm this idea months before). And special thanks to Tom Livengood who acquired the coats for us, and donated them to the Salvation Army afterward.

Advent 2012 - Week 1 - A blank canvas

For Advent in 2012, the Kairos Arts Ministry Team created, with the help of the congregation, an evolving art installation. 
For each of the four weeks in Advent, slips of paper were available to the congregation, on which they could write a prayer. The Arts Team had designed a silhouette that would be the eventual, final image. Each week, we glued the prayers to a frame so that the image was gradually revealed over the four week period. 

 Here is the front of our church building, with the frame installed off to the side of the entryway.

 

You can see that the frame is blank. This is how it looked before any prayers had been offered. 

Advent 2012 - Week 2

You can see that it is beginning to take shape.

We can read the prayers as we arrive for worship.

Week 3 of Advent - Taking shape

A more defined shape is now appearing in our third week.

Fully Revealed

 

The shape of the star over the manger is now easily visible, just as our Lord has been revealed to us.

What Child is This?

For Advent in 2012, we installed our completed project in the chancel on Christmas Eve.