Training Camp Set

Designed. Executed. Programmed. Ready.

The new set and lighting design is ready for the new sermon series on spiritual disciplines.
Training Camp.

Click on these links to learn more about the series.

Blog

Behind The Scenes (play the video on the Journey Home page)

And the (first) result of the video shoot that we worked on last week has been edited and prepared for playback at tonight's service.

Week #1 - Why we train?

It is really exciting to be taking part in the creative mission of a church that edifies Christ and Him crucified. Thank you for supporting us, for caring for us.


Please keep us in your prayers as we continue to process God's plan for our lives.

Hope. Fully.

Adam

Sermon Series: Training Camp (work update)

The Journey has an upcoming sermon series. This translates into a busy season for me. The work is fun, and I'm truly enjoying the creative/production side. It's just been a busy busy.

Primary Reasons:

1. Holiday Break - with most (all) of us creatives and production types on holiday, we weren't working on the upcoming series' needs.
2. Engage - the first sermon series of the year is/was only two weeks. This means we have a very minimal turn-around time to prepare for the "next" sermon series during the "current" sermon series.
3. Training Camp - our Creative Director was dreaming big a few months ago for what "Training Camp" would look like as a series. Which was great! Except that we were forced to worry about the pressing-current issues (while he was dreaming) and we weren't able to implement his dreams into "plans for attack." Instead we've been scrambling a bit to get "Training Camp" off the ground at the level our CD dreamed.

Training Camp has a bumper video project larger than any series (each weekend will have a different bumper video to air right before the message).

We rented additional lighting equipment. This meant we were able to set-up for many different shots for each "scene/video."

We brought in an "actor" to be filmed for all of the videos. The actor is really our pastor's personal trainer; Bonus - he knew how to box.

We were on a tight schedule all day and the weather was against us - 4 inches of snow in a city that doesn't have adequate removal infrastructure (they don't typically need one).

The set and lights need to be on-stage before next Saturday. We have a plan using projection on the back wall, boxing-ring posts on-stage framing the pastor, and lighting patterns that will help suggest a cityscape.


I'm very excited to be working on these projects; and it is affirming my desire to be working in and for the local church within artful and technical capacities.

Thank you for your continued support. Please let me know you're reading by posting a comment. You could also let me know how Rachel and I could be praying for you.

Hope: Fully,
Adam

PS. Some pictures from the video shoot can be spotted on Facebook - here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=149379&id=136238161625&ref=mf#/photo.php?pid=3853319&op=1&o=global&view=global&subj=2238460&id=136238161625

For what it's worth

I miss theater. And I want to use theater in ministry. God gave me an opportunity to minister to a friend this morning in light of both God's sovereignty and my theatrical training.

A young lady in high school "facebook messaged" me asking for advice as she prepares for her college theater program audition. This is what I shared with her:

Here is my "coaching" without ever seeing your pieces. If you've heard any of this before, forgive me, and know that it's probably worth repeating over and over again.

1.) Prepare your monologue. Know it inside and out. Know the play it is from. Know the person, the real-live person you are portraying. If they don't exist, create them in your mind and know them fully. Preparation is all about knowledge, and unlike cramming for a test and "memorizing the answers" the best monologue performances I have ever seen were a result from the actor having complete knowledge and understanding of the person, play, and piece.

The Trick: Don't be paralyzed by the details; the "knowledge" is a tool for you to use ... do not be abused by the tools in your toolbox. The more you "know" the less you'll have to work, the less you'll have to try. It will come naturally and smoothly because you've prepared.

2.) There is an important improvisation piece to the U of M audition. They might be calling it the "group audition" or the "group activity" or "improvisation." During this session, it is best for you to relax and be yourself. Unfortunately, improvisational exercises are assumed to be "funny." This is a common trap that actors fall into. In the same way that it isn't funny when someone has to "explain the joke," it isn't funny when an actor tries to be funny with improv. All it proves is that they have watched "Who's Line is it Anyway" and all of their friends laugh at them in the hallways at school. That gift, although it is a skill, is not always fitting for the theater, let alone improvisation.

The Trick: Be yourself. Improvisation is all about exploring and releasing your true self and you cannot do either without relaxing and having fun. If you are "trying to be funny" or if you are "trying to impress the faculty" or if you are "comparing yourself to other people in the exercise" ... you will be distracted and neglect to show what the faculty truly desires to see in you.



I'm sure you've heard this before but it's worth repeating:
The faculty wants you to succeed.

They hate auditions just as much as most actors, and as a result they want them to be over just as quickly. But the auditions will not end until the "right person walks in the door." As a result, they desperately want to see the "right person" when YOU walk in the door.

So trust the Lord (because you CANNOT do anything apart from Him), be confident (because you CAN do anything with Jesus Christ), be yourself (because you were made in the image of God and He loves you and wants the very best for you).

Two parting verses of encouragement:

"Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart." Psalm 37:4

"The heart of a man plans his way, but the Lord determines his steps." Proverbs 16:9


Hope fully,
Adam

Please keep her in your prayers. and pray that the Lord provide me with ways that I might continue to minister through my gifts. I yearn to steward them well, for His glory and not my own.