Our church has a large screen in the front of the santuary for visual support of the worship experience. Now I realize that for some the screen is a nuisance and for others a sign of the decline of true worship. But for a new generation, images are more apart of their vocabulary than the written word.
I firmly believe that images are capable of moving people on an emotional level, much the same way music does. I believe that in a worship service, we should allow the preaching and teaching to do what they do best, and employ appropriate images to compliment God’s word where they are most effective. We come to worship to learn about truth, but also to be inspired, to be lifted, and to be moved. And images move us! Ever hear of the Mona Lisa?
Our goal in worship should be to combine visual, artistic elements in such a way as to invite an encounter with the Holy – moments in which the Holy Spirit is unmistakably presence and in which life transformation, restoration, and renewal happens.
So in what ways do the arts move us? There is a broad spectrum of possible emotions in worship. Not all of these emotions would be evident every week. Here’s at least a starter list of the ways worship can move us:
Toward beauty – lifting our spirits as we are inspired by creation;
Toward celebration – freeing us to express joy and gratitude;
Toward understanding – images can clarify what is fuzzy and uncertain;
Toward justice – stirring within us a righteous kind of anger to make things right in this broken world;
Toward compassion – images remind us of our pain and help us empathize with the pain and loss of others;
Toward joy – what a wondrous experience to be surprised and laugh from the gut in church;
Inspiring hope – images reveal the way to God’s light in the midst of darkness;
Igniting action – images can challenge and stretch us to align ourselves with the activity of God.
Whenever we design a worship experience, we should ask: If God works (as we pray and trust he will) and if we offer our talents and spiritual gifts, how do we long for people to be moved? Let’s not settle for that which elicits only a yawn, or put together a string of elements that merely take up space and time in the service. Let’s send people out to their cars having felt something stirring deep inside.
