life rhythm: CELL, CELEBRATION & CALL - a ginghamsburg worship series

ginghamsburg's mission statemen:
bring seeking people into a life-CELEBRATION of jesus
grow in cell COMMUNITY
serve out of our CALL and giftedness.

this year our fall stewardship series didn't quite reach into advent so we created a mini 3-week series on the DNA of ginghamsburg, a rediscovery of our life rhythm of CELL, CELEBRATION and CALL. the slideshow describes the actual materials and project of the main campus worship area space design for this series.

heritage/prayer room at the Fort

our fort mckinley campus church came to us complete with 100 years of rich history and all the hundreds of photos to prove it. we'd been able to repurpose the wood salvaged from the stage/chancel area of the sanctuary as wainscoting in that room. a new color scheme and vine/burnished metal light fixtures served to enhance the leaded glass windows and we began to see the potential for a "wall of faith" - a creative display of the key photos from the fort's 100 years of history. we purchased and painted squares of drywall, then made sepia copies of all the photos chosen for the project. matching all the photos into the same sepia color scheme was the key to a cohesively designed look. we arranged them in chronological order onto eight drywall squares with room on the 8th for good things yet to come. the "bling" of the project was the use of small pieces of wood trim - salvaged and a few purchased pieces- painted to match the wood and add some visual appeal to the overall display. seeing the legacy of God's work is always cool - but we believe the best is yet to come!

LAUGHLINES worship area design

LAUGHLINES was our september message series - a response to the failing economy and our collective need to lighten up a bit and enjoy the gifts God's given. we wanted to go for a comedy club look so we purchased brickboard paneling and decopaged large posters to the cut out paneling pieces - dried and sanded to imitate the look of old painted brick.

along with the hanging brickboard posters we invited our ginghamsburg artists to create canvas paintings in the same color scheme - paintings that depicted laughter and joy in some way. take a look at the results of this worship area design.

ginghamsburg BRINGS IT

ginghamsburg is closing a 5-week message series on servanthood. we called it CHURCH IS A VERB and had some really memorable worship weekends. speakers brian brown, kevin applegate, dave hood and nick cunningham spoke passionately to bring the message home. since ginghamsburg is a mission-driven church community the idea of church being a verb - the action arm of God in the world - is not a foreign concept. we all need reminders from time to time, however!

this past weekend was the culmination of the series as we shared communion, honored 17 - 2009 "towel and basin award" recipients, and lastly were all given the chance to name our own verbs of service. we each identified the unique verb that describes what we do best and wrote that verb on a rock. when we walked up to receive our communion elements we offered up those rocks - and put them in baskets that were carried up to the altar built on the stage. powerful moments in worship.

children's festival @ ginghamsburg

one of our recent events/décor projects was the ginghamsburg children’s festival~blessing of the backpacks that took place on the lawn this past sunday. over 400 backpacks were blessed by our lay pastors to send our kids off to school with God’s protection and direction – all the while inflatables, walking tacos, pizza, games, contests and a climbing wall held great attraction for the families. this outreach event featured our individual ministry areas each sponsoring a portion of the festival, deploying over 130 servants beautifully pulling off what one team alone could never do. what a great idea – what great kids – what a great God!!!

redesigning worship...again!

these last two weeks have been a blur - two full-day retreats with our worship design team partnering to dream news ways to keep it real in our eight worship celebrations each week. we've been at this teamwork nearly 15 years but every good system deserves a tweak now and then. ginghamsburg encompasses two campuses, several rotating weekend pastor/speakers and a full crew of servants poised to step on board and change the world. these are exciting times!

august is normally our servant series month - time to affirm "old" servants and recruit new in order to deploy the mission of jesus as we know it in 2009. mike slaughter detailed this important principle of renewal in his book, "spiritual entreprenuers" back in the late 80s. now, more than ever as each of us search for our own purpose and significance, the Great CEO calls us to "grab a towel" and start washing the feet of the world- "Church Is A Verb!" check out your best place to serve @ www.ginghamsburg.org/serve. and if you're so inclined, we'd love to have you in worship/arts!

anthro in atlanta

people often ask "how do you get your ideas? what do you do for inspiration?" every artist, designer or co-creator needs to be able to unplug and find places that stir up new visions. one of the places that sparks my best ideation is the globally famous "anthropologie." it's a mall kind of store- usually one cavernous room full of french kitchenware, items for the home, candles, toiletries and totally unique (and pricey) women's clothing. i seldom actually make a purchase at anthro but my mind is crazy full of new ideas every time i peel myself out of the store. the thing i like best about the store displays is that it's mud n spit in nature. most of the decor materials are natural resources you can find or purchase for pennies - all boldly combined into fun and striking displays.

today's catch featured waves of cardboard squares screwed into the entryway walls,
a wall of eclectic clocks - some old and some even fake - jumbled over a very yummy wall of classy old cupboards, a mobile created from hangers covered w/ printed paper - all nicely arranged. a candle set inside a glass container potted down into popcorn, lentils or rubberbands is such a lovely occasional feature in the store. a twine trellis stretched across a simple wood frame fastened to the back of an old table gives an inspiring backdrop, encouraging tomatoe plants to stretch and grow. slices of birch logs lined up into a trunk shape then sport 1" disks of the same type tree as leaves. mounted on floral wallpaper the faux birch tree gives me a peaceful, happy feeling :)

i've got ideas to take back to tipp city and try out, both in my home and at ginghamsburg church. gotta love mud n spit design.

summer style

following the birth of amari life picked up speed. i find myself needing to get back to blogging and sharing more pictures, ideas and what's going on in general...summer style.

african tent event
ginghamsburg is currently hosting 12 african pastors to help them learn everything we know about effective communication. our ginghamsburg host families and these pastors gathered for dinner in our summer event tent last sunday evening. we used plants, small metal fence pieces and a casual grilled meal to help the pastors feel right at home.











avenue paint project
during the last month the makeover team servants have joined the movement to paint the avenue classrooms. i chose a new color scheme that is working well - all colors from lowe's: blue ironwork, salmon shade, olive 4 and vintage grey. with large walls and limited design budget we used paint to frame out windows and paint accents where possible. we're almost done with all the classrooms and when finances get freed up we'll do the large gym area using the same basic color scheme.













atlanta design fun
we are now in atlanta, ga. visiting our kids and helping our son benj design and furnish the now-being-built office space for his design company (eyespeak.com)
the space has an open loft kind of feel - warm wood ceiling, exposed lighting and ductwork - with a stained cement floor and some brick accent walls. benj loves wall climbing and is going to feature an authentic climbing wall in the entryway. his clients are attracted to the young, talented staff and we feel the climbing wall will create a distinctive environment that well-describes the staff within.

Amari's Room

While in Iowa City Clark and i were able to help our kids in a number of ways: visiting them in the hospital and lovin' on our new granddaughter, unpacking boxes in the new/old home our kids had just moved into (circa 1860, next to a beautiful city cemetary) cleaning, landscaping and staging their home (including Amari's room) to prepare for return of the new family. We enjoy using our skills and passion wherever God may lead :) Here are a few photos of the work we did.

new life

we received a surprise package arrive last thursday, june 18. amari mckay casto was born to daughter and son-in-law heidi and andy casto. amari came via emergency c-section three weeks early, amidst a flurry of unexpected happenings. we are so grateful she is healthy and thriving.

after a 3 1/2 day hospital stay everyone came home (andy and heidi are both grad students in ceramics at the university of iowa) where husband clark and i had been busily cleaning and unpacking their "new" vintage 1860 house. amari is a beautifully designed little girl, so very special in all her 5+ lbs. it's a blessing to see our family growing. God is good, don't you know?

Backyard Project

years ago after realizing our ministries would need to share spaces and create welcoming -albeit temporary- environments for each week's gatherings, our weekend children's ministry landed in the large gym area of the AVENUE. they use the stage, lights and media that large space provides and fence in a large portion of the floor. upon entering the "BACKYARD" kids cross over a wooden bridge and encounter a nice variety of learning centers to drive home the themes that are also creatively depicted on the stage.

last night some of our makeover servants dove in to repaint the "sheds" that are rolled in to house the learning centers (our kid's karate class were working their moves while we painted.) we are going with a new color scheme that will eventually be blended with new palette for the AVENUE gym and classroom walls. LOVE the fresh look!

everyday inspirations

i am an inspiration addict and it doesn't take crazy extravagant visuals to send me into a grateful fit of joyous inspiration. here i'm posting a random assortment of my "everyday inspirations" from the last three days: my daughter heidi who is 8 months prego and the antique rocker i just recovered for her/them, the ginghamsburg zumba class that decided to take it outside this morning, the purple clematis from my garden (yay God!), mud n' spit design from my favorite retail destination "anthropologie." Creator God is always showing up, so enjoy some everyday inspiration!

Hero Academy ~ Set Design

today five women combined efforts to create a stage set for our ginghamsburg children's ministry summer series. their stage is in our student activity center (the avenue) and we feel they deserve a great background over which to experience the powerful message of jesus for their young lives. check out our process for creating the Hero Academy set design in this video>>>

spiritual cravings

when i'm hungry i crave real food. when i'm working hard i crave thirst-quenching water. when i'm exhausted i crave a good night's sleep.

this past weekend mike began a series on the holy spirit and ended his message with the allowance that many of us may not even feel the need for MORE connection to God. it's tough to get excited about reading the bible or asking for the holy spirit to move through us if the CRAVING is missing. mike suggested that if we aren't yet hungry for the WORD that we might consider reading a book that helps us get in touch with the the "felt need" of our own hunger for God. God designed us for relationship but it is entirely possible to be so detached from this connection that we aren't even aware we have it. the craving has been temporarily satisfied with things that feed us just enough to camouflage our real hunger - like snacking around instead of waiting until supper's ready.

i always have a good book next to my bible. i need to hear fresh voices with skin on, other jesus-followers who struggle and start over each day. i've expanded my reads by sharing with a group of women who are all absorbing the same book and get together once a week to talk about it. we choose our books carefully with the common felt need to "get our butts kicked and move forward with our lives." one of our best reads was "one month to live - thirty days to a no-regrets life" by chris and kerry shook. i blogged about this book awhile back.


most recently we have been working through "journey to freedom" by scott reall. it's a recovery book for the everyday person who wants to make real progress towards emotional and spiritual health. the daily reads constantly require us to depend on the holy spirit for each day's journey and suggests scripture to seal the lesson deal into our hearts. some readings hold new stuff for me, some not so new. the point is i need REMINDERS and butt-kickers each and every day. i want to MAXIMIZE my life and that is what creates my CRAVINGS. in the words of aerosmith...

i don't wanna close my eyes
i don't wanna fall asleep
'cause i'd miss you [jesus]
and i don't wanna miss a thing

next we plan to share this little book i have from the 70s called "adventures in prayer" by catherine marshall. it's not in print anymore but i LOVE the way it creates a CRAVING inside me to talk to and trust God more. i'm going to make bootleg copies to give to my girls for our group's benefit.

do you have a book that has helped expedite your God-connection? Please share it with a comment below.

post mission reflections

the team left slidell, louisiana at 5:30 a.m. friday morning. we had scheduled to leave at 5 but gale pence snoozed through his alarm :))) back to ginghamsburg in our two vans + trailer, we experienced great weather and many more laughs and God-connections. when we pulled into ginghamsburg's parking lot i thanked God for the beautiful green landscape, the great blue sky and the luxury of living in a clean, dry, mold-free home. we take so much for granted.

the team will gather again tonight to worship at ginghamsburg's 5 o'clock celebration. meanwhile i'm reflecting on my God moments over the last week. here's a few things that inspired me:

*we prepared as best we could for this trip, but God orchestrated the right church/building, the right servant team and the right skills and gifts for the mission. God specializes in what we can't do.

*while i've spent a lot of time looking for people i can love, true community is waking up and realizing you've begun to love those God's found. i wouldn't trade away anyone who went on this trip. everyone was there for a unique purpose and calling.

*most people look for work that gives them joy. these servants found joy in whatever work came their way.

*people who are painfully shy and reluctant to open up somehow can't quit talking once they have a scraper or a shovel in their hands. side by side is how we got things done and how God came near.

*when we are loved and accepted, we become our true selves. when we're our true selves, we are a heck of a lot of fun. that's community.

Day 6: Mission Accomplished

as mission trips go, today was bittersweet. after quick stops to the rental shop and lowe's we got right to work at mt. zion. the team was anxious to get as much done as possible and leave a cleanly gutted building- prepared for the [re]building to begin.

we wanted to cover the round window opening where once a lovely stained glass design had been in order to protect the building from further water damage. jim t. had a middle-of-the-night idea to make it a nice design - like a faux stained glass window. i looked up some verses on my blackberry and found psalm 102:16, "for the LORD will rebuild mt. zion." it was exciting for me to work a design project. lori and i did the painting - jim and clark did the hanging, and wha-la -the temporary window covering is now a word of hope for the mt. zion church family and surrounding community.

lunch was a barbeque with the seniors (we love them!) and dinner was a spread put on by some of the church family. we got to see photos of one family's hurricane experience and worshipped with ira wray. the day ended with a combined tour of the demo-ed church building, songs, prayers, hugs and farewells. these people will be in our hearts and we feel invested in their future. please keep their rebuilding in your prayers.

Day 5: demo demo demo

(lori meyer writing)
on day 1 it was almost impossible to imagine that we would finish any, if all, of the projects listed on clark's team checklist. yet, after three days of scraping paint, destroying walls, taking down ceiling tiles and packing 2 dumpsters full of debris we are finally seeing progress! accomplishing these tasks has given the group momentum and will carry us through tomorrow, our last day of work.

as we enter and leave the church building we can see an expansive, vacant lot in the area across the street, and in the distance the superdome. each time i glance that way, i cannot forget the images i saw on tv during the hurricane and aftermath. i can only imagine the heartache so many suffered. we were told this area will soon be full of new public housing. how exciting it is to think that mt. zion will be in the midst of this new community and in the perfect position to help those in need in their own neighborhood. it's also humbling to know that we are a little part of this reconstruction and rebirth.

**please pray for mt. zion's pastor, connie thomas, who was admitted to the hospital today with a blog clot in her lung. we hold these people in our hearts.

Day 4: a double dumpster day

today was a quick stop at the rental store for scaffolding, then on to mt. zion for a very full day of scraping floors and walls, removal of large damaged ceiling tile @ a height of 40'(and a temp of 98 degrees) and complete gutting of three second floor classrooms. the work is grueling (two-30 c.yd. dumpster fulls) but nary a whiner among us. i don't mind putting in a hard day of work but these people put me to shame. they do love to serve.

before leaving ohio we'd notified bruce nolan, reporter for the new orleans times-picayne of our 50th trip. bruce stopped by mt. zion to say hello today and we caught him on video - hoping to post it here. more to come tomorrow.

Day 3: demolition begins

you can dress'm up and take'em out, but ginghamsburg servants are happiest when you set'em loose on a work project. this team of 20 is the most insanely hard-working group of people i've ever encountered. today we scraped, pulled,tore out and hauled a 30-yd.dumpster full of post-hurricane *&^%! it was incredible to watch these people work. we'll need medication in the morning i'm sure.

even thought this is a struggling church, mt. zion is also a mission-driven movement. every tuesday evening they turn their little meeting space into a free "luke's clinic," offering various medical tests and information by volunteer nurses, doctors and dieticians. every third saturday they hold a family fun fest, welcoming up to 50 neighborhood children into the church family for a morning of dancing, singing and play. God is good, all the time and in so many awesome places.

Day 2: exploring the city

(mickey langston writing today)
today was a day of many sights, sounds and emotions. we woke up early and headed into new orleans for worship at mt. zion church. the congregation welcomed us with open arms. they were so grateful to finally have a team of people give them the hope of rebuilding the sanctuary they loved and lost to katrina. the joy of worship and promise...

we walked through the once beautiful church after service with a few men from the congregation. we saw where the water level settled on the front doors of the church, walked into the sanctuary to find peeling paint, damaged plaster and mold. the sorrow of loss...

we left the church and spent the day touring the french quarter. we broke into two groups and set out for lunch. each group experienced the flavors and smells of cajun food, and pralines. one group feasted on beignets and cafe au lait at the world famous cafe du monde. we visited st. louis cathedral, watched talented street performers and heard music in the streets. the excitement of exploring new places...

after we left the city we decided to visit the lower the 9th ward where katrina ravaged the city after the levees were compromised. it's so hard to believe after five years that so many damaged homes sit empty and overgrown with grass and weeds, windows broken and roofs missing. words cannot explain what our eyes witnessed and our hearts felt. many houses were marked with an x and numbers of the dead once inside. the heaviness of lives lost and homes destroyed...

Day 1: the journey

we arrived in slidell around 8 p.m., moved our belongings into the dorm room and settled in a bit. half the group went to walmart for groceries and picked up pizza for dinner at papa johns. it's amazing how adaptable and easy going servants can be. we are going to worship at the church we'll be serving at this week, mt. zion umc on louisiana ave. in the heart of the city of new orleans. we'll grab some time exploring the area tomorrow before returning to slidell for the night. monday begins the demolition! posting lots of little videos here - still learning to work the FlipShare device.

twas the night before new orleans...

i'm watching the 11 o'clock news before going to sleep for the "night." our bags are packed, the trailer's parked outside and our dog Buddy is predictably depressed having watched us prepare to leave during the evening.

the alarm is set for 3 a.m. when clark and i'll rise to meet 20 other adults from ginghamsburg ready to set out for our 50th mission trip to the gulf areas hit hardest by hurricane katrina. we'll be concentrating our efforts by coming alongside the mt. zion umc - a community of brothers and sisters on lousiana ave. in new orleans - who are still displaced by the flood waters. we understand we'll be doing mostly demolition work to prepare for later rebuilding.

i'm looking forward to traveling with friends - some new and others i've worked alongside all year long. we'll be posting our journey and videos here on this site. welcome along!

repurposed

we were asked to create a ginghamsburg bookstore (aka "the vine") presence/location at our fort mckinley campus... a somewhat portable, lockable kiosk-type cart that would attraction attention and enable the fort to sell resources, message cds/dvds and mission tshirts. i researched carts and found them online beginning at around $1000 - a bit pricey. at the same time we'd been painting a large classroom at the fort and i hardly knew what to do with the large, random pieces of furniture in that space.

we ended up dry-brushing that plywood furniture with a coat of "india ink" (valspar, martha stewart colors) and in a blissful moment i realized that we could repurpose one of the classroom cupboards into a bookstore cabinet/cart! we installed new locks, moved the cupboard out into the worship lobby and set out to design and customize it's look. a little paint + some mud n'spit = a beautiful bookstore location.

creating welcoming spaces

ginghamsburg is a mission-driven church but that hasn't excused us from valuing our visitors! we strive to create welcoming spaces that invite guests to feel at home and navigate effectively on campus. we don't have much community space built into our campus so we max out the spaces we have. conversation areas, great signage, information when needed. these are elements of a church that strives to welcome new guests and encourage the community spirit within. what does your church do to create welcoming spaces? we'd love to know.

rainy days and mondays don't always get me down

...and today was one monday that was perfectly awful outside - rain, snow, sleet and very cold. inside the fort was a different story. five servants painted, sanded, hung lights, munched on salad and brownies and shared stories. this extra room off the main worship lobby has now been transformed into a prayer room. new furniture is yet to come - and decades of historic fort mckinley photos will grace the wall on the left side of the room. all oak wood paneling was repurposed from the worship stage/pulpit area.

as the first prayer in the new prayer room, i downloaded the "prayer for darfur" from www.prayerinstitute.com and read it aloud at lunchtime. we know God hears us, even in a small room in a depressed city on a rainy monday afternoon.

meanwhile, back at the Fort...

a lot has happened at the Fort in the last several weeks and months. we bit the bullet and went to work in the basement. i don't have before pictures, but trust me we've come a long way baby. lots of joint compound texture treatments, creative pipe painting and a few well-placed wall pieces. pastor dave hood asked us to create spaces that would lift the vision of the food pantry clients - pictures of what can be. the best thing about great design is that it inspires all who experience it.

office space

every once in awhile i get to pull in a few servants and do an office makeover. these are especially fun when the staffperson has a theme or a vision of what they'd like and it's our challenge to fulfill that concept.

in this case the staffperson has been out of the office for three months. ron incurred a fractured hip when his car was broadsided one evening before christmas on his way home from work. he had already been asking for an office makeover and had several pieces to contribute to an "old world" theme.

an old world theme begs brownish-gold walls. this was a "no budget makeover" so we used several shades of gold left over from different projects. i discovered a new wall treatment using a "woolie" - a rectangular furry wool pad that blends multiple colors together in shades and shadows. you can purchase your own woolie at menards and it's worth the price. kind of made lori and i look like artistic geniuses. we really recommend the woolie and hope ron likes his new office space.


i read a quote from "one month to live" this week that spurs me on: our greatest pleasure in life often comes from serving others, from giving them what no one else can provide in that exact time and place." i hope you enjoy the same pleasure.

ginghamsburg welcomes narnia

two weeks ago we gathered up a collection of artsy servants to create stage sets for ginghamsburg's "backyard" children's ministry as well as our six clubhouse outreach locations. both were approaching a "narnia" series using the chronicles of narnia and the new prince caspian. 8 sheets of foam, 12 carpet roll tubes, 32 yards of canvas and four cans of paint later... we had narnia! i visited the backyard this past weekend and felt excited along with the kids as they watched a clip from the movie- falling in love with aslan all over again.