This past weekend, Unity Christian Reformed Church in Prinsburg hosted their 2007 Worship Conference, "If These Walls Could Talk." The theme of the conference was how worship space, including architecture and art, communicates what a church believes about God and his relationship to people. The Conference was funded by a Worship Renewal Grant that Unity received from the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship through the generous support of Lilly Endowment, Inc.
| More than 60 people from 10 different churches participated in the conference which featured three keynote speakers, Mark Torgerson from Judson College in Illinois, William Dyrness from Fuller Seminary in California, and Elizabeth Steele Halstead from the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship in Michigan. |  |
The morning began with worship led by Bryan DeGroot and the Unity Church worship team. Pastor Jeff Fisher also led three panel discussions with the speakers between each presentation.
A primary emphasis of the conference was that many churches need to be more attentive to the visual aspects of worship. Protestants, and Evangelicals in particular, are often not very mindful of what their worship space looks like and what that says to people who are not familiar with their church. Each of the speakers demonstrated and showed examples of the numerous possibilities of how to engage more fully with the visual aspects of worship. One common recurring theme throughout the day was that churches need to support, affirm, and utilize the gifts of artists. On display at the conference were the works of fourteen local artists from Olivia to New London. Throughout the conference, the participants were also reminded that ³the process is more important than the product.² Asking the right questions and reflecting on who you are as a church and how you want to relate to the culture around you is more important than simply building your building or adding art to your walls.
One participant from another church evaluated the conference as, ³Absolutely Awesome!² He noted that all of the sessions were very informative and thought-provoking; the panel dialogues really helped to bring the concepts taught during the sessions down to a practical level; and that overall the conference was much more beneficial than he had expected. Another participant noted that this process was something that every church that is thinking about building should do before any plans are drawn up.
The conference provided all of the participants with much to think about and many suggestions on how to be more intentional about the use of the visual in worship. As Unity Church moves toward finalizing their work on the plans for their upcoming building expansion project, several focus groups will continue the study and reflection that they have been doing as part of this worship grant project. Saturday¹s conference will provide invaluable insights and ideas to further their discussions about that as well.
More information can be found out about the 2007 Worship Conference at www.unitycrc.org/conference.
