As some of you know, my husband
and I (and a team of people) just planted a new Church here in Harrisonburg,
VA. A Church plant is the process of establishing Christian church in a new
location. This differs from a new church development (which is where a church,
existing already, starts something new within). Launching a church plant is
starting everything from the ground up. There is a lot of work that accompanies
church plant; Planning location, timing, community purpose, target congregation,
funding, outreach, leadership teams etc. Similarly to a business, a large
component of Church Planting is its marketing plan. When developing a marketing
plan for a new church, there are two focal points:
1. Sharing
the specific mission/vision of the church plant with Christians and
non-Christian
2. Sharing
and emphasizing Christian doctrine, at large.
Using
visual literacy techniques can be vital expressions of the specific purpose of
the church plant, and that of the Christian Faith. The effective use of visuals in a church can
also help individuals with understanding, remembering and performing..jpg)
The name of our Church is “Divine Unity Community Church”,
called DUCC for short. This logo consist
of four “U”’s to display DUCC. The logo puts emphasis on “Unity”, which is also a key element of the Church’s purpose. DUCC’s
motto is “Welcome home…”, as the church has an emphasis on being a family
(again with the unity).
In the front, the décor has a warm set up (like family
room). This picture shows one of the walls which have posters representing our
church's mission. The key visual here is
the city skyline, denoting another key element of the Church, “community”.
These are just some examples of how my church uses visuals
to communicate or teach a message. Here are some sites that also discuss a
churches visual plan:
This is a posting about visual arts using during the worship
service: http://worship.calvin.edu/resources/resource-library/visual-arts-in-church-making-the-invisible-word-visible/
This purpose of this consulting business is to aiding a
church’s design team: http://www.ccisolutions.com/StoreFront/category/consulting-church-audio-video-lighting
Have you ever thought about visual literacy and Church? The
next time you attend church, pay attention to what the church is communicating
visually. Do you think it is intentional
(like DUCC) or by coincidence? Do you think this is too much effort for a
church when the focus should be worshiping God?
You are
welcome to visit my church located at 182 Neff Ave, Harrisonburg, VA 22801. We
have service at 10AM every Sunday and bible study on Wednesdays at 7:30PM. You
can also check us out at http://www.facebook.com/ducchurch
or http://www.ducchurch.org/
Ah, so interesting Cherelle! The visual literacy is everywhere including our churches. How effective it is can vary quite a bit. However, I think when it is used effectively, it is more than just aesthetically pleasing, it shows meaning and this meaning and its effectiveness can make all the difference for the parishioners engaging with the content/message/material. Your church has a great logo too! It reminds me of one of the famous designers we talked about and he developed the Presbyterian logo.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.davidairey.com/logo-of-the-month-8/
Cherelle, thanks for sharing! I'm happy to see that you and your husband have moved along very nicely with your Church. I have never really thought of visual literacy with Church. I would agree that churches offer aesthetically pleasing visuals and decor, as Eric shared, but I have never viewed it as a form of visually literacy communicating a message until reading your post and taking this course. I really like the pictures you posted, I agree they communicate a message and I also agree that helps when teaching.
ReplyDeleteI thought back on my church that I grew up going to. Although, I didn't go frequently, I also felt comfortable and at ease when attending. I think it was mostly the structure and design of the church; the flowers, framed pictures throughout the halls of the parish, etc. The stained glass windows were my favorite!
Cherelle, did you create that logo? It is fantastic.
ReplyDeleteChurches were perhaps some of the earliest users of visuals to enhance meaning and spiritual connection. Renaissance churches such as the Sistine Chapel used some of the best artists of the era-- Michelangelo, Botticelli and Perugino-- to depict bible messages and stories to a largely illiterate population.
After the Reformation there was a move to shun the 'decoration' of older churches in favor of a more direct connection with the spirit without the distractions of art, putting the emphasis on the verbal message and word of the bible.
It seems like your church strives to combine these two approaches in an interesting way-- to enhance the message or word through visuals rather than have visuals merely depict a bible story.
As I cannot attach a picture to this comment. I will create another post with a picture of the symbol from the Unitarian Universalist church that I attended in Underwood, MN.
Matt, I did NOT create the Logo. I just give the content for its production. The logo was created by a guy name Oleg Yagolnikov.
ReplyDeleteCherelle-I was so pumped when I read your post. My father is a minister in Ohio and this made me think of all the neat things he does with his church. It also made me think of other churches that I have visited in the past. I feel like when the church has taken time to put out interesting and eye appealing logos it really goes the extra mile with the visitors and possible members.
ReplyDeleteI found some neat logos I wanted to share as well:
http://www.thelogofactory.com/legacy-portfolio/church-logo/
http://www.connectchurch.ca/about-us/friends-of-connect
http://churchrelevance.com/resources/top-church-logos/
I think it's very neat when churches theme their decorations around their sermon series. My friends Jamie and Becky are apart of the worship team at their church and Becky handles all the church decorations. She tries to make the decorations match. These past few weeks they have been preaching on marriage and the church has been decorated like a wedding...everything is centered around the wedding theme-from the songs to the decorations and even to the slide show before the service. It's really neat to see all these visual ideas incorporated into our churches.
Cherelle, This was so exciting to read! Especially as an attendee of DUCC I was even more excited! Such good points were made and it is so true of the visual components that are used in the church, even the fact that yall utilize PowerPoint for the sermons and the worship. This is such a creative post. I enjoyed this very much, because I never thought about the use of visuals at church so it was good to realize that even more!
ReplyDeleteVery interesting post. I truly believe that God gives us everything to communicate his glory. Visuals are one of the key element that I believe we are given to learn and identify importance and resemblance in life. At the church I attend, so have a short visual video, visual decor in the entry way, and sometimes our preacher uses a board visually display what he is teaching. All things considered I believe the church should definitely be intentional about the incorporation of visuals.
ReplyDeleteCherelle, congratulations on the church planting! Very interesting post. I had never really thought of the use of visuals in the church! At the church I went to when I was younger, the environment was very welcoming, but I cannot recall decor that stood out visually (it's been a while!).
ReplyDeleteI remember the use of PowerPoint for songs and introductions, but not throughout the sermons. I think the intentional use of visuals when preaching and teaching is a fantastic idea, and I have enjoyed looking at the photos of your church and how you are incorporating visuals to aid in driving messages home!