We're excited to start our new series "It's Complicated" on Sunday, Nov 8th!
We've had so much fun getting this series ready to bring to you - from creating visuals to filming to selfies in the foyer - that we wanted to give you a behind-the-scenes glimpse into what it takes to set the stage (so to speak) for Pastor Shawn to bring you this series.
A new series starts with an idea - a prompting from the Spirit or time spent in prayer for direction. How did Pastor Shawn choose what to preach on? We asked.
To determine a topic, Shawn considers three questions when listening to the Holy Spirit and spending time in Scripture:
- What is the current tension or struggle within our community of believers?
- What is God currently teaching me(Shawn)?
- What has been standing out to me from God's word in my personal walk?
For this particular series, Shawn says he knew it "came from a specific ask of God on what He wanted me to speak on." He went on to share his conversation with God and how this series was prompted.
"I prayed specifically before bed – 'If you want me to speak these three weeks in November, then I need to know tonight what you want to me speak on, and it needs to be specific and clear.' That night I spent most of it awake, going back and forth and writing down what I was hearing, specifically, about marriage. And God's heart for the marriages in central Alberta and of those who attend CrossRoads."
He then begins to spend time reflecting on the topic, considering both our Christian community and those around us who do not know God - hoping to create a desire for what God says in His Word and peak a curiosity about a relationship with God. While working through this time, he often finds a theme and begins to plan titles and a vision for where this series will go. Now, he's ready to bring this to the rest of the team.
With the team work of Wally, Wilma, Dallas, and our Communications Department, a new series begins to come to life. While they begin the creative process, Shawn highlights that he continues to read, study, and immerse himself in the scripture and topic until it begins to transform the way he personally does life.
The Communications Department, made up of a videographer, graphic designer, director, and coordinator, worked with Shawn on the creative vision and how to communicate the heart of this series with each of you. This includes things like organizing, filming, and editing the preview video that is posted, designing a creative visual for posters and banners and backgrounds, and social media. Really Troy's job, specifically, is to listen to the heart of the series and communicate it visually. As a team, they also brainstorm ways to encourage interaction and engagement with each series and what God may be teaching us. Sometimes that looks like selfies in the foyer or social media posts or any other crazy idea they ask us to try with them! Then, its time to get to work and make the plan happen!
They often enlist more team members, like the Maintenance Team for example. For this series, the maintenance team built 2 chalkboards! They reused a whiteboard and an old backdrop and created new! Here, Troy is applying the vinyl series title to the chalkboard you will find in the foyer on Sundays. A few team members had some laughs when they got together for a few sample selfies. Keep your eye out because they might even make it on social media.
It's not all videos and selfies for the Communications Team. They also interact with Wally and Wilma on brainstorming and bringing the creative to life. The roles of these two are to prepare the sanctuary. Wally helps us understand by equating a new series to "producing a new show at the Jubilee." The purpose is that the vision of what the stage looks like - lights, sound, video, design, and setup - the graphics, and the atmosphere all connect to support the message of the Pastor as he preaches. Often this requires the genie - a piece of machinery used to reach higher and lift more than a ladder allows. This happens for every new series. But for this one specifically, the presentation of media is also completely new. That requires new understanding of technology and new programming for our staff, volunteers, and Pastor Shawn.
With a change in lighting, backdrops, stage design, and layout comes new supporting graphics and media. Wilma works with the Communications Department, Eric, Wally, and Shawn to be sure the right backgrounds, photos, graphics, slides, music lyrics, title slides, name bars, specific decor, and so much more is ready. Here, in this world, Wilma produces a Sunday; Sundays run smoothly because of a producer.
Another significant part of this team is Dallas, our Worship Pastor. He plays with Wilma and Wally on stage layout for the worship team and a little in stage design. For this series, Dallas sat down with Pastor Shawn. Here's what he had to say about the process. "... I pressed record on my phone and he talks it out and I sent that out to the team to know the heartbeat of where he is headed." They, then, spend significant time in prayer and conversation together in the weeks leading up to the series launch to decide the worship songs, scripture readings, and any special music that may happen in the coming weeks. These things prepare the heart for the message to come.
Wally said it well when he made the statement that "what we do is to support the message of the Pastor each Sunday." This is only a small glimpse into the team effort poured in for a new series; a small novel could be written about the dynamics, work ethic, function, and heart of this family team. But ultimately, with each new series, whether 3 Sundays or 3 months worth of Sundays, they care. They care because this is the purpose they are called to. The effort, the team work, the attention to detail... it is all to support a message prompted by God for you; to spark curiosity and encourage a relentless pursuit of God and his Word. This isn't just about Sunday, this is about eternity.
