ILLUMINATE

Art. Liturgy. And Evangelical Mega-Churches. On the 9th episode of the ALT podcast, I have a joint conversation with Willow Creek pastors Blaine Hogan & Aaron Niequist. Blaine Hogan is the creative pastor for Willow Creek Community Church in Chicago, IL. He's had a career in acting, including a popular TV show. His path then led him to become the creative director of one of the largest & most creative churches in North America. His experience in merging the creative arts into modern worship settings has given him an incredible insight for emerging artists in the Church. He's recently launched a new eCourse called "Make Better" designed specifically for creators & artists. At the same church, Aaron Niequist has served as a worship leader for the past few years. Like Blaine, he's been intrigued by the ancient expressions of the Church. Aaron has experienced both success & failure as he's experimented with integrating ancient practices into their large contemporary mega-church setting. His path has led him to create two avenues for engaging Liturgy in a contemporary context. The first is "A New Liturgy", a series of 25-minute journeys through prayer, meditation & song. The second is an experimental gathering on Sunday nights called "The Practice", an ecumenical worship service that explores the unforced rhythms of grace. So both of these guys are navigating art & liturgy in one of the largest evangelical churches in America, Willow Creek... a church that has provided a refuge for many escaping dry, dead & traditional religion by creating exciting seeker-friendly worship services. Let's just say they have a lot of stories & wisdom to share! ______________________________________ SHOW NOTES There are a lot of show notes plus a few videos included for this episode. Go to http://illuminate.us/alt-ep9 to access. Thanks!

Why isn't the Church known for art anymore? What happened? On the 8th episode of the ALT podcast, I sit down with my friend Preston Sharpe, who does a brilliant job at explaining why so much of the Church has become a creative wasteland. Preston is an artist-pastor who leads Sacrament Church in East Nashville. We first met at the PRAXIS Conference where we both presented talks under the theme "Creativity & the Christian Imagination." His message mostly focused on two major events in church history: Iconoclasm & the Protestant Reformation. These controversial movements sought to excommunicate & destroy all art & imagery in the Church. And the effects of these movements can still be seen in Western Evangelicalism today. I asked Preston to share this message on the podcast. And as you can imagine, it made for a very illuminating conversation. ______________________________ SHOW NOTES Preston on Twitter: https://twitter.com/preston_sharpe Preston on Instagram: https://instagram.com/prestonsharpe/ Sacrament Church: http://www.sacramentchurch.com PRAXIS Conference: http://www.praxisconference.com Left Behind – The Video Game: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Left_Behind:_Eternal_Forces Seeing Icons With Protestant Eyes: http://illuminate.us/seeing-icons-with-protestant-eyes/ "White Man" by GUNGOR: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WybvhRu9KU Music Bed by Tony Anderson: http://www.tonyandersonmusic.com For visually enhanced show notes with photos of those crazy Reformers & images of art being destroyed, go to: http://illuminate.us/alt-ep8-preston-sharpe/ PLEASE SUPPORT THIS PODCAST BY RATING & LEAVING A REVIEW IN ITUNES! Thanks! If you have any questions, tweet me @stephenproctor *& use the hashtag #ALTcast.

Liturgy for Small Groups? What does this look like? Rusty Gates is a fellow artist & explorer who has been attracted to liturgical forms of worship. His path led him to be a part of BLOOM Church in Denver, a garden of resurrection planted by Michael & Lisa Gungor & their longtime friend Andrew Arndt. BLOOM considers itself to be a "network of house churches" where the emphasis on community & worship is expressed through what most churches call "small groups." But these are no ordinary small groups. Guided by the question "If this was someone's only encounter with the church, would this be enough?", the leaders of BLOOM have been compelled to embrace a more liturgical & sacramental approach to their small group gatherings. And eventually, Rusty was asked to come on staff to lead & guide these house churches. Now in a different city & season of life, Rusty has seen a need in the world of podcasts & decided to fill it, resulting in the creation of the (Audio) Liturgy Podcast. "ALP", as I like to call it, is a unique & highly collaborative approach to experiencing liturgy. And Rusty's been so kind to let me include one of these liturgies within this episode! What I love about Rusty is his passion to explore what liturgy can look like outside of the Sunday morning event. And I'm so glad he came on the podcast to tell us a little about that. I hope you enjoy our conversation. __________________________________ [ SHOW NOTES ] https://twitter.com/rustyjgates http://www.praxisconference.com http://www.bloomchurchdenver.com http://www.audioliturgypodcast.org Submit a contribution to the (Audio) Liturgy Podcast: http://www.audioliturgypodcast.org/submit/ If you have a moment, please rate & review this podcast in iTunes!

An honest conversation with my mentor, Roy Cochran. Some of the best conversations about faith don't happen over a pulpit or a desk in a conference room... they happen over a table... & in this case, a table on a friend's back porch on a hot summer night. In this unique "live" one-take, unedited & unfiltered episode, CJ & I sit down with one of our favorite people on the planet: ROY COCHRAN. Roy is our hero. This quiet, unassuming man has been one of the greatest voices of truth & love in our lives. His 25+ years in full-time on-stage ministry has put him in a unique position to be able to speak wisdom to the aches & passions of the church artist... including ours. He is a mentor & pastor to artists & worship leaders all over the world. And he's constantly opening his home to wounded & weary pilgrims who have been cast aside by professional 501c3 organizations that pose as churches. Bottom-line... Roy knows how to love well... especially artists in the church. Because he's been there. And yet he still chooses joy while having compassion for the cynics. We kick off our conversation with this article: "Dear Church: An open letter from one of those millennials you can't figure out" - http://www.patheos.com/blogs/ponderanew/2015/05/13/dear-church-an-open-letter-from-one-of-those-millennials-you-cant-figure-out/ We dive into the tension-filled conversation of why so many millennials are apparently "leaving the Church" & why so many are running toward a more ancient version of Christianity that is marked by uncool, ritual-based liturgical worship. As always, Roy's compassionate & loving response drives us toward a better conversation... one that sounds more like the Kingdom of God & less like the Kingdom of church. _____________________________________________ You can follow Roy on Twitter @ http://twitter.com/worshipmentor & on Instagram @ http://instagram.com/roycochran. You can learn more about Roy & his ministry to artists on his site: http://RoyCochran.com If you're ever in the SoCal/San Diego area, be sure to look Roy up... I promise he'd love to have coffee with you. And if you've been influenced & impacted by Roy & want to support his work, please consider donating to his ministry: http://roycochran.com/donate/

The story of an Anglican priest serving in an evangelical church. What if the way we worship isn't just an expression of our faith but is part of what shapes our faith? On the 5th episode of ALT, Stephen Proctor interviews Glenn Packiam, a fellow liturgical explorer who happens to be an Anglican priest in an evangelical church. When he's not navigating those waters, he's busy authoring books, writing worship songs, recording albums, pursuing his PhD in England, & being one of the most loving husbands & fathers I've ever seen. Glenn is a beast! & I'm so thankful that he carved out a little time to share his thoughts on this episode of ALT. _____________________________ SHOW NOTES available @ http://illuminate.us/alt-ep5-glenn-packiam

Visual Worship. Environmental Projection. & Endless Possibilities. On the 4th episode of ALT, Stephen Proctor interviews visual worshiper Camron Ware, a projection artist & a pioneer of environmental projection in the Church. Camron is an incredible technologist whose passion & conviction for authentic worship can be clearly seen in his work. His curiosity & creativity has led him to innovate in ways that have made a significant change in the landscape of visual worship in the Western Church. But his story is not void of tension – tension that compels him to caution anyone who runs too eagerly to the newest & latest trends. __________________________________________________ For SHOW NOTES, visit: http://illuminate.us/alt-ep4-camron-ware/

Contemplative. Liturgical. Sacramental. These are some of the defining marks of an ancient+future faith than many evangelical Christians are longing for in their worship. On the 3rd episode of ALT, Stephen Proctor interviews Chad Jarnagin, curator of the LUMINOUS Project, a contemplative experience designed to introduce curious explorers to the ancient practices of the Church. Chad describes his journey from being a touring musician to going on staff at a large evangelical church as a worship pastor. Yet his longing for a more contemplative, sacramental life has sent him down a path that few have chosen – to become a priest & join the Holy Orders of the Anglican Church. Listen as Chad describes his luminous experiences & what it's compelling him to plant. (And something I plan to be a part of myself!) It's quite exciting! ––––––– SHOW NOTES ––––––– To see a list of recommended podcasts & books, as well as an image of "The Compass Rose", go to: http://illuminate.us/alt-ep3-chad-jarnagin/

If you're easily offended, DO NOT listen to this bonus episode! Recording the 2nd Episode of ALT with Tony Anderson was an absolutely hilarious & random experience. We chased so many rabbit-trails & spun off into crazy cynical humor that made me laugh until I hurt. Tony is one of the funniest guys I know, & he knows how to laugh at the absurdity of our own actions & culture. I thought this would be a fun little surprise bonus edition for you hardcore listeners & fans of the ALT podcast. I hope you truly enjoy this very random & slightly offensive collection of "outtakes" & bloopers. It's not all fun & games though...Tony really does get into some good serious headspace, extending some of his thoughts from the official interview... but we also spiral upward & downward during some of those thoughts that I felt like cutting it from the official interview & saving it for this bloopers reel. And please hear my heart when I say that we truly mean no ill-will or bad feelings toward humanity... our intention is to laugh in satirical & sarcastic ways. And if you are truly offended, then we apologize. =) SHOW NOTES: Catalyst: http://catalystconference.com You Won't Believe Who Doesn't Believe the Whole Bible Anymore: http://www.charismanews.com/culture/44924-you-won-t-believe-who-doesn-t-believe-the-whole-bible-anymore Tony's new worship album: http://www.sonymusic.com/platinumgoldrecords

One of the most successful film composers of my generation shares raw & honest thoughts on the landscape of creativity in today's church. A generation of young composers is rising up & filling our world with beautiful instrumental music, yet it's being mostly written & recorded using samples on computers instead of with orchestras in concert halls. On the 2nd episode of ALT, Stephen Proctor interviews sonic architect Tony Anderson. Tony is a phenomenal artist and neoclassical composer who takes an innovative approach to scoring films and music beds. This is an honest conversation where Tony shares his heart, weaknesses, frustrations & passion for the instrumental music scene, as well as his perspectives on the areas of art, liturgy and technology. ____________________________ SHOW NOTES: http://illuminate.us/alt-ep2-tony-anderson/

Introducing ALT – a new podcast that explores the intersections of ART x LITURGY x TECHNOLOGY. Hosted by Stephen Proctor & w/ occasional co-hosting by CJ Casciotta. In this introductory episode, we share the heartbeat & vision behind this new podcast. You'll also get a glimpse into each of our stories, so that you know a little about the hosts. In future episodes, we'll be interviewing fellow artists, liturgists & technologist about the ever-evolving landscape of modern worship in the Western Church. ____________________________ SHOW NOTES: http://illuminate.us/alt-podcast-an-introduction/