The Green Room

Every artist knows what a Green Room is, and when I think of those words, I think of a place for gathering, preparing, unity, refreshment (including food!), and prayer. For two decades our Green Room was a highly unattractive set of rooms in what was known as “the tunnel” underneath our auditorium. But even with our ratty old black chairs and harsh fluorescent lighting, we found a way to connect with all the artists on our team and get ready to serve in the Sunday morning services. These days we are blessed with a much warmer, more beautiful room to gather, for which we are extremely grateful.

On October 20, in the New York City region, we will launch our first Green Room event. Local church arts teams are invited to join us for a day of vision, equipping, encouragement, and connection with other people who absolutely affirm and understand the challenges of unleashing the arts through weekly ministry. We will gather at Christ Church, in Montclair, New Jersey, where Marlinda Ireland serves as the Worship Arts leader. After an opportunity to worship together, I will teach about the potential power of every Sunday morning to impact lives. We will also talk about the very real “hard stuff” of doing arts ministry, and how we can improve our process and build our arts communities Mondays through Saturdays in order to get ready for Sundays.

On the day before, Friday the l9th, I’ll be hosting a more intimate and interactive event called The Leader’s Table. On that day, a smaller group of worship arts leaders will come together to explore our challenges and learn from one another.
These Green Room and Leaders Table events will be offered in other cities, including Houston in November, the Seattle area in February, as well as southern California in February (I’m not stupid, I get to see some sunshine in the middle of my Chicago winter!). I’m hoping these events will serve church arts teams by re-enforcing the worth of what we are called to do, giving us the opportunity to be honest about our challenges, and inspiring all of us to manage our lives in such a way that we can finish our race well. You can get more information from our Willow website – I hope to see many of you join us!

2 comments:

LaurenYarger said...

These Green Room events sound great, Nancy. Let's get you up here in New England too!
Lauren Yarger
Executive Director/Producer
Masterwork Productions, Inc.

Beth said...

This sounds like a wonderful event; I am so disappointed that I haven't heard of it sooner! I would have loved to have brought my entire team, and been there early for the Leader's Table as well.

I am really disappointed that we didn't get any prior notice for this; I feel like I've been robbed of an amazing opportunity. :-(

Have a great time and be blessed.