broken//stained//glass: Doylestown Art show

Last night's Doylestown Art Show was a total success that exceeded our expectations.

It was a ton of work by many people, but despite just a few glitches, it was well worth the effort. Truth be told, I hardly did anything to lead or plan this event. It was almost entirely run by volunteers who generously donated of their time and energy.

As we were planning for the art show we hoped we would get a lot of foot traffic (which we did). We showed almost 200 pieces of art and had approximately 500 people attend the show! [In the next few days, I'll load up a few pictures from the show].

We hoped we would discover local artists (which we did). We found ourselves saying to those we knew who submitted art, "Wow, I had no idea that you could paint!" We also got to connect people for future art shows.

We hoped we would be able to cross-pollinate and connect with other people from other faith communities The Well, the Living Room, resonate and Main Street Baptist Church (which we did). Great conversations and people introducing other people and phone number swapping. Seeing people talk and meet new people from other faith communities helped us appreciate the larger body of Christ. One woman from The Living Room commented that she was encouraged by this loud statement about churches being able to work together on an event that blessed Doylestown. We should keep doing stuff like this.

And we hoped we all would be intentional and engage in conversations with other people, especially those far from God (which we did). Several people were intentional about striking up conversations and seeing where the Holy Spirit might take those conversations.

Last night I was asked questions and heard comments such such as,

"This was great...why did you do this?"
"Why would a group of churches care about art and creativity?"
"I didn't know that Christians made art that didn't include crosses, sunsets and clouds..."
"You mean there are several churches that came together to pull this off?"
"Thank you...this was terrific. I came in cynical, but I loved it."
"Are you going to do this again next First Friday event?"

Great conversations happened all night.
One conversation in particular was extremely encouraging.

Last week, I invited an employee from a local restaurant that I frequent. I have been intentional with a few of the employees there, getting to know their names and their stories a bit. This one guy - in his mid-twenties, discouraged about his place in life, struggles with an anxiety disorder. Last week he told me that he just came out of the closet. He is really searching. I invited him to the art show (but thought to myself, 'There is no way he's going to come.') I was surprised to see that he showed up with a 'friend' of his.
Here's how part of the conversation went:

"So, J.R., what do you do?"
"I'm a teacher."
"What do you teach?"
"Well, I teach about spiritual matters."
"What kind of spiritual matters...what exactly is your job?"
"Well, I am a Practical and Educational Theologist."
"What's that?"
"Well, it sounds fancy, but its not. Its quite simple: I help people be attentive to God."
"There's a job out there like that?!?!"
"Yes, but some give me the title of pastor."
"Oh. Is your group Christian or something?"

Eventually, the conversation drifted into talking about faith issues.
As they smoked their cigarettes, I had a chance to present the gospel to the two of them.

In the midst of the conversation he asked one of the best, most poignant, most challenging questions one could ask about churches today. A question that every church should ask of themselves every single day.
"Does your church provide hope?"
What a great question!

A great night with great art and great conversations and interactions.

Dozens of people have worked hard behind the scenes for the last several weeks - making signs, bringing art work, setting up and tearing down, vacuuming, installing lighting, taking the trash out, picking up and dropping off tables and easels and on and on...

Thanks to the artists who courageously shared their pieces and put them on display to the public.

A few individuals deserve specific, individual recognition here.

None of this would have happened without the leadership, organization and coordination of Nicole Weidner. She planned everything from start to finish. Without her, she would not have had an art show at all.

Here is a picture of Nicole running around taking care of details and logistics before the event began. There isn't a better visual to show how much Nicole did yesterday for the event. Talk about a go-getter...just look at her! (click image to enlarge)

Her husband Richie was a work horse, spending almost every night this week at the church setting up, building displays, making trips back and forth with materials and supplies in the back of his truck.

My assistant Karen Priest worked with a lot of the details and logistics on the show. She is always a great worker and is hardly recognized for her efforts, but I am so grateful for all she did to help Nicole put all of this together.

Thanks to Todd and Scott, who dreamed with me on seeing faith communities come together for this show.

And finally, Dr. Jerry Schmoyer, who was gracious enough to open up his Main Street Baptist Church for the week, giving us a key to the building this week and answering any question that we had. His generosity and hospitality to let three other faith communities come in and use his building is (unfortunately) rare these days among churches. He even stayed late last night vacuuming and putting things back together with us.

Thank you everyone who helped out. It truly was a success.