Arts in the Church

One thing that I've always appreciated about Rock Harbor is their effort to achieve quality and excellence in what they do. In the production and music ministries especially, Rock Harbor doesn't cut corners. The main campus is equipped with a powerful sound system, an impressive lighting console, and often beautiful art displays. The same can even be said about both satellite campuses. And above the quality equipment, Rock Harbor also teaches people to run the equipment at a quality level.

Because Rock Harbor is such an artistic and quality-driven church, I know that concerns have been raised about how important these things really are to building up the Body of Christ. How can we make sure that other people (or we) don't get caught up in the glamor of the cool stuff? I am constantly asking myself that question every week and, honestly, I'm not sure what the answer to that is right now. One reason why I chose to intern at Rock Harbor is because I think they've done the best job I've seen of incorporating art and production into worship services without taking the focus away from ministry. I believe that the arts should be incorporated in the church and can be used as a very powerful expression of worship.

I believe the same can be said about striving for quality and excellence as well. Some may say that the investments Rock Harbor has made in its sound and production equipment is materialistic; however, I believe that more emphasis should be placed on how this equipment is used. For one, Rock Harbor doesn't put enormous stipulations on who can use the equipment. Often times in larger churches with expensive equipment, the average congregant would never be allowed to touch the sound board or lighting console. At Rock Harbor, however, anyone is encouraged to join the ministries. Although some positions may require extensive training (such as mixing), a person is never discouraged from receiving the skills to work any of the equipment Rock Harbor has provided.

The music ministry functions in a similar way. Although there are more specific stipulations than there are for the production ministry (i.e. must be a member for 6 months, must go through an application process, etc.), the worship ministry at Rock Harbor still tries encourage and equip people to do the best they can in that ministry. I am always impressed by how much Rock Harbor tries to plug people into any kind of ministry.

In this aspect, I find Rock Harbor's form of worship through the arts to be extremely valid. They do no simply invest in high-quality equipment and create colorful and vibrant productions simply because they want to be the next "big" church. These are simply outlets for building up people within the church and in return helping them express their worship in different ways, both personally and as a whole church. I admire this philosophy and hope to one day incorporate it into the ministries I'm a part of.