1. Describe your community.
The community I am closest to are the people in my church, Flatirons Community Church, specifically our Children's Ministry, called PowerHouse. Leaders are all volunteers who show up to extraordinarily love on kids each weekend, and to let them know that God loves them more than they'll ever know. The kids in our church come from all walks of life. Flatirons is a place where you can belong far before you believe. Our church is dedicated to being a "Me Too" place, meaning that we all have our struggles and don't do things right. In other words, "You have a hard time with that part of your life? Me too!" As leaders, our focus is not on where these kids have come from, who their parents are, or how they have been raised; our focus is on loving on them the best we can.
2. What are the shared experiences and events in your community? In the preschool class that I volunteer in on Sunday mornings, we usually have between fifty and sixty kids. We have free-play, then sing a couple songs and have a lesson as a group, then break into smaller groups for a craft or hands-on application of what we learned. On a larger scale, Flatirons loves to have events that reach out to kids and their families in our community. The weekend of Halloween Flatirons throws a huge party called Fall Fest. They have a "Trunk or Treat", inflatable’s (like bouncy castles), face painters, games, and other kid-friendly activities. This past year we had over 9000 people come through this event, and it has been the event that draws more people into our church than any other event or holiday. I am sure most leaders have had touching experiences with the kids they work with or heard awesome feedback from parents. For example, a few months ago we were teaching a series about God being with us all the time and we had a short memory verse: “Matthew 28:20: And you can be sure that I [God] am always with you, even to the very end.” We had a parent share a story about how her daughter applied this to a real-life situation. The mother and her friend were talking about taking art classes and the friend mentioned she would like to take classes, but she did not want to go by herself. The daughter heard this and chimed in, “You don’t have to be alone. God is always with you!” We have had several kids come from difficult situations and some have experienced more tragedy than I ever have. It is just such a great feeling to know that, no matter what is happening to these kids outside of PowerHouse, for the hour or so we get to spend with them we get to show them the extravagance of God’s love.
3. What common goals do you and the people in the community share?
On a general scale, the community of Flatirons wants to be a place where anyone can come and "bump into Jesus". In short, love God and love people well. In PowerHouse, our core principles are "Christ always" and "It's a sin to bore kids with Jesus". This means teaching kids about God in a way that is engaging and age-appropriate. We want everyone to know that God does not hate them, but loves them and has an awesome life for them. This means that, as teachers, we are “Jesus with skin on” to these kids, and we have the responsibility of representing Him well.
4. What stories in your community need to be told?
There are countless stories about how God has reached in the middle of peoples' messy circumstances and brought hope. Flatirons uses real people whose lives have been changed and tell their story to help relate what we are learning as a church. The stories people do not hear much about is the effect Flatirons has on kids. Some of these kids come from really hard circumstances and PowerHouse is a time where they can just be loved on. I truly believe that a ministry that is focused on children is one of the most important and often overlooked ministries in a church. I think many people would be surprised to learn just how much effect PowerHouse has on the children and their parents.
5. How might individual, group, and community stories be told through art work? Some sort of collaboration would be a great way to present the stories of the families we serve. This could be in the form of weaving together stories from families and teachers and putting them together in a painting or mural. We could use the children from PowerHouse in photographs to demonstrate lessons about Jesus that they’ve learned (God is always with us; love others; Jesus’ miracles; etc.). A symbol of community, such as aspen trees and leaves, could be used in some sort of collaboration of the kids and parents Flatirons has reached through PowerHouse. This could be done through a sculpture of trees where each leaf can represent someone’s story. Art could also be in the form of a video that shares different perspectives from volunteers and families. Flatirons is in the process of constructing a new, larger building, which will have a much larger section for PowerHouse. I think this would be a perfect opportunity to show how important PowerHouse is to Flatirons as a whole by sharing how peoples’ lives have been influenced by this ministry.
6. Is there a sign, symbol, ritual or story from these questions that could act as a central metaphor? Aspen trees are a symbol of community and strength through diversity. I found this information online at www.livingartsoriginals.com: "Aspen groves are healthiest when they include trees at all different levels of maturity. An aspen grove with only trees of a certain age is far more vulnerable to disease and natural disasters.” A grove of aspen begins with a single tree. An individual aspen tree's roots spread and sprout and can become thousands of trees. Another metaphor of our community is being “Jesus with skin on.” This could be depicted using photos of leaders and how they represent Jesus to the children, or of the children in situations where they are demonstrating what they have learned.
7. Are there opportunities for you to support and expand upon local craft traditions? Lafayette was formed as a farming and coal-mining town, and I could not find any information for any local crafts.
8. Discuss the idea that “beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” What aspects of the community environment do some members of the group find beautiful that others do not? Can those who find something ugly see it in another way? Working with children requires someone who has a certain personality for it. Many people like the idea of children, but when it comes to actually spending ninety minutes with a classroom full of three and four year olds, some find it chaotic and overwhelming. Others, or these people who have the personality for it, find nothing more beautiful than the innocence and honesty of children. In a broader sense, many people have a negative view of church in general, either because they’ve had a bad experience in a previous church or with people who call themselves Christians. It’s easy to judge churches, Christians or even God by past experiences, but it’s possible for these people to see that there can be exceptions to these scenarios. Understanding that humans are fallible creatures and knowing they will not always live up to perfection can help someone in their path of spiritual discovery.
9. Who could you partner with for this project?
Great partners for this project would be other PowerHouse volunteers, Children’s Ministry and church staff, children & their parents.
10. Where could this event take place or be displayed at?
Flatirons Community Church’s new building, opening on Easter 2011, in the PowerHouse area.
11. Who would you like to reach in this project? Who would you like to see this project or be educated about your community?
I would love for this product to reach the people who attend Flatirons in any capacity. I think it would be educational for anyone viewing the project and help inform them of how important PowerHouse is and the impact that it has made on the lives of those involved. I would hope that it might bring more people in as volunteers and help parents feel more at ease leaving their children with us.
