The Art of Curating Worship conference - Chicago

The Art of Curating Worship conference

Date: Monday, September 12th - Wednesday, September 14th , 2011

Location:  Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, 1100 East 55th Street, Chicago, IL, 60615

Price: $199 (regular); $99 (student)

Event Description

Worship curation is the new paradigm for developing richer, more meaningful worship events.  We invite you to come learn from some of the most innovative, influential, seasoned practioners in worship curation today.

During this experiential, interactive, three-day event, participants will practice the role of worship curator.  Through hands-on activities, discussion, and small group team projects, participants will practically apply these principles and will shape the closing worship event.

Expect to: 

• Expect to collaborate with others to gain hands-on experience with worship curation.
• Learn the language of worship curation through the guidence of our event mentors.
• Discover new ways to foster your congregation's gifts, skills, and passions to enhance your local worship.
• Leave with the tools and inspiration to curate worship in your local context.

All those involved or interested in designing, preparing, and creating worship are welcome!

Schedule Highlights

Day 1

Noon - 1 pm: Registration

1 pm - 6:30 pm: Welcome; The Art of Worship; First Things First

Day 2

9 am - Noon: Introduction to Curation; A New Language for Worship

Noon - 1 pm: Lunch on your own

1 pm - 6:30 pm: What Do I Want  to Say; Stations - The New Altar Call; Preparing to Curate

Day 3

9 am - Noon: Application - Worship Curation

Noon - 1 pm: Lunch on your own

1 pm - 4 pm: Setting Up; Closing Worship

A Note About Registration

To ensure that the experience is relevant to the roles you play in your worship setting, when you register you will be asked to select your preferred worship role (Musician, Visual Artist, Performance/Experience Artist, Poet, or Worship Curator/Director).

All attendees will be mailed a complimentary copy of Mark Pierson's book, The Art of Curating Worship, prior to the event.

Featured Speakers

Mark Pierson is passionate about designing worship events and spaces that enable people, inside and outside the church, to engage with the trinitarian community of God in appropriate, creative, life-giving, transformative ways. Living in Auckland, NZ, and a registered minister of the Baptist family of Churches in New Zealand, he has developed the model of worship curator over the last 15 years.

Mark's book, The Art of Curating Worship: reshaping the role of worship leader, is his latest contribution to this discussion and was published by sparkhouse press in November 2010. Mark will be discussing worship as an art form, a new language for community worship, sacred spaces in public places, and the role of the worship curator in designing and shaping this.

Jodi-Renee Adams is a poet/liturgist/musician located in Denver, Colorado. She pastors Ecclesia Denver, an urban church meeting in a historic Hispanic church, and collaborates with local artists to facilitate sacred experiences throughout the city. As a writer and curator, she has opportunity to teach different churches and traditions in the city. Her writing has appeared in different faith periodicals as well as some local publications.

Jodi’s firm conviction that words can create physical realities keeps her stretching as a poet-liturgist-songwriter. Raised a conservative Evangelical who left the Church in her early adulthood, she’s an outspoken advocate for true emergence.

Ted Lyddon Hatten is an artist, pastor, and educator. He is currently the Director of the Wesley Foundation and adjunct faculty at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. From his studio, Ted works in a variety of media with a passion for ephemeral installation art, dry painting, and beeswax. A United Methodist by birth and by choice, Ted serves as Conference Artist for the denomination in Iowa.

Ted's work has been exhibited in galleries and museums in the Midwest, and he has been visiting artist to graduate schools, elementary schools, and all points in between. His work in the field of visual homiletics comes out of his belief  that the visual experience has a unique ability to deepen our encounter with the gospel and with each other.  

Troy Bronsink is an artist and a pastor seeking the way of Jesus. He and his wife, Kelley, and daughter, Eve, live in the Capitol View neighborhood of downtown Atlanta, where they work in community organizing and public education. Troy is a Presbyterian USA minister with 10 years of experience in youth ministry and as senior pastor, and a worship leadership and singer-songwriter in both the mainline and para-church worlds.

LSTC does have some on-site housing available.  For information and reservations, call 773-256-0700 and mention you are with the Art of Curating Worship event.  The deadline for reservations is September 1, 2011.

This event is hosted by sparkhouse. Learn more about who we are at wearesparkhouse.org