Every Church Needs a Rita
In the attempt to include media and images, we have tried to use pictures and video to illustrate some of the songs in the concert presentations. I have not even begun to scratch the surface for the possibilities available to us. Often, we get to places where there are not opportunities for projection via screens or any other means and we feel very strongly that a concert can and will be just as effective because with the planning and texturing of our content.
Recently we were scheduled to do a concert at a Florida church. I had not expected screens so I was not as prepared as I should have been. I also discovered the image maker
- a computer equipped with power point capabilities was no where near the sound board I operate. In fact, it was on a totally different floor.
Enter Rita. She was running the power point for the morning services and I noticed the presentation was artistic, unobtrusive and helpful as the congregation did their work and offering of worship. She generously agreed to stay on for the concert and incorporate the lyrics and one DVD resource we had brought.
In passing, I mentioned that if she wanted to add the church logo or any other image she thought would work well in the blank spots to feel free to include them.
In our giving Rita an open door to express her artistic gift, the concert attendees were treated to and enfolded by images that her intuition amazingly and gently presented.
A bursting flower appeared as we skipped to a park, an airplane wing in a massive sky as we explored the possibilities to more adventurous living, a hand outstretched to beckon us to meet a needy world were only some of the images Rita had in her library. This was not a bombardment of ideas or symbols colliding into our thoughts and emotions, but images that enhanced our experience of the music.
I was sorry we had not publicly recognized and thanked Rita for her sensitive contribution. When I apologized, she said,
"That would not have been appropriate."
Since she is the personification of appropriate, I will take her word for it and thank her here. Every church needs a Rita!
Beverly Vander Molen, March 2008
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