Church Blogging Gone RIGHT!

Blogging is a new – but not so new – communication medium. A lot of people and organizations are doing it because they think or know they’re supposed to, but not because they have any plan or idea of its purpose or opportunity.

From the day I walked into Fair Oaks Church in 2005 I’ve been stunned by the amazing talent of our Worship and Arts Team – I imagine most people coming into Fair Oaks have that experience, how could they not. And it’s not just about the vocal quality or orchestral arrangements or precision performance, it’s about the creativity, the passion, the bravery to glorify God in a way that pushes the envelope and pulls people out of their comfort-zone to see their faith and beliefs from a different angle.

It would be easy to assume that with a group so artistically talented that music is the full measure of their gifts. NOT SO. This group has an authentic spiritual depth that I have had great pleasure experiencing through the FairOaksArts blog, especially over the past several weeks.

The FairOaksArts blog was started in May of 2008 and was launched as a place to “find out info on new songs, videos, updates on current projects, reviews, sneak previews, articles, random thoughts and more.” ... but it has grown a bit since then.

This past September, Pastor Stokes started a sermon series about Worship that was specifically NOT about the songs we sing in a given church service. Although it’s often what we think of first when we hear the word “Worship,” music should be only one of many things on that list, and I wouldn’t even put it first.

The FairOaksArts team picked up that ball and ran with it – or should I say blogged with it. Throughout the Worship sermon series, each of the staff took their turn at expressing their thoughts on worship as more than just the songs we sing in church and I was blown away by the depth and diversity of their spiritual perspectives.

It’s too easy for us to see the people around us one dimensionally – he’s the media guy, she’s the singer, he plays the piano – because that’s all we see of them externally. But that really sells us short, as much as it sells them short. What richness of faith we would miss out on if we never looked beyond the art to the spirit and heart of the artist.

Do yourself a favor and treat your heart to the warmth and passion of these blog posts by the FairOaksArts team:

• I Dare You by Amber Bassham
• Church Doesn't Have to be Boring by Philip Bassham
• Strength Training by Debby Stokes White
• Where’d The Worship Leader Go? by Joel Slater
• No Brainer by Tracey Dowdy
• "Stuff" by Mike Zizolfo
• Well? by Brian Bossler

Let me note that these posts of recent weeks on the FairOaksArts.com are certainly not the staff’s first foray in expressing their faith through blogging (Mike Zizolfo’s are a frequent favorite of mine), but it was the deliberate initiative for all of the Arts Team to build on the collective momentum of the single topic of worship that brought true volume to the Loud On Purpose mantra.

Please check them out!