Arts Blog : Church, Nancy Beach

BOOMERS STEP ASIDE?

Nancy Beach — Mon, 11 May 2009 13:47:00 GMT

Last week's edition of Newsweek magazine included a 2-page article at the very back, written by long-time columnist Anna Quindlen. For 9 years, Anna has been writing "The Last Word" piece every other week for that magazine. While I don't...(read more)

AN OUTPOURING OF GENEROSITY

Nancy Beach — Mon, 04 May 2009 22:42:00 GMT

Yesterday we received two offerings at Willow Creek - the regular one about 20 minutes into the service, and a second offering at the end. One hundred per cent of the second offering will go directly to the under-resourced in Africa and Latin America...(read more)

SOLIDARITY WITH THE HUNGRY AND THIRSTY

Nancy Beach — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 20:16:00 GMT

Our church launched a 3-week Celebration of Hope campaign yesterday, with a focus this year on serving the under-resourced who are both hungry and thirsty. The campaign includes several aspects, including 17,000 volunteers packing food bags to go to Zimbabwe...(read more)

Walls For Easter

Nancy Beach — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 18:30:00 GMT

For the past several Easters, our creative team at Willow Creek has sought to find an image that we could leverage to help tell the Easter story and to provide a visual anchor for the entire service. I think this practice dates back to the year we created...(read more)

Pastoral Security in the Pulpit

Nancy Beach — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 16:33:00 GMT

As I'm sure most people are now aware, a pastor was shot and killed in the pulpit last Sunday in downstate Illinois. My heart goes out to his family and his congregation. I also believe this tragedy raises the question of security in our churches...(read more)

Throwaway Worship Question in Auckland

Nancy Beach — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 17:32:00 GMT

I'm preparing to leave New Zealand, where I've been investing some days in the lives of arts leaders and pastors. Today, in a coaching session with about thirty leaders, one of them asked about the beginning of a Sunday morning worship service...(read more)

The Power of Collaboration

Nancy Beach — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 17:39:00 GMT

As I sat in a creative meeting yesterday for our church's weekend services, we began, as we always do, by evaluating the previous Sunday service. We realized how much stronger the entire experience was for our congregation largely because of one key...(read more)

Baby It's COLD Outside!

Nancy Beach — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 15:59:00 GMT

There's cold....and then there's COLD! Yesterday and today the wind chills ranged from 20 to 30 degrees below zero here in Chicago. I've lived in this area all of my life, and you'd think that would make me accustomed to this kind of frigid...(read more)

Post Thanksgiving Thoughts

Nancy Beach — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 17:40:00 GMT

I am grateful to report that I survived last Tuesday's colonoscopy, and to my husband's great disappointment, I didn't say anything too wacky when I was on the drugs. We had a wonderful gathering for Thanksgiving which included welcoming home...(read more)

Passing the Baton

Nancy Beach — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 18:58:00 GMT

I'm still giving thanks for how God worked at our weekend services. We are in a series about Influence, and this weekend was focusing on the potential of the next generation to make a powerful difference - how God often uses young people to do his...(read more)

The Economy and Our Church Budgets

Nancy Beach — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 15:42:00 GMT

The news just keeps getting worse on the economy, and many of our churches are right in the middle of the budgeting process. Today I participated in one of those meetings where everyone tries to be hopeful and visionary while also facing the realities...(read more)

Call to Worship

Nancy Beach — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 16:00:00 GMT

Every Wednesday at noon these days I walk to the other end of the Willow Campus from my office at the Willow Creek Association to join the creative team at my church who are entrusted with planning the weekend services. What is different from the past...(read more)

The Beauty of Mennonite Harmony

Nancy Beach — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 14:30:00 GMT

I invested this past weekend serving the Neffsville Mennonite Church in Lancaster Pennsylvania, teach workshops all day Saturday and bringing the message on Sunday. At the end of the Sunday morning service, Pastor Harry Jarrett came up to deliver the...(read more)

Timing Is Everything

Nancy Beach — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 19:22:00 GMT

I was talking on the phone yesterday with Jason Hatley, the Worship Arts Director of the Journey Church in New York City. He mentioned that they are just starting this weekend a new series about finances - and this was planned a year ago! I told him that...(read more)

The Future of Drama in the Church

Nancy Beach — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 13:18:00 GMT

I just spent a long lunch (our quarterly Chicago area Brown Bag Lunch) with arts leaders from local churches exploring the future of drama in the church. There are some who wonder, or loudly declare, that drama is no longer culturally relevant in a worship...(read more)