Stations of the Cross/Easter

Most recently I was working on my church’s part of an event called “Stations of the Cross”. Many of the churches around town took part- it is much like our “Labyrinth”, but on a larger scale. I also think it lacked the seriousness and sober nature that the Labyrinth emphasizes. Still- it was cool! Our station was number 8 of 12, we were in charge of the “scourging and crowning with thorns” aspect.

Here’s a shot of our…booth, for lack of a better word. Maybe station?  Anyway, we were stationed on the sidewalk right next to the road. We built a light wooden frame and some stretchy black fabric. The wind was some 20 mph, we ended up using cinder blocks to hold it down.

Our station consisted of a video of the beating and whipping of Jesus along with the crown of thorns and a table holding replicas of both the crown and the cat-of-9-tails (the whip I made myself).

I brought up the idea of giving out water to people as they participated and walked through town. We added labels with the church’s logo (A design project of mine a few years ago) and handed them out!

We started with 3 cases and went through them quickly, went for 3 more, and eventually 3 more after that (9 cases total). It was great to be able to serve people in that way and also to show people that we didn’t have to preach to them, we were happy just to help. All in all, around 150 people took water and went through- great day!

And, as a bonus (YES!), here’s a shot of how I arranged the stage for Easter. I arranged the Easter lillies (a tradition I don’t entirely understand…) and some white candles- I thought it was a nice look!

Introductions

My name is Nate, as you probably figured. I am a senior graphic design major at a Christian university. I suppose I ought to give the few (if any) readers that I may one day have a little information about myself. I have always been interested in art, and when it came time to go to college (I didn’t think there were any other real options), I thought I might as well study art! I checked out a couple schools, including an art school that is fairly well known in the state, and probably in the art community overall. I decided, ultimately that in this time of spiritual development and growth, I wanted to be in an atmosphere that fostered that growth. So I ended up at a Christian University. I shortly after found out that aparently in order to make money in art, you need to be either a teacher or a graphic designer, so I chose the second. I wasn’t a real “I want to be rich” kind of person, but I didn’t want to be selling paintings on the streets. I thought over this decision for the next few years, and as a junior realized that I didn’t even really like graphic design, at least in the corporate world. So, I switched to ministry, which lasted a single depressing semester before I switched back. I decided that God can use me for ministry even if I don’t get the major. All this to say, I still don’t want to be a corporate graphic designer, I want to work for a Christian organization of some kind, probably a church. So, I’m starting this blog to write about my developement and growth as well as my frustrations in the coming years as I try this out. I’ll be bloging a lot about churches, and how art and design are (or aren’t) incorporated, so if you’re interested, let me know! Maybe we can learn from each other.