Wednesday, June 21

Introducing Art Worship

Assignment: Assume that you intend to introduce a change in an arena where you have influence. Using Krathwohl's Taxonomy, outline things you could do to implement each of the five stages of his Taxonomy in that situation, and then briefly describe what evidence you could cite for having achieved that step.


A change that I hope to introduce among Bay Area Christians is an embracing acceptance for art worship. Art worship is simply the act of worshipping God through your artistic abilities. This may be in the form of painting, poetry, pottery, dance, drawing, music, collages, or whatever. I seek to break the mold that leads to music and money being the primary ways to worship God. I will use Krathwohl's Taxonomy of the Affective Domain to outline an action plan to how I hope to bring this change about. I will give examples of how my plan will initiate and accomplish each of the five phases of receiving, responding, valuing, organizing and characterizing.

Receiving
Exposure
I believe that the receiving stage of the process is the most important stage. Much is determined by a person's first interactions with a concept. First introductions will most likely come in the form of exposure. I will be display Spirit-inspired art worship pieces in my home, churches, and out in the community. This gives people an opportunity to interact with the story of Christ in another way. It is ideal as a low confrontation witnessing tool. The art tells a story of the creator's experience with their faith. It gives the viewer a glance at their spiritual journey. Because the art is divinely inspired, Christ will often use the art to bring up feelings regarding their own spiritual journey. Exposure leads people to comment or ask questions, which let's me know they have received the concept and opens the door for me to lead them deeper in.

Explaining the Creative Process
I plan to explain the creative process of art worship whenever possible. Sharing what inspired a piece of work often brings another meaning to their interpretation of the creation. Inspiration frequently will come from hearing a sermon or receiving a vision from the Lord. Sometimes the Lord will teach me a life lesson that so impacts my heart, that I am compelled to honor it by sharing it with the world using artistic means. Other times I will enter into a planned art worship session. I begin these by praying to God that He would provide me with inspiration and prepare my heart to receive whatever message He would have me convey through my art. During this prayer time I dedicate the session and all art that may come out of it to be to His glory. Then I might read some scripture or play some worship music or review some sermon notes while I create. To me, art acts like a visual parable of God's love.

Biblical Explanation
People often are hesitant to be open-minded to new things within the church, unless you can provide them with some Biblical backing. I will usually pass this information along by doing a sermon series or posting some blogs regarding art as an acceptable act of worship to God. Eventually this information will probably also be in pamphlet form as well. The Bible says in Exodus 35:31-33 "And he has filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability and knowledge in all kinds of crafts- to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, to cut and set stones, to work in wood and to engage in all kinds of artistic craftsmanship". God created us each uniquely with different skills and talents. There is no reason God should need to create us so uniquely, unless He planned to interact with us each uniquely in our own gifts and abilities.

Responding
Art Worship Workshops
Perhaps, some will take the introduction to art worship and jump into experimenting with this worship style at home. After all, it is not unusual that worship bring us to a deep intimate and private space with God. Others seeking a guided introductory experience may attend art worship workshops. The layout is similar to my personal planned art worship sessions having an opening prayer, scripture reading, and praise music. To further assist in inspiration, often a spiritual theme or topic will be presented for pondering or discussion.

Fear as a Hindrance
A common hindrance to the responding stage will be an individuals fear that they are not creative beings or that their artistic skills are not good enough to participate in worshipping in this style. To help them overcome these fears, I have two options. The first is to be open and encouraging of whatever talents they do have. Perhaps, there is another artistic medium they would prefer to worship through, such as film or photography or graphics. All mediums are welcomed.

Art Classes
Secondly, I plan to offer art classes at no cost when possible. Some may be very interested in developing this worship style, but feel a need to improve their techniques to better portray their God-inspired art. Also, people may be drawn in simply because everybody loves something for nothing.

Field Trips
Others will never participate in a creating capacity. For them, I offer art awareness. I will plan field trips to art exhibits, galleries, and museums. An individual may be gifted in operating as an interpreter of art. The Lord may use the art we see on field trips to reveal knowledge to a person or impress on their heart a divine message that they are meant to share with others. It is my experience that God uses the process of creating, the art piece itself, and the interpretations of the piece all equally.

Valuing
Recognition
To initiate the stage of valuing, I believe recognition is key. Through sharing their art worship with others, the participants grow into accepting their role as an artist. They are rewarded by witnessing the reactions and interpretations of the viewers have of their worship. They are given the opportunity to see God work through their creation. They also feel like a contributing member of something bigger. In their recognition is also the the opportunity to become part of the educational process of exposing others to the whole concept of art worship.

Art Shows
I create the recognition scenario through art shows. This is a time for participants to use their art to share with others their own spiritual journeys. Their accomplishments are recognized and fill their purpose in spiritually inspiring their viewers.

Large Scale Art Projects
I also find that the valuing effect can be initiated by large scale art projects. I recently worked with my home group to create a large interactive mural taking up a whole wall of our church sanctuary. This bonded the group as we worked towards a united purpose to inspire our congregation in an artistic way. Participants were excited to share their inspired contributions. Even those who were not creatively active participants on the project came to assist with base painting the background, shopping for supplies, and providing props on loan from their homes. It truly became a group effort. And week after week it inspires the congregation to expand their styles of worship. In large scale art projects, participants value being part of a team. They feel supported in their creativity. There is also a commitment to the team and to the project. This leads to valuing. Valuing can be perceived in an individual's willingness to further participate in other large scale art worship projects.

Organizing
Project Leaders
To convert art worship into one of an individual's primary worship styles, I turn them into experts in their field. This means assigning roles of responsibility to those who are actively participating in art worship. I will seek people to lead art worship teams, to direct large scale art worship projects, to teach art classes, guide art worship workshops, or run introductory art worship exercises for children in Sunday School classes, VBS, and summer camps. There will be leaders to set up art worship tables with supplies for use during the church service worship time. These volunteer roles give them a way to grow the cause by contributing to educating others. They also have the opportunity to share with others how art worship has personally impacted the way they learn from and communicate with God.

Membership
Another form of commitment will come from membership in the Core Convergence art group that offers supplies, exposure, resources, and support in exchange for volunteer time and membership dues. Art worship takes on a dual purpose as Core Convergence auctions off art worship pieces at fundraiser to promote social awareness and fund global outreach efforts.

Characterizing
Identity
Participants at this stage now identify with the title of artist, and perhaps even art worshipper. They have fully embraced art worship as one of their primary habits of worship. They are leaders of influence within art worship circles. Further characterizing will occur by recognition as they frequently produce more art worship pieces and receive more and more exposure. Also aiding in the process will be calling some artists into title positions such as Creativity Director, Resident Artist, and Youth Art Coordinator. This stage will be apparent as people begin to find their purpose in artistry and creative expression.

Group Definement
To clinch the transition, we may change the community's self description to correlate the purpose of art for Christ or change the community name to relay the new direction or focus. For example, Core Convergence is a spiritual community that uses artistic means to seek growth in Christ and promote social awareness.

How does Krathwohl’s Affective Taxonomy relate to attitude or worldview change?

It is said that it takes 21 days to form or break a habit. But what does it take to form or break a worldview? Krathwohl’s Taxonomy of the Affective Domain is an extraordinary process outlook on how worldviews and attitudes are changed. This process institutes change by impacting an individual’s assumptions, values, and commitments. The affective taxonomy is powerfully effecting to all worldviews regardless of whether it leads to healthy or destructive attitudes. I believe a fair amount of questioning is good at every stage to be sure that one is not adopting a destructive or false worldview.

From the time of birth our minds begin to develop our worldviews. Our initial worldviews are shaped by the assumptions about the world we make throughout life. These views are heavily impacted by your environment and experiences. What you are told by what you deem a reliable source, your personal experiences, and your observations of how your community operates all help form your views about the world. Some of these assumptions will be truthful and others will be false. Holding false assumptions can be destructive to how an individual perceives and participates in the world. For example, foster children often develop the view that they cannot trust adults because that is what their experience with their parents led them to assume. Even when these children are placed in wonderful foster or adoptive homes with very caring and providing adults, the foster children will frequently still resort to stealing, sneaking, and cheating the adults in their lives. These children are still operating on the false assumption that all adults cannot be trusted. Krathwohl’s Affective Process works by changing these attitudes. A foster child is told countless times that they are safe now and are promised the love and care they may not have received before. They receive this information, and as with every change of assumption, a stage of questioning and testing begins for the individual to determine whether their old or their new assumption is the true one. The testing stage could be identified as part of the responding stage of the Affective Taxonomy Process. These first two stages surround assumptions and knowledge. It is vital to test all new knowledge before accepting it as truth and thus beginning to change one’s worldview.

A person’s value system is comprised of the assumptions and views a person holds most important to their lives. Examples would be the assumption that honesty is the best policy and that one should treat others how they would like to be treated. Your values impact your participation in the world. Returning to our case scenario, it is often found that the values of foster children are mostly self-centered. Their value systems tilt this way based on the assumption that they can only depend upon themselves. Krathwohl’s valuing stage of the process is when commitment or involvement occurs. Perhaps, the foster child may stop stealing food in the faith that they will not go without their next meal. Their habits change to incorporate trusting their caregivers. This trial run of trust is part of valuing their change in worldview.

Our commitments and allegiances involve much investment to which it is wise to be sure our investments are secure. A secure foundation has been proven at this point in the process as the new assumption has been received, responded to with questioning and testing, and then given a trial run through valuing. In the Affective Taxonomy’s next stage of organizing, the assumption is given a long-term commitment. A foster child may step out of the safety of their self-centered world to invest love and commitment to others. They may feel safe forming attachments to caregivers and others tested and proven stable and reliable. They may conform to being part of a family or a community and begin to seek the good of the whole rather than just what is good for them. Giving love and investing emotion is the greatest currency of commitment a foster child has to offer. Through this process, the child reverses their original assumption that all adults cannot be trusted. Their new assumption is that some adults can be trusted and relied on. This stage in Krathwohl’s process is called characterizing. Their identity in the world changes to incorporate the belief. They assume the identity of family member, neighbor, and global citizen rather than solo entity.

Taking much more than the 21 days to form or break a habit, a worldview takes an extreme growing process. Krathwohl outlined this process in this Affective Taxonomy as receiving, responding, valuing, organizing and characterizing. This process starts by affecting an individual’s assumptions, then their values, followed lastly by their commitments. As shown with our scenario of the foster child, not all assumptions, values, and commitments are healthy. Worldviews should be questioned and put to test when possible to be sure they are worthy of belief and commitment. Unhealthy worldviews can damage not only one’s self, but also their environment, and the worldviews of others around them. No one person should assume that their set of assumptions is exempt from falsity. We should never be closed minded to the idea that we may be wrong in our views. Not everything we know, hear, read or see will be truth. It is a lifelong process to test our assumptions, and as a result, our worldviews are ever changing and always taking new shape. It is our responsibility to strive to turn assumptions into facts by way of seeking Truth.

Philippians 2:2-11

The summary of this passage can be found in verse 5 when Paul states that "Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus". He then goes on to provide five attitudes of Christ that correlate with his earlier calling for the followers of Philipi.

1. Jesus did not try to be equal with God. Paul calls us to be Christ-like in this manner when he commands us to "consider others better than [our]selves" (v.3).

2. Jesus made Himself nothing. He humbled himself. Paul affirms our need to be Christ-like by saying that we should be "in humility" (v.3). He also emphasizes this attitude by requesting that we "do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit" (v.3). Furthermore, we learn from verse 4 that we are to humble ourselves by putting our own interests aside for the interest of others.

3. Jesus took the "nature of a servant". Much of what Paul called the Philippians to do defines the very nature of what a servant is. Servants "do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit" (v.3), but do everything for the interest of their master. They consider their master better than themselves (v.3). For this reason, they seek the interest of others over their own (v.4).

4. Jesus was "made in human likeness"(, but was also "in the form of God"). This brings to mind that in our human form, we have all been created "in the image of God"(Gen 1:27). To be in likeness to Christ requires that we be "like-minded"(v.2). Christ shared with the Father the "same love"(v.2), which we are also called to share in. That love is for people. While in His form of human likeness, Christ exemplified what it was His "spirit and purpose"(v.2) was. His spirit was a devotion to God and His purpose was love and compassion for people. Paul calls us to adopt the same.

5. Jesus was "obedient to death". Jesus found the will for obedience because he was sent by His Father and Master to be a loving servant in death for the people (v.7). This was achieved by being "one in spirit and purpose"(v.2) with His Heavenly Father and having the "same love"(v.2) for those He was sent to serve with His death. We are called to the same with our lives. We are to be obedient to the cause that Christ has put on our hearts, the cause that we share with Him... Each other.

Tuesday, June 20

Helter Skelter

Seeing as I am all obsessed with school and I never get time to leisurely write in my blog anymore, it has been requested that I start posting my school work on here to keep you up to date with what I'm doing at least.

But we'll try to give you the quick points in life first:
  • A special thank you to everyone who has been worked to make hot tub dreams a reality. Zac, Rob, Travis, Thomas, Kendra, Myra, and a special thank you to Mike, the hot tub owner who not only helped us load it but came to my house later to help unload it. The thing is huge. We destroyed a ton of the siding in the process, but that will be fixed. Zac with the help of Mike A. has been wewiring for 220 connection. It's almost all done.
  • School so far is good. My cohort is pretty small... just 7 of us. This particular class I am in is called Strategies for Success and I've really enjoyed it thus far. There has been alot of intraspective evaluations about my own strengths and goals and mission if life. I learned that my top 5 strengths are that I am Restorative (fixing problems), Futuristic (visionary looking forward), Competitive, Includer (rallys everybody - no one left out), and Communication (which I disagree with given that I avoid most focused conversations). And every week I have breakdowns about the smallest assignments that are due online mid-week. Thank you to Aimee, Carrie, Zac, Angela, and Mike A. who have nursed me through and babysat me in my crisis over writing a one page essay. I know you can't wait for my 10 page final paper to be due next month.
  • I am currently unemployed. I am revisiting the forever debate between childcare or corporate. Playdates or Paydays. Career or Kiddies. So I have nanny clients lined up ready to start. I have 3 clients whose schedules will work together to provide me free time up the ying yang as well as enough money to pay the bills. I'd have no stress other than school, and honestly isn't school enough? But on the other hand, came an invitation to apply for a great job of career magnitude doing work I love for a company I love. I am a little lacking on all their qualification checklists, but it would be a good fit. I would have more stress and less free time, but more money and a career and learning experiences that would help me with Core Convergence. And more money equals less financial aid debt. And really for a girl looking to open a non-profit, it would be a significant amount of time before I could make that $30K disappear. Unless.... I was making enough to pay it as I accrued it. Problem- my background check showed up dirty. They think I'm a criminal because a the company who does the background check show some offense in the county of Riverside. They provide a case number but no other info. Like it could be anything. Well it wasn't anything. It was a speeding ticket in Indio 8 years ago. And I took traffic school for it. So why is it haunting me now trying to pretend that I am criminalistic? The county of Riverside court system can't even find the offense. Nor can the department of justice. So where exactly is this background check company getting their info from is what I would like to know. Because it's faulty! I'm not thrilled. It looks like I may end up on the kiddie track if this isn't cleared up.
  • Dave Jacobs has been my pastor most of my life for the last 20 years. I remember when I was about 12 he did a whole message surrounding the analogy of me getting my drivers license. We were a small church of about 20 people back then. Now he is leaving his position as pastor to be a pastor to pastors. I've known it's a passion of his. And I'm sure God will use him there. In the meanwhile, we are in a week of prayer (and fasting if i can stop eating) to figure out what this will mean for the church. We are praying over whether or not we will individually stay or go and what we think should happen to the church minus Dave. I've been called in another direction for a long time, so I will go back to pursuing that path. I will be interested to see what paths others will choose and I'm curious to see if God leads any to the same path I'm on.
  • Recently my father told me "hmm. you're pretty independent." My former boss has said to me, " You are almost too independent." I'd like to know how this happens given that I have close to no desire to be so independent. I am totally in need of having people I can rely on. And I don't know really how it looks to rely on others, but I know that I feel incredibly guilty asking anybody for help. It's why it's such a huge deal when people do help me. I need so much help. I'm not at all succeeding in this oh so independent existance I have carved out for myself. So when I hear the words slip out of my father's mouth it's like a stab to my gut and in my head I'm shouting.... "I NEED YOU!"

Thursday, June 1

Acquisitions

Rumor has it that I am going to get a nice refridgerator, washer, and dryer. All from my sister given that the house she bought came with a set and they also had theirs from their old house. Upgrades for me. Also upgrading is my backyard. Finally I win the craigslist battle for a free hot tub. Most people operate under the first come first served mentality. So there is always this race to be the first person to email back or call once the ad is posted. I responded an hour after posting and I thought my chances are shot because they surely have 15 other offers by now. But I WON, because this guy wasn't so diplomatic. He chose me because he liked my email best. "It would go to a good home of young hard working girls who couldn't afford one otherwise." He pictures in his mind a budwiser commercial with hot chicks in bikinis hot tubbing and giggling and is sold. Of course, from his perspective it now seems to be going to a good cause. I would agree. My relaxation is a very good cause.
Also the news of my sister finally buying a new house means that her junk will be leaving my garage giving me back lots of space... space to store the Love Sac. So it stays after all. Oh, and Travis and Kendra are building a garden in the backyard. Yahoo!