Lynn Wilson stepped out in faith five years ago when Shana Pond invited her to lead the worship enhancement team. The team is responsible for creating worship environments that reflect the theme of a message series and/or season. Lynn had never considered herself particularly artistic but the challenge sounded like fun. “I really didn’t have any design background at all,” Lynn said. “I just said, ‘Well, I don’t know that I know how to do this but I do know when it looks good.’ It was a God moment.”
Lynn, who these days partners on enhancing the worship experience at Mariners with her husband, Kevin, and a small but mighty group of rotating volunteers, turns to other churches, the church storage closet, nature and even Ikea for inspiration. “God has shown me that he can work in ways that I never thought I could do on my own,” Lynn said. “The hope would be that God would speak to people via the physical space during services. It’s part of the worship experience.”
She recalls the power of watching the congregation place carnations on the nail-studded cross during this year’s Good Friday services. Special lighting and a torn curtain at the back of the stage heightened the impact. “I was moved to see people were really touched. Seeing people come up to that cross and put themselves on there was very powerful,” Lynn recalls. “One little girl could not wait to put her carnation on the cross. She was the first one. She was so open. Jesus was very real for her. It wasn’t just a flower.”
Her most recent creation is the splatter art that first adorned the worship center on Easter Sunday. Pastor Paul had suggested the concept, and when Lynn turned to artists in the congregation for assistance in creating the art pieces, she was encouraged to give it a try on her own.
“So, Kevin and I started viewing Jackson Pollock videos and pictures of his art,” Lynn recalls. “We found a design online and Kevin and Chris Pond made wooden frames. We gathered all these different materials, laid down drop cloths and spent the day painting while the neighbors watched. My son Aaron helped. It turned out to be so much fun. It as actually a great experience for my husband and I to do together.”
Would you like to join the Worship Enhancement Team? Contact Lynn at lewhmb@gmail.com or 650-504-2365.
By Dan Page, Volunteer Storyteller
