January 28, 2010

Through the Lens of Worship

I'm so excited to finally be sharing this with you. And if you love taking pictures and love God, I'm inviting you to join me. (I know this is the photo blog and this post won't have many photos, but please bear with me. I need words to explain what I'm asking you to join me in.)

Sometime during last summer, I got this crazy idea to start a photo group with a few girls from Epic that love photography as much as I do. It wasn't going to be a typical photo group though, where a bunch of photographers go take some pictures together (although we would definitely do that), or learn from each other (although we would definitely do that too), or even grow as a community of people who share a passion for photography (I'm thinking that is going to happen too!) No, this photo group was going to be focused on worship.

Or more precisely, it was going to focus on using our photography as an act of worship.
So towards the end of summer I approached the girls (who were just as excited about the idea as I was.) We met over some yummy Panera. I shared my vision for the group.
They shared things that made my vision grow, and so it began.
We called ourselves the "photo worship group" (although we knew we had to get a better name than that!)

Here's how our group works:
We get together on the first and third Saturday of every month for an appointment with our Bibles, cameras and most importantly, God. (And we have an assignment to have alone time with God with our cameras in hand too.)
Once, a month we meet early, grab some coffee, have some shared devotional time and then venture out together with our cameras.
And the other time of the month that we get together, we settle in with at least one print that came from our alone time with God. And we share how God met us - maybe what He taught us, or how He revealed His glory to us. We have a shared worship experience.
This group has been amazing for us in more ways than I can explain in this post.
But our vision isn't to keep it under lock and key. It's about inviting you to join us via the web (or if you're in Hanford, maybe on a Saturday morning?)

Here's how we thought it could work:
You start having an appointment with God with your camera in hand at least twice a month.
On the 2nd and 4th Wednesday of each month I will put up a Mr. Linky right here on my blog, where you can link to a post on your blog, displaying one of the images that you took during your quiet time and explaining how God met you. You might have a lot to share or maybe just a scripture. Then on the 1st and 3rd Wednesday of each month, I will highlight one of the posts that was linked the week before.
This has been so very rewarding for me (I know it's going to be for you too) and I am so excited to read your posts about how God meets you and your camera.

I love Colossians 3:12-17.
It's all about how God wants us to behave as Christians in everyday life.
Here's the summation of the passage in verse 17:
"And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him."

Let's build an online community that does photography in the name of the Lord Jesus!

I'll share more of my vision for this group in another post.
(I think this post has enough words already)

Oh and we have a new name now too:
Through the Lens of Worship

Through the Lens of Worship
Friends

11 comments:

Sarita Allen January 28, 2010 at 8:20 AM  

Yay! You got this up before you left town =). I'm so excited about what God is going to do with Through the Lens of Worship!

Stephanie Motz January 28, 2010 at 10:11 AM  

I love the name and the project. It's a beautiful idea. Hope there's a way for us to join and participate from wherever we are. Wish you the best.

Jessica January 28, 2010 at 3:20 PM  

What a neat idea Rhonda! I look forward to hearing more and seeing your images :)

my stinky muffins January 28, 2010 at 7:20 PM  

Stephanie,
You will absolutely be able to participate from wherever you are. Next Wednesday I will have the Mr. Linky up. We will keep it up for a week. You will just need to upload your picture somewhere that you can give us a link to, that hopefully has a place for comments (if its not a blog post) so you can share about your experience and we can comment to you if we want to.

Rhonda January 28, 2010 at 7:23 PM  

Sorry Stephanie, that above comment was from Rhonda. I'm using a friends computer and didn't realize blogger was signed into my friend's account.

Unknown January 29, 2010 at 5:08 AM  

I followed your link over from the I Heart Faces community. I'm not active much there, but I'm so glad I saw your post. This sounds like a wonderful opportunity to discover God and more about the gift he's given us in photography! I hope to be able to join you.

Our family January 29, 2010 at 5:28 AM  

Found you through I heart faces and just LOVE the idea!!!! And this pictures of you three are too cute! Can't wait to join in

Karin January 29, 2010 at 7:09 AM  

I came over from I Heart Faces and will be continuing to check in on you. I sooo want to honor God with my photography. Thanks for starting this!

Anonymous January 29, 2010 at 10:30 AM  

Hi, I am here from I Heart Faces, I love your concept and hope to apply it someway in my life. Thank you for your sharing, (holy boldness :0) !!!!

Love the images of you and your friends!!! What a treasure.

Tracy in AR

get an eyefull of this... January 29, 2010 at 5:37 PM  

Would love to do this. A friend of mine Sylvia Jones, who I guess this blog is started by her daughter in laws pastor's wife told me about it and now I see there is someone else here from i heart faces. Would love to join but I live in AZ. Keep it up. This is great!

Erica Young January 30, 2010 at 9:20 PM  

I saw this on Diana's blog page. I am a friend of hers through the online world. I would loooooove to do this with you guys. Even though I'm on the other side of the country :)

Do you want to contact me?

Why photography with an eternal purpose?

In 2008 I read a book by Francis Chan called Crazy Love. While reading that book, I was challenged in the way I gave back to God. Tithing couldn't be enough anymore, but our family lived to the end of our means - without any margin for God to use. So I prayed about how that could change. This venture is one of the ways I have responded to the answer to that prayer. A photography business where God gets the majority of the earnings to use for His purposes.
I'm not sure what that fully looks like yet, but I'm excited for the potential of what God is going to do.
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