Shane Warbington is joining our staff as a worship leader, working along with Dena Nash and Russell Mason. We are so excited for him to be here. Shane is married to Wendy, and they have 3 kids: Mykala (21), Lauren (20), and Cade (7). Mykala and Lauren are both living in Kansas City as they attend IHOPU, but the rest of the family lives in Maumelle. Shane spends his days as a self-employed remodeler/handyman (“Technically, I work for my wife,” he says) but he has a long history of being involved with worship and music. He grew up with a pastor for a dad and a very musical family; along with his brother and sister he sang for his church family as early as the age of 3. At 8, he began to learn to play the drums, and has been involved for much of his life leading worship, either as a volunteer or on staff.
However, he wasn’t actively doing that (or looking for a job doing that) when he ran into Donna Hall late last year. Both consider that day something of a divine appointment. “I was working on a house and she was dropping her son off to rake leaves in the yard next door,” he says “and we realized we knew each other.” From there, the conversation turned to Fellowship North need for another leader and they agreed to have coffee. Over the course of this year, it’s become apparent that this is a good fit all the way around.
When asked what he’s looking forward to, Shane answered that he feels challenged by Jesus to “serve the people.” Much of his life has been spent on the journeying from the place of leading worship because it was a skill he had to the place of becoming a worshiper. And he’s certainly not there yet, he will tell you. “It’s easy to come in with an agenda, to say I want to do this or that as a worship leader. To feel the pressure to make these big moments happen on Sunday mornings. But I think the big moments happen all through the week, and on Sunday, we get to get together and share those moments with each other.”
Last Sunday, we used a video of a dance piece at the end of the service – a visual illustration of the relationship within the Trinity. I thought it might be interesting for some of you to know a little of the back story on that piece.
As we came up to that sermon, we were looking for ways to illustrate the idea of perichoresis. Perichoresis is the word that theologians have used for centuries to describe the relationships of mutual indwelling, knowing, giving that are experienced within the Trinity. This way of relating has sometimes been called ‘the divine dance.’ So we wanted to include a dance if possible. It’s always our preference to do pieces like that live (as opposed to a video of a stage performance) but for various reasons it looked like that wasn’t going to be able to happen on that particular Sunday.
In the middle of all that, Donna came across a video on YouTube. We ended up getting in touch with the choreographer, Eddie Oroyan, to see if he had a higher quality version that we could show in church, and if so, how much he would charge us to use it. He responded very quickly, letting us know how special the piece was to him, and giving us permission to use his work without charge. He made the version we used on Sunday available to us to download that same day. Because of time constraints, we didn’t use the entire piece on Sunday, but basically showed the 2nd of 3 sections. The entire video is below:
Over the course of the week, Eddie and I emailed back and forth several times, and he shared some background (This will make far more sense if you’ve watched the whole thing). I had asked why he named the piece “Melisma” and what had inspired him to create it.
A melisma is a string of notes sung to one syllable, like in the song, “Gloria”. I liked that it was a term for another art form, but also got at the idea of three in one. It’s hard to call one note by itself a song, but three notes or chords and you’ve got possibilities! A lot of old hymns have melismas in them, as well. The flow of the word felt right for the piece, too.
My friend [who inspired the piece] was a spiritual advisor I had back in college that told me about the concept and said, in fact, “You should make a dance. It would work well. I can’t imagine it, but I bet you can.” I usually don’t don’t take requests, but the idea stuck with me for several years until I decided to give it a try. After studying a ton on perichoresis and on the Trinity I felt really stumped as to how to physicalize something so abstract, to give the idea some justice. I started thinking about what I know that I could spin off of and the obvious presented itself. I used the model of a family: father, mother, and son. Now the dancers are all wearing suits and and there’s an androgynous feel to the person I have representing the mother/Holy Spirit, but her movement is naturally softer and, if you noticed, is the last one to move(out toward the audience). The father/Father does most of the lifting and has a sense of leading the family, but I tried to show how each member was always revealing/glorifying/submitting to the others. The Son is eventually separated(for the first time in eternity) in a fashion, and the passage I kept thinking of when making this section was the Garden of Gethsemane and when Jesus cries out, “My God, why have you forsaken me?”
When the Son expires (which is partially hidden by an audience member’s head), the Holy Spirit is sent. In a timeline, that would be the beginning of Acts.
Anyway, that’s a bit of what went on in my head when I made the work. Of course, if you saw something different, you are not wrong. I am a strong believer in the importance of the active viewer. I love when people see or are attached to different things than I meant them to be. Often, I find a different take is a parallel understanding of my intentions.
I still get shivers at two parts almost every time I watch it. One is near the end of the first “section” and the woman trips. That wasn’t choreographed, but the other guy didn’t hesitate for a second to help her up. I feel like that conveyed something that was key in the example God wanted us to recognize in the Trinity that I couldn’t have choreographed. I love it! Also, at the very end when the Holy Spirit “descends.” The woman dancer does is just right, timing and intention. I know God was dancing with us!
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Eddie Oroyan is a working artist and graciously allowed us to use his work at no charge. In his words: “As an artist, it’s always nice if people who are affected by it want to donate money to my artistry. So if anyone wants to donate a few bucks that’d be great.” If you’d like to donate, just email Sarabeth Jones.
Have you ever wondered about getting involved with the arts at FN? An opportunity is coming soon: lunch at Backstage after the 10:45 service on September 26. Backstage is a time for you to find out about all the arts ministries at FN and how you can be a part. Let us know you’re coming by emailing Donna Hall [dhall at fellowshipnorth dot net].
Tanja Jameson has been a part of the drama team for years (often playing memorably comic characters) and has recently begun to sing as a part of the worship team on Sundays. We asked Tanja to share what her experience has been like; here’s what she had to say:
I’m not sure I would call myself an “artist,” but over the years, my involvement has changed. I’ve participated in some drama pieces, a few dance events and most recently, the Sunday morning worship team.
I love that in each of these spots, the people that I’ve gotten to know have been such a part of who I’ve become in Christ. In every single arts event I’ve taken part in, I’ve learned something valuable, whether it’s about an individual or about my relationship with Christ. Whether it’s hours practicing on a longer drama piece like “Old Testament Rewind” or “Word on the Street”, where you REALLLLLLY get to know your fellow actors, or on Sunday morning right before church starts, listening to Dena pray for the service, every time leaves an imprint on my heart.
I also LOVE getting to do goofy stuff; it’s amazing some of the things we get to do!
If you are thinking about getting involved, I’d say – jump in. Backstage is a fantastic opportunity to learn more, but don’t let it stop there. Take the next step, even if it’s a baby one. It only took me 10 years to join the worship team, so it’s pretty clear that all of my steps were baby ones (also because my legs are short), but still….even if you’re unsure, try something. You have more gifts than you realize, God gave them to you, for use in His service. It’s the way He created you!
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