Continues to be one of the toughest things in my life. In 2018, I was offered the dream job to lead the design efforts at my church, Eternity Church. Alongside the design role I would also lead and manage the production when it came to weekend services or really anything happening in the auditorium. Leading this team proved to be one of my favorite responsibilities and it was only one of my many other responsibilities.
I loved the impact I had on the overall feel of the church. I strongly believed I didn’t just create visuals, but I helped foster an environment that was creative. It’s why when my pastor said, “we are all created to be creative” really spoke to me. And of course he said this during the first big sermon series I gotta design and actually iterated on from my interview process. It was and will forever remain as a special moment in my life.
I had the opportunity to design walls, screens, merch, and experiences. My favorite was by far Love Month as I got to do my favorite kind of work: mixed media. Specifically, meaning that both physical and digital environments were designed to create one cohesive experience. It was beautiful and such a success.
Alright fast forward. It’s June of 2020 and I left my church. I felt this fire to start working on my own thing. I began to do freelance branding and web design for small businesses and even a growing local city.
Fast forward again. It’s somewhere around September of 2021. I’ve been away for over a year. I’ve been away from a place I spent so many hours of almost 2 years at. That’s crazy.
Anyways, I’m back at Eternity. I’m immediately welcomed back! The tough part immediately started to sink in though. I was noticing the environment. I was noticing all the changes. It really did my head in. I felt sad as it’s like the work I put in was now lost. It wasn’t as many still remind me today of the work I did. But, I didn’t have that design impact anymore on my church. I seriously asked God, “why am I back?” His response: “You need to forgive your church. Oh, and they need you to serve on lights.”
My time at my church looks different. I’m focused on serving and helping lead lights. What’s crazy is as a kid I had this desire in my heart to do lighting design but was set on becoming an architect. I’m now a web designer working on an app to help families better communicate while serving on lights.
Life is crazy. I still can’t help but think about the visuals at my church. I don’t think that will ever go away. But, I know I’m there for a different purpose. I’ve grown. I’ll still have my tough moments. That makes me stronger. I do, however, want to redesign our church website! :)
