It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything visual worshippy–Ten months, actually. I’m not sure how I ended up on hiatus from visual worship. Admittedly a lot has happened in the last year and a half–I got married; We went to Rome; I went to the UCC’s national gathering; I started working for the Center for Progressive Renewal. Lots. All of that was paired with our church celebrating Eucharist on first and third Sundays made for fewer Sundays where altarscapes could work (remember my first altarscape tip: Tell one story at a time!)

It wasn’t until a church member approached me and said, “Hey, when are you going to do more of your altarscape stuff?” “Soon,” I replied. Then my music minister said, “I think we should do more with visual worship.” Seriously? I was a maven of visual worship. What happened?

Then, my husband Greg sent me this photo of the sanctuary of his new church (if the image is sideways, check it out on your computer. Stupid technology!):

“No way,” I typed back as fast as my thumbs could fly. “That looks REALLY familiar!” It looks familiar because a couple of years back, I posted this altarscape I did for a Baptism Sunday:

Which was really a knock off of this Baptism of the Lord altarscape I did back in January of 2013:

I was tickled pink that people were using my site exactly for what I intended it! Greg later chatted with the woman designed their version at Grafton UCC (MA). “Where did you get the idea for this?” he asked. “On Pinterest,” she replied simply, reaching for her phone. The picture she pulled up was the one above.

So, I credit those moments to the Divine nudge to get back into the swing of things.

But then came more pictures. The Rev. Kathy Brockton shared this version from her church, Comer United Methodist in Georgia:

And then more came from Georgia, this time from the Rev. Jessica Terrell at Bethesda United Methodist Church (the first is their chapel, the second is their sanctuary):

And of course, my dear friend the Rev. Sarah Weaver of Rehobeth Congregational Church, UCC!

And so, if the earlier Divine nudges weren’t enough, these pictures were. It’s time to be creative again. And I started back at it last Sunday at Westfield:

Here’s to the next round of altarscapes, installations, paraments, and all things (minus videos) visual worship!

P.S.-Need a quick idea for tomorrow’s story of Jesus turning water into wine at the Wedding in Cana? Check out this one!