Guest Blogger - Dan Vukmirovich

 

 

Dan Vukmirovich is one of the great worship leaders at GCC. I really like Dan and I value his opinion.  He has a teacher's instincts (and is a superb coach/mentor/director for many of our artists).  When faced with the questions you texted on our "Ask Anything" weekend, I knew we'd all benefit from the wisdom of staff leaders like Dan. 

I asked Dan to wrestle with one of your questions.  Here is his response...

Question:  What do you tell people when they say that this church is just entertainment and not really church? Do you see the media here coming off as secular?
 
Granger Community Church has always placed a high value on the arts.  From the very beginning, we’ve had the arts play a critical role in our services.  Everything from Pastor Mark strumming chords on his twelve-string guitar to a brilliantly crafted drama/song special, we’ve always thought that the arts communicate what words alone cannot.
 
Often, when people ask this sort of question, they’re really saying, “Why don’t you guys just preach the Bible?”  To this, I would ask, “What examples do we have from the Bible about communicating?” and, “How did teachers in Scripture communicate their messages?”  As Paul spoke to the Greeks in Athens, he was familiar with the poets of their day and even quoted them in making his point. Jesus himself used examples from agriculture to help the people who lived in farming communities understand what he was trying to say.
 
We live in a culture that is saturated with artistic expression.  With the internet and wireless, anyone can have a host of media content at their disposal in seconds.  Rather than ignore this, we’ve chosen to leverage it for the cause of Christ.  In order to reach this media-savvy world, it is our belief that we should speak, sing, act, and project the Gospel in every way possible.  As Paul stated, “I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some.”  1 Corinthians 9:22
 
Our Executive Pastor, Tim Stevens wrote a very helpful book on this topic.  It’s called “Pop Goes the Church” and it’s available at the GCC bookstore.

Comments

[Elle White]

I like Dan so much, too! He's one of the most approachable people I've ever encountered. I'm so glad GCC embraces the arts - God used it to show me where my heart fits in ministry. Thanks for the thoughtful answer, Dan!

[Ron Windbigler]

Amen: we are with you Dan..

Psalm 33:3 (New International Version)

3 Sing to him a new song;
play skillfully, and shout for joy.

[johnn carr]

It was the arts that pulled me in. Honestly pop culture was all I knew growing up.My mother loved the love songs and songs that had true meaning. She was even that way about movies. she was taking us to movies like "On Golden Pond" or "Kramer vs. Kramer" most movies kids would rather not see, but I paid close attention to. I guess because what I was seeing and hearing from pop culture I wasn't experiencing in real life. Like our favorite T.V. show "Little House on the Prairie" I really didn't take G.C.C. serious about Jesus till later. The more I came back and sat in the congregation the more I believed in the church. And the more I learned about Jesus the more I understood why the church was doing what it was doing. Jesus wasn't just about bible scripture. He bible scripture sure, but that's not all he did. That's pretty obvious.

[Johnny Carr]

He spoke bible scripture sure..... Hey I got cut off! Oh well...I can't remember what I was going to close with so I'll leave with this. I'm very fortunate. And very thankful God brought me to GCC.