About Us
"Each
one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others,
faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms" 1
Peter 4:10.
With a passion for supporting local artists and a desire to unite
creative Christian communities, founders, Kempton Bryan and Rod
Shreckengost, brought Worship Factory to life in 2010. They
were
moved by the deep fragmentation they saw in the Christian community,
which is evident by the segregation of congregations on Sunday mornings
in churches nationwide and were determined to challenge this culture of
division within the body of Christ. Fragmentation has caused many
artists, regardless of their medium, to feel increasingly isolated,
over-looked and underappreciated. Because of this, Rod &
Kempton’s hearts were burdened to bring the creative body of
Christ together in order to support one another in pursuing
God’s
plans for our lives, individually and as a unit. This collective effort
is called Worship Factory.
Overall, Worship Factory encourages Christian creatives to strengthen
their skills and experiment with their gifts so they can ultimately
honor God and follow the calling He has placed on their lives. Based in
Southern California, it acts as a resource for Christian artists,
including musicians, singers, painters, photographers, graphic
designers, and so on. We encourage, support and foster
fellowship
among artists of all mediums and denominations to help them find
fulfillment in using their gifts and talents to serve and worship
God.
the story of Worship Factory
Worship Factory began with a providential meeting of Kempton
and Rod, the founders. These two came from two very different
backgrounds but somehow their paths crossed in June of 2010.
Kempton had a world of experience in the entertainment industry and had
been involved in music and worship through the years. But in his heart
he held a vision for worship ministry and he hoped to be able to see
the body of Christ unified in support of artists and creativity in the
church. Rod had been a worship leader and musician working in several
different churches. His industry experience was in construction but his
heart’s desire was to see worship ministry expanded to
include the creative arts.
The chance meeting came at the worship team try outs at their church.
The circumstances that led Kempton and Rod to be there were the result
of both of them following what they felt was direction from God which
required them taking some steps of faith. Kempton felt led to check out
Real Life Church through a series of circumstances. He was seeking a
place where his heart and life’s mission could be realized.
Rod felt led to leave his church where he had been the worship director
not knowing where that would take him. Having a connection to the
people of Real Life Church, he went there to check it out. When Kempton
and Rod met at the worship team try outs, their casual conversation
turned to talking about their experiences and what they wanted to see
happen in the world of worship and creative ministries.
A connection began to develop as they shared their heart for what God was doing and speaking about worship and the creative arts. During the next several conversations they began to realize how parallel their visions were and that God may be calling them to work together to do something very unique in the Christian creative community – to get people connected.
They wanted to get
artists and creative people to connect beyond the borders of the local
church and across the lines of division in the body of Christ.
That’s when the vision of Worship Factory was born.
The conversations between Kempton and Rod turned into prayerfully made
plans and with some advice and help from trusted friends they began to
mold a vision into a reality. They saw the need for a website where
people could connect and then that website could become a network hub
to sponsor new ideas and creativity. That way people could share
resources that weren’t restricted to the local church. They
saw that with these connections and the Christian creatives working
together there was a potential for Christian creatives to be the
leaders in the arts, in entertainment and in industry. They saw the
disconnection and isolation of the creative person to be the primary
thing holding Christian creatives back. The vision for Worship Factory
included finding ways to help people find each other, to let people
share talents and resources, to allow them to prosper each others gifts
and creative abilities and to facilitate creative people encouraging
each other in their art and in life. The vision became a reality when
the Worship Factory website rolled out and went live on April 30th,
2011.
Worship Factory is the culmination of the vision of Kempton and Rod but
it’s made possible because of the invaluable assistance and
support of a team of people who believe in the mission and vision of
Worship Factory and who share the calling of God to work together in
this venture. The story of Worship Factory should be an example of how
God can bring things together and make things happen as long as we
follow Him and allow Him to do amazing things.
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Getting connected and networking is vital for artists and
creative types. We need to connect in order to support each other, to
learn, to share resources and to communicate.
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Mission Statement
Worship Factory was created to help artists and organizations
bridge the gaps that exist in the Christian creative community. We are
committed to:
- Connecting artists with their creativity and talent in order to find fulfillment,
- Connecting artists and creative people around the world with each other in order to provide support, to collaborate and to encourage advancement as artists, as people and as Christians,
- Connecting artists with opportunities to express their creativity through their art,
- Connecting churches and Christian organizations with the creative community and thereby reigniting the heritage of Christian creativity, and
- Connecting people with their Creator who we believe to be the Lord God and His Son Jesus Christ.
Methods
- By creating and maintaining relationships with individual
artists
across the nation with a heart for worship and with church leaders,
staff and members of their congregations
- By offering seminars and workshops focusing on various
creative
topics both online and in local churches facilitated by experienced
writers, speakers, artists and educators
- By providing networking and mentoring opportunities in
order to
connect those who are called to teach with those who desire guidance
from a creative leader
- By providing artists with the tools to connect both locally
and
online in order to help them create, develop, sell, advertise and share
their creative work and product
- By assisting congregations in meeting creative needs, such
as
worship team support, organizing art programs, scheduling credible
speakers, etc.
- By offering local opportunities for artists to express themselves and share their gifts and talents.