Form, Content, Design [and Worship]

As we approach the launch of our new church webpage, I have repeatedly been reminded of this fantastic TED talk by Design guru, John Maeda: How art, technology and design inform creative leaders.

Alongside a few other dear souls, I have spent several hours over the past few months agonizing  over font selection, tiny layout details, and nearly-unnoticeable design features.  Why?  Because they are NEARLY unnoticeable ... which is to say: noticeable.  And more important: something we all know instinctively, but somehow often forget, ignore, or even intellectually deny when we come to church life:
FORM SHAPES CONTENT as John Maeda so expertly demonstrates in this video clip.

APPLICATION:  There is more to a worship song than just the lyrics.  The MUSIC matters!  Sometimes how we sing matters more than what we sing [case in point: italics].  Things like instrumentation, the minister's apparel and appearance and demeanor, the lighting, the physical atmosphere [stained glass or neon night club] - all these things matter in our churches.  And all these "external" things shape the content ["words"] of our worship.  Enjoy!