Bravery, Hope and Faith
"St James' Church, Poole were so brave, they let us take a calculated risk and light up their place of worship, to do something that hadn't been done before and produce something special for Poole."
That was the resounding endorsement for the church highlighted in a video posted on social media by Light Up Poole.
The video shows the light installation 'Hope: What do you have faith in?' created by artists 'And Now' which brought over 7,000 people into St James'to engage with the church community and tell them what they have 'Hope' and 'Faith' in.
Assistant Curate, the Revd Lewis Pearson said:
"It's always amazing to see what can happen when trusting relationships are built across the community."
Launching the video, the organisers of Light Up Poole, a digital light art festival that took over the Dorset town for 3 days in late February, said:
"Not only did artists Mandy Dyke and Ben Rigby do a fantastic job in creating something so distinctive, captivating and thought provoking; it took an amazing production team to make this happen.
"James Smith spent weeks writing very detailed health and safety documents, working with the emergency services including the Fire and Police Services, to work out how many people we could safely let in to the church and the grounds with naked flames, at any one time and to ensure it was as safe as it could be for several thousands of people to enjoy.
"Kasia Smith spent several hours recruiting both volunteers with Culture Volunteers Poole and stage managers to train with the artist's to create the atmosphere required to deliver this installation. St James' Church, Poole were so brave, they let us take a calculated risk and light up their place of worship, to do something that hadn't been done before and produce something special for Poole.
"And of course, our funders Arts Council England Poole BID and BCP Council who trusted us to create something relevant and original to engage over 7,000 people. People hugged us and told us how moved they were, some even cried... the outcome is an extraordinary collection of people's hopes and aspirations for the world we live in."
They said thay had created the video to remind everyone that:
1. There is so much love and positivity in the world
2. People do absolutely have faith in one another
3. Art absolutely has the power to really MOVE thousands of people
4. Art makes people think differently about the world they live in
And 5. To say thank you to an incredible team of people that brought this to life.
Is your church doing something different to engage with its community? If so we would love to hear from you.
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