Historic Church, Production and Coordination
When the idea of Historic Church began in 2017, I was contacted by lead pastor, Hugh Breland, to chat about their creative production desires. Historic was a Dallas church start up that wanted to focus on connecting with the city and community around them, while creating a church environment that was appealing and welcoming to every walk of life. This was in no way a church experience that I had been a part of before, and I was very passionate about what they were creating. Their artistic visions brought in so many unique people, artists, and businesses. Each week brought new and exciting ideas that stretched all of my production muscles.
I joined their team as their Production Director when they began to fundraise at new locations every week and planned monthly events featuring local nonprofits and small businesses. While each week brought new technical issues, including lack of power, harsh lighting, and venue restrictions, I worked with a team of fantastic engineers who volunteered their time to helped turn a bar, speakeasy, coffee shop, or park into an intimate event venue for this quickly growing community.
After months of fundraising events and community outreach, we began planning the launch of weekly services at the iconic GIlley’s concert venue in the heart of Deep Ellum. Alongside Portable Church, we developed a mobile production rig that we could load in and out seamlessly each week and transform the rooftop venue and bar into a worship center for hundreds of people. We planned a large “launch party” event to kick off weekly services and I spent the weeks leading up to the launch party managing vendors, finalizing timelines and set up schedules, training volunteers, and casting vision to dozens of local artists and vendors. The launch party brought in hundreds of new faces and connected them with the vision and passion of Historic Church while also providing a spotlight to many of the city’s valued nonprofits.
The weeks and months following the launch brought in new volunteers and team members that I helped train and empower in production roles that set up the church for a solid future. Each week we brought in a new local artist to feature, including painters, dancers, musicians, yoga instructors, DJs, poets, photographers, and filmmakers. Working with so many unique personalities gave me the opportunity to build strong connections and continuously stretch leadership muscles as we found ways to incorporate their gifts and passions into the vision and story of Historic Church.
