Artist in Residence – Visual Design / Worship Arts Fellow

Title: Artist in Residence – Visual Design

FBCA Culture: FBCA is a church community beginning to live on-mission in a tangible way. After years of re-missioning, we are actively seeking ways to serve our community in the areas of education, food, and housing. Our gatherings are a blended experience, honoring traditions in liturgy and music, while also open to new ways of worshiping together. Our teams are multi-generational, and our people are excited to be doing the work of the kingdom.

Relationships & Supervision:

• Pastor of Worship – Supervisor
• Youth Director – Collaborator
• Children’s Pastor – Collaborator
• Administrator – Support
• Choir Director – Support

Responsibilities:

• Asset and Needs Mapping for the Congregation
• Execute creative projects as determined in collaboration with their supervisor: Could include art/installations, murals, graphic website design, songwriting, photography, liturgy, response/action moments tied to the themes of services, or even experiences for outside services/during the week (ie – a prayer walk, a place for reflection).
• Creative Ideation around Sermon Series Planning
• Participate in weekly worship services in a diversity of ways
• Organize lay leaders in creative projects
• Attend regular staff meetings
• Meet weekly with a supervisor

Collaboration with Creative Team: Work collaboratively with the Lead Pastor, Worship Director and other staff members and volunteers to integrate artistic elements seamlessly into the life of the church. Help design overall worship flow, crafting cohesive, creative, and meaningful worship services. Empower our church to live our value of serving our neighbors in imitation of Christ.

Creative Input: Actively brainstorm fresh and innovative methods of curating diverse artistic contributions, thinking outside the box of musical Sunday morning worship. Explore what it means to use art as spiritual formation.

Training and Workshops: Provide guidance and training to individuals within the congregation interested in incorporating their artistic talents into the life of the church, fostering a culture of creativity and inclusion.

Stewardship of Artistic Resources: Manage and maintain any artistic resources, props, or equipment needed, ensuring they are used effectively and responsibly.

Community Engagement: Facilitate opportunities for the congregation to express their creativity and talents, fostering a sense of community through artistic expression.

Qualifications & Experience

• Artistic Proficiency: Demonstrated proficiency in artistic medium
  • Potential secondary skills could include tech, communications, writing liturgy, etc.
• Collaborative Spirit: Ability to work collaboratively with the Worship Director and other team members to integrate artistic elements into worship services and church culture seamlessly.
• Innovative Thinking: Creative and innovative thinking with a passion for exploring new ways to engage the congregation through artistic expressions.
• Flexibility: Willingness to adapt to the dynamic nature of church ministry, including occasional evening or weekend commitments for special events.
• Passion for Worship: A passion for art and a desire to create meaningful, formative, and spiritually enriching experiences for the congregation.
• Compatibility: Agree to the core values and goals of FBCA, have basic familiarity with the Bible and Christian Doctrine, and be intentional in pursuing God through their own personal spiritual growth.

Hours and Duration: This position is in tandem with Ruakh Art’s Richmond Worship Arts Fellowship (RWAF) which is a 9-month residential program that spans from late August/early September to late May. The Worship Experience Curator will work part-time, 24 hours each week. The rest of their time is spent participating in other programmatic elements of RWAF (see below for more information).

Compensation: The Worship Artist in Residence will be paid a $1000 monthly stipend, adding up to $9000 overall pretaxes. They will have free housing through a host family as well as free seminary level courses resulting in a Graduate Certificate in Worship Arts from Leland Seminary, RWAF retreats, mentorship, conference attendance for Calvin Symposium of Worship and The Breath & The Clay, weekly roundtable dinners, and more.

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Worship Arts Fellow / Worship Artist in Residence

Ruakh Arts is a nonprofit that equips church leaders and empowers artists to cultivate more creative congregations, especially for the benefit of future generations of the Church.

This position is for a worship artist in residence for our Richmond Worship Arts Fellowship (RWAF). This nine-month program includes a paid internship as a Worship Artist in Residence at a partner church in Richmond, VA. Fellows receive vocational and Christian discipleship, one-on-one mentoring, and leadership opportunities. This program is in collaboration with Leland Seminary and fellows receive a Graduate Certificate in Worship Arts free-of-charge through completion of the program. The program emphasizes worship innovation, combating church disillusionment, and community partnership.

An RWAF Fellow’s weekly responsibilities include:

• Working 24 hours at their assigned church, involving creative projects, collaboration, staff meetings, worship services, rehearsals, and supervisor meetings.
• Attending a weekly Roundtable Dinner for discussions on The Place of the Artist in God’s World
• Spending intentional time with their host family once a week.
  Participating in 1-2 graduate-level courses each semester with in-person classes.
• Collaborating on organizing and hosting a worship, arts, and justice conference in the spring.
• Observing a weekly Sabbath day for rest and restoration.

For more details, visit www.ruakharts.com/rwaf