Hard to believe
It doesn't seem possible, but I recently realized that I have been doing chalk drawings for almost 50 years. With encouragement from our Concoxions Board of Directors, we have decided to spend a year celebrating this half century milestone in some meaningful ways that I'm personally very excited about. We would love for you to be a part of the celebration and ministry.
How it started
It all started on an annual mission trip in Bell County Kentucky with First Baptist Church of Spartanburg. These trips were led by Minister of Youth Bobby Haley, who would go on to lead many other churches to do mission work in this area of Kentucky. Each year Minister of Education George Schrieffer would do chalk drawings at each of the 12 churches we were serving, but this year, about the middle of the week, we got word that George would not be able to come because of his aunt's death in Chicago. We had been telling everybody about the chalk drawings as a special end-of-the-week highlight, and I suggested to Bobby that I might could fill in for George to keep the kids we were working with from being as disappointed. Bobby was understandably skeptical since I had never done a chalk drawing. He told me to get one together, let him see it, and then we'd talk about it.
I took that as a challenge and stayed up most of the night recording a soundtrack and putting together a makeshift chalk drawing setup. I drew on a paper tablecloth with cheap Crayola sidewalk chalk, and for lighting I borrowed a projector from the locked up Union College AV room (maybe more about that another time). Early the next morning after my "audition," Bobby shook his head, grinned, and said "I don't believe it - let's do it." That was June 20, 1974. On that day and the next, I did chalk drawings at 10 of the 12 churches where we were ministering. It was not nearly as good as the incredible ones that George did, but the kids loved it and God used it. After we all got home, George encouraged me to keep it up. He helped me get professional chalk and paper and a setup very similar to his.
Since then
Over the 49 years since then, that simple setup has been repeatedly replaced as the drawings continued to grow into major productions including dramatic monologues and music, not to mention a lot more equipment and technology. We've done what eventually became known as "Art to Heart" many hundreds of times all over the country and in several others. We've done chalk drawings in many places including small churches, huge churches, colleges, amusement parks, ice skating rinks, campgrounds, civic centers, arenas, and at numerous regional, state, and national conferences. It would be hard to overstate the significance of Art to Heart in our life and ministry.
So how do we plan to celebrate this 50th year of Art to Heart?
We're starting off by going back to Bell County Kentucky. On Sunday night June 11, we'll be doing a community-wide Art to Heart in Middlesboro, KY at New Heights Church. We'll have more to say about this soon, but for now just know that our original contact for this night was appropriately Bobby's son, Jeff Haley, who will be on hand helping out along with Northside Baptist Church of Lexington, SC, one of those many churches that are a part of the Bobby Haley lineage of Kentucky missions.
Plans are underway to conclude the year with a 50th anniversary Art to Heart service Sunday night June 23, 2024 at Spartanburg First Baptist Church where we hope to have members of the Schrieffer and Haley families with us as special guests along with others who have played very significant roles in Art to Heart over the years.
In between these first and last productions of the year, we are hoping to do at least 48 other Art to Heart services. Kathy has convinced me that she did not use the word "crazy" when I first mentioned this idea to her, but merely suggested that doing Art to Heart 50 times during this 50th year is a very ambitious goal. She's right.
Why?
So why are we doing all of this? By far, the main reason is that for 49 years we have consistently seen God use the unique worship experience of Art to Heart in powerful ways. For however long we can continue, we want to share this ministry and its message of God's ultimate love with as many people as possible.
Join the celebration
We hope and pray that many of you will be a part of the ministry of Art to Heart in this coming year. Let others know what is happening, and let me know if you'd like for me to send you more information about bringing Art to Heart your way. |