A Note from Chris

A Note from Chris (Reflecting on Hark Up 2007)

By many accounts WCSG’s Hark Up 2007 was a success.

Many thanks to the hundreds of people who served in so many diverse areas. Hark Up could not have happened with the efforts of all involved. Thank You so much – Hark UP Community.

One of my biggest surprises came as we discovered many opportunities to minister to the over 200 people involved with the presentation. The community that developed through the preparation ministered to numerous individuals. This life-giving Godly community that evolved around the presentation was far more deeper than anything we had expected or experienced in the past. I sense an on going mission to minister to the participants through future events.

In addition we received numerous reports of lives touched by the production. As Corey Emerson put it,
“Hark Up is so much more than a Christmas musical, it deals with real life situations that almost anyone can relate to. The message of this year’s Hark Up will present a challenge to everyone.”

New high points included:

DeVos Center for Arts and Worship – A wonderful auditorium and gracious staff (Thanks to Julie, Rick and Chris)
The support from WCSG (Thanks to Chris Lemke and Patty Riva)
An excellent story line and message of the Gospel (Thanks to Corey Emerson)
Audio mix was by far the best ever (Thanks to Bill Fles and Amplified Audio)
Back stage organization and direction (Thanks to Julie Finneran and Rick DeVries and their team)

We accomplished goals of:

Presenting a community based God-honoring Christmas celebration to the Greater Grand Rapids area.
Many father, daughter, mother, son inter-generational participation combinations.
Mentoring and encouraging young people.
Continued development of an on going worship and arts community.

Things to work on for next year include:

Build better production communication strategies
Develop a marketing team and strategy
Work to defray production costs
Begin production planning and fund raising earlier next year