BACK TO YOUR ROOTS

Filming the welcome video at the church I grew up in was a lovely experience I recently got to experience. There’s something about walking through a place that shaped so much of your early life—knowing a place like the back of your hand but I wasn’t there to relive the past, but of course it finds its way into the frame anyway. top to bottom, every shot ends up personal it carries a long history of childhood moments: friends you grew up with, Sunday School teachers, youth group games, whispered jokes during long services.

I approached the project like I would any other—working with their marketing team to come up with a specific vibe, shot list it out, and schedule it over the course of a month—but then comes the emotional, personal touch, that infeffable quality that gives it something special. The people who make up that community welcomed me like no time had passed. Many of them with the same folks who’d watched me grow up. Capturing the spirit of a place like that—one that means so many different things to different people—felt both challenging and important.

I love the role Christ Community played in my childhood. I know that during those few days of filming, I felt a deep sense of joy being back there—not because of any spiritual revelation, but because of the people, the memories, the stories layered in the walls. Whether someone walks through those doors searching for faith, for connection, or just out of curiosity, I hope the video makes them feel what I did while filming it: that they’re walking into something sincere.