Western Edge 2024 Initiatives
THE BEAUTY INITIATIVE 2025
ACTIVATING THE BEAUTY DIMENSION OF THE KCU MISSION
Total Request: 11,500
Budget Form: Beauty Initiative: Beauty Grant and Bannered Studios budget (Western Edge Hub) for 2024 Fundraising Ask
The Western Edge is asking for a total of 11,500 to fund a two-dimensional initiative to cultivate and activate the "beauty" dimension of our mission to fill Kansas City with the beauty, justice and Good News of Jesus.
For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. (Romans 1:20).
Through nature, beauty, and the arts, God provides countless whispers and grand revelations that beckon us closer to Him. Even so, there often exists a disconnect between what we observe in the world and the messages God is conveying to us. It is essential that we learn to educate, observe, and nurture our understanding of these signs to discern the divine words intended for our souls and the souls of the men, women and children we minister to as we point them to Jesus.
The intersection of the mission of God with and in beauty is essential for the next chapter of the Kansas City Underground. The goals of the initiative are the following:
To activate the artist inside every missionary and microchurch to illuminate the ordinary with the beauty in their context.
To activate the artists in the KCU on mission at the next level.
To activate the massive emotional, spiritual, and relational benefits of beauty to help us become more like Jesus and be more deeply connected as extended spiritual families.
As we build on the foundation of the Good News that we have laid, now is the time for the beauty and justice dimensions of our mission to rise “above the surface” in every context where we have missionaries and microchurches.
Wester Edge Leaders: Michelle Wegner and Nate Doom, along with Rob Wegner and Cory Ozbun.
DIMENSION ONE: BEAUTY GRANT
Request: $6500
Michelle Wegner through her doctoral program is identifying principles, practices, and tools to equip the missionary, microchurches, and hubs of the KCU to enhance their ability to perceive God’s voice, message and mission via beauty, nature and art. The goal is to expand our capacity to listen and interpret their divine cues, deepen our connection with God, and to bring beauty to our contexts in practical ways.
Many studies show positive and beneficial effects of art, nature and beauty on the soul and general well-being of a person. In particular, the practice of intentionally “Micro-dosing” to beauty in art and nature. When we regularly expose ourselves to nature, beauty and art, it is as, if not more effective than a prescription from a doctor.
We are seeking this funding for the development of a Beauty Grant, that would be similar to our “Mission Grants” or “Benevolence Grants’ that offset costs or to accelerate the beauty dimension of our mission. The team is looking for funding to help set off the cost of the following “micro-dosing” initiatives. From the learning, more formalized training and practices will be developed for the long term benefit of the network. The funds will be used to support the following:
Micro dosing Nature Retreats: We can form a partnership with a retreat center, and provide a guided experience of nature. Help people cultivate simple ways of experiencing God in nature on a more regular basis.
Christ Peace Retreat One Night $100
Christ Peace Retreat Two Nights $180
Micro dosing Art Experiences: We can form partnerships with venues/artists/spaces to encourage missionaries and microchurches to have a shared arts experience with a guided reflection. We will seek ways to offset these costs through discounts and special programs these venues offer, etc.
Art education/experience trips
KC Symphony- (approximately $150 per ticket)
KC Orchestra-(approximately $150 per ticket)
KC Opera- “Come as you are” events-FREE
KC Ballet-(approximately $50 per ticket)
Nelson Atkins trips – Free!
Other venues/experiences that tap into the artist of the KCU (House shows, art shows in hub spaces, etc.)
Art and Spirituality (focus groups/training huddle) $500 for supplies/year.
Photography and the Soul (focus groups/training huddle) $500 for supplies/year.
It would be amazing to provide Hub or microchurch leaders with free vouchers that would enable them to attend one of the opportunities listed above, as a way of fueling their souls and the beauty portion of our mission.
Research Trip: Michelle Wegner has an opportunity to join a research trip with her doctoral program to Asia Minor which will be the capstone of her doctoral research. They will trace the movement of art and culture through archeology from the first few centuries of Chrisians living in Asia Minor. This experience will help her tie all she has read and studied over the past year and half to the history and origins of the Church. Research trip to the Seven Churches of Asia Minor $3390. We envision this as a shared cost between the Wegners and the KCU.
Dimension Two: Bannered Studios
Request: $5000
Does the world need media missionaries? Answering this simple question will lead any believer to an inevitable conclusion. YES. Media permeates all aspects of our lives on an ever-increasing scale day by day. Changes in the last decade have led to many people living out a significant part of their lives in media. Whether it’s a teenager finding community through social media or an activist seeing the next topic news outlets are pushing to debate, the way most humans on the planet communicate in our modern day is through media.
As followers of Jesus, it is our commission to communicate the gospel to all the world. And more than that, communicate the beauty and glory of Jesus in a way that penetrates the hearts of men. As a avenue to share these truths, media has presented itself as a harvest that is plentiful. However, we know that where the harvest is plentiful, the workers are few. Given the churches legacy of missions work in the world, one may wonder why more progress hasn’t been made in connecting people with the gospel through media.
The primary reason the church has struggled to have a larger impact in the media space is a lack of applying proven missions principles to a deep understanding of the media landscape. What we often see is the church creating Christian media that is put alongside other media to simply compete as a genre. Instead, the church has the opportunity to combine knowledge from missions with insights about media to create strategies that draw people out of darkness and into the Kingdom of God. Bannered Studios is positioned to make this vision a reality.
As a ministry, Bannered Studios will create content that uses an informed understanding of media combined with effective mission principles to connect people to the GOOD NEWS and BEAUTY of Jesus.
The studio will create art that has the ability to go beyond the intellectual-only approach much of the church has settled with. Art that reflects the beauty of Jesus has the opportunity bypass the mental barriers people often create to dismiss the gospel. With or without the funding of this grant, God has laid the groundwork for Bannered Studios to start creating media with a mission. And, God willing, Bannered Studios will not be the only workers participating in this harvest.
Our Western Edge Hub is asking for $5,000 to fund certain startup costs for Bannered Studios for the upcoming year.
Half of this request ($2,500) will be used for new equipment to continue to produce high-level content (new cameras and laptop).
$1,200 will be used for rent for the studio space.
The remaining money will be used for marketing, travel, and software subscriptions.