City On A Hill Productions | Blog » Ministry

- « Older Entries
  
  Newer Entries »
- Supporting Churches and Ministries
  
  Wednesday, September 10th, 2008
  
  By Richie
  
  I hit the ground running doing a rough edit for the above video for Southern Acres Christian Church. It was quite a challenge because I’ve never had to edit anything that I didn’t shoot or write, and I don’t have a very complicated history with visual effects. Watching the final product I am, once again, amazed at the quality of the work done here, and I am looking forward to working with, and learning more from, the talented staff here at CHP.
  
  I’m now in my fourth week of employment, and I feel that I am starting to settle in, and get a more concrete, cohesive grasp of what life here will look like. As Ministry Support Director, I will be producing films promoting and supporting the important work of Missions and Ministries. I am very excited to see how God will continue to use CHP in partnership with these Missions and Ministries to represent Jesus Christ to the world.
  
  Truth. Equality. Simplicity. Peace.
  
  Richard Ramsey
  
  Ministry Support Director
  
  POSTED IN Ministry | 1 COMMENT »
- City on a Hill… A Prayer Request… A Purpose Revealed
  
  Wednesday, September 3rd, 2008
  
  By Tony
  
  From a prayer request! That’s how my journey with City started just over 5 years ago. A simple request for me and the other men in our weekly bible study to be praying for office space to come available so that a newly formed ministry called City On A Hill Productions could have a space for the first employee to report for work. That’s how this incredible journey started for me…from prayer supporter, to office space provider, to financial supporter, to Board Treasurer, and now, most recently, the ministry’s Administrator….hence this. My first ever blog!
  
  It’s been nothing short of incredible to see how the Lord’s plans for City have unfolded before my eyes, and it’s been exciting to be an integral part of that plan. I knew when I started thinking about starting my own business over 7 years ago, that there was a much higher purpose for starting the business than just performing the work we’ve been given and trying to be profitable. As I grew in my walk with the Lord and developed close friendships with other Christian men who I could receive council from and confide in, I began to pray about His plans for my career and that His will be done with the talents He had blessed me with. I began to accept that His plans were not my plans and I began to re-define my definition of “success”. I started to see one door after another open and the path started to become clearer and clearer…I knew the Lord was calling me to leave the comfort of the promising future at a large corporation to step out in faith and follow Him.
  
  So, that’s what I did, I started my business almost 6 years ago knowing how truly blessed I was that the Lord had opened doors and made the path clear enough that I didn’t have to guess if I was making the right decision. On the contrary, I KNEW I was making the right decision because, through His grace, He made it so absolutely clear that this was His plan.
  
  That’s when the prayer request for office space for CHP came - shortly after starting the business and “falling” into a great deal on an office building twice the size of anything we would need for some time to come. THE prayer request, that led to a meeting with this ministry’s director, Shane Sooter, and a simple commitment from me to him that as long as I was blessed with the space, his ministry would be blessed with the space. THE prayer request ultimately caused me to want to get on board with the ministry and support it financially.
  
  THE prayer request led to my increased involvement with the ministry by becoming a member of the board ….and now, serving as the Administrator for the growing ministry. THE prayer request eventually allowed me to step back and see just ONE of the Lord’s purposes for the business He had blessed me with…to support a ministry full of dedicated staff members that love the Lord and are dedicated to teaching how Christ taught, through telling stories, utilizing today’s communication tools to reach people with the Gospel message that might not otherwise be reached, and to support His Kingdom in any way that He wills.
  
  I’m privileged to have to opportunity to serve at City. To work with such dedicated and talented staff members. To see the daily sacrifices of them along with hundreds of volunteers dedicated to our ministry and our purpose. Thanks to all who help make our ministry possible. Thanks to the Lord for providing the vision, purpose and resources for our ministry.
  
  Thanks for THE prayer request that led to the privilege I have of serving as Administrator for City on a Hill!
  
  In Him!
  
  Tony Young
  
  Administrative Director
  
  photo credits: Tyler Michael Pelan of Lighting His World Photography
  
  POSTED IN Ministry | NO COMMENTS »
- Limitless Opportunities
  
  Wednesday, August 6th, 2008
  
  By Cibby
  
  Just last weekend, Shane, Kevin and I traveled to Memphis to attend a Missions Banquet sponsored by one of our corporate sponsors – or City Builders, as we like to call them.
  
  To be good stewards of our funds, we chose to make the 800-mile trip by car. Ummm, I think I may have earned another jewel in my crown for that decision! Actually, it was a beautiful drive, and when our conversations grew weary Shane pulled out his iTunes from the back seat and played game-show host to round after round of “Name that Artist.” Would you believe that he has over 5,000 songs on his laptop? Well, I just want everyone to know that I did beat Kevin in a tiebreaker! (He’ll go to his grave saying he was just trying to be a perfect gentleman by letting me win). I guessed “Boy George” for the winning point. Gee, that’s not so spiritual is it? Anyway, back to my story!
  
  At this banquet, we were able to fellowship with over 20 different ministries doing amazing things for the Kingdom. The ministries ranged from a church plant across the street from Yale University to an incredibly successful entrepreneur school in Rwanda to a Prostitution-Rescue Ministry right there in the heart of Memphis.
  
  What does CHP have to do with all of this? Well, personally, I think our Ministry Support Videos branch is what sets us apart from most other Christian film production companies. Shane puts it this way, “There are so many ministries out there doing incredible work, impacting the culture and changing peoples lives, but that doesn’t mean they have the tools they need to get the word out about what they do. This is where we come in. We partner with ministries who we feel are doing really important work and give them our creative and technical abilities and provide them with the resources they need to accomplish their mission and share their own story.”
  
  As Partnerships Director, one of the three branches of my ministry here is to get the word out about the Support Ministry leg of CHP and procure these film projects. In other words, those of you who are supporters of CHP, whether you financially support one or several of the staff members or are a corporate donor to the ministry, you are not just supporting one ministry doing one thing. With the Support Ministry branch of CHP, the opportunity to help other ministries and their great work is limitless.
  
  We currently have three of these videos in production – two are scheduled for filming this month, many are already in the early stages of development. Our new Ministry Support Director from Houston, Richard Ramsey arrives in two weeks. I don’t think he’s scheduled to “come up for air” anytime until after December. But don’t tell Production Manager, Cassie that…she’ll start booking him for more! Amen, so be it!
  
  Cibby Danyla
  Partnerships Director
  
  Tags: City Builders, Ministry
  POSTED IN Ministry | 1 COMMENT »
- Meet The Director
  
  Thursday, July 3rd, 2008
  
  By Shep
  
  Ever have questions that you would love to ask Shane? (Outside of: What is your favorite food? or What’s your favorite TV show?)
  
  We are talking the serious stuff. Why was City on a Hill started? What is in store for the future? The deepest questions imaginable! (Sort of)
  Good news! Shane took a moment to talk about the focus of City on a Hill from its inception, and the very exciting future! It is all wrapped up in a nice little video blog complete with a sweet techno soundtrack…
  
  POSTED IN Behind the Scenes, Ministry | 7 COMMENTS »
- When God Interrupts…
  
  Wednesday, June 25th, 2008
  
  By Cibby
  
  Life was good, challenging and hard at times, but working out quite well, thank you very much. I had a dream job at a fine Christian school in the Houston area. My sons were doing great in high school – well-adjusted, well-liked, both finding their creative niches. My husband Bob was working hard at several design/remodeling jobs. After three years of intense gardening – our back yard was finally becoming the “Garden of Eden” that we had worked so hard for, yes, all was working out beautifully…. And then God interrupted…
  
  Unbeknownst to us, the Call actually began several years back. Our old friend (old as in we’ve been friends for many, many years) Kevin Bryan gave Bob a call when City was filming the H2O series to ask if he was available to design and build the sets for Episode 3. So Bob headed to Galveston and I tagged along to help out on the set. After several days of shooting, Bob and I looked at each other and read each other’s minds – wow, working in film to spread the Gospel? What an unbelievable concept.
  
  So we safely tucked those thoughts aside and went back to our lives in Houston (Katy). A year or maybe two passed by and this time Shane called Bob to ask him to design the sets for the film portion of the new Southeast Easter Pageant. When the film portion became the full-on film series project of the Easter Experience, we realized Bob was needed for the entire summer, and that I could also help out as Shane’s assistant director. All of the sudden it was summer ’07, and the Danyla clan had temporarily settled in Louisville. Thus the Call was reignited.
  
  Fast forward nine months later, and we are packing our house, loading storage “PODS”, piling boxes and kids and dogs into cars and trucks and heading north-east to Louisville!
  
  We’ve been here just a week – Kentucky – the bluegrass state. Well I haven’t seen any grass that is blue, nor have I heard any bluegrass music, but this place is truly magnificent.
  
  I’m already busy with work – assisting Molly with the upcoming City on a Hill fall event, and 5 year anniversary in Louisville, making plans for the Houston event in October and beginning plans for a Nashville event and possibly one in Atlanta.
  
  In the meantime, I am still working on raising support for myself so that I can do the work the Lord has called me to! I am so blessed that God “interrupted”!
  
  Cibby Danyla
  Partnerships Director
  
  “Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.” Prov. 19:21
  
  POSTED IN Ministry | 3 COMMENTS »
- Accountant undercover
  
  Tuesday, June 10th, 2008
  
  By JohnM
  
  I am now in my third office since joining City On a Hill’s staff. It appears I may finally be settled in to a permanent office now. My co-workers have tried desperately to give my office a warm, “non-accountant” feel. However, when I’m in my office it has that accountant look to it even with all the tireless effort they put into it…
  
  How did I end up working for City on a Hill? Well, I had already been told that I was “over the hill,” so I thought working at City ‘on a Hill’ sounded better! Umm, That was supposed to be a joke…
  
  I actually learned of a possible position with City through a friend of mine, Kurt Mishler. He explained the mission of this amazing ministry to me, and I was immediately interested. When I came for an interview Shane took the time to give me a tour and even set up a video for me to watch so I could better understand the vision of the ministry. I was hooked.
  
  I have worked for two other non-profits in the past, and currently serve as Treasurer for Mental Health America of Kentuckiana. All three of these non-profits have purposeful missions, but nothing is as meaningful as the mission City on a Hill Productions has. That is to win souls for Christ.
  
  I accepted Christ in December of 1999, and since then, life has been viewed from a much different perspective for me. I see each blessing in my life as a gift from the Father! Prior to coming on board at City, I had been experiencing skipped heartbeats for about 2 years. My cardiologist said they weren’t a problem, yet they would still bother me at times. Since I started working at City, I have not experienced any skipped heartbeats – and it’s been nearly 5 months now! Coincidence? I don’t think so.
  
  Currently, I work part-time at City, but look forward to becoming full-time. When I was told I would need to raise the support for my position, I couldn’t even grasp the concept initially. I have done nothing so far towards raising my support, but it is a challenge that I look forward to – even if it is with a bit of anxiety…
  
  What I look forward to the most working at a place like this, is the much anticipated moment when the script calls for a shot of an accountant at a desk using a calculator! That will be me…
  
  Thanks for reading.
  
  John Mcgrath
  Finance Manager
  
  Tags: taxes
  POSTED IN Ministry | 2 COMMENTS »
- A Way Out – Memphis, TN
  
  Wednesday, June 4th, 2008
  
  By Cass
  
  A little over 2 years ago, Shane, Kevin, & I went down to Memphis, Tennessee to produce a Ministry Support video for a ministry program called A Way Out. All three of us were utterly floored by the experience.
  
  A Way Out is an incredible ministry that exists to help women leave the sex for sale industry and discover the fullness of life in Christ. From my safe little chair in my safe little world, it was so easy for me to dismiss these women consumed by a life of promiscuity…until I got to know them. With each shared story, I fell in love with yet another precious child of God and realized, as one of their mentors so perfectly put it, that “there but by the grace of God go I.” These women, daughters of my Father, had experienced incomprehensible pain throughout their lives with no hope for relief until God pulled them into His loving arms through A Way Out.
  
  Cassie Pelan
  Production Manager
  
  POSTED IN Ministry | 3 COMMENTS »
- Give ‘Em Something To Talk About…
  
  Tuesday, May 27th, 2008
  
  By Molly
  
  I remember when Shane first mentioned his idea for the H2O series to me. It was in the Fall of 2004. He barely understood the stirring in his heart to create an evangelistic series, much less was he able to communicate it to me. Little by little, day by day this concept became clearer and the vision was secure. This vision simply began with an idea to create a series that explained who Jesus was, what He did and what that means to you.
  
  Sounds simple enough, right? Turns out it was a 2 year, grueling process that taught us to trust God, persevere and to believe that God was in total control. What we didn’t know then is that God had bigger plans than we could imagine for this program. Since the release of H2O in the summer of 2006, the response has been incredible. People have come to know Jesus, hearts have been strengthened and the ministry of City on a Hill has been encouraged to continue to fight the good fight
  
  Here is a sample of what people are saying:
  
  “This is by far the best video introduction to Christianity that we have ever seen! Presents the Christian perspective in a unique, refreshing, and dynamic style that speaks to our current culture. Our church leadership has given H2O high marks. We are currently using the series in our prison ministry with great success!!”
  
  “I believe in this curriculum! I fell upon it accidentally and watched every single episode in two days. The 10 episodes will expose Christianity for what it is and for what it should be. It will allow for time of reflection and press searching individuals towards the person of Jesus Christ and away from what Christians have portrayed Jesus as. I would recommend this to anyone! It will change lives, guaranteed.”
  
  “Thanks for your partnership with this fresh perspective – it’s impacting ministry in New England in great ways!”
  
  “Over the sessions, we had two people make first-time faith commitments and two more get baptized. We’re a church of only about 230, so two means a lot.
  
  “H2O acts as a great mediator and is great for group discussion. In my opinion, H2O is the new ALPHA.”
  
  “H2O is a breath of fresh air in the evangelistic stream of Canadian Christian conscience. I watch at least one episode with every Christian who is willing to give me 30 minutes.”
  
  “We used H2O as an ‘alternative’ Sunday school class for adults. Through this program, we had a lady give her life to Christ and her sister re-dedicate her life. Also, a couple of people were led to be baptized and join the church. In a small town church of roughly 40 attendees, this is big news!”
  
  “I just picked this up today knowing nothing about it and taking my chances. It’s a fantastic small group resource. Geared towards the young adult crowd. As far as the content goes, think Alpha Program meets Nooma. The material is pretty much a crash course introduction to Christianity. It’s presented in an authentic fashion that will be received by today’s culture. Let’s face it, good teaching curriculum is hard to come by these days and this makes the cut.”
  
  To view H2O, please click here.
  
  God is good,
  
  Molly
  
  POSTED IN Ministry | NO COMMENTS »
- Kristy’s musings
  
  Tuesday, May 13th, 2008
  
  By Kristy
  
  So if you’ve read my bio or watched our “Web Conference” video blog-post, you might be wondering, “How in the world did this Texan get plugged in with City on a Hill?” and “why would she voluntarily leave the great state of Texas?”
  
  (Okay, you might not really be wondering that second question, but you should)
  
  My journey to City on a Hill Productions actually began a little over 2 years ago… I am a proud, born and raised Texas girl – howdy ya’ll! But as God, my Lover, began wooing me, in order to cause me to rely on Him more, He moved me out of my beloved Texas.
  
  My initial connection to City was via Kevin Bryan. We worked together for several years at another ministry in the Houston area before he and his family made the move up to Kentucky to work at City on a Hill. About a year ago, I got a very desperate email from Kevin begging me to employ my administrative gifts at City, as well as to reconsider my worldview of raising my own support… While moving to Kentucky and working at City on a Hill sounded exciting (I’m an amateur film buff), the prospect of raising financial support wasn’t something I was looking forward to. My initial response was, “No thank you!”
  
  Then over course of the next month my Lover continued to draw me out. He challenged me to trust in Him, and fanned the desire for adventure in me – soon my answer changed to a resolute “Yes!”
  
  At the end of October I finally trekked up to Kentucky to begin my new job here at City. I got to experience the tail end of the beautiful fall weather in all its fiery hues, and I weathered my first real winter complete with snow and ice! (Something that only happens maybe every 20 years in Houston). As much as I love my home state, I am enjoying all the new experiences that Louisville offers – like “real” weather seasons and the Derby!
  
  My experiences so far at City are unlike anything I would have imagined myself doing when I first accepted the position. The true purpose of me coming up here was to assist the slightly organizationally challenged Shane and Kevin. In the process of ministry (even film ministry) being what it is – one automatically gets sucked into doing things far from what would be listed on your typical job description… I have NEVER before painted anything other than what you might do in your elementary school art class, yet in the few months that I’ve been here I have helped paint a gigantic green-screen floor, drop-tile ceilings, and a desk. God seems to provide me a new adventure every day at City on a Hill!
  
  Kristy Rundle
  
  Executive Assistant
  
  Tags: texas
  POSTED IN Ministry | 3 COMMENTS »
- Amanda’s deliberations
  
  Tuesday, April 29th, 2008
  
  By Amanda
  
  After much deliberation in my mind to find a topic worthy of the CHP blog, I have decided to take this rare moment as an opportunity to provide a glimpse of what walking into City on a Hill is really like for a newcomer such as myself. I hope you enjoy.
  
  I began working at City on a Hill a mere 8 months ago through a series of random events. Having absolutely no film production experience and knowing very little about the ministry itself, I came, wide-eyed and innocent – seeing only the glamour and excitement that surrounded my naïve perception of what movie making really is like. Apparently, it involves so much more than I ever thought…
  
  Like throwing big parties and inviting all of our supporters to come, enjoy, and buy really cool things at live and silent auctions (I love throwing parties!) Or licking hundreds and hundreds of envelopes for the invitations to those parties (that part I don’t love so much). Or how about stuffing five adults in a 12×12 room to work while the rest of the offices were being renovated? (I thought Molly might die!).
  
  However that might have been preferred to the two weeks solid of painting the office ceilings (the black paint seemed to find permanent residence on my face rather than on the ceiling and my neck was so sore I couldn’t turn it for two weeks afterwards). Clean-up from production is also a necessary activity (Where cleaning up a warehouse the size of two football fields is optimistically projected to take “an hour or two”)
  
  Unfortunately, I have even been involved in doing a little acting for our blog recently (It is indeed unfortunate). But one of my favorite parts of my job is seeing on a daily basis just how many people love this ministry and are willing to faithfully support it as it seeks to share the Gospel with the lost and disciple those who have already entered into a relationship with Christ. It is indeed a blessing to be a part of such an amazing endeavor.
  
  So, this morning, as I was dancing around in a conga line with my fellow co-workers, and watching my boss parade around with a gigantic balloon horse (Don’t ask, just tune in to next week’s blog), I realized that although film production may involve things that I would have never imagined, I am truly thankful for the unpredictable chaos that is City on a Hill.
  
  Amanda Brainard
  
  Assistant to Marketing and Development
  
  Tags: high fashion
  POSTED IN Ministry | NO COMMENTS »
- SUBSCRIBE TO THIS BLOG