Auburn Community Church, recognizable by it trademark description “church without walls,” has made a temporary home in a new location on Airport Road. After several years of gathering in various venues around Auburn, this new space brings the opportunity for creative church members to visually mark their place of worship.
Megan Kesting, a senior in graphic design and staff member at Auburn Community Church, was raised in a family of artists. She has always been immersed in the creative world, but her time in Auburn has allowed her to grow creatively by developing color concepts as an intern for Skullcandy, designing interactive posters for Van’s and working on staff as a graphic designer for Auburn Community Church.
Kesting’s experiences in the design field have cultivated a personal style that reflects her love of mixed media and color. She is inspired by big cities, mountains, fashion, and all aspects of culture.
Kesting has been able to pair her graphic designing skills with her faith to create visual concepts such as sermon graphics, stickers, welcome signs, etc. in service of the church. The graphic designer described working alongside lead pastor, Miles Fidell to develop art that reinforces the message of each sermon and the values of the church.
“Miles pushes me to be creative and do my research,” said Kesting explaining the importance Fidell places on a correlation between each visual and it’s biblical significance.
In the present sermon series, entitled “Dreamer,” Kesting’s creative process involved studying scripture and workshopping with Fidell to conceptualize a graphic that visually supports a Bible story in Genesis. The composition of the art took Kesting eight hours of work and includes 11 stars, a sun, and a moon which serve to visually represent details in the Bible excerpt Fidell is preaching on.
Kesting enjoys the process of conceptual art. For her, building graphics around the concepts of her faith has allowed her to grow creatively and spiritually, she said.
“It’s the coolest thing being able to combine my spiritual life with my creative life,” Kesting said. “It’s made me more creative to know my own creator more.”
The designer enjoys being able to serve in a way that she knows how, she said.
“I knew I was meant to create, but I didn’t know how to do that in ministry area until Auburn Community Church,” Kesting said.
Kesting has felt encouraged by Auburn Community Church to use her artistic talents as a form of service and wants to inspire other creative minds to follow suit.
“There’s so many opportunities to be creative in this space,” Kesting said. “You can worship, take pictures, do graphic design, or film video.”
In addition to the personal growth Kesting has experienced as a result of her work for Auburn Community Church, fellow church members have been moved by her creations. Clayton Carden, senior in finance and longtime member of ACC, said “in the south it is often difficult to pioneer new territory and step out of the norm. Megan goes beyond and is a game changer for our church. We are grateful for Megan and how she uses her gift to faithfully serve our family at ACC.”
Currently, Kesting is also working on a senior project before her impending graduation date in December 2019. Kesting accredits the experiences designing for Auburn Community Church for the readiness she feels to enter the workforce.
“I‘ve been able to push myself out of my comfort zone and push my ideas to keep getting better,” Kesting said.
The artist is looking forward to the future, equipped with a skillset and portfolio from her creative service for Auburn Community Church.
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