Where and when we officially meet up:
Every 2nd Monday of the month at Nexus Café, Dale Street, Manchester. 7.30…
Artisan Vision…
The vibe of Artisan is to simply provide safe spaces in different hubs around the world for creative industry people to come and get spiritually hydrated and prayed for before being sent back out to engage in their places of operation. We also pray for the industries and the people within them that influence and shape culture. We are not out to make headlines or build an empire. We are not interested in brand promotion or titles or marketing campaigns. Our development is through word of mouth.
1. To provide input, encouragement and perspective for people professionally involved in the media, arts and entertainment industries through Artisan quarterly publication, the web site and Artisan prayer events.
2. To create a sense of linking and relationship between people involved these industries through raising profile of what is going on. (community page)
3. To communicate a sense of organisational unity and relationship by promoting the main support organisations around the world.
4. To develop a network of people committed to praying for media, arts and entertainment every day using the prayer focus.
The Story So Far…
by Artisan founder, Steve Cole
I established Artisan over ten years ago with the vision of providing support to Christians involved in the music industry which has since broadened to Media, Arts and Fashion. As a non professional musician I had the privilege of working alongside some great young musicians including one guy who at the age of 19 was invited by a big name to play in the band on the American leg of the tour. Artisan came into being as a result of seeing the implications this decision had on his spiritual journey as a result of there being no specific infrastructure of support.
In April 1998 we launched our first simple publication written by people in the industry for people operating in the industry called Backstage. Initially this went out to around one hundred people. Through word of mouth the network developed and before long the publication was going to 500 people.
Personally, I was still dissatisfied. Compared to the influence, power and magnitude of the industry I knew that simply producing a regular publication was the equivalent of a spec of dust on a spec of dust! I remember going through a phase of being so desperate for God to provide some direction, some instruction. After a time of grappling with the issue and pacing up and down as I do, I sensed that God had given me three words which would be important for us as a growing community of Christians involved in these industries. To this day these are still the words that we aspire to.
UNITY – HUMILTY – PRAYER
It sounds good, but what does it mean in reality?
Unity – We need one another. Life and our relationship with God was never designed to be a solo journey.
Humility – As individuals we all have our part to play, but we are not the key. Only God can transform these industries.
Prayer – As in all of life, prayer must be central. It is so often key to seeing God breaking into nations; people; industries.
I wrote to the Backstage network and communicated what I felt God was challenging us with. I took a step of faith and booked a central London venue in November 1998 and invited the network together with this agenda of unity, humility and prayer. To my amazement a few hundred people representing many parts of the industry came together to worship God, pray for one another and pray for the industries. That was eight years ago and we have since been meeting most months in London to pray.
In February 2002 a number of us made a trip to New York to begin to build a sense of fusion and relationship with people and organisations with a similar vision. The following year I did the same in Los Angeles with the desire of creating a sense of organisational unity and collaboration. After twelve visits to New York 29 leaders representing 12 Arts media and fashion initiatives came together to talk about the first collaborative prayer event in New York for people involved in the industry. In March 2005 350 people including 35 people from London came together to elevate Jesus, pray for one another and the industries. Since then in New York there have been another three events.
In November 2006 we had our first prayer event in San Francisco at a gallery/club space at the heart of the city. SF is such an important Hub especially in the areas of film and gaming. Further prayer events will be taking place in San Francisco in the future. In Los Angeles Artisan is helping to facilitate a collaborative prayer event on the weekend of the Oscars in February 2007.
Alongside the international development and the monthly event in London we have also launched the prayer events in other UK cities. In January 2006 we launched our first event in Bristol and in October 2006 we also launched in Birmingham and Manchester. These are monthly gatherings providing safe space for industry people to build relational fusion and pray. In 2007 here will be other industry prayer events in other cities around the world which we will keep you posted on.
To facilitate the international development we re-branded the Backstage publication to Artisan. The first Artisan magazine was produced in April 2004 with each edition grappling with themes such as Ambition, rejection, image, money, touring, success, the bible, Jesus and church. These publications are now distributed to nearly 5000 people around the world.
My desire is to see people involved in the Media, Arts and Fashion industries operating with a sense of being valued, supported, prayed for and empowered to be ‘light life’ in every sphere of influence. I am so encouraged to see a growing movement of people that combine a passion for the craft and the places of work and a longing to be distinct and exciting and attractive Jesus subversives in the heart of these most influential and important industries. If Artisan can play a small role in encouraging and enabling and facilitating this through our prayer events and the quarterly publications then I’m happy.
by 