Brandon Benefield | Photography & Blog

It seems like the churches might be the only organizations that display Christmas decorations before shopping malls. I don’t say that in a condescending way, but it’s fairly evident for me to see that Christmas is upon us, especially working at a church.

For this year’s Christmas Eve Service at First Free, each person will receive a small gift after the end of the service. I won’t ruin any surprises by telling or showing what the gift is, but just know that it took many hands to prepare these. Much of the church staff worked to fold, pack and store the boxes for the Christmas Eve service. We may have made a little bit of a mess with all the shredded tissue paper used to stuff the boxes.

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It’s rather incredible how quickly a stage set seems to come together, but in the midst of creating the individual elements that comprise the whole, it seems like little headway is actually made, even for hours of work.

The Christmas Post is steadily progressing both as a dramatic performance but also as a visual environment, and I’ve lost track of how many people were involved in creating the set for the dessert theater. But now that I’m working at First Free (complete with half of my own office), I’m at the church five days a week. And because I’m there so frequently, I’ve been able to see what an incredible group of volunteers First Free has. The many who have sacrificed time, of which there seems to be very little extra of in today’s busyness, are really the only reason anything like this could come together so quickly and so well.

The first performance is less than two weeks away, and each element of the production, much like the stage set, is beginning to finalize after months of investment from countless people. Tickets for the six performances have been selling quickly, and those who manage to get their seat reserved in time will get more than their money’s worth. It’s going to be a fantastic show.

Take a look below to see how the stage progressed over the course of a week: Continue reading →

As some of you may know (if the new layout didn’t already give it away), my old website is gone, and unfortunately, old blog entries have gone with it. Minor set back. New site content will be updated in a mostly-timely manner, so check back often. I’ll link new posts on my facebook page, of course, but the best way to stay current with my blog is by subscribing to the RSS feed or by email. Both of those links are in the column to the right.

I’ve kept semi-busy over the summer photographing a couple weddings and working with my church’s junior high youth ministry, but as of Thursday, I’ve officially begun a new job. I’m (at least, temporarily) the technical arts coordinator at my church, First Evangelical Free.

Honestly, it’s mostly a fancy way of saying that I’m a techie, and I’m going to take whatever the creative team can throw at me and make it happen. It won’t be an extraordinarily easy task, considering Christmas preparations began months ago and things will only speed up until the new year. I’m not worried, though. Completing the work simply requires flexibility and imagination. Continue reading →