While Midnight Oil serves the entire Christian community, we have a special connection to the United Methodist denomination. This connection occurs on many levels:
One of the MO Guys, Len Wilson, has a Master’s in Religious Communication from one of the 13 United Methodist seminaries and is well versed in Wesleyan theology. Looking further back, Len’s father is a retired United Methodist pastor. He grew up in UM churches, and even did his undergraduate work at a UM university, McMurry in Abilene Texas.
The church where the MO Guys cut their teeth in creative worship and visual media is one of the flagship United Methodist Churches: Ginghamsburg, in Tipp City OH. Len arrived there directly from seminary in 1995, when the congregation was averaging 1000 in weekly attendance and adapting to their new facility. Screens, cameras and computers were new in worship, and in Len’s first 2 years there as the Media Minister, the church grew to over 3000 in weekly worship attendance. Jason Moore, the other MO Guy, joined staff as an intern in 1997 and quickly became the church’s Visual Artist,¬?adding animation and more complex visuals to the weekly worship experience.¬?Ginghamsburg received national attention for their work with media and creativity in worship.
Len and Jason have published a series of books with Abingdon Press, the publication arm of The United Methodist Publishing House. Here’s a rundown:
- The Wired Church: Making Media Ministry (1999)
- Digital Storytellers: The Art of Communicating the Gospel in Worship (2002)
- Fresh Out of the Box Volume 1 (2002)
- Fresh Out of the Box Volume 2 (2003)
- Design Matters: Creating Powerful Imagery in Worship (2006)
- The Wired Church 2.0 (2008)
- Taking Flight with Creativity: Worship Design Teams That Work (2009)
From 2000-2002, Jason and Len worked with UMR Communications, a privately-held communications company that publishes the official United Methodist newspaper, to establish a digital division. Along with two other partners they named the division Lumicon and created worship materials to match the Lectionary calendar.
Since starting Midnight Oil in 2002, the MO Guys have worked in a staff or volunteer capacity with a number of UM churches including Len at Lovers Lane UMC in Dallas, TX (2002-2004), Jason at Living Water UMC in Englewood OH (2002-2004), and Len at Community of Hope UMC in Mansfield, TX (2004-2006). Len has served at Trietsch memorial UMC in Flower Mound TX since 2006, and is currently their Creative Director. Jason is serving at Ginghamsburg church as consultant and member of the worship design team.
Further, Jason and Len have consulted and taught at and with a number of United Methodist congregations, seminaries and agencies including Church of the Resurrection in Kansas City, MO; Perkins School of Theology at SMU and United Theological Seminary; and at many district, annual conference, and jurisdictional events. Their most recent UMC event was held in Oklahoma City where they provided an entire day’s teaching for the Order of Elders. Their materials are required reading in many schools of theological education.
