DELTA TOWNSHIP — From the outside, most churches look familiar, brick, steeple, stained glass. But Lansing’s Sycamore Creek Church is turning heads for something very different.
“The design brief was about amplifying the creative programming that's happening on the inside," says Dustin Hunt an artists hired to paint the outside of the church. "So, with that, I just thought, well, let's create something that's really striking, dynamic, maybe dramatic, colorful and somewhat unusual to draw attention in from everybody passing by, and just to get folks wondering what the heck is happening inside that church building.”
Dustin says he designed it to feel alive.
“You have a lot of movement, shape and color that's kind of wrapping itself around the building. The idea was to have to create something that felt like it was growing on the building.”
For Pastor Tom Arthur, the mural was more than decoration.
“Basically he pointed out, you can't change the shape of this building, it's always going to look like a church. So he told me, I can put something on the outside that makes people stop and wonder.”
And that, he says, is exactly what happened.
“Dustin nailed it," says Pastor Tom. "I mean, essentially, when he put this mural on the outside that doesn't go on a church building, he was saying, Hey, you guys need to show on the outside, all this wonderful mix of things on the inside.”
Pastor Tom says he hopes it sends a message about what’s really happening inside.
“My hope is that this mural would help break down that kind of stereotype, maybe that people have of church, or their experience of church, and that they would see this is a different kind of church. Our phrase is we get different and that we can play well with all kinds of people, including the arts community.”
Those who attend Sycamore Creek Church say they see it too.
Rachel Doughtery says, “I think it really catches your eye, for sure. And I think that people will wonder, I wonder what's going on in that building. I wonder why they're so bright, why they're so bold. And I think it's a very intriguing and an interesting concept to get people active and interested in joining up with this collaborative group.”
Because when connection is visible, being a good neighbor comes naturally. That’s the story behind Sycamore Creek Church — this week’s Good Neighbor.
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