I was glad when they said to me,
“Let us go to the house of the Lord.”
And now here we are,
standing inside your gates, O Jerusalem. – Psalm 122:1-2

Somehow, I’ve got myself a little bit of a “paparazzi” reputation. I’m not sure it’s a fair label, as the definition reads: “A freelance photographer who doggedly pursues celebrities to take candid pictures for sale to magazines and newspapers.” But the moniker has stuck, in the endearing fashion of being given a hard time by people I love!

My defense is that I love stories, and I love people, and photographs help me to tell the story.

LIFE TOGETHER: One story I especially love to tell is the story of faith Rebekah and I are experiencing in the context of our church home here in Wake Forest. Once in a while I’ll pull out my iPhone and capture an image during worship, but – typically – photography is a distraction and I leave it alone.

This week, however, Rebekah said she needed some up-to-date pictures for her annual report, and she asked me to bring my camera. It was still difficult, because I needed to be discrete, to stay out of the way, and to work with “existing light,” inside, on an overcast North Carolina winter’s day.

a vivid – intimate – portrait of a community at worship together

The results, however, paint a vivid portrait of a community at worship together, sharing in The Lord’s Supper, and extending that sense of mutual love as this amazing fellowship spills out into the world to live faith out loud, seven days a week.

So my blog post today is simply this: “A Portrait of a Community at Worship.” I believe the following 27 images comprise an intimate, beautiful, photographic essay that is loaded with love, with authenticity, with devotion, with joy, and with God. It is an eloquent testimony to the presence of God among us.

Enjoy… and don’t forget to thank God for the faith community where you worship – DEREK