2022-2023 Interns

Hello! This month was a busy month for sure but it was all super worth it! I was able to play a part in programming the DreamTeam Celebration that took place this past Friday. For those who don't know what a DreamTeam Celebration is, yearly we throw a celebration for the people that serve at our church so staff can appreciate all the work the volunteers do at our church at a more professional level! I was able to help with scripting the host sections, putting the worship set together, find people to help out, and sat in meetings where we made a lot of decisions on how the night would go. We decided to do an awards show night and not being very familiar with awards shows, it was a difficult task haha! Luckily I had some amazing people around me that were able to help out and make sure the night went great! I am still serving on the weekends at various campuses playing drums, and assisting the central team with various projects they have! This month has flown by for sure! With just three weeks left of the internship, things are coming to an end very quickly! I cannot express how much I have loved this opportunity. Without all of your support, this would not have been possible for me so thank you from the bottom of my heart! 

Greetings!

March is in the books which means Easter is right around the corner and thank goodness that warm weather is on its way! If I have learned anything this month it is that being in ministry, there is constantly something big to plan for! It seems like Christmas just ended and we already are putting the finishing touches on our easter services and moving on to DreamTeam Celebration and Summer student camps! 

I have had the privilege of helping plan DreamTeam celebration. With this I have helped come up with the worship set, the order of events, finding people to host, and getting scripts together. This has helped me grow a ton in starting something from scratch and running with it from the start. It’s crazy how many minor details go into nights like these! I have said this many times before, but it’s amazing working with a group of people that have your back and and work so well together. We still have lots of work to do to make this night unforgettable, so I will be working on this for the upcoming month as well! My first DreamTeam Celebration event was unforgettable. I remember feeling so loved and cared for. I hope that I can help someone feel that same way when they leave this one as well. 

Thank you so much again for all of your prayers and support. With only a month and a half left, I cannot believe how fast it has gone. It’s been amazing working for the church and I could not have done it without your support. This has been an unforgettable experience and I am bummed it is ending so soon! 

Brandon Bliss 

Howdy! February flew by with lots of fun with the internship class. We traveled down to Nashville Tennessee for a 5 day trip. We were able to experience a church service at CrossPoint Church and see how they run their services. It was awesome to see how a church that is similar to CedarCreek does things very similar, but also different. Being in service programming I was able to take notes on how they run their services that could possibly enhance what we do at CedarCreek. Learning from other churches will benefit our experiences at CedarCreek and help keep things fresh and new. We were also able to connect with some of their team leads and learn from them how they manage their teams. The CrossPoint staff was full of knowledge and I truly enjoyed learning from them. Another part of the trip that I loved, was getting to connect with the other interns and staff members that were on the trip. Getting to know their hearts and know them on a deeper level just made me even more thankful than I already was being apart of CedarCreek, let alone working for the church. CedarCreek has some of the best people on the planet and I am beyond honored to be working along side of every single one of them. 

At the church I am continuing to work on my leadership skills and programming skills. I am helping out programming with the upcoming series "Upside Down Kingdom". I am super grateful to be working alongside Marna and Emily as they lead me through programming a series. Stepping into all the small details has been super eye opening and I have enjoyed every second of it. From scripting, to paying attention to shades, slides, transitions, and music there is so much to be paying attention to and I can feel myself stretching and growing in this. 

Thank you all so much for your continued support it means more than what you all realize. Only a couple months left. Soaking it in and enjoying every moment I can while i'm still here! 

It is already February which means I am over 6 months completed with the internship. As I look back I cannot believe how fast this has been going. I have truly loved every second of this experience and as I look ahead, it is honestly a bummer I only have a few months left! January has given me a ton of learning opportunities. I have been able to sit into some programming meetings and see how the programming team comes up with ideas and discerns how each element will work within a service. This has been a huge learning opportunity for me to step into these and help program one of our upcoming series. I am also continuing to help lead the arts team on the weekends to help build up self confidence and my leadership skills. I have been receiving feedback from some of the arts directors and they all have been super helpful in pointing me in the right direction and helping me grow. In internship class, we have been going through a book called “Amplified Leadership”. This book talks a lot about helping take a person on a leadership journey and utilizing it within a church setting. Between the book and having different leaders come into class and talk about it, has been very helpful within my leadership skills. I have been able to utilize a few things from the book with some team members and have seen nothing but great results! 

 I know I sound like a broken record, but you do not know how much you all mean to me! This has been a life changing experience and I am so beyond thankful for all of you. Without your help and support I would not be living out my dream and growing in all these areas of life like I am right now. You all mean the world to me! 

Love y’all!

Brandon Bliss

Merry Christmas and Happy new year! Christmas services went fantastic even though they got shortened a little bit haha! Even though we did not get to have as many services as we had hoped, we saw God have an amazing impact on these services. Almost 12,000 people watched our services and we saw lots of people decide to follow Jesus for the first time! That makes all of the work and long hours worth every second! I had the privilege of serving at the South Toledo campus for Christmas and it was so cool to be apart of a service that was so intentional and every detail thought out. 

Outside of Christmas services I have had the privilege of shadowing production and getting the run down of how things work on the other side of arts! I was able to learn switcher, camera, and sound so I can better understand how the whole service comes together. That has been super helpful for me because being on the music end of it most weekends, you do not get to see that side of how the service works. So to see how the dream team operates and how the different programs work gave me a better understanding of what all needs to happen for a service to happen! I have also been given more opportunities to lead on weekends and work on my leadership skills and communication skills! 

Thank you all again so much for helping me out throughout this internship! I am enjoying this internship more than even I realize. Its a bummer I'm already coming up on my 6 month mark. I don't ever want this to end! 

Brandon Bliss

November is the start of cold weather and if you know anything about me, the cold weather is not in my top 100 favorite things. But, November is also an amazing month to give thanks! With that being said, I am so beyond thankful for everyone that has helped me through this internship this far and for those that have been by my side every step of the way. This internship is a such a breath of fresh air. Truly loving what you are doing and playing a part in Gods mission is the coolest thing in the world.  With November coming to a close, Christmas is right around the corner! This past month I have been able to watch how the team puts together Christmas services at CedarCreek. The intentionality behind it, the amount of thought, and the precision has been amazing to see and I love being able to watch it all come together. On top of watching Christmas grow, I have been able to step into some leadership opportunities as well. I have started helping arts directors lead on the weekends leading the band and helping ensure the weekend runs smoothly. This has allowed me to get more comfortable using my voice and gain connections with other dream team members from different campuses. I am super excited to be stepping into more service programming opportunities in the near future! 

Hello! This has been a crazy fast month with lots of work and excitement! I had the privilege of being apart of a super talented team that put together mens event. I was able to learn a whole lot from this experience from putting together transitions, putting together a band, and other programming elements that help make a service great! This has been the biggest learning experience for me so far and I have loved every second of it. At CedarCreek we really value community and growing together. We had over 300 men registered for mens event and 10 people rose their hands to lead a group inside our church for this upcoming semester. Seeing God work through this event and seeing men take their next step in faith and help lead others in their faith as well was really awesome and I am so blessed to play a small part in that experience. Another win from mens event was the first time attenders. I was able to connect with a couple men who have never been to CedarCreek before that loved mens event and talked about how cool it was and about how they didn’t know a church could be this fun. I love seeing people enjoy church after being against it for such a long time. Based off of these experiences, it is safe to say Men’s event was a huge success and was a whole lot of fun! On top of all of that, I was able to hang out with a ten time American Ninja Warrior competitor as well. Travis Rosen spoke at our mens event and did an amazing job. Travis was super knowledgeable and one of the nicest guys you will meet. He had a huge amount of knowledge and love for people and that was very evident in his presentation and his willingness to connect with men after. 

 Since mens event, I have been able to step into lots of meetings learning how things are done behind the scenes and seeing the amount of work it takes for each weekend to take place. It is super cool to be in an environment where everyone works together so well, and works as a team to make visions take place. I am super grateful to be in the position I am in and am trying to take in every moment! Thank you again for everyone that has supported me through this. I could don’t be here without you! Love yall! 

Brandon Bliss 

Hello! I am now two months into my internship and am loving every second of it. Being apart of the service programming team has been super interesting and rewarding! Seeing visions become a reality to further impact the world and Gods kingdom has to be the coolest thing in the world. I love being able to help put together services from vision cast, to music, to send off. It’s like putting together a puzzle that you can see in motion. This past weekend I was able to speak with a mother and her son after one of our services. Her son has autism and loves coming to CedarCreek. She told me that every single Sunday he wakes up before she does and is so excited to go to church. I asked him what his favorite part about services were and with the biggest smile, he threw his arms out wide and said “THE WHOLE THING”! I am so honored to be able to play a small part in that “whole thing”. 

I am currently working on putting together “Men’s Event” here at the church. This is my first big task and I am trying to tackle it as best as I can! Luckily, I have an amazing team surrounding me giving me suggestions, insight, and encouragement. I am super excited to see how this whole thing comes together. As a hands on learner, I am anxious to see my wins, and parts where I could have done things differently. I just pray that this can be a night of fun and can help grow the community within our church. Maybe even get a couple new people to come to a service and hear about the life changing adventure with Jesus. Prayers for that would be more than appreciated! 

Thank you guys so much for your continued support! Thanks again to Emily and Marna for all of their help and guidance. I am honored to be able to learn from these two! Also a huge thank you to my Mentor Tim for always being there for me and for all of the dinners! 

 Love y’all! 

  Brandon Bliss

     This first month has been filled with lots of learning, adjusting, and joy. It feels like I just had my first day yesterday and somehow a month has flown by. This has made me realize how quick this amazing experience is going to fly by. A great reminder to take every moment in and just be present. It is an amazing feeling to wake up in the morning and get excited about what you get to do throughout the day. Today, Ben asked how I was doing as I was walking by and my response was short but worth so much to me. I responded "Living the dream!". As I walked away, I thought more about my response. I am truly getting to live out the dream of going to work to help build God's kingdom on a daily basis. I couldn't imagine myself doing anything different.

     Getting to know the world of Service Programming has been very interesting. Instead of just looking at a service from a music stand point behind a drum cage, I have been able to look at services as a whole. I have learned how to work out the kinks and make the service as great of an experience as it can be. Working alongside Emily, Marna, the whole arts team and central team has been a blessing. I feel like I have already learned so much. This first month I have done my best to be a sponge and soak up as much information as I can. During my internship, I am continuing to serve on the weekends at various campuses. This helps me see programming from different perspectives as each campus differentiates from the building, teams, and congregation. 

     I would love to thank all of my supporters again for coming along side of me, cheering me on and helping Mikayla and I financially. I could not be doing any of this without you guys. Id love to thank Emily for putting up with me so far and trying to keep me in line. I'd also like to thank my amazing mentor Tim Ault for being an amazing listener and being someone I can count on to hold me accountable. Love y'all! 

Brandon Bliss