From sitting in a church auditorium to taking off on a Boeing 737, or cruising down Route 66 in a 1960 Corvette, that’s the magic created at NewSpring Church in northeast Wichita. “They vary. Sometimes it’s just a prop like the last one we built — a Beechcraft King Air hanging over the stage — but it could be a Jerusalem scene or something like that on stage,” said Dale Poore, the leader of the set shop team at NewSpring.

The set shop team at NewSpring creates realistic props and sets that combine with lighting, graphics and video to make sermons come to life for churchgoers, who number around 7,100 a week. The sets are part of different four- to eight-week sermon series created by Pastor Mark Hoover, who has been lead pastor at the church since 1985. 

Poore and others on the creative and production teams work together to bring Pastor Mark’s visions to life, or in many cases, propose a creative vision for the series. “We’re intensely trying to create an atmosphere for [Pastor Mark]. He’s always said we set the table for him,” Poore said. 

It’s an atmosphere that others can feel and look forward to experiencing, too. Caley Bowen, who works for NewSpring’s student ministry, said she not only looks forward to experiencing new sets herself, but also sharing those experiences with others. 

“I think it tears down preconceived notions of what church is supposed to be, because for so long, church was seen as something super formal, and it didn’t always feel as accessible,” Bowen said. “That’s the most impactful thing for me is that I know it’s tearing down walls right when people walk in.”

Bringing an Idea to Life

Poore and others on various teams gather ideas and sketch concepts to share with Pastor Mark and each other. Once they’ve determined a concept, they get to work, with Poore’s team designing the physical build of the set, while other teams work on graphics, videos and lighting for the series. 

The physical build team uses a combination of building materials and more traditional art materials. Poore said the team uses a lot of Styrofoam for their props and big pieces of the sets, in addition to MDF (medium-density fiberboard), regular wood, plastic sheeting and more. For the church’s most recent sermon series, “Flying by Instruments,” where Poore’s team built a Beechcraft King Air aircraft, Poore says the team used a wood construction with a PVC skin and about 15,000 zip screws to mimic the rivets of the airplane. 

In 2013, the team built a set for a series called “The Thing,” where the lights would dim and the glowing green eyes would open behind the pastor on stage. Another set from 2011 involved a 22-foot-tall castle behind a knight in shining armor atop a full-sized horse. One of Poore’s favorite sets was from 2013, a 1960 Corvette fitting to the theme of Route 66, made entirely of Styrofoam, aside from the windshield — but you’d never know. 

And then there’s the aforementioned Boeing 737 that must be seen to believe. “The theme was ‘Takeoff,’ so we had the landing gear going up as the plane took off over the crowd. The airplane was stationary, but on the big screens behind it you saw the tarmac as if the plane was taking off,” Poore said. 



‘I think it tears down preconceived notions of what church is supposed to be, because for so long, church was seen as something super formal, and it didn’t always feel as accessible. That’s the most impactful thing for me is that I know it’s tearing down walls right when people walk in.’ – Caley Bowen, NewSpring student ministries

It’s not only special sermons that the team helps with; they’re also responsible for set designs during holidays. Some of the most popular set designs are during the Christmas season, with previous sets including a Grinch theme, an old Victorian town called Cascade Falls, and a larger-than-life book beside a lamppost reminiscent of the Chronicles of Narnia. 

“It’s never flashy to be flashy. There’s always intention and purpose in everything we do,” Bowen said. “If God is not in it, then we don’t do it. I love that intentionality that goes all the way down to the set design.”

After sets have been used in the main auditorium, many are repurposed in NewSpring’s children’s ministries areas for environment theming and props. Still other sets are given to other church ministries who have an interest. The Corvette went to a church in McPherson, Kansas, where it remains; a church in Michigan used the Boeing 737 in a sermon series before the plane found a permanent home in another ministry’s youth center.

Working Toward the Future 

Poore said one of the team’s biggest projects this year is working to upgrade the church’s living nativity scene, which will be staged outside of the church, complete with camels, sheep, donkeys and more. It’s a project that involves landscaping and weather-proof designs, something Poore’s background in home construction will help the team with while bringing the nativity scene to life. 

“It’s got to stand up to the wind. It’s got to stand up to the weather. You don’t know if it’s going to snow,” Poore said. “It’s a next step; we’ve been doing [the living nativity], but just not as big as we’re wanting. It’s developing.” 

The team also brings church to life for the various kids’ programs at NewSpring. From a cinema theme for early elementary school-aged kids to an underwater theme for babies and a safari for kids in between, the art for the kids’ programs is unbelievable. For instance, kids can watch a cart with animals climb up a roller coaster on the wall and a monorail inch along overhead as they walk in.

“Our stress is on the kids, because the growth in our kids’ ministries will lead the growth in our adult ministries,” Poore said. “They want to come; it’s different from what everybody thinks Sunday school is. It’s a creative environment.”

For Poore, the work he does at NewSpring is a true representation of who he is. When he’s at work, he’s dreaming up new creative visions and bringing them to life, and at home he’s doing the same thing: building creative projects. “I have just a wonderful job. This is just a great place to work, and if I can help Mark reach people, then it makes me feel good,” Poore said. “We hope once we create [a set] people come to see it, and they go tell their friends and their family, ‘You need to come see this.’ Then they hear Pastor give the message, and that’s our goal.”