Concoxions Ministries

We will be updating this anniversary page as we continue through our 50th year of sharing Art to Heart productions

Hard to believe

It doesn't seem possible that I have been doing chalk drawings for almost 50 years. With encouragement from our Concoxions Board of Directors, we have decided to spend a year celebrating this half century milestone in some meaningful ways that I'm personally very excited about.

How it started

It all started on an annual mission trip in Bell County Kentucky with First Baptist Church of Spartanburg. These trips were led by Minister of Youth Bobby Haley, who would go on to lead many other churches to do mission work in this area of Kentucky.  Each year Minister of Education George Schrieffer would do chalk drawings at each of the 12 churches we were serving, but this year, about the middle of the week, we got word that George would not be able to come because of his aunt's death in Chicago.  We had been telling everybody about the chalk drawings as a special end-of-the-week highlight,  and I suggested to Bobby that I might could fill in for George to keep the kids we were working with from being as disappointed.  Bobby was understandably skeptical since I had never done a chalk drawing. He told me to get one together, let him see it, and then we'd talk about it.

I took that as a challenge and stayed up most of the night recording a cassette soundtrack (I played guitar and sang with Scott McClellan joining me on vocals) and putting together a makeshift chalk drawing setup. I drew on a paper tablecloth with cheap Crayola sidewalk chalk,  and for lighting I borrowed a projector from the locked up Union College AV room (maybe more about that another time).  Early the next morning after my "audition," Bobby shook his head, grinned, and said "I don't believe it - let's do it."  That was June 20, 1974. On that day and the next, I did chalk drawings at 10 of the 12 churches where we were ministering.  It was not nearly as good as the incredible ones that George did, but the kids loved it and God used it.  After we all got home, George  encouraged me to keep it up. He helped me get professional chalk and a setup very similar to his.

Since then

Over the 49 years since then, that simple setup has been repeatedly replaced as the drawings continued to grow into major productions including dramatic monologues and music, not to mention a lot more equipment and technology.  We've done what eventually became known as "Art to Heart" many hundreds of times all over the country and in several others. We've done chalk drawings in many places including small churches, huge churches, colleges, amusement parks, ice skating rinks, campgrounds, civic centers, arenas, and at numerous regional, state, and national conferences.  It would be hard to overstate the significance of Art to Heart in our life and ministry.

So how are we celebrating this 50th year of Art to Heart?

We starting off by going back to Bell County Kentucky for a Sunday evening community-wide Art to Heart service June 11 at New Heights Church in Middlesboro, KY.  Our original contact for this night was appropriately Bobby's son, Jeff Haley, who was on hand helping out along with his wife Terri, son Luke, and daughter Kate. Per Jeff’s request we included Bobby’s favorite song “Pass It On” in the service and were even joined in leading it by Bobby’s grandson Luke on guitar. Much thanks to Jim Harris with Northside Baptist Church of Lexington, SC (one of those many churches that are a part of the Bobby Haley lineage of Kentucky missions) for helping organize this night as part of their annual mission trip, and to associate pastor Jonathan Neely and the people of New Heights Church for being wonderful hosts. It was a special night that I will always remember and appreciate.. 

Plans are underway to conclude the year with a 50th anniversary Art to Heart service Sunday night June 23, 2024 at Spartanburg First Baptist Church where we hope to have members of the Schrieffer and Haley families with us as special guests along with others who have played very significant roles in Art to Heart over the years.

In between these first and last productions of the year, we are hoping to do at least 48 other Art to Heart services. Kathy has convinced me that she did not use the word "crazy" when I first mentioned this idea to her, but merely suggested that doing Art to Heart 50 times during this 50th year is a very ambitious goal. She's right.

Why?

So why are we doing all of this? By far, the main reason is that for 49 years we have consistently seen God use the unique worship experience of Art to Heart in powerful ways. For however long we can continue, we want to share this ministry and its message of God's ultimate love with as many people as possible.

Join the celebration

We hope and pray that many of you will be a part of the ministry of Art to Heart in this coming year. Let others know what is happening, and let me know if you'd like for me to send you more information about bringing Art to Heart your way.

“On This Date” social media posts

Throughout this 50th year we’ll be posting mention and memories of past Art to Heart related events on the dates that they happened. These have been collected from admittedly incomplete calendar entries and an even more incomplete memory. We can’t vouch for the complete accuracy of every post, but hope you’ll enjoy a look back at a little bit of the history of Art to Heart.

The Baptist Courier “Courier Conversations” podcast of Todd Deaton’s interview with Bill. The conversation includes some of Bill’s background, how Art to Heart got started, what an Art to Heart service includes, and a couple of humorous stories about how Bill nearly got fried doing one chalk drawing and ate way too many bugs doing another.