Producer’s Events and Music Department blends entertainment with worship

The first time I met Mario Costabil, Executive Director of Array of Hope, while interviewing him on CatholicTV a few months ago. My producer briefed me on the successful film and music producer and, impressed, I googled him myself.

After reading about his 40 years of producing shows for MTV, Discovery Channel, Yamaha, Sony, and more, I was a little nervous to meet and interview him. This may be an unpopular opinion, but I believe that when a person has a high level of success, it is perfectly reasonable that they demand a little from everyone around them. Sure, they might be tough on their team or their rookie interviewer (me), but it won’t be as tough as they are on half of themselves.

I walked into the interview with a clear understanding of my role as the “little guy”, determined to keep a low profile and focus. To my surprise, I got smiles and handshakes right away, which didn’t even hint at the difference between our stations in the media world. Mario’s kindness and warmth radiated from our set to the audience’s living room. He was welcomed not only by the film crew and myself, but by everyone I interviewed.

So when the opportunity came to interview Mario again, about his ministry, Array of HopeI took this opportunity.

In this interview, Mario and I are chatting via video, with Mario in his New Jersey office and me on my couch in Boston. I had him start from scratch, so he described the beginning of his ministry (a source of contemporary Christian music, films and events) in 2010.

“It was launched to try and evangelize like our evangelical brothers and sisters,” Mario told me. “At the time, I was in Nashville with a gospel band. I was hanging out with a lot of Christian artists and producers there, including Casting Crowns and Chris Tomlin and Amy Grant. I was blown away by the quality of their work and how well they The ability to communicate faith in exciting ways.”

I found myself nodding as he described finding inspiration from our Christian brothers and sisters. I asked him if he felt that inspiration alone was the catalyst for his departure from his four-year successful worldly career, but he insisted it was more than that, pointing out that the Holy Spirit was a change-maker in his life.

“I made it,” he said. “I have a great career, marriage, and kids, but I still feel longing.  … something is missing, and there is no real fulfillment. I see now that God is preparing me for my worldly career. God flower It took my whole life to work on my heart, and it wasn’t until I was in my 50s that I was really ready to start.”

Imagine? A 40-year career has been marked by the media success anyone could dream of, but it wasn’t the beginning for him.

In 2010, Mario felt a call to use his gifts to serve the church.

“I launched Array of Hope, and we immediately started doing multimedia concerts in gymnasiums and then growing into university auditoriums and small theaters,” Mario said. “While the inspiration is evangelical in nature, the events we produce are very Catholic. The Array of Hope concert event is a wide-ranging concert experience that includes live music performances, multimedia presentations, motivational speeches and thought-provoking film presentations, These events are a delightful offering to balance the negative media of today’s society. It especially celebrates an appreciation for family. A key theme of the show is the importance of God in the family and how loving support prayer can be for us and our children both spiritually and emotionally Development brings. It’s the perfect family event.”

As his ministry has grown, the Array of Hope has simply digged deeper into this uniquely Catholic identity.

This is in their upcoming “behold“Event. The series includes live music, multimedia, and lectures on drawing people into Christ through worship. The three-night series will run in parallel with the National Eucharist Revival, each night around a different theme: “The Eucharist and Healing,”” The Eucharist and Awe” and “The Eucharist and the Eucharist”.

Listening to Mario talk about how the Circle of Hope balances the subtlety of worship with the power of live performance, I ask him how ministry strikes a balance between beauty and entertainment.

“I think entertainment is the key to engaging a curious audience,” Mario said. “The Circle of Hope has always worked hard to bring people into an environment that is safe, fun and interesting. We then weave the teachings of the church into that environment. We start with the entertainment position and then Then We reveal beauty. A lot of things happen through testimony. We cooperate with the Holy Spirit. We can only take them so far before the spirit takes over. “

Array of Hope’s audio and music production director, Jack Garno, took Mario’s point further, telling me that the transformation this ministry has brought about is not just external, it’s also internal.

“I’ve been Catholic since I was a kid,” Jack said. “I was even an altar attendant, but after going through some church trauma, I distanced myself.”

Years later, Jack met Mario and started playing guitar with the Array of Hope. He noticed that everyone involved in ministry seemed to be radiating joy and love, and asked himself, “What do these people have that I don’t?”

Through Jack’s involvement in the creation of evangelistic music, he himself was restored to his faith. These days, he meets with the band twice a week to write songs about the gospel, as he puts it: “God is the truth of love.”