Bible Museum's New Worship Exhibit Gives Viewers a 'Foretaste of Heaven'

There's something new at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C., just in time for the busy summer season. It's a worship experience like you've never seen or heard before.

It's called "All Creation Sings" and is inspired by Psalm 148 which declares, "Let them praise the name of the Lord!" It's a 45-minute experience posing the question: What is worship? 

Garrett Hinton, Chief Revenue Officer at the Museum of the Bible, says, "When somebody says worship to me, my mind immediately goes to the thing that we do at church on Sundays before the pastor gets up and gives the sermon. That's worship and indeed, that is worship. But as the Bible talks about worship, it's so much more than that. So the story is the story of the Bible, and it's taking you from Creation or Genesis all the way to Revelation."

Using the latest light detection and 3D laser technology, you can literally interact with the walls.

"Suddenly I'm a little kid again and I could go and create and paint on the walls at the beginning and at the end of this story," Hinton explained.

The Museum of the Bible teamed up with a group called CREATR to feature some of Christian music's biggest names for this project.

"So you think of people like Jackie Hill Perry, Tasha Cobbs, Brandon Lake, Kari Job, Cody Carnes, Phil Wickham, Brooke Ligertwood, Chris Tomlin. It is the who's who that have come together to create this organization called CREATR, lending their voices to this before you go into the experience, really setting up the experience so that your heart and your mind is prepared to talk about worship and what it is and who deems it worthy," Hinton said.

"A Heavenly Experience"

"All Creation Sings" is not so much an exhibit but an experience. It takes guests on a journey through four acts, immersing them in a worship adventure that can only be described as heavenly.

Mother and daughter, Laura and Madison DeMichael from Ohio were enthralled.

"To see the Word of God come alive in front of me and just to be a part of that cacophony of praise, like they said in the beginning, it is a continual praise that is echoing to our Lord and our Savior, beyond a shadow of a doubt, it was an experience by far," Laura told us.

Her daughter Madison said, "Oh, it was incredible, I've never seen anything like it, all the colors, all the sounds."

When asked if it felt like a little foretaste of heaven Laura said, "Oh absolutely, absolutely, to just be a part of it and have it surrounding you." Madison added "It makes me excited to see what heaven will be like, but not yet!" she said.

Sixth graders from our Lady of Victory School in Washington, D.C. appeared captivated by the experience.

Twelve-year-old Eleanor Rooney, thought the interactive part was really cool. "I've been to an interactive thing like that before, but not all around and with the screens and the projectors and everything, it was amazing," she said. 

Classmate Alex Vassallo, also 12, said, "I think it was amazing and it was kind of out of this world. My favorite part was probably the running around and touching the walls," he said.

Sixth grader Chat Dakat added, "It was so awesome. There were all the colors and all the lights and the sounds. It was one of the most amazing things I've been to so far in my life," she said. 

And 12-year-old Sofia Bohr added, "It was fantastic, actually. There were all these colors and the animation, and I just really loved it."  

For their teacher, Jenna Drummond, it helped bring to life the Old Testament stories she's been teaching her students. 

"It was really awesome to see it 360 all around different walls and then seeing all my students just in awe of everything, that just brought me a lot of joy. But also going back to what we've been talking about all year, I teach religion for sixth grade, which is Old Testament. So, the Creation story, how we continue that in our daily lives now, and how we continue to pay that forward," she said.

"Worship Is Our Purpose"

And for the Bible Museum, it's a way to focus guests on our original purpose as children of God.

Matthias Walther, Chief Marketing Officer at the Museum of the Bible, told us, "Worship is our purpose. That's what we're created for. So, God created us, and he created our universe. That's where it all starts. And I think to discover this, to see the greatness of our Creation, the greatness of God's design in our existence, it takes you to a humble, really reflective place. And I think that's always a good starting point to kind of find your space in the context of our existence of this world. And I think that's specifically attractive for people who don't have a faith background because it gives them a new North Star to understand, 'So, what on earth am I here for?'" Walther said.

The "All Creation Sings" exhibit will be at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C. for the foreseeable future.

***Please sign up for CBN Newsletters and download the CBN News app to ensure you keep receiving the latest news from a distinctly Christian perspective.***