Tag Archive - church

What Makes Artists Succeed…

August 12, 2010 in being christian, creativity, leadership with 0 Comments

Arguably, the most famous work of an artist in church: Michaelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling...

I’m primarily concerned with what makes artists succeed in the the context of church and christian life… Some of us make it work: finding ways to use our gifts… Others struggle and never really find their niche…

What I’ve observed as I work with artists in this context has been pretty interesting… I’m not attempting an exhaustive list, so feel free to add your thoughts in the comments…

The first quality that leads to success is a willingness to be “commissioned.” I am working right now with an artist on some preliminary set and graphics work for a production of Godspell. It’s especially fun for me to cast vision and then let an artist go off to create… but as a leader in church, I recognize that sometimes that creativity needs a bit of direction.

A successful artist will take direction (even from a square)… This is not just the key to success for artists in the church, but it is the key for many areas of commercial art and graphic design.

This leads me to the second quality: humility.

And, wow, do I struggle with this one…

In fact, humility is the underlying foundation for the entire christian existence… It keeps us loving, prevents us from judging and makes it possible for us to collaborate.

I can trace almost every conflict that I’ve had working on artistic projects in church to my own pride.

I hesitate to say that I’m getting better, but I am working on it… This verse helps:

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.
-The Bible, Philippians 2:3

The last thing that I want to mention is this: using your gifts should give you pleasure… it should be fun. Many of us grew up in church cultures that looked down upon people who took pleasure from their service, but that’s so backwards.

Your gifts come from God… He created you to be most alive when you paint or dance or sing or do whatever it is that you do… It’s ok to enjoy serving…

Anybody want to add anything? What makes artists succeed? or fail?

Artists in Church…

August 9, 2010 in being christian, creativity with 1 Comment

I’ve been exchanging emails with some upcoming FeaturedArtists… I’m finding a trend that is not surprising, but still somewhat disturbing to me:

The likelihood of a non-musical artist being activated in church is less than 20%…

This is largely a function of our worship forms… whether you’re in a progressive church or a full-gospel church, the primary form of christian worship is music. Outside of that, there are churches with theatrical programs or drama teams, but the kind of sketch drama that is predominate tends to repel actual theatrical artists in favor of a willing laity without any actual artistic training.

Not to dismiss the impact that willing laity can have, but my primary concern is the dramatic actor that is shunted into the role of a Sunday School teacher…

I recently became aware of a tremendous talent in our church that was completely overlooked… We’ll call him Gene…

Gene was pigeon-holed into an available slot in the youth ministry of our church… which, by the way, he was only marginally effective in… He finally gave up and went away. A few weeks ago, I saw Gene in a principal role in a local community theatre production. He was amazing. He has great comic timing, an excellent voice and such presence that he literally stole every scene…

As a pastor-type, I firmly believe that God has purpose in bringing individuals into a church. There is nothing accidental about the “living stones” that make up each church… call it “providence” or call it “serendipity” if you like, but don’t ignore it…

Explore it.

As church leaders, we need to explore ways of activating the artists in our churches or risk losing them… either to sheer boredom or to a church that will activate them.

As artists, we need to be offering our creativity to the leaders in our church. And when I say “we need,” I’m not stating a moral imperative… I am suggesting that it fulfills a need in our hearts to use our gifts.

No one lights a lamp and puts it under a bowl.
-Jesus, The Bible (Mark 4:21)

The most universal desire of artists in church is the desire to contribute artistically…

Can we make that happen? What are your thoughts?

LeadershipIssues: Collaborate or Die…

July 30, 2010 in creativity, leadership with 0 Comments

I’ve been looking at the array of media that churches are putting together these days… Some of it is really impressive.  For example: Church on the Move in Tulsa has the beginnings of a really top notch media ministry.  You can watch some of the highlights on their YouTube channel.  I’ve probably watched their Father’s Day tribute, Dad Life, fifty times.  It’s that funny and well-done and it inspires me to do something:

Collaborate.

The truth is that all of us experience limits in our skill-set… I actually have lots of limitations in mine… I often need to surround myself with a team of experts in order to realize the considerable potential of my vision.

Dad Life is a prime example of a collaboration that could not have possibly been accomplished by a individual’s effort.  In the one 2:50 video, we see the combined talents of songwriters, comics, actors, editors, audio technicians and videographers… The quality at every level of production demonstrated the expertise of a team.

It is a symphony of gifts… and no one can whistle a symphony…

To reach this level of excellence in artistic expression, we need teams… and those teams need to be composed of people who respect, trust and rely on one another.

How can we cultivate these teams?  What are the challenges inherent in building teams of creatives?  What have you been able to accomplish through team effort?

I’d love to hear your thoughts…

Dad Life…

July 13, 2010 in film with 1 Comment

A friend forwarded this to me last week… I’m sure that about 100 of the nearly 900,000 views on YouTube are mine…

FlickrFriday: Father Damien’s Church…

May 21, 2010 in photography with 0 Comments

This photo by Ben D, one of our Flickr group members, shows a church on the island of Molokai, HI… Father Damien established a mission to serve lepers on the island and eventually contracted the disease…

To see more of Ben’s work, click here to visit his Flickr photostream.  To view or join our group on Flickr, click here.
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