The pages of Church Production Magazine are filled with ideas, demonstrations and illustrations of installations of all types in houses of worship all over the country. If you’re like me, you read each issue of the magazine cover to cover and sometimes think, “That system would be nice in my church, but that will never happen.” Let me challenge you to take heart.

1. THE FIRST THING THAT YOU CAN DO IS PRAY. Now, it’s not my goal to turn this article into a sermon; nevertheless, prayer is an important part of anything church related. Take time to pray not only for the technical needs of the church, but also for the spirit of the people of the church. It’s amazing what a spirit of prayer can do for your attitude and perspective.

2. THE SECOND CONCEPT IS THAT OF APPROACH. Your approach to the situation of low budgets (or no budgets) should not be one of offense. In other words, approach the leaders of your church with a caring attitude, concerned with the people who attend the church and not just spouting off about how you still haven’t gotten that new wireless microphone. The core issue is beyond the fact that you don’t have the gear you need. The deeper issue is, or should be, that the people who come to church to worship every week will benefit from some piece of gear. Maybe you can eliminate a distraction by using a new video switcher or maybe the worship leader can be more effective with a new wireless headset microphone. The bottom line is the people. When the needs of the people drive the needs for the equipment, your case for “getting new stuff” takes on a whole new dimension and purpose.

3. THIS NEXT IDEA REQUIRES A MEASURED LEVEL OF TACT AND COURTESY.Persistence. Stay on it, and press the issue. With the proper approach, attitude, respect, perspective and continued prayer, continue to talk to the leaders of the church about the issues you are convinced are critical to the relevancy of the church in the area of technology. Don’t give up. Pray. Press on. Pray. Don’t give up. Did I mention ”pray?”

4. KNOW THE EQUIPMENT THAT YOU DO HAVE. Make it a point to know what every button and knob on every piece of gear does and how it affects the overall application of the system. For example, know what the attack and release knobs on the compressor do, and how that affects the overall sound. Know the difference between “mic level” and “line level.” Know how your lighting controllers communicate to the dimmers. Know the path of every cable you find. You’ll discover that the more you know about what you already have, the more effective your use of that equipment will be.

5. IN ADDITION TO KNOWING WHAT YOU ALREADY HAVE, KNOW EXACTLY WHERE YOU WANT TO GO. It’s not enough to say you need a new sound system, or you need a new projector. What aspect of the current sound system needs to be upgraded and what does it need to become to be effective in the church’s ministry? If you need to add more microphone lines from the stage to the mixer, how many do you need? Why is it so important? If you need to add theatrical lighting, what problems will it solve? Who will it benefit? Where will it be installed? What will it take to maintain it? Knowing the answers to these and other questions will go a long way toward preparing you to present a complete proposal that can address the concerns of others. Having a direction and plan will help to solidify ideas and keep them focused. You could also involve leaders of the church in defining a direction and plan for technology, sharing with them the responsibility for carrying out that plan.

6. THE SIXTH CONCEPT IS RESEARCH. Know what equipment is available. Research the dozens of audio mixers that are available that will fit your application. Find out more about a manufacturer with whom you’re not very familiar. Read all the documentation you can find and know the features and benefits of the various equipment models. There are many resources available, both in print and on the web. Take the time to find out what will best suit your church’s needs. There may be something out there with which you’re not very familiar, but which fits your particular needs better that you could have imagined.

7. FINALLY, DON’T SETTLE. Too often, churches are guilty of buying the least expensive item. Whether you’re looking at buying a new microphone, mixer, amplifier, projector or any other type of equipment, don’t settle for the least expensive because it is the least expensive. In some cases the least expensive may be exactly what you need, but that is usually not the case. Don’t sacrifice quality to save a few dollars. There is a lot of equipment available that is very inexpensive, but lacks important features or lacks quality. You’ll find a wide selection of equipment that is very good, easy to use, and is neither super expensive nor super cheap. And while we’re talking about not settling, I’d like to suggest that you, with the help of your pastor or other leadership, establish a policy for accepting equipment donations. I’ve seen many churches use equipment that was donated by an organization or individual that upgraded their outdated equipment. This holds especially true for computer donations. There are certainly things that come along that are useful and beneficial, however, in most cases, if it is outdated for someone else, it may well be outdated for you as well.

High-tech gear doesn’t equal excellence. Take what you have and do the best you can with it. Be prepared to expand and upgrade by knowing what you need and how it will benefit you. Be persistent and stay positive. Push for excellence in every aspect of your church’s ministries. You may be in a low- or no-budget situation, but you can still work toward excellence with what you do have. It may take time, but you’ll get there.

Benjamin Eggers

Leading worship is one of the most rewarding and frustrating experiences in a church service! On the one hand, there is little that can match the feeling that occurs when a congregation is united in worship, the worship team is in the groove and everyone is excited about the presence of God in the service. On the other hand, it is more than frustrating when you find yourself constantly bombarded with complaints that the music is too loud or soft, the worship team is acting like a pack of prima donnas and the entire first row of the congregation sits through worship with their arms crossed, steadfastly refusing to even mouth the words. See what I mean? Rewarding and frustrating.

Studies have shown that the worship leader is the second-most criticized person in the entire church. (The first is the pastor’s wife, but that is a story for a different day.) It is not an easy task to take a group of people that have been struggling all week long and lead them into the throne room of God. It is, however, possible and the tips below will help you to do just that.

1. Worship is interactive
Remember that this is not a performance. As a worship leader, your primary concern should be to allow your congregation the opportunity to draw close to God during the worship experience. Worship is not just about singing songs, it is a chance to meaningfully communicate with God as evidenced in the following verse from Psalm 100:4 “Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.” Worship is not a spectator sport, it is participatory. As a worship leader, helping your congregation and worship team want to participate is one of your primary goals.

2. Judge your success differently
One of the most difficult things to do as a worship leader is to judge whether you were successful or not. This problem is compounded by the fact that everyone has a different opinion about what worship is and whether you are a good worship leader. Your own pastor may differ from you in his measure of success. Add to this the fact that many artists are perfectionists and you may find yourself feeling like a failure when you don’t meet up with some ill-defined goal for worship, i.e. “People didn’t seem very into the music,” or “I forgot the words on one of the songs.” In measuring your success, you must remember this: People have free will. They can choose to worship or not – sometimes it has nothing to do with you. In order to measure success in worship leading, you have to take a longer view. You must ask yourself: “Are those under my care growing?” And when you have one of those Sundays when nothing seemed to go right, the only way to know that you were successful is if you can answer “yes” to the following two questions: 1. Did I give 100%? and 2. Did I do what God wanted me to?

3. Lead, don’t push
When it is one of those Sundays where the congregation seems like they are challenging the belief that you can’t sleep standing up, or your worship team comes in with faces that are more sour than a patch of lemon trees, the tendency in every good worship leader is to want to break them out of it. Unfortunately, many times our tactics of how to do that consist of pushing them harder in the direction that we think they should go. That can include cajoling, speeches on the importance of worship, lengthy prayers, and even yelling. That doesn’t usually work. Remember you are called a worship leader, not worship pusher. When Sundays like that happen, lead. Lead by your attitude, lead by your enthusiasm, lead by your energy. Like we talked about in the previous tip, people have a free will, you job is not to make people go in a certain direction, your job is to show them the way and allow them to follow.

4. Talk less
Worship was described to me as a walk from your everyday life with all of its pressures and stresses into the presence of God. That is why we many times start with faster songs and move to intimate worship. The idea is to allow the congregation to turn their eyes from themselves and their lives and focus their attention on God. In order for that to happen, the worshippers must participate. They will little by little, forget their surroundings and give glory to God. An overabundance of talking from the worship leader interrupts that process. It pulls the attention that the worshipper is paying to God and redirects it to the leader to find out what they are saying. If you are going to give direction, prayer or talk to the congregation, keep it short and to the point. Allow the worship to grow organically. Remember, your congregation needs to hear from God, not necessarily from you.

5. The 80% rule
I have talked with many worship leaders over the years that have expressed frustration at the lack of enthusiasm from their congregations when it comes to worship. Some of that may be because the congregation doesn’t know how to worship, some may be because of their beliefs about what worship is and some of it may be because of the worship leader. Many times the worship leader is the limiting factor of the worship at their church. I was at a worship conference and heard the 80% rule – it goes like this: the worship team will only worship to 80% of the leader’s worship example and the congregation will only worship to 80% of the worship team’s example. So, if you want your worship team and congregation to be more heartfelt with their expression, start worshipping.

These are a few tips for successful worship leaders. I hope that they encourage you in your calling and help you and your congregation fill the gap that was left when the morning star fell from heaven. Remember, over and above all: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.” (Rev. 4:8)

Benjamin Eggers has been a worship leader for over 12 years and led worship in many different types of churches. Find out more about him at beneggers.com.

Whether at a church, a small group Bible study, around a camp fire or at a citywide worship and prayer gathering like WorshipCityPraise, your preparation for leading worship is VERY important! Here are a few things that have helped my band and me strive to serve the Lord in this way.

As worship leaders (remember each band member is a worship leader, not just the lead singer), you need to remember that leading worship is NOT trying to get people to sing. It is leading by example in WORSHIPING GOD yourselves, SO THAT others will FOLLOW your LEAD! Instead of concentrating on worship leading, focus on being a lead worshiper. Instead of concentrating on plastic smiles and keeping your eyebrows up (hoping everyone will think you are happy and in love with Jesus), focus your thoughts and heart on Christ. Focus on two things – loving God and helping people love God – then others will follow your lead.

For starters, you and your band or worship team MUST worship the Lord together as a small group, alone, away from people and the stage in order to be able to lead worship effectively in front of others. This is not always easy. Put in a Leeland or Chris Tomlin CD (and play it loud) or have someone lead on guitar or piano and then have everyone in the band sing together, TO GOD…and not for show or for each other or for “practice” but for God!

Force yourselves to spend time doing this weekly. I believe it is equally and possibly more essential than our precious rehearsal time! In fact, I would recommend cuting your current weekly rehearsal time in thirds and spending one third in Bible study, singing, and prayer and the other two-thirds rehearsing, in that order. This way you will get the most out of your rehearsal. You might say, “There isn’t enough time for this.” But, trust me; you don’t have the time NOT to do this! Once you’ve all worshiped together, you will be amazed at how much quicker you learn the songs and how much better you work together.

During the rehearsal PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE – and then when you get on stage, “forget” it all! That’s a suggestion I got from worship leader Lindell Cooley. What this means is, be very prepared and able to play with excellence, but be equally prepared to do anything God would have you do once worship begins. The very idea of rehearsal is to make ourselves ready and able to do what is needed without constantly having to think too much about chords, lyrics, etc, so that we can be free to let go and really worship.

We need to be in great unity musically and spiritually so that we can go together where ever God leads. We must be practiced in order to do this. You might change thing up on the fly too. Maybe you’ll do a song you planned to do fast, much slower or the opposite. Maybe you’ll do a song that was not even on the set list – heaven forbid! Maybe you’ll do one song several different ways for 20 minutes! You may even find that you will write new songs while you are on the stage. The best worship comes out of the heart and is often SPONTANEOUS, especially from the leaders! Don’t be afraid of the unknown – just practice and TRUST God, and sing and play to Him from your heart. HE designed you to do this. Anything less can be false humility or insecurity and in that way offensive to God!

I recommend that each member worship God with his instrument AND his voice. One of the keys to worshiping God is getting truth in your spirit. Music has a way of doing that – singing especially. Even if some members don’t sing into microphones, EVERYONE should be singing some of the time. This helps each person worship God with all his heart, soul, mind, and strength. It also helps instrumentalists not think too hard about what to play so they will be better candidates for God’s Spirit to play through them!

Of course, we also need to strongly emphasize the need for our band members to worship with their instruments – letting God lead their fingers and hands in what to play as a powerful expression to him. The Hebrew word Zamar literally means to praise God with an instrument. That being the case, what does it sound like to play “God is AWESOME” on the drums? What does “We repent!” sound like on the guitar? We need to teach our band members to ask these questions. What they play with their instrument should “agree” with and communicate the same message of the particular song they are playing.

Everyone should study the Psalms intensely. I think it is a good idea to study them together as a team. We should get a feel for how David and the Levites worshiped the Lord. There are many times when they were very intense with dancing and shouting and times when they were still enough to know that God was God. Our worship leading should reflect this diversity! We can read Amos 9:11-12 and Acts 15:16-17 which shows us that God is restoring the Kingdom of David in our day – and for HIS purpose – SO THAT all men might find the Lord. Then study passages like 2 Chronicles 5-7 & 2, Psalm 40, Psalm 84, and Revelation 4-5.

David and Solomon are some of the greatest lead worshipers ever! First Chronicles talks about David bringing the ark (the presence of God) to the people, dancing all the way – there is lots of symbolism here. Second Chronicles talks about Solomon building the temple for God. The dedication of the temple in chapters 5, 6, and 7 is especially AWESOME! 1 Chronicles 25:6-8 (AMAZING) will blow the minds of your musicians and help them understand how they best fit into the body of Christ and how they need to be UNDER and submitted to their fathers and leaders in the church. These and many other passages help us see the importance of music and its power for worship according to the Bible.

We also need to start reading Song of Songs again. I know this book is a little strange, but it is actually God’s symbolic love letter to us. It shows us the kind of communion God desires for us to have with Him. King Solomon represents God, and we, God’s people, are represented as Solomon’s bride. The first verse calls this book the “Song OF Songs”, so this means it is the most important song Solomon ever wrote. I’d say this means it must be HUGELY significant to God for us! As you read it, you will start to develop a new vocabulary for praising God. Verse 5:1 says we should drink deeply of God’s love. When we begin to drink of His love on and off the stage, we will find God drawing people to Himself just like He says He will in John 12:32 That is what worship is ALL about!!

Written by Jeff Deyo. Used by permission. www.jeffdeyo.com

During one of my first productions as a director I had a member of the production team ask me (in an effort to understand more about the show) what the color palette was and why I had chosen to go that way. I quickly realized that I had overlooked what initially seemed to be a very small factor, but in truth was a very big piece of the show. I had failed to realize that I wasn’t utilizing perhaps one of the most effective tools in my bag of tricks. Color.

There are two main ways to utilize color in production. The first is symbolism; the use of color as a symbol throughout culture and religion. This is seemingly the most common and effective use of color in the arts (literary, performing, and visual); yet requires a great deal of finesse to successfully accomplish the desired result. Each color can be used to symbolize a wide variety of emotions or ideas. Below are a few examples of colors and what they symbolize.

• Gray: elegance, humility, reverence, wisdom, pollution, mourning, formality
• White: purity, peace, innocence, simplicity, sterility, coldness, surrender
• Black: power, evil death, fear, anger, remorse, rebellion
• Red: passion, energy, love, arrogance, ambition, masculinity, aggression
• Blue: peace, unity, tranquility, confidence, loyalty, depression, coldness, wisdom
• Green: spring, youth, vigor, generosity, envy, jealousy, hope, sincerity
• Yellow: happiness, intelligence, hope, hazards, dishonesty, weakness
• Purple: spirituality, creativity, royalty, wisdom, arrogance, exaggeration, bravery
• Orange: energy, heat, playfulness, aggression, danger, desire
• Brown: calm, depth, richness, tradition, filth, poverty, earth
• Pink: gratitude, admiration, sympothy, love, marriage

In Fallen/Forgive (a dance show produced by 6ft Studios) there was a section that depicted the creation, fall, and redemption of humanity which utilized symbolism throughout the costuming, props, and lighting. Ever color used; black, red, white, brown, and their various shades each had a symbolic meaning and purpose. For example, red was used in lighting Satan, the color of the apple, and in the costuming for the demons to represent evil. Different shades of brown were used in costuming to represent different nationalities in fallen humanity and were carried on into Jesus’ costume as he came to die and take on the sin of fallen humanity. Finally, white was used throughout in costuming and lighting to represent purity.

The second way to utilize color in production is through psychology; the effect of color on human behavior and feeling. I have found that this is a much easier way to utilize color; specifically with lighting, but also in costuming, set design, and make up. While the perception of color is somewhat subjective, there are some color effects that have universal meaning. For example, colors in the red area of the spectrum are known as warm colors and can evoke emotions ranging from warmth and comfort to anger, hostility, and excitement. In contrast to that, colors in the blue area of the spectrum are cool colors and can evoke feelings of sadness, calmnes, or relaxation. Below are a few colors and how they tend to affect brain function and perception.

• Red: evoke aggression and excitement as well as increase blood pressure and respiration
• Blue: evoke peace and relaxation
• Green: evoke a feeling of coziness and warmth
• Yellow: stimulates the mid and increases learning ability
• Brown: stimulates appetite
• Gray: evokes boredom and indifference

Psychology of color can be very effective in setting the mood for the show before it even begins. When I produce concerts, worship services, and dramas, et cetera I often want the audience to anticipate what is going ot happen and be excited for the start of the show. Due to this fact the pre-show lighting design will call for a warm color to help accent part of the stage or atmosphere. In most cases I have chosen red. However, there have been a couple of instances where I have chosen cooler colors (such as blues, purples, and greens) to keep the excitement to a minimum and creat a more intimate setting in order to move easily into the program, worship set, et cetera. Creating a low mood with colored lighting has also been very effective at creating a surprise when the show “starts with a bang.”

The strategic use of color in production can be a highly effective tool. Though it can take a lot of finesse and skill to effectively use color as symbolism or as a psychological stimulant – don’t be afraid to use it. Play, experiment, and have fun trying to find what works best for your production.

Have you ever walked out of a performance wondering, “How did they come up with THAT idea? I want to use that for my next show!” Do you stuggle with finding creative production concepts or find yourself not knowing where to start? Taking a show from script to stage and creating all the production concepts can be a long, difficult process. In fact, many don’t realize that creativity is just that; a process. So what does it look like? I like to divide it into five steps, GRAND: gather, reflect, adopt, nurture, and debut.

Gather
The first step in the process is to gether inspiration and research. There are many ways to gather inspiration as you’re working on a project; personal experience, environment, observations, books/magazines, and other productions. Inspiration can be in the form of magazine clippings, pictures and videos online, production ideas from a message board forum, from observations of people and everyday life that surrounds us; the possibilities are endless. Gathering inspiration can happen at any time or place. Due to this fact it is helpufl to carry a small note pad and pencil or a way to capture and keep ispirational ideas for future reference. This is also the time to compile research for the project such as pictures of clothing trends or facts about world events for period pieces. Most people tend to skip past the gather stage and move immediately to brainstorming. Gathering is a very important step as it will allow you to htink more freely and get your mind ready for brainstorming new concepts and ideas. Each step builds upon the nex.

Reflect
The second step is to reflect; this incorporates analyzing research, brainstorming, and collaborating with others. During brainstorming there are a few guidelines to keep in mind:

1. Postpone and withhold judgement
2. Wild and exaggerated ideas are ok
3. Quantity not quality
4. Use both sides of your brain
5. Watch the clock
6. Reading
7. Exercising

Brainstorming is designed to let yoru mind run wild and come up with crazy ideas. The most important part here is to make sure you write down EVERYTHING your mind thinks of during this time – even if it doesn’t seem related or seems too far-fetched. The goal of brainstorming is to end up with a wealth of ideas; quantity, not quality. It is important to operate without a filter at this point in the process. If this step is executed well – it can help propel you past trite ideas to “WOW” ideas.

After brainstorming – take a break! Allow all those ideas to sit on the paper, white board, or where ever and ripen for a while. Once you come back you will start to see connections an begin the next step.

Adopt
The third step is to adopt – select and develop the best ideas, as well as invent and innovate. The initial part of this process starts with sorting through all the ideas from the “reflect” stage; cutting, combining, and finally choosing the ideas that will work and are going to be used. Once they’re chosen; it is time to develop the ideas further. This is where the rubber starts to meet the road – taking idea sketches and descriptions to concept drawings, fabric swatches, pain samples, models, and starting the final product. This is also the time to invent or innovate technologies or techniques to accomplish complex production concepts. Often there are already technologies and techniques in place to accomplish a desired effect; the main concern is adapting them to work in your performance space. When all the ideas are in place and being developed – it is time to move on to the fourth step.

Nurture
The fourth step is to nurture. This is where you make some hard decisions – you may be a week or just a day away from production and it’s time to figure out what’s working, what’s not, what can be adjusted, fixed, or what has to be cut. Can the dance lift be perfected in time or would it be better to use a different combination of moves? Will we have time to build that highly complex set piece or should we settle for a basic variation? This is where everything gets polished and ready for the show.

Debut
The fifth and final step is to debut!

This creative process, GRAND is a great tool for taking your show from script to stage. While some creatives already go through this type of process; it helps to have it laid out so that every vital step is accomplished to make the show a success. When you use this process for you production, people will be saying: “WOW! How did they come up with that?!?”.

Costuming is a great way to accent choreography and can really add that final touch to make a piece memorable. Whether it be bright, bold colors with bling and a flipped hat for a hip-hop routine or beautiful, flowing sleeves that add elegance to a ballet number; the possibilities are endless. When deciding on costumes (as well as rehearsal dress code) there are a few basic items and guidelines to consider…

Leotards
Leotards act as both a rehearsal and performance garment. While professional dance companies and studios will often utilize a leotard for both rehearsal clothing and costumes; in the church they act primarily as a foundation garment in order to maintain modesty. Leotards are available in many colors including pink, nude, white, and black. The design and color of a costume will determine the color and style of the leotard and vice-versa. In addition to maintaining modesty on stage; leotards underneath outfits also allow multiple dancers to change costumes in a common area off stage. 6ft Studios requires all female dancers to wear a black leotard for all rehearsals and performances. Different colors may be utilized as needed depending on costume designs with the exception of nude (due to its design to appear as the dancer’s flesh). Most of the time male dancers are not required to wear a leotard, but rather a black undershirt that can be tucked in.

Shoes
There are many different styles, designs, and colors of shoes available for different dance applications. Hip-hop dancers will use tennis shoes or split sole dance sneakers. Jazz and lyrical dancers may use split sole jazz shoes. Ballet dancers may use split sole jazz shoes or ballet slippers. Your choice will depend on dance style and preference. 6ft Studios requires all dancers to wear plain, black split sole dance sneakers for performance. Tennis shoes are permitted for hip-hop rehearsals and jazz shoes, ballet slippers, or bare feet will be utilized for performance depending on style and choreography.

Hair, Jewelry, and Make-up
These areas should also be considered when designing or choosing costumes. In most cases there are no hard and fast rules or standards and will vary with personal preference and design. The basic guidelines for 6ft Studios are as follows: Hair – 70% pulled back, 30% down for females and styled hair with trimmed or clean shaven facial hair for males. Jewelry – kept to a minimum for both males and females for safety and to reduce any glare from lighting. Males are not allowed to have ear rings and neither males or females are allowed to have other facial or body piercing. Make up – all females are required to wear basic performance make up for performances and males may be required to do so as well depending on lighting. Both males and females are also required to cover any visible tattoos with make-up. (Note: This standard is held because we work with a variety of churches that have differing view about piercing and tattoos.)

There are three basic guidelines we follow when purchasing or designing costumes; functionality, modesty, and safety.

• Functionality: It is important that costumes allow for ease of movement. There are no hard and fast rules here about certain kind of fabrics, cuts, or styles to avoid – it all depends on the choreography. For example: jeans may be fine for a hip-hop routine, but when trying to do leaps or high kicks during a ballet number they may limit the range of motion.
• Modesty: As dance becomes increasingly popular in the church along comes the issue of modesty – both in dance style and moves as well as costuming. It is usually best to refrain from using very low cut and tight tops, tight pants, as well as dresses with high slits. Leotards and tights or leggings can be your best friend here; their implementation will often allow the use of a garment that would be immodest other wise. Each church and audience member is going to have their own standards for modesty and it is important to know those expectations. Unfortunately, we can’t always please everyone and every so often there will be someone who thinks the costuming was a bit too racy. When in doubt, don’t. Or…ask your pastor or church leader to attend a rehearsal to double check that costumes are modest and meet expectations.
• Safety: The performer’s safety should also be of high concern when considering costumes. Always be sure that costumes are hemmed to the correct length to prevent tripping and avoid the embarrassment that accompanies costumes being torn on stage. Also, whenever possible try to use either fire retardant (FR) or inherently fire retardant (IFR) material; both are effective, but IFR material offers more protection. While fire retardant material may seem like over kill; using lighting, candles, or other special effects in close proximity to performance area can pose a fire hazard.

It is important to remember that not everyone will look good in the same outfit and it is a good idea to check outfits a few weeks in advance. A dress rehearsal is key to this step. It will allow you to see, make note, and prevent any problems with costumes (as well as choreography). If you are in need of costumes or other dance wear such as leotards and dance shoes you can visit www.discountdance.com. They provide name-brand costumes, shoes, dance wear, and accessories at a reasonable price.

Stuck. Everyone has been there; writing a paper, designing a set for the church easter production, planning VBS and all of a sudden all the ideas….gone! Nothing is more frustrating that needing to get a project finished and not being able to take a single step forward. Perhaps, you are “not the creative type”, but as a pastor or youth leader at a small church you are required to be.

The truth is…everyone can be creative and have great ideas; not just the creative types. In fact, going back to the opening chapter of the Bible we see the first verb is created (Gen. 1:1 “In the beginning, God created…”). This shows us one of the many characteristics of God: creative. Later on in Genesis we read that we were created in His image and therefore we were created to be creative. So, if we are all able to be creative then how can we stimulate the creativity?

Know Your Idea-Friendly Times
The first key to simulating creativity is knowing your idea friendly times. These are times when ideas come more easily because your brain is able to wander unbridled. Once you are aware of these times you can adjust your schedule to accommodate them; in an effort to avoid creative block. For example; if you get ideas when you exercise then schedule to work on a big project before and after lunch so that you can brainstorm while you go to the gym during lunch. In case you are interested the number one, least creative time was at a desk!

Chic Thompson (author of “What a Great Idea!” and “Yes, But…”) did a survey of 2,500 executives about their idea-friendly times. The top ten were:

1. Taking a bath or a shower
2. Driving
3. Sitting on the toilet
4. Falling asleep or waking up
5. During a boring meeting
6. Reading
7. Exercising
8. Waking up in the middle of the night
9. Listening to a church sermon
10. Cutting the grass

Capture Your Ideas
Ideas come at almost anytime and any place. Once you know your personal idea-friendly times you can be prepared to capture those ideas. Unfortunately, many times an idea will pop up, but instead of recording it – we will wait until we get to the office or to our computer and by that time it will be forgotten. Also, don’t filter the ideas before you record them – record every idea. The possibilities for recording your ideas are endless. Taking a bath or shower? Buy some soap chalk. Driving? Perhaps an audio recorder (writing & driving can be dangerous)! How about listening to the church sermon? Isn’t that what the weekly bulletin is for? Whatever the case – just be prepared to capture those ideas!

Creative Devices
Those people that are labeled “creative types” understand there are tricks that help them to be creative and stimulate their creativity.

Changing Environments: Your environment will influence creativity. This is why you will often find writers at Starbucks (besides the great coffee!). It is good to get out of the office; out of a structured environment and into a comfortable, relaxing environment. Also, many creatives will create a room that stimulates their senses and creativity. Often times this room will include varied lighting and bold colors.

Play: Everyone still has a little kid inside of them! Try keeping some toys in your office; perhaps a few Legos, a Jacob’s Ladder, some Playdogh or Silly Putty. When your hands are handling something tactile it allows your mind to relax and wander.

Change Habits: The number one killer of creativity is unchanging structure. Try changing your daily routine in some way. Take a different way to work in the morning. Eat breakfast before you take a shower and get ready for the day. Play with the kids when you get home and then watch the news.

Let It Sit: Have you ever had a project that you just couldn’t make any headway on because the deadline was looming and you were pushing too hard? Try letting it sit. Many times we get ourselves stuck by pushing too hard. Once you have created a draft, created a preliminary idea – put it aside for a week or longer. Once you pull it back out you can look at it with a different perspective and often times with a swell of additional ideas.

Creativity isn’t something that is limited to artists and can be stimulated by utilizing these few practices and devices. It can take a while to learn how to unlock your creativity, but keep working toward it. Creativity doesn’t always just flow out – even for creatives; it must be stimulated.

You are a pastor. You have a growing church. You want to expand your arts ministry, maybe add a worship team or a drama team, but then it seems like everything falls apart. Your worship leader wants the entire service to revolve around the singing and your drama leader can’t seem to show up on time for anything and has a bad attitude when you talk to him about it. What do you do? Do you give up the arts altogether and wash your hands of the whole affair? Do you let your arts leaders just do whatever they want and stay out of the way? Do you “beat” your leaders into submission and make them do what you want? It seems like there is no easy solution. Fear not, there are some good ways to deal with creative people.

The first thing that you need to understand in dealing with creatives is that they are wired a little different than your average, say, accountant. All of the things that make them great artists are the same things that can be their achilles heel in dealing with life. As they say: “Your greatest strength is your greatest weakness.” Artists may view situations much differently than you and struggle with sins that are not even an issue with you. “The Heart of the Artist” by Rory Noland does a wonderful job of explaining the differences. You can order it here. Selfishness, pride, perfectionism, defensiveness, jealousy, envy, emotional imbalance and lack of discipline are some of the sins that artists are prone to. But the other side of that is that because of the personality trait that can lead to emotional imbalance, artists feel things deeply and can convey a very moving emotion to an audience. In other words; some of these weaknesses are what make them great artists. So, how do you deal with all of this? These three steps will give you a start.

Encourage and Affirm
Artists need encouragement and affirmation. Every time they get up in front of a crowd, it is like they are laying themselves bare and presenting themselves for approval. Many times and artist’s art is an extension of themselves, so when they hear negative feedback, they may become very depressed and hurt. Add to this the fact that many artists are perfectionists and it makes for a group of people that have a hard time feeling good about themselves.

Please understand, I am not talking about lying and telling someone that they did a good job when they clearly didn’t – an artist will see right through that. I am saying that it is important that you find something about their performance that you can affirm, even when they have royally messed up. For example: If a worship leader starts a song in one key and starts to sing in another and the worship team is never able to get back on track, don’t say “Wow, that was really good!” It would be much better to say something like: “I noticed you really struggled on that one song, but I was impressed that you stuck it out and got it back on the next one! Good job on that.”

Just make sure when you are giving correction or pointing out mistakes that you affirm who they are as a person. For example: “I don’t feel like this drama you wrote really hit home with the people, but I appreciate the time and energy that you put into it. You are really talented.” You don’t have to pound the message home – remember, most artists are perfectionists, so they are probably beating themselves up for their mistakes already.

Clear Boundaries
Set up artists for success from the beginning and you will save yourself heartache down the line. Before you give someone responsibility for a ministry like a worship team, video ministry, drama or dance team or even sound team, write up the parameters of the position. These should include the vision, the tangible goals and the line of authority of the position. If you feel it is appropriate, you can work through these things with the artist and come up with them together. DO NOT hand over the responsibility of leadership without this in place – it will get messy 99% of the time.

It is very important that you schedule a periodic meeting with the artist to go over progress, problems and spiritual matters. Your vision and goals sheet may look something like this:
ABC Church Drama Team
Vision: To illustrate the pastor’s messages with applicable, modern skits and
drama’s with the purpose of engaging the audience.
Goals:
1. Perform sermon illustration skits twice a month.
2. Produce and perform a Christmas and Easter Performance.
3. Form a team of dedicated actors and support staff.
4. Leader of the ministry will meet with the pastor once a week to discuss plans,
upcoming sermons and spiritual mentorship.
Whatever form these boundaries take, it is important that there are clear boundaries so that the artist and the leader (pastor) are on the same page.

Mentorship
Artists can tend to be solitary people when it comes to their art. This may be because they feel threatened by other artists or for any number of other reasons. But God made us to live in community, so I strongly suggest that the artist be part of a mentorship program. This may consist of a weekly meeting with the pastor or leader of the arts ministry, but the sole purpose of the meeting should be the artist’s spiritual growth. “The Heart of the Artist” (mentioned above) is a great resource to help an artist to grow spiritually. Sometimes artists can get so caught up in practicing and growing in their art that they tend to fall down spiritually. This will help to counteract that.

Artists can be a great blessing to a church and hopefully these three steps will start you down the right road of using our talents to worship a supremely creative God. If you have any questions about this article, or specific situations with your art ministry, email Ben atben@6ftstudios.com.

You want your church to grow creatively or you would like to see your worship team start writing their own music, or maybe you are starting a skit writing team or you want to have a different Christmas production from every other mind-numbingly dull year, but you are at a loss as to how to begin. One of the most important steps in allowing your Creative Team to grow is to stimulate creativity. How do you do that, you ask. Well, it’s very easy (and very difficult).

There are three steps to stimulate creativity. They can be employed whether you are creative or not. It is important that if you are wired more administratively, you understand that creative people are wired a bit different from you, so there are some steps in this process and some needs that they might have that you will not understand. That’s o.k. It is not important for them to be exactly like you, nor you to be exactly like them to have a thriving Creative Team. The only absolute prerequisite is that you both understand and celebrate each others strengths and find a way to work together. Now, on to the steps…

1. Create a Grace-driven Atmosphere. The arts grow best in grace. As artists grow, they will make mistakes. The arts: music, writing, drama, video, dance and others are not absolutes and they are as much about passion as about technical perfection. If you strive too hard for the latter, you will kill the former. I am not saying that you shouldn’t expect excellence, but you must understand that mistakes happen – even to accomplished artists.

Create an atmosphere that invites mistakes (in a controlled environment), and can use it as a learning experience. Let me explain what I mean: it might not be the best idea to have a new, green, worship leader lead for the first time in front of your 1000 person Sunday morning crowd when you haven’t heard them before. It would probably work better for them to lead worship in a small group setting, or a Sunday night setting where you can encourage them in spite of the mistakes. Then they may be ready for the Sunday morning crowd without letting the pressure get to them. Think through ways that you can offer safe experiences for your artists to learn and fail. However you go about it, creating a grace-driven atmosphere will provide the right environment for creativity to grow.

2. Direct Your Artist’s Growth. One of the big mistakes that churches make, especially when they are starting out a new arts ministry (like a Drama writing team), is that they start the ministry and just let it grow without controls. When this happens, oftentimes it is hard on the church, the pastor and the artists. It is very important that your team understands and supports your vision and that they are under authority.

If at all possible, bring the leader of a new ministry under a mentor. If you are not a creative, you may want to talk to an arts leader you respect from another church, or have your arts leader work under 6ft Studios mentorship program, but a mentor is very important. The mentor’s task is to help your leader to have and implement a vision for their team, to help them to handle any problems that arise, and to set in motion a plan and goals for the team. This mentorship should last about 6 months to a year with regular meetings.

It is also important that your ministry leader have regular meetings with you. During these meetings, you can plan for future projects, discuss vision and strategy, problem solve and talk about your leader’s spiritual growth. This also has the added bonus of allowing you to closely observe your artist’s growth. These meetings should continue to occur, even after your ministry leader is out of the mentorship phase.

Clear vision, guidelines and good communication will create a safe environment for your arts teams to grow creatively.

3. Make Room for the Products of Creativity. You need to make room for your artist’s gifts. Example: don’t start a drama team with no intention of having regular dramas. As a leader, it is your job to create a place for these creative talents to be used, whether it is a monthly night of worship, small groups, a dance concert, sermon illustration dramas, or a multitude of other uses. It is important that you create enough opportunities that your artists feel like they are needed, but not so many that they feel overworked. If you need some ideas for how to utilize specific talents, you can ask your ministry leaders, or email 6ft Studios.

God is a God of creativity and these three steps should help as you foster creativity in your Creative Team. Create with abandon.