5 Signs Your Arts Ministry is Struggling

It's not easy to keep an arts ministry afloat in the church. Whether we struggle with artistic identity, arts community, creativity, artistic process, or all of the above, we all know church arts ministry can be hard. Here are 5 signs your arts ministry may be heading for trouble:

1. The pastor and the arts leader often struggle to communicate with each other.


2. Volunteers are making excuses about why they cannot serve more often, and the arts leader is often reduced to begging to fill volunteer positions.


3. The congregation is involved in "worship wars" and have divided into traditional and contemporary camps.


4. The creative team has great ideas, but they seldom make it off the whiteboard.


5. The technical teams and the music teams are barely speaking to each other.

Perhaps these signs seem extreme, but unfortunately it's easy for one or all of these problems to arise in a church arts ministry. So, if you find yourself in one of these spots, what is the next step?

While it's not appropriate to oversimplify the solution to such problems, sometimes the first step in solving a problem is to identify it. Once you can acknowledge the fact that you really are having communication problems in your leadership or "worship wars" in your pews, you can start to deal with it.

Today, I challenge you to prayfully consider areas where your ministry is struggling. Admit to God where you need help and ask Him to provide solutions. Seek help from those in your network who seem to be one step ahead of you. Look for advice from leaders you trust. Move your ministry from struggling to stepping (forward that is).