Develop Your Artists' Gifts

Whatever you do as an arts leader, don't let people stagnate in their gifts. Art wasn't meant to be stagnant. Sure, great art endures, but great artists seldom paint the same piece twice. Great song writers strive for new melodies and lyrics. Great church leaders strive for fresh weekend services. The same applies to the artistic talent of church artists and technical volunteers. They need to keep improving, to learn to do something new.

Next time you're faced with the decision to build into the talents of those in your ranks or assume they come fully prepared, think twice before you proceed. People in the church need us to give them the tools to make a difference for Christ with their art. Most of them will show up with a basic toolbox, but we need to figure out which tools they need that aren't in their box. Then we need to craft a plan to offer them support and personal growth.

The dividends are obvious. People get filled up. Art becomes more transformational. Community grows as people learn together. Not your job? Really? Does your church come fully stocked with professional artists who are spiritually and artistically always at their peak? Didn't think so. Take the time to build into the people within your care. Not only will you retain your volunteers longer, but your services will simply be better. It's worth it to develop your artists' gifts.

Grow Your Artists Spiritually

What are you doing to help the artists in your worship arts ministry grow? What are you doing to actively disciple your artists? While it's easier to hope artists land themselves in a solid small group, read their Bibles regularly and develop a deep prayer life, the reality of being a worship leader or arts leader is that if you are the leader then you are responsible for the spiritual growth of your volunteers. God has entrusted men and women into your spiritual care, and you cannot hope someone else in the church is doing your job.

It's your job to reach out to those who serve on your teams and help them discover how God wants them to grow. Here are a few ideas to get you started:

1. Pray regularly before rehearsals and weekend services.


2. Spend 10-15 minutes in the Bible together before each rehearsal.


3. Meet monthly with your teams to promote community, unity and spiritual growth.


4. Invite individuals to meet with you or their team shepherd whenever you see a spiritual need.


5. Write a blog or newsletter that includes spiritual direction.


6. Read a book as a team that promotes godly values and incorporates Christian character growth.


7. Invite team members to worship together during weekend services.


8. Serve as a team outside the auditorium from time to time.


9. Help each individual team member discover their next step or spiritual growth area for the year.


10. Grow yourself as a leader and share your personal areas of growth with the team.
    

Helping artists grow spiritually doesn't mean you need to complete an hour of Bible study each time you meet. But it does require you to build a culture of growth within your ministry. What's one thing you can do today to help your artists grow? Start now!

Taking Care of Your Spiritual Health

How healthy are you...spiritually? Yikes. Depending on the criteria you use to judge a person's spiritual health, it's likely that most of us will come up lacking in one way or another. Employing the basic spiritual disciplines as criteria, you could assess your spiritual growth based on how often you go to church, read your Bible or pray. Using community based criteria, you could judge your growth based on whether or not you attend a small group, serve regularly in your church or volunteer in your community. And to some extent, these measures would be accurate.

But how does God look at it? What does He use to measure my spiritual health? I think it's less about my practices and more about my heart. I think God looks upon our hearts and minds, searching for those who wholeheartedly worship and adore Him. I think He cares that I'm growing into the best Sandy Johnson He made me to become - one who displays the heart and character of Christ more and more each day.

Uh, oh. I sense a tension point here. Though spiritual practices are never the measure of a heart solely devoted to Christ, the more I become like Him, the more I will want to participate in the life He has to offer. The more I desire to grow, the more I will realize that growth requires me to put myself into positions to be taught and stretched by God. Some of these are spiritual practices.

It's easy to forgo reading the Bible or praying. It's simple to stay home on Sunday mornings or skip serving. Personal stagnation requires little to no effort on our part. Taking care of yourself spiritually requires more. It means placing yourself in positions to become more like Christ. And it means every time you encounter more of His truth, you yield more of yourself to that truth.

If you're the leader of an arts ministry, consider how you can work toward spiritual health yourself. Then lead your teams there. Artists who minister on the platform and behind the scenes must be yielded to Christ. There is no other option, if we are to draw people to God.

Introducing Online Consulting Resources

The Synergy Box has just released a series of online consulting resources for the creative arts ministry in your church. Online consulting, how does that work? Each resource is designed to introduce you to a critical topic on arts leadership, identity, culture or creativity and includes an overview of the topic and a discussion guide to help you lead your team through an assessment of your ministry in this area. After you've finished your discussion, you can email your notes to The Synergy Box, and within seven to ten days, you'll receive personalized suggestions for your church arts ministry.

The Synergy Box also offers telephone consulting and on-site consulting services. Check out our website at http://www.thesynergybox.com/.

Visit our booth at the Catalyst Conference in Atlanta this week!