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!

Artistic Style in the Church

Should churches be traditional, blended, contemporary or edgy in artistic style? What do you think? When you walk into a church should it feel tried and true or should it surprise and even shock you? Yikes! Even trying to answer this question is kinda like walking up to a ticking bomb and trying to diffuse it with only ten seconds left on the clock (not that I've ever actually been in that situation to know what it really feels like). I'm guessing most of us would be inclined to run should we ever encounter a ticking bomb...and we likely feel the same way about a discussion on artistic style in the church.

While artistic style in the church can become a very complicated and even volatile issue in the church, I'd like to simplify it a bit with the following observations:

1. Art is subjective.

While one person will enjoy traditional worship, another will enjoy rock and roll. One is not better than another. Each one, however, will reach different people.

2. The artistic culture you create will attract some people but not others.

People may attend your church for the teaching or the community, but many picked your church because the style of the church suits their preferences. They probably picked your church because the art and the culture makes it feel like home to them. Others didn't like your music or culture and went elsewhere.

3. You need to choose your artistic style intentionally.

Because art is subjective and because people will tend to come based on the feel of your church, you must choose your artistic style carefully. Trying to be all things to all people dilutes your effectiveness. People have tons of choices when it comes to church (with the exception of smaller rural communities). Choose the style God had called you to and execute it with confidence. Your reach will be more effective when you focus on a target. It's still true that if you aim at nothing, you'll hit it every time.

My real point: Get clear on your church's artistic style. You'll do more for God's kingdom by addressing the issue head on than by only talking about it when the music of the day doesn't suit someone's personal preferences.

Relevance in the Church

Our churches must be relevant. Think about it. Do we really want the opposite to be true? Do we want our churches to be known as irrelevant? Certainly not! But when we say we want to create relevant worship services, what exactly do we mean? Are we just trying to be cool or hip? If we define the word relevant as the Encarta Dictionary does, “having some sensible or logical connection with something else such as a matter being discussed or investigated,” our churches simply must be relevant. Either we step up in this area, or people will label us irrelevant and tune us out completely.
To create relevant worship services, we must consider three types of relevance and how to create next steps:

1. Become spiritually relevant.
People come to church to meet with and understand God. Most likely, they didn’t walk into church to sit in a coffee shop, walk through a bookstore or attend a concert. When we plan and execute our worship services, we must be intentional about helping people experience and respond to God. His truths, found in scripture, are timeless and relevant. Let’s make a commitment in our churches to preach truth well and to help people open their Bibles and dig into scripture that moves their heart toward God.

2. Become relevant to daily life.
When someone sits through our services, do they feel we meet them where they’re at? No matter why people come to our churches, they are seeking an experience related to their daily life. If you live in a metropolitan area, seek to understand the concerns of those who live downtown. If you have a ton of parents, talk frequently about the joys and struggles of raising kids. If you’re a church with a high percentage of college students, talk about how they can make a difference with their one and only life. Most of our churches are filled with a mix of people, but if we’re intentional about speaking into the lives of our congregation, we will become relevant to their lives.

3. Become culturally relevant.
For many people, culturally relevance in the church is a sticking point. But the world will either see our churches as a source of truth or they will relegate us to the list of those out of touch with society. Becoming culturally relevant means we seek to include references to or aspects of our local, regional, national and global culture. If our area is being flooded, we need to speak to it. If our region is having an important holiday, we can use elements of it in the service. If our nation is currently attracted to a certain type of music, let’s consider using it. And if our world is worried about global warming, let’s figure out how we can take these concerns seriously. Cultural relevance does have a place in the church.

4. Provide next steps.

Whether it’s spiritual, life or cultural relevance, perhaps the best way for our churches to be relevant is to help people engage in worship and apply what we’re teaching about God in our services to their daily lives… Challenge those who attend your services to life-change. Give people a worthwhile assignment. Help them think differently about their Monday-thru-Saturday-life. Move their hearts to recognize their Creator. When we do this relevance goes beyond a point of connection and becomes a catalyst to point people to God.

What's Your Ministry DNA?

Churches have a certain feel to them. Walk into one church and it's friendly and laid back. Visit another and it's more formal and liturgical. Every church feels different. That's what I'd call church DNA. It's the visible and invisible culture of a church or ministry.

Ever think about how your church "feels" to the people to attend? To visitors? My guess is that the first time you entered your building or attended a church service, you thought a ton about it. You wondered if it felt right to you. You carefully critiqued the atmosphere, the people and the services. You wanted to know if you could feel at home at the church. You explored its DNA.

We either resonate with the DNA of a church or ministry or we don't. So, what if you're the leader and you don't like some of the things you discover about your DNA? Well, it can be changed, but be prepared for an intentional and lengthy change process, because DNA shifts require time, patience and visionary leadership.

For the most part, DNA is discovered, not decided. Ultimately changes over a long period of time can alter the DNA of your church or ministry, but for the most part, your church DNA is set. If you've always been known as the most friendly church in town, it's unlikely that you'll suddenly become unfriendly. If you've always valued solid Bible teaching, you're not going to give that up. But once you discover and understand your DNA, you can work with it...not against it.

Why not throw your energy behind your reputation as a "compassionate, friendly, authentic, forward-thinking church?" Or whatever positives your church is known for. It makes sense to build on those attributes of your church God is already using to move people toward Christ.

Artistic Ministry Values

How many times have creative people differed on the development of a creative service element? That's like asking how many ants are on my driveway at this moment? Too many to count! Artistic people drive creativity through their unique and distinctive thought processes. No two creative people see the same piece of art the same exact way! That's the beauty and the practical difficulty of working within a team of artists.

While we cannot and should not force all creative people to think the same way, we can help them communicate and work together better by creating a set of shared values. If we want creative people to behave in a certain way, we've got to make our expectations known. If your church values excellence, let your artists know. If you value authenticity, make that known. If you're into including everyone who wants to help, make sure everyone is on board with that vision. Do what it takes (typically a brainstorming meeting with your team) to list out your team's core values. Then figure out what it will require to ensure everyone who participates in your ministry knows and understands these values.

When your leaders and volunteers value the same things, powerful ministry can occur. But when you're all behaving out of a different value system, watch out. Trouble is right around the corner.

Vision

One of my very favorite topics is vision. I love visioneering: the act of envisioning a picture of your preferred future and catalyzing yourself, your team or your church toward it. My pulse increases when I talk vision with other leaders. My spirit lifts. My passion increases. I'm fanatical about vision.

So what is it that gets me all worked up about creating a picture of a preferred future? It's results. Leading a team of people toward a specific goals and watching them take joy in the journey is compelling. You get results when people pool their skills, gifts and energy toward a common future. Contrast that with managing people stuck in the nitty-gritty of a day to day tedium that moves people no where. No results. At least none that probably really matter.

My challenge for you today is to consider whether you have a picture of a preferred future for your ministry or your church. Or one for yourself personally. Where do you want to be in one year, five years, ten years. While the Holy Spirit must lead and guide and direct our steps, it's our job to plan. We plan, He guides. We step, He leads. Vision is not what we might do, not what we're thinking about doing...it's what we MUST do.

Craft a compelling vision today you will achieve results.

Arts Identity & Mission Statements

Do you have a target for your arts ministry? Sometimes we think of mission statements as that crusty old saying that people in the church can't remember and don't implement. If this is the case, then no wonder we would steer clear of creating one for our arts ministry. But if you understand your mission statement as a target that aligns decision making, perhaps you'll get on board with taking the time to develop a mission that serves your ministry.

A mission statement answers for you and everyone involved with your ministry these basic questions:

• What?
• How?
• Why?

It tells you where to focus and acts as a decision making matrix for your ministry.

Check out this arts ministry mission statement from one of the teams I worked with:

• Our arts ministry mission is to become God-inspired servants facilitating heart transformation.

What do you read in this statement? Hopefully you see we were about developing ourselves creatively (God-inspired), spiritually (becoming servants) and transformationally (facilitating heart transformation). Our focus was on creating a healthy team of people who were being transformed so they could bring transformation to others. This statement guided our decisions, helping us set targets for creativity, spiritual growth and task-related teamwork and transformation. And as we embodied the mission, we grew together in unity and toward increasing levels of impact.

Do you have an arts ministry mission statement? Are you using it to guide and direct your ministry decision?