“I don’t have a creative bone in my body.”
Have you ever heard someone say this? It’s a common saying, but I don’t buy it. Not only is it untrue; it involves a denial of the image of God in us.
Artistic ability is a talent, but creativity is a trait shared by all humans. Creativity is a capacity that (much like a muscle) can atrophy or strengthen over time. I believe that in order for us to experience the fullness of our humanity and be best equipped for ministry in the church and mission in the world, churches need to learn how to foster creativity.
If we do, we will better be able to engage culture, breathe life into the world, and fulfill our callings as we work toward the reconciliation of all things.
Here are seven ways to foster creativity in your church:
1. Prioritize creativity. Like any aspect of church culture, if creativity is not embraced at the top levels of leadership, it will never make it into the life of the congregation. I remember when I traveled around pitching Antioch as a church plant. I made sure people knew we would value the arts and creativity—even before we ever began meeting! A commitment to creativity must be reflected in your identity documents, teaching, and in ways you present things visually. This last one is crucial. No one will believe you care about creativity if beauty and quality are not demonstrated in your facilities and services. When it comes to promoting creativity, what you model has the greatest impact.
2. Plan creativity. It might sound pedestrian, unspontaneous. But nothing encourages creativity like actually putting creative events on your calendar. One of the things we started at the beginning of Antioch was “Art Sunday.” Every six months members of the church brought works of art, crafts, and other creative endeavors to be part of an art show and sale with proceeds going back into the arts ministry of the church. These events taught me quickly that we had a congregation of people with myriad creative talents. These included not just painters and illustrators, but florists, cooks, makeup artists, woodworkers, and just about anything else you could think of. Most of these people worked in non-artistic careers, or what some might call “normal” jobs, as teachers, mortgage brokers, and bankers, but they had tremendous creative gifts to offer the church. To truly value creativity, you need to move beyond showcasing a few talented people on stage to nurturing and encouraging the hundreds of others with remarkable gifts that can also edify the church.
To truly value creativity, you need to move beyond showcasing a few talented people on stage and nurture the hundreds of others with remarkable gifts that can also edify the church.
3. Travel with staff. When my wife and I reflect on nurturing creativity in the home, one of the things we often talk about is traveling with our kids. Few things allow you to expand the horizons of your children like traveling with them. The same is true with ministry teams. Traveling with staff allows you to build friendships, learn the nuances and personalities of those on your team, and have long conversations that often generate unexpected creative ideas. It’s hard to budget for this—I know, we struggle with it year after year—but if there is the opportunity to allocate funds in your church budget to get even a few staff to travel together to conferences or to visit organizations and missionaries the church supports, the creative momentum it generates for the church is priceless.
4. Teach on creativity. From the beginning of Antioch, we’ve incorporated art and culture into our teaching. It’s not uncommon on Sundays for people to hear a brief history of the Renaissance or an illustration drawn from a famous Dutch painting or Russian novelist. For something to become normative in any culture, it must become a part of the community’s thought and vocabulary. Teaching something from the front also trickles down to conversations about cultivating creativity at home and in other ministries in your church.
5. Brainstorm (and then brainstorm again). Writing is one of the best ways to force yourself to think creatively and refine your ideas. Outlining a sermon or story with bullet points allows you to develop your ideas more fully and often leads to unexpected discoveries. Don’t wait for scheduled meetings to brainstorm. Do it yourself or you can call an impromptu meeting. It simply begins with trying to capture thoughts on a whiteboard. If you’re technological or visual, you may want to try downloading a mind node app that allows you to brainstorm in a more causal and three-dimensional way. Mix up your sermon prep by “drawing” a sermon, before you write it. Look for opportunities to turn your church facilities into creative spaces. Use walls for writing, drawing, and doodling.
6. Create a collaborative mindset. Fear kills creativity. Faith stirs it. This is true for individuals and organizations. Often church leaders operate from a scarcity mindset. We think there are not enough people to reach in our neighborhood, that we’re behind on budget, that the church down the street will steal our members. If you want to build a creative church, you must conquer you fears and trust God. In our first year at Antioch, we allowed two different church planters to share their vision from the stage and invited people (we only had about 100 ourselves!) to join them if they felt like God was calling them. The discipline of opening up our congregation when we were young was hard for me, but it was instrumental in creating a practice of holding things with open hands. It enabled us to collaborate with others and do creative things of all kinds—even if they didn’t directly benefit our church. Churches aren't isolated organisms. We need to be connected to the wider body of Christ and benefit from all the dynamic things that can come from such a relationship. When we collaborate we experience greater results than when we try to control things or work only for our own good.
7. Value ongoing education. We were created to be lifelong learners—the book of Proverbs makes this abundantly clear—and it can be hard to come up with fresh ideas if we keep going to a well of old information. Church leaders have a beautiful opportunity to affirm the urge to continue one’s education and even to make space for this activity. As leaders in the church pursue online education or vocational training, it will expose them to cutting edge conversations and equip them with new tools to bring to the challenges and opportunities the church faces. Paul would have been a very different (and probably less effective) apologist and evangelist had he not had his broad education to pull from as he traveled through the Mediterranean cultures of his day. We have routinely given scholarships and granted the ability to use work hours to staff to take Master of Arts classes at Kilns College. Additionally, we require our yearlong pastoral interns to be enrolled in a masters program. Valuing education for our leaders sparks a passion for knowledge in and amongst our church community.
Whatever ways you find to nurture creativity in your church, the result is the same: Greater passion, deeper ownership, and an increased ability to navigate the challenges that come your way.
Ken Wytsma is a leader, innovator, and social entrepreneur. He pastor of Antioch Church, president of Kilns College, and the founder of The Justice Conference. He and his wife, Tamara, have four daughters and live in Bend, Oregon. Read more from Ken’s latest book on creativity in life and leadership here: Create vs. Copy.
