/MAIN   /ABOUT US   /RESOURCES   /ARTISTS   /STORE   /CONTACT US

Resources / Back to Creative Arts Leadership Articles /

How to Foster Creativity

Benjamin Eggers

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.