The Cost of Creativity?

Like many people, I'm dismayed by a lot of what passes for worship music these days. Not because some of it is repetitive (ever read Psalm 136?). Not because some of it is theologically questionable (ever sing "I Come to the Garden Alone?"). Not because some of it is just overly sentimental ("Away in a Manger?" Hello?).

But I'm also tired of the clockwork criticism--even ridicule--of what some call contemporary worship music. Because the wild swings in quality from vapid to profound, from questionable to rock solid, seem to me to be simply the cost of creativity.

What, should the church sing only music that has been around since the 1950s? Should musicians and songwriters have stopped creating? Or should they confine themselves to certain time signatures or poetic forms?

Sure, Charles Wesley wrote timeless hymns such as "A Charge to Keep I Have" and "Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus" and "O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing." But he wrote hundreds of others that are never sung today. We forget (if we ever knew) that the same decade that produced Handel's Messiah also produced--well, we don't even know, because the majority of the music written in the 1740s is lost or forgotten today, isn't it? And, more recently, Bill and Gloria Gaither earned well-deserved accolades for their contribution to Christian music in the late twentieth century, but they also wrote a few I hope never to sing, ever again.

If the church is going to continue creating--and encouraging creativity--in music and more, then we probably shouldn't tar and feather those who don't bat 1.000 (to mix metaphors shamelessly). Bad art often accompanies good--even great--art. If we expect perfection from songwriters and worship leaders, we will discourage or drive away the next Wesley...or Gaither.

So let's take it easy on the creatives who are trying to give the church new songs to sing, and let the cream rise to the top and endure the test of time, as has happened with those whose works we applaud today (primarily because their "clunkers" have been deservedly forgotten).

(photo by Charles Taylor via photoxpress.com)

The Daily Routines of Creative People

Here (click on the link) is a fascinating graphic depicting the daily routines of numerous creative people--such as Balzac, Mozart, Freud, and others.

As a writer, I suppose I would aspire to Flannery O'Connor's schedule. As a pastor, my schedule looked nothing like any of these. I wonder how a similar chart of well-known pastors throughout history might look.

How does your daily routine compare? How should it look?

The Creative Communicator

Here's an insightful talk on seeing and thinking creatively--perfect for pastors and preachers--from a favorite writer and thinker of mine, Leonard Sweet:

Great stuff.

Art, Love, and Beauty

The Minimalist Bible

This is very cool: the sixty-six books of the Bible concentrated and expressed as minimalist posters (here)...such as the poster depicting Genesis, above. Check it out.

An Artful Journey Through Lent

Today is Ash Wednesday.

Artist, illustrator, songwriter, liturgist, husband, father, and self-described armchair theologian Paul Soupiset has in the past sketched his thoughts day by day as he journeyed through Lent. Here is his 2013 journal, which would be glorious to bookmark and visit every day to aid your meditation. Others of his sketchbooks are here. And, in case he posts his 2014 sketches, here is his blog.

Why We Are Stuck

"There’s a reason why churches and denominations are in decline," writes Tony Morgan in this compelling blog post. "We continue to be religious about using the same methods hoping and praying they’ll somehow generate different results. That’s a recipe for decline and ultimately death."

I agree, not just about the specifics he highlights, but about the bigger picture as well. Denominations, churches, and pastors, in general, embrace tradition in areas in which innovation would have an impact...and embrace progress in areas that have very little impact (or that were impactful five or more years ago, but are much less so now!). I'm not just throwing stones; I've been as guilty as anyone. Well, except for that one guy.

Read the whole thing here.

As For Me and My Mouse, We Will Serve the Lord

Pastors must come to terms with multiple sites and with multiple rites and rituals of remembrance: specifically the real and the virtual. The real world already has multiple sites and rites at which we preside (church, home, "funeral home," cemetery). Where are you and your church ministering in the virtual world? (Leonard Sweet, Postmodern Pilgrims, p. 76).

This is Wonderful

Absolutely wonderful:

Jake Weidmann: Master Penman from This Is Our City on Vimeo.

From "This is Our City": Jake is one of a handful of Master Penmen in the United States....This is just a small piece of what will be a longer film. Consider it an appetizer of what's to come. We look forward to bringing you more of Jake's story, a story that reminds us that Christians are not just called to make new culture, but to steward and cultivate that which has already been created.

Pastors and Poets

I'm no poet (though I have written a poetry collection everyone should buy and read and recommend to friends and family). And at worst I'm a disaster as a pastor, at best merely a desperate one. But I think nonetheless that there is an intersection--an overlap--between the poet's craft and the pastor's calling (as M. Craig Barnes so ably demonstrates in his book, The Pastor as Minor Poet).

Both pastor and poet must listen more than they speak. Both must observe carefully, think clearly, and communicate wisely. And both must be content to labor long and hard in obscurity and poverty.

For those and other reasons, I recommend that pastors cultivate relationships (at least through reading) with poets. Reading poetry can benefit a pastor in a multitude of ways. It can teach him or her to think better. To ponder. To write well. To SLOW DOWN. And much more.

To those ends, then, let me recommend some of my favorite poets, and offer a single line from each that I hope will whet the appetite:

1. William Shakespeare
"Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player..."

2. Robert Frost
"Two roads diverged in a yellow wood..."

3. Emily Dickinson
"Each life converges to some centre/Expressed or still..."

4. Wendell Berry
"Even while I dreamed I prayed that what I saw was only fear and no foretelling..."

5. Mary Oliver
"I thought the earth remembered me..."

6. Robinson Jeffers
"The wild God of the world is sometimes merciful to those/That ask mercy, not often to the arrogant..."

7. Christina Rossetti
"Then He shall say, 'Arise, My love,/My fair one, come away.'"

8. Albert Orsborn
"I know Thee as Thou art/And what Thy healing name..."

9. Edgar Lee Masters
"Out of me unworthy and unknown /The vibrations of deathless music..."

10. Richard Wilbur
"I can’t forget/How she stood at the top of that long marble stair/Amazed..."

Lenten Sketchbook

This is just wonderful. I wish I could do this. But I am giving up jealousy and envy for Lent.

Seriously, as Tony Jones says, "One thing that I cannot recommend highly enough is that you journey through Lent with Paul Soupiset, as he sketches his thoughts each day. He’s been doing this for several years, and I can tell you it’s a rewarding journey."

Who's At Your Dinner Party?

Brad Lomenick recently posted the following on the Catalyst blog. I thought it was thought-provoking:

Okay, you’ve got 7 spots at your dinner table. You can’t invite family. Invitees have to be alive. And has to be people you’ve never met. Who’s getting the invites?

Here’s my seven:

1. Nelson Mandela

2. Richard Branson

3. John Lasseter (Pixar)

4. Denzel Washington

5. Mike Rowe (Dirty Jobs)

6. Melinda Gates

7. Jim Nantz (CBS Sports Host)

Here’s the seven for my assistant Michelle Hoeft, who is 24 and a recent graduate from Univ of Nebraska:

1. Malcolm Shabazz (Malcolm X grandson)

2. Michelle Obama

3. J.K. Rowling

4. Anne Moody (Civil Rights Activist)

5. Zach Galifianakis

6. Sister Mary Prema (Missionaries of Charity)

7. Eminem

Who’s at your dinner table?

So I thought I'd try my hand at the exercise...just in case the opportunity ever arises, ya know? Here's my list:

1. Ravi Zacharias (Christian apologist)

2. Margaret Thatcher (former prime minister of England)

3. James Taylor (singer/songwriter)

4. N. T. Wright (author, bishop, etc.)

5. Benjamin Netanyahu (Israeli prime minister)

6. Steve Jobs (Apple CEO)

7. Annie Dillard (author)

Wow, that was tougher than I thought. But man, I think that would be a fascinating group, and would certainly engender some lively conversation.

So....who's at your dinner party?

Get the Word Out

One of the things we do pretty well at Cobblestone, despite being located in a town with a small, weekly newspaper and no local radio or TV stations, is get out news about what's happening via the use of press releases. The CopyBlogger blog has some good counsel about press releases that every church should follow:

Think the press release is dead in the age of social media?

No way. A powerful press release can tell a story, report news, or help a cause. Smart online writers know that a great press release can take your message to new channels and reach thousands or even millions of new readers. And a terrific press release has great SEO benefits as well.

Writing a press release takes time, research and some skill. And writing a killer press release, which catapults visibility of the message and drives results, requires adding a few more ingredients to the mix.

To get the results you want, follow these six steps:


1. Craft a hook

If you’ve ever had a song stuck in your head, you know what a great hook is. It’s that chorus or beat that you just can’t shake.

Just like in pop music, a great hook is key to success in writing a killer press release.

To find your hook, spend time before you start writing your release researching the press releases and blog posts of industry competitors, gathering information about which releases and posts have received significant coverage. Use these successes as a guideline for your own release, with an eye toward what types of content your audience is reacting to and/or sharing.

Great hooks pull us into a remarkable story. They engage our curiosity and make us crazy to find out more.

Remember the primary audience for a press release — a journalist. Reduce the basics of your message down to one sentence that answers the 5W’s of reporting – who, what, when, where and why — and find that story hook that will help them write a story their readers won’t forget.

2. Add a great headline

If you’re a Copyblogger reader, you already know the importance of a compelling headline.

You only have a few seconds to grab a reader’s attention, so be sure to craft a headline with the following elements:

• Lead with a concept, not your brand name — your audience (both readers and reporters) probably don’t care about your brand or company name, but they do care about finding a good story. Lead with a compelling concept to draw them in
• Be creative — don’t confine yourself to the headlines you see in other press releases. Use all your Copyblogger-inspired skills to create a headline that stands out.
• Test — test your headlines just like you would any other content. Find the headline that grabs attention and makes the reader want to learn more. You can repurpose a headline that’s worked particularly well for you in blog content or a special report, for example.

3. Avoid jargon

When writing killer press releases remember to minimize technical or industry jargon. Although relevant for certain professionals or groups, jargon may confuse your audience and turn them off to your message.


To engage new readers who may not be as skilled in industry language, write for a broader audience and increase the likelihood the content is shared. Keep it simple, and don’t be afraid to offer explanatory resources if some industry or brand-specific names or words are needed.



4. Provide resources

We don’t live in a one-dimensional world, and your press release shouldn’t look one-dimensional either. Provide added value to your killer press release by including photos, videos, links to source material and any other in-depth resources, giving your readers the assets they need to fully report the news you’re providing them.

A complete “package” of supporting resources makes your story that much more appealing to a reporter looking for something great to cover.

Remember, we live in a digital world, so be sure these resources are web-ready and in the correct formats for web publication. The easiest way to do this is to use accessible cloud-based services like YouTube, Flickr and others that allow visitors to download content. 

The easier you make it for a reporter or editor to publish your story, the more likely they are to pick up on your message.



5. Proofread

Errors in grammar and spelling can kill your credibility and take away from your overall message.

Write your release in word processing document instead of a text file or online submission form. When you’ve got it drafted, print it out and proofread your writing. Correct and rewrite, then proofread again.

Investing additional time before submission is what separates a professional press release from a clumsy, amateurish effort.

6. Share your news

A good news release distribution service will syndicate your news on relevant publisher sites, and it will also attract readers through search (be sure to be strategic about keywords, as with any other kind of content marketing).

And if you’ve done the legwork to build relationships with influencers in your space, don’t shy from sharing your news release by emailing a link or posting a link to your social media outposts.

Keep your audience in mind when creating your message and stick to these 6 tips to help craft your press release. When you put the thought and time into creating a truly killer press release, you’ll find it can drive traffic to your business and help promote your message.

About the Author: Jiyan Wei is the director of Product Management for PRWeb and a frequent speaker at marketing, PR and SEO events including MarketingProfs, NewComm Forum, SMX and PubCon. For more resources to help you craft a killer press release, read Jiyan’s posts and more on the PRWeb blog.

Creativity is Messy

Via the Ministry Best Practices blog, one of many I check daily:

Creativity is not neat. It is not orderly. When we are being creative we don’t know what is going to happen next. When we are being creative a great deal of what we do is wrong. When we are being creative we are not efficient (Eugene Peterson, Under the Unpredictable Plant, p. 163).

10 Ways to Improve Marketing without Spending Any Money

We've been consciously striving at Cobblestone to reduce expenses in these tough economic times while increasing ministry. One of the ways we're doing that is in our communications ministry. Last year we stopped producing weekly bulletins and inserts, and went to monthly programs, available every week but containing the month's events in one fell swoop. We obtained a grant to install large video screens to give us the capacity to put out more information with no additional paper or printing costs. We utilize other electronic and social media (Twitter, Facebook, listserves, email, etc.) as much as possible.

So the following blog post from Tony Morgan's blog was right up my alley:

The other day I started thinking about the constraints that we have as churches given today’s current economic conditions. With that in mind, I began to brainstorm ways we can continue to improve how we communicate with the people we are trying to reach without spending any money. These are solutions that any church of any shape and size should be able to engage. Here are…

10 Ways to Improve Marketing without Spending Any Money

1. Improve guest services on Sunday mornings. Stress that Sunday mornings are a time for your hospitality team to be focused on visitors. The number one reason people will come back to your church is if they find the church to be friendly.
2. Follow through with your promises. If someone volunteers to take a next step in a group, serving or an event, make sure the process is in place to follow up in a timely and personal fashion.
3. Make it easy for people ask questions. Create a one-stop location, physical or online, where visitors can receive more information about your church.
4. Create ministry environments that compel people to invite their friends. Excellent preaching and worship music is not enough. Every environment in the church needs to create an opportunity for life change. When that happens, you won’t be able to stop folks from inviting their friends.
5. Embrace social media. Facebook, Twitter and blogs are an easy way to engage people in conversation and develop relationships. As relationships are developed, you’ll earn the credibility to encourage people to take next steps.
6. Be different. Begin an unexpected series, have a unique worship experience or do something (good) that gets people talking.
7. Make your church an active part of the community. Open your campus to the community, but also get engaged outside the walls of the church where you can directly impact people’s lives.
8. Eliminate the noise. Prioritize what needs to be communicated. Eliminate competing messages. Stop the spam. The fewer the messages we deliver, the more likely the important messages will be heard.
9. Encourage word-of-mouth marketing. The number one reason people will show up to your church for the very first time is because someone invites them. If you have stopped growing, your very first question should be this: Why have people stopped inviting their friends and what would have to happen for that to change?
10. Lead by example. Although leading a church can become all-encompassing, find a way to cultivate personal relationships with nonbelievers. I know of a student who refused to walk through the doors of the church until her youth pastor, who got to know her at an outreach event, wrote her a two-line note thanking her for being a part of the youth group.

Flip Mission on Its Head

A New Approach to New Year's Goals

Every year at this time, I take time to review the goals I set the previous year and make new ones for the coming year. I typically set goals in five categories: Professional, Financial, Physical, Personal/family, and Spiritual goals. In addition to goals in those categories for the coming year, I also set three-year, five-year, and lifetime goals.

But this year, I decided to try something different. I wondered what it might look like if my goals were focused on partnering with God to cultivate more of the fruit of the Spirit in my life. What would that look like?

First and foremost, I know I must be faithful in prayer, and ask God daily to produce this fruit in my life. So that's pretty much goal number one, the overarching goal. In addition, I outlined in my journal at least one (and in several cases, three or four) tangible goal for 2010 that would, by God's grace and with his help, increase my:

LOVE
JOY
PEACE
PATIENCE
KINDNESS
GOODNESS
FAITHFULNESS
GENTLENESS
SELF-CONTROL

I thank God--and it is only by his grace--that this fruit is already present in my life because of the Holy Spirit's presence in my life. But I'm excited to follow Christ this year in purposeful, focused, conscious ways to see if I can bear more fruit in 2010. It's gonna be a great year!

Tuning the Harps

We've been jumping through some hoops lately at Cobblestone to deal with an anomaly in how sound emanates from The Loft, and so our sound levels and mixes have been undergoing some changes. That has, for me both personally and as a leader, translated into quite a challenge in worship, one that may well continue for a while longer.

So I was "all ears" (so to speak) when I saw what one of my favorite authors, pastors, and bloggers, wrote yesterday on his blog:

"While the harpist was playing, the hand of the Lord came upon Elisha."

Have you ever noticed this prophetic idiosyncrasy? The Message version of II Kings 3:15 says: "When a minstrel played, the power of God came on Elisha." Is that a random connection? I think not. There are other instances in the Old Testament where music dramatically changes the emotional and spiritual climate. For that matter, it was the worship leaders who led Israel into war on occasion. Check out II Chronicles 20:21.

What am I getting at? As leaders we need to be intentional about creating atmospheres where people can hear God's voice. And musical worship is one of them. I had this revelation during worship a few weeks ago. Some things cannot be learned from a sermon. They can only be experienced in worship.

I'm not suggesting that you rent a harpist. But you better figure out how to hear His voice more clearly. Just as athletes have pre-game rituals that help them get in the right frame of mind for a game. I think we need spiritual rituals that help us get in the right frame of spirit. That is what musical worship does. It tunes us to God.

Whenever I open a service I try to put a frame around the experience. Here's how I did it this week. I simply reminded our congregation that we often feel unworthy to worship God but God is always worthy to be worshiped. We worship in that tension. And we have a saying around NCC: don't let what's wrong with you keep you from worshiping what's right with God. Why? Because He's worthy!

Leading Church in a Flat World

Another terrific post from Shaun King of the Shaun in the City Blog:

In large part due to technological advances and the literal tearing down of walls that divide people groups into little segments that basically hate each other, the playing field in any particular area of the world (including church) is more level (or flat) than ever, but most churches have not yet caught on to this.

Hear me – the “old strategies” of leading church may work.

Some churches still swear that mass mailers are wildly successful. I believe them.
Some churches still say that 9am-5pm are the best office hours. I believe them.
Some churches still proclaim that the sermon is the most important thing a church can offer. I believe them.

The problem isn’t whether I believe them or not, it’s that MILLIONS & MILLIONS of people don’t and while an equal number of people may really love mass mailers, traditional office hours, and have lives that revolve around the sermon, new strategies will reach people that old strategies won’t. I’m not even saying one strategy is better than the other here, but that new strategies are needed to reach unreached people. Period.

Here a few numbers behind how Courageous Church has used new(er) strategies to reach new people.

--Of the 700 people in attendance @ our church grand opening on January 11th, over 65% of them learned of us online.
--Over 50% of our weekly 1st time visitors learn about our church from Facebook or Twitter.
--About 50% of our financial giving takes place online.
--Our Facebook ads have been shown a total of 26 million times. Yes. I’m serious and we rounded down
--A very low ball estimate for the cost of a mass mailer to 26 million people would be $400,000. Our ads (which are numerous, targeted, current, etc.) cost us $8,000.

LEGO Jesus!

It took 40 volunteers 18 months and 30,000 LEGO bricks to make LEGO Jesus. Now, THIS is a Jesus statue I'd put in my church.