Creative Church Conference

My friends J. Scott McElroy, Jessie Nilo and others did a great conference on Creative Ministry. Check out some of these comments from the conference. More of this stuff needs to happen.

Here’s what they had to say about it:
This arts ministry conference was held in the summer of 2012 in two locations (East and West) in Indianapolis and Boise. The local church should be a place of transcendence and beauty. Together we pursued an understanding of the essence of creativity and the arts using a theological framework, then we focused on some practical applications in ministering through the arts such as the visual arts, theater, writing, film, dance, and music. We’d like to offer this conference again in the future!

My Vision of Art Ministry

I have a dear friend and true brother who has started an art ministry. It warms my heart to see another jumping into the fray of trying to use his gifts to serve the Lord and help others to do the same. But there’s a problem, and it’s a problem many of us will run into. The problem is a different vision. Some folks in his circle want to take the ministry in a different direction. They desire a more cultured high art approach. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that and it is also a wonderful mission field but it sort of goes in the opposite direction.

My friend’s vision is more like mine. I’m not really about judging and jurying and all that other stuff. I’m not really about the excellent artist, I’m about the person who wants to do art and needs a place to fit and a way to let out what’s going on inside them. It’s very similar to evangelism for me in that I want to meet people right where they are, artistically and spiritually. I can’t ask someone to be the best artist in the world after all, Rembrandt is dead. I want to help them connect with their creator as they create. If God wants to make them great artists, He will, I just want to connect them with the source of their gift.

Does that mean I’m not about excellence? Yes and no. I want everyone to give their best and so does God. It’s entirely possible and hopefully probable that your best today will not be as good as your best tomorrow. I want to see people grow and mature. The other thing is with art more than possibly anything else we learn from our failures. If we only do those things at which we excel we’ll be very limited. It’s two different philosophies, both are good but in my vision,to quote my friends Dean Estes and Jessie Nilo from VineArts Boise, everybody gets to play.

Check out this video. Simon Cowell almost didn’t let this kid play.

The arts are a great equalizer. It allows those of us who have a hard time fitting to find where we belong, but that will only happen if everybody who wants to gets to play.

The arts are so subjective, one man’s great is another man’s garbage. They allow us to show what’s in our souls. Everyone has art inside them. Everyone can create. Everyone has a gift from God. We only really find them when we are allowed to release them. There has got to be a place where the gatekeepers are restrained to maintaining the social order, leaving quality control in the hands of the creator and the Creator. What I put on the canvas is secondary. I want to paint on people’s hearts. There has to be a place where we can give our best with what we have today and grow into what we can be tomorrow.

That’s my vision. Everyone can play.

Video of the Day: Building Art Leaders

Jessie Nilo leads a great ministry in Boise, ID called VineArts. She has shared quite a few videos on building and running an art ministry. This is three minutes of gold for anyone thinking of starting a creative arts ministry.

Obedience

Dichotomy in Oregon

I didn’t want to paint this painting. I was with my friends from VineArts Boise. We had spent the day worshipping and painting and praying and I saw a lot in them that I really wanted for myself, not the least of which was freedom in worship and in art. I wanted to let loose, not plan so tightly and just let the Spirit move. We were invited to visit a great church in nearby Ontario Oregon called Christian Life Fellowship for their Night of Worship. (They have a great art ministry there as well called EchoArts). On this evening the VineArts folks and I painted, the CLF worship team played and a really cool break dance group called WonForce danced. It was a great night, except for one thing. I didn’t know what to paint. Well that’s not entirely true. I had an idea which was to paint my painting Dichotomy, a painting I had done many times before. When I prayed I kept feeling like I should do that piece and I really didn’t want to. I wanted to paint something new, something I never did before, something wild and abstract that would just let me, well you know… run amok. But no matter what I did, no matter how many times I pleaded and prodded, the Spirit kept leading me back to Dichotomy. So finally I relented.

My only concession was that I did most of the painting with my hands and fingers which gave it a different feel. Toward the end of the evening, we were each asked to share the story of the piece. I know the story behind Dichotomy very well, but something strange happened this time. Something new came out. I usually talk about how this is the worlds most unusual portrait of Jesus—how He is both the Lion of the tribe of Judah and the Lamb of God. I did mention that on this evening as well. I also talked about he has been both my savior and my defender, not to mention Lord and King. What was different was this—I said until He is Lord we will constantly be crying out for Him to save us. Please don’t launch into an eternal security debate with me that’s not exactly what I mean. I mean that if we don’t make Him our Lord and follow Him, we will continually be crying out for Him to bail us out of the consequences of our actions. I know that story all too well too. How about you?

At the end of the evening someone approached me and told me how she related to the piece and the story behind it. A few minutes later I gave her the painting. It wasn’t the painting I wanted to do, but it appears it’s the painting I needed to do. We can’t always do what we want to do, but if we’ll walk in obedience, we’ll see God at work eventually. It’s funny. I’ve painted that piece at least eight or nine times and I have never kept if very long. It’s an image God gave me in a prayer walk and it does what I wish all my art would do. It speaks to hearts and minds about my Savior and Lord. My prayer is that everything I do and my entire life would speak that same message. That’s what I’m shooting for… How about you?

Bible Reading Guide
An important part of following God is knowing what He wants and a great way to know what He wants is to read His Word. Follow this plan and you will finish reading the Bible in a year.
1 Samuel 18-19; 2 Timothy 4
You can also download your own chart here.

The Tribe Lives

Well I’m sitting in the business center in the Shilo Inn in Boise ID. Lord willing I will be boarding the plane for PA in a few hours. About now you might be wondering what I got out of this trip. Well to be honest not what I expected but a lot. See part of me thought I was going to travel out here to find ten easy steps to starting a thriving arts ministry. That’s not what I found. What I saw was better.

First I saw a group of people willing to take in a relative stranger simply because we have two things in common, art and Jesus. They prayed for me, spoke life to me and thoroughly blessed me. I got to see artists humble and loving far beyond their amazing talent. I got to see a church that embraces it’s artists and empowers them to be who they are and I got to see what happens when gifted people work together to bring God glory with their gifts.

I got to watch and participate and worship and commune with them. I got to work side by side with Lisa, an amazing abstract artist Who knocked out a painting in an hour or two that looked like it took months. But that wasn’t the most amazing thing. The most amazing thing was the deep celebratory worship she was experiencing as she painted. I looked to the Lord and said I want what she’s having.

I watched Alyee, all of 20 years old lay down her opportunity to paint to sow into the life of an eight year old. I have no doubt that little girl will continue to use her gifts for the Lord as she grows and I have no doubt that some day when Alyee receives her crowns one of them will be for that moment.

I watched Dean, who is a consummate artist in what seems like every visual arts discipline, share on art and ministry with such passion that it reinforced this path I have chosen to follow. This man, who could show in any gallery in the world, was most fond of the concept that in arts ministry, “everybody gets to play.”

Of course there was their fearless leader Jessie, who in the time I was there, demonstrated leadership and organization skills that were just wonderful and totally evident in the unity and cohesiveness of the group. She spoke into my life and the Spirit showed her the areas of my struggle and she and the group helped me. I also got to interact with her family and I got to see a ministry family living as God intends. Grace and faith and balance and wisdom. It was both a blessing and a challenge to me to look at my priorities when I return home to my “first tribe.”

I was blessed to meet so many artists and the church that embraces them. They are all artists in everything they do, whether visual or cullinary or every day life or… well you get the idea. They’re a tribe and I’m pleased that they’re part of my tribe.

Thanks to all the folks at VineArts Boise. You really have blessed me. I didn’t get my ten steps to a strong arts ministry instead, I got four steps. Pray, Love People, Love Jesus and then Make art!

Sowing

2 Corinthians 9:6 Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.

It’s hard to believe I’m in my last full day at VineArts here in Boise, ID and while I am really missing my family, I have to say I am also going to miss these folks. What a dynamic arts ministry. If you’re ever in this part Northwest US you need to stop by and check them out.

Today I want to take a moment and share with you about whatthey did for me. I came out here looking for a plan, discernment and what to do next and while I have a truckload of ideas, I can’t say there’s a step by step plan at least not that I’m seeing now. I did however see something that, Lord willing, I will do for the rest of my life. These people have sowed into me. Yeah I know that sounds a little “churchy,” maybe a little “Christianese” but look at the verse at the start of all this. Paul writes about sowing generously or sparingly.

Sowing is planting, planting seeds. It’s the idea of investing for a harvest. The folks at VineArts Boise have prayed for me, spent time with me and showed me what they do to glorify God in the arts. They didn’t do this so I would start VineArts PA or sell me a franchise or any of that, they did it to help me refine and do what I do. They did it to help me “use what I have been given where I’m livin!’” (like that? it just popped into my head.) They sowed into my life in the hopes that God will reap a harvest and they sowed generously.

I wish I could give you the five step plan of what I will do when I get off the plane tomorrow night (well I have one step, since my flight arrives at midnight, I will sleep). But seriously, the only thing I can say for sure is my immediate plan is to keep seeking the Lord and keep sowing into people. One person in the midst of praying for me told me I paint on the canvas of people’s lives. I like that a lot and Lord willing that is what I want to do.

How about you? Will you sow sparingly or generously? I hope you sow generously and may the God of the harvest reap greatly through you.

Running A.M.O.K. in Idaho

Running A.M.O.K. in Idaho!

My blogging may be a little sporadic over the next few days, as will be the year in art project. I’m traveling to Boise, Idaho to spend some time learning with the folks at VineArts Boise. They have generously agreed to host me answer my questions and teach me their way of doing arts ministry. I’m really looking forward to it. My hope is not to try to replicate what they’re doing but rather to learn what I can and seek the Lord for discernment on how to adapt what I learn in the ministries He has given me. It looks like a week full of great stuff. Worshipping with the folks at Vineyard Boise, painting with the group at a church in Oregon, plenty of creating and learning. Thanks to Jessie Nilo and the rest of the crew at VineArts for having me and investing their time in my ministry.

I don’t have a laptop so I will have to make due (check yesterday’s post). I look forward to sharing what I’ve learned when I get back. Please use my inactivity to catch up on some of the old posts and “talking amongst yourselves.” I’ll be back Friday!

Bible Reading Guide
An important part of following God is knowing what He wants and a great way to know what He wants is to read His Word. Follow this plan and you will finish reading the Bible in a year.
Judges 21; 1 Samuel 1; 1 Timothy 1
1 Samuel 2-3; 1 Timothy 2-3
1 Samuel 4-6; 1 Timothy 4
1 Samuel 7-8; 1 Timothy 5-6
1 Samuel 9-10; Psalm 48
You can also download your own chart here.