One of the best things about planning is preparing artists. Artists love preparation. Planning allows for more creativity, more thought and consequently more impact a piece might have on an audience.
During our recent message series titled The Gospel, I spent some time with some highly creative people about eight weeks prior to the start of the series planning and brainstorming possibilities. Several ideas came through that session and proceeding sessions that I believe were highly artistic and memorable.
This is one.
The series would be four weeks long, take us through Easter weekend and be composed of four main ideas: Creation, Fall, Redemption and Restoration.
We chose to have an artist paint live during the services, which has become a semi-normal element in The Orchard’s weekend gatherings. In a conversation with the artist, I outlined the process we wanted to take for each week of the series, each week building on the next, to create a piece that would be unique to anything we had done before.
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We had Julie Vogt paint a picture that depicted the creation. Julie was very gracious as an artist and after collaborating together, painted a representation of a familiar art piece – Creation of Adam, by Michelangelo. She did an amazing job and because the paintings she did (one for each of our three weekend gatherings) were a part of the weekend experience, many wanted to buy the paintings. Creation shown through art. |
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The next week we displayed the piece she had painted during the corresponding weekend services the weekend before, and at the end of the service, had our lead Pastor Scott Hodge take a knife and cut the paintings between God’s outstretched finger and Adam’s. The service ended abruptly at that point and we told people the story we be continued on Easter. The fall had occurred bringing damage and separation in our relationship with God. |
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The next weekend, during our Easter gatherings, we had another artist (Lisa Price), use a thick red thread to sew the cuts in the paintings back together to illustrate the redemptive power of Jesus’ death and resurrection. |
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The last week of the series, we again had Julie take the sewn canvases and paint on them to show the healing that we are a part of in restoring humanity and creation to what God had intended it to be. She also depicted a city to show the progression of the story which began in a garden and will one day end in a city. |
There were a lot of creative ideas, planning and artists that helped put this together and it was a powerful piece. So much so that I have heard several families explaining the art to friends and family they have invited to our gatherings since – all without anyone telling them about each piece of the puzzle. The story and purpose behind the art was a clear message on it’s own.
Thank you to all of you who were a part of bringing this piece, from idea to conception, to life for our church community!
Now go plan and dream the next big idea!
In case you missed it, you can check out Part 1 here.
Here’s more to chew on…
- New, improved, improving (Andy Stanley)
- New triggers momentum
- anything new can be negative or positive momentum
- negative event can promote positive momentum (the case of a rescue)
- negative circumstances are a catalyst for positive momentum
- positive event – positive momentum
- new leadership, new product, new momentum
- when evaluating – do you need a new leader, new direction, or new product
- Momentum is never triggered by tweaking something old
- something radically new triggers momentum
- The new must be a noticeable improvement over the old
- even significant improvement has a shelf life
- Momentum is sustained through continued improvement
- customer needs to feel like we are improving, tweaking evaluating
- can’t just be renewed one time.
- Continuous improvement requires systematic evaluation
- evaluation must be built into the structure of the organization
- requires unfiltered evaluation
- success is ticking down if you are not evaluating
- Apply new and improved
- new personnel – burst of momentum
- new programming (all have a life-cycle)
- new season – shut down and relaunch
- what is the life-cycle, season of a program
- new series
- new look
- new venues
- Momentum stoppers:
- a disengaged leader
- no auto-pilot for momentum
- overactive management
- momentum brings chaos
- managers can manage away momentum
- managers – organization needs space to build momentum
- complacency – doing what’s been done
- complexity
- a breach of trust
Interesting that a lot if not all of these leadership principles apply to more than just ministry.
One more installment on it’s way soon for this series of posts.
I recently had an opportunity to go to Willow Creek and attend the Catalyst One Day conference. Speakers Andy Stanley and Craig Groeschel shared on leadership and momentum. Here are some of my biggest takeaways:
- think differently about limitations – we can’t do such and such because we don’t have such and such
- limitation is the breeding ground for innovation
- if I had what I thought I needed, then I wouldn’t see what God wanted me to see
- God can guide by what he withholds as well as by what he provides
- we often over estimate God in the short term and under estimate God in the long term.
- I will do today what I can do today to enable me to do tomorrow what I can’t do today
- do something to defeat your dark side every day
- search me and know my heart, O God
- don’t delegate responsibilities, delegate authority
- delegating responsibilities creates followers, delegating authority creates leaders
- they are not going to do it right the first time, will they do it better if you micromanage them? No, you are putting your thumb on leaders and they will never grow as a leader or they will go somewhere else.
- Do not sacrifice your family on the alter of ministry.
Digest that. More served up shortly.
… a lot more than ever before! Still, I’d like to flex my public writing muscles a bit more so back to the blog yet again!
Been doing some poetry writing and some song writing. If nothing else they help me express thoughts, feelings and my journey.
And yes, I’ve changed my blog layout yet again. Still trying to find something that is me but also inspires me to write more. Inspiration is important.
What inspires you?
Peace.
… of the new blog design, look and feel? If you’re reading this on facebook, check it out here.
I’ve learned way too much about blogging templates and modifications during this process! I still want to tweak and add a few things to this new site but now that it’s hosted outside of blogger or wordpress, I can make whatever modifications I want.
Let me hear your thoughts!
Mike
