Over the past year I've been thinking a lot about the creative aspect for equipping the church as I've watched the common thread in training ministry assistants. When you look at the list of subjects on queue for training ministry assistants, there is a fundamental theme. Basics. Word Processing, Bookkeeping, How to Smile on a Bad Day....etc. The slant is heading down a dangerous pike. Catering to one generation. Fulfilling the mandate to "do it this way, because that's how we've always done it."
I had a friend say to me the other day, "The days of the assistant making coffee and answering the phone are long gone. They are more like partners; knowing the pulse of their counterpart." There is a need for ministry assistants to learn the usual financial and office publishing software, yes. However, the Church is moving in a different direction to minister to the world as it is. Fast-paced, tech-oriented; high quality. With that in mind, we need to learn top-rated website design software to equip the church for quality print, logo branding and multi-media arts in worship. Most churches will not have a budget for a Minister of Creative Arts; especially church plants.
Yeah, we can purchase pre-fab movie clips, logos and curriculum. There is a time for that, no doubt. However, let's stop and think about the communities we are trying to reach. Pre-fab materials may be metro focused vs. rural or suburban vs. inner-city homeless. Let's think too, about the usage of a Christ-follower's gifts. Shouldn't we plug into those? Wouldn't it be wise to tap into the gifts of the believers in our church and around us to share their stories with the world? This is one more way to take the gospel to the relational level; spurring the interest of those who are not in church yet.
If we're truly going to reach the world encompassed in virtual video games; social media; ipads and the like, we've got to push the envelope and move forward. Our kids will like it; our students will be amped up over it and parents will walk into the doors of a church because of it. That is the pulse of today's pastor. And it can all be done with a smile, I promise.
