Right in the middle of church planting, that’s where you find me. Just weeks away from launching a new church in Toms River, New Jersey. Along with everything else I’ve learned and experienced through this time I’ve noticed a lack of resources and conversation when it comes to creative meetings. While there are some amazing resources for the individual creative ( The Creative Pastor and CRTV Church are awesome), I’m referring specifically about Creative Teams and how they work. Whether in a business context or within the church, the idea of Creative Teams has been getting more traction lately. Let’s talk about it.

For our church a Creative Team is made up of individuals who meet as needed to go over BIG PICTURE ideas, not the nitty gritty details. We hear what the Pastor will be preaching on and spend some time thinking about the overall theme, how we can create a series around the major theme, the visual artwork that accompanies it, and one major wow moment that will happen in that series. If someone can’t remember exactly what the Pastor said, but they can remember one “wow” experience, use that to jog their memory.

Who is on the team?

Lead Pastor, Worship & Weekend Experience Leader, Communications Leader (also happens to be our Production Leader), and two church volunteers. One of the church volunteers is a constant team member, the other spot we rotate out each meeting and add someone different. Find people who aren’t afraid to share ideas and who aren’t easily offended when their idea isn’t used.

When does the team meet?

We are trying to be a season ahead of schedule. For example, we met in January to discuss Easter and a sermon series happening in May. Each major holiday gets its own meeting and so does each series. Based on this concept, you only need to meet as many times as your Pastor changes his series. For some churches it could be 5-6 times a year, for others more like 9-10.

Why a Creative Team?

This part can get real personal to each church or organization. Acknowledging that each place is different I will move on to some basic reasons that I think can relate to everyone.

1. Visuals: Seriously. Each day our communication is done more through pictures and emojis than we probably realize. If a post doesn’t have a picture attached to it, does anyone read it? I don’t know but it’s worth thinking about. We share images to reflect how we are feeling, what we are experiencing, and of course what we’re eating. Taking some time to think about the artwork that may accompany your teaching is time not wasted.
2. Stories: Stories help us learn and remember. Throughout the Bible we see parables and sharing of stories to help the people listening really understand what Jesus was trying to teach them. When working on a Creative Team you are helping to ultimately create a story with the goal that your church will leave not only remembering what it is they learned, but be able to apply it to their lives and share it with others.
3. God: He is the ultimate Creator. God created everything…. everything. It’s in His nature to create, to allow new things to bloom and to remove things that are no longer needed. He could have chosen to leave everything one way, never having them change, but He didn’t.
4. Fun: Church should be fun.

Have you tried Creative Teams at your church or organization? How’d it go? Can you do this without a team? Who is on your team? Share in the comments.