I have a personal mantra that I repeat pretty frequently: one of the greatest dangers we face is learning how and forgetting why.
That is a supreme danger in ministry. It's so easy to do ministry from memory. You just do what you've always done. I think we need to do ministry out of imagination.
Here's the challenge: ministry can become monotonous. It's so easy to fall into a routine and never re-examine it. It's so easy to keep doing what you've always done. It's so easy to go through the motions.
So how do you avoid the monotony of ministry? How do you stay on the creative edge?
Here are five keys to creativity:
1) Prayer is the key to doing ministry out of imagination. I love prayer walks. It helps me think God thoughts. I think one God idea is worth more than a thousand good ideas. And God ideas always trace back to prayer! Spend extended time in prayer!
2) Reconaissance. I never want NCC to become a closed-system. I want us to be an open-source church. We don't copy other churches. But we're always trying to learn from others. We try to do a couple reconaissance trips every year where we immerse ourselves in what someone else is doing. We're also conference fanatics :) I always try to walk away with three ideas. That's it. And they don't always come from the speakers. One of the best things we do is an annual ministry report that doubles as our "welcome packet." I got that idea from a exhibitor's booth at a conference four years ago.
3) Focus Days. I have meeting days where I'll schedule back-to-back meetings all day. But I try to reserve Mondays and Fridays as "focus days." I need days where I have the freedom to think! I generally spend the better part of my focus days running down rabbit trails and drinking vanilla chai at a coffeehouse.
4) Leaders are readers. The more you read the more ideas you'll come up with. Last night I read Fast Company, Business Week, and Scientific American Mind. I love to cross-polinate with other disciplines! I am also a strategic reader. We try to plot our our sermon series months in advance and I strategically buy books on Amazon.com that help me prepare for that series. Read like a maniac.
5) Big Idea Meetings. Every week we brainstorm our upcoming weekends. Sometimes they are routine and we simply nail down run sheets. But other weeks we'll come up with amazing creative elements to supplement the big idea. You can't "schedule creativity." Most ideas are sudden flashes of insight in wierd places when you least expect them. But I do think you need to schedule creativity. You need a rythym to your week that accomodates creativity!
We explore these ideas further at the Buzz conference. Check out www.buzzconference.com.
That is a supreme danger in ministry. It's so easy to do ministry from memory. You just do what you've always done. I think we need to do ministry out of imagination.
Here's the challenge: ministry can become monotonous. It's so easy to fall into a routine and never re-examine it. It's so easy to keep doing what you've always done. It's so easy to go through the motions.
So how do you avoid the monotony of ministry? How do you stay on the creative edge?
Here are five keys to creativity:
1) Prayer is the key to doing ministry out of imagination. I love prayer walks. It helps me think God thoughts. I think one God idea is worth more than a thousand good ideas. And God ideas always trace back to prayer! Spend extended time in prayer!
2) Reconaissance. I never want NCC to become a closed-system. I want us to be an open-source church. We don't copy other churches. But we're always trying to learn from others. We try to do a couple reconaissance trips every year where we immerse ourselves in what someone else is doing. We're also conference fanatics :) I always try to walk away with three ideas. That's it. And they don't always come from the speakers. One of the best things we do is an annual ministry report that doubles as our "welcome packet." I got that idea from a exhibitor's booth at a conference four years ago.
3) Focus Days. I have meeting days where I'll schedule back-to-back meetings all day. But I try to reserve Mondays and Fridays as "focus days." I need days where I have the freedom to think! I generally spend the better part of my focus days running down rabbit trails and drinking vanilla chai at a coffeehouse.
4) Leaders are readers. The more you read the more ideas you'll come up with. Last night I read Fast Company, Business Week, and Scientific American Mind. I love to cross-polinate with other disciplines! I am also a strategic reader. We try to plot our our sermon series months in advance and I strategically buy books on Amazon.com that help me prepare for that series. Read like a maniac.
5) Big Idea Meetings. Every week we brainstorm our upcoming weekends. Sometimes they are routine and we simply nail down run sheets. But other weeks we'll come up with amazing creative elements to supplement the big idea. You can't "schedule creativity." Most ideas are sudden flashes of insight in wierd places when you least expect them. But I do think you need to schedule creativity. You need a rythym to your week that accomodates creativity!
We explore these ideas further at the Buzz conference. Check out www.buzzconference.com.
3 Comments:
I would like to plan a "recon" trip up your way. I think all of your ideas are great and our church is faced with some issues that you speak about...Other than the buzz conference, do you ever have times where you speak to or mentor other pastors?
I'm speaking at a bunch of conferences and I always try to connect with folks who are passing through DC :) Touch base with my assistant, Tim Elzea (Tim@theaterchurch.com)and we'll try to connect.
Mark
Thanks - email has been sent! I look forward to the connection!
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