That makes me MAD!!!!! Name the church, and I’ll toilet paper it tonight after dark…Oh wait…that wouldn’t exactly be “absorbing the pain without passing it back” (something I preach often though fail to live up to). Ok, so that frustrates me, Chuck. I’m tempted to say to the artists in that church, go find a place where you’ll be accepted and respected. But I really don’t think that is the answer. Still…if you can’t will the heart of the gate keeper…you’ve got a problem. So my off the cup answer is to encourage the artists, pray for leadership, and try to get inside this worship leaders head and find out what IS the vision. If a case can be made that the arts can serve the unique vision of the church and even specific elements of this particular worship leader’s vision…maybe significant progress to building the kingdom can be made. Please check out my

Yep. It can get frustrating. But, in the long run, i think the answer is to simply, humbly, do good work. When we’re asked, do good work. When we’re not, create an environment where we can … our living room, a video, a community theatre. God can use us all across the board. Blessings!

Interesting post Chuck. I know I’ve seen this scenario to some extent before, but it’s complicated under the surface on several levels for me.

I think your question is valid. I think we should care about arts in the church. I believe using the arts in the church is important.

The problem (IMHO) lies beyond just having a vision for it…beyond 20 people having an interest in doing it…the issue, as I see it, lies within execution. More specifically, in doing art well.

There’s a reason you’ve been successful through the years in bringing your craft to churches…you do it with excellence.

There’s a reason someone like me is cautious about offering my platform to some creative endeavors….because I’ve seen how poorly it’s been done. To be somewhat blunt…it kind of comes down to quality control.

I work incredibly hard at my craft…making sure my art is presented with as much preparedness and excellence as possible. Unfortunately, without strong leadership to a team, this level of performance rarely finds itself present within contemporary church culture.

I’m a worship guy…a musician. I have an appreciation for various artistic expressions and believe they can have a place in our worship services. BUT…while I’m not anti-drama/dance/poetry/visual art/etc…because I can’t coach or teach people to excellence in those crafts…I find myself needing to pre-qualify the inclusion of those expressions based quality (and intentionality…but that’s perhaps another conversation).

I also understand that ‘art is in the eye of the beholder’ and ‘judging’ it’s quality can be a subjective thing. When I think about it from this perspective I realize that it becomes more of “gut decision” on the part of the leaders involved. This is where things get cloudy and controversial.

It’s tough. There are a lot of differing perspectives with valid arguments. I’m not saying my approach is right…it’s just my approach.

Curious to see what you have to say in tomorrows post…

May I suggest a link on this topic? Artists in Christian Testimony faces this with all its artist-ministers/missionaries, and the president has given a good summary here – //www.actinternational.org/byrons_blog.aspx
I think, like he says, the evangelical church has become guilty of ignoring the attribute of God’s creativity and love of beauty, thinking that only information and performance (whether by preaching or, even a “quality show” [emphasis on the word show] is what honors God. Perhaps church leaders worry too much about the entertainment value and not enough about actually experiencing God through the arts.
Yes, I agree with Andy that excellence is demanded by God (just see His commands for the making of the tabernacle); poor quality is big turn off. But I have seen “poor quality” used by God, seemingly against comprehension! In the rational age we have been in, let’s not ignore the power of the Holy Spirit, who was given first to artists (Bezaliel and Oholiab), focusing on execution more than the mystery of communing with the incomporable God in the artistic languages he has given us.
I don’t mean to sound mystical, or preachy, or condemning – but as artists, we all wrestle with these issues, and it’s time the evangelical church does as well.

That makes me MAD!!!!! Name the church, and I’ll toilet paper it tonight after dark…Oh wait…that wouldn’t exactly be “absorbing the pain without passing it back” (something I preach often and mostly fail to live up to). Ok, so that frustrates me, Chuck. I’m tempted to say to the artists in that church, “go find a place where you’ll be accepted and respected.” But I really don’t think that is the answer. Still…if you can’t win the heart of the gate keeper…you’ve got a problem. So my off the cuff answer is to encourage the artists, pray for leadership, and try to get inside this worship leaders head and find out what IS the vision. If a case can be made that the arts can serve the unique vision of the church and even specific elements of this particular worship leader’s vision…maybe significant progress to building the kingdom can be made. Please check out my podcast at: //web.me.com/wesleybrainard/CHARAKTER/Podcast/Entries/2008/12/4_Art_to_Heart.html It’s old…on the old site. But, very relevant.

Oh my! I can SOO identify with this. I find that choir directors – the keeper of all things art – are prideful and controlling. This, of course, is not always the case, but it is way too often. I personally believe that Lucifer was created to be an artist and that he now has his finger on church choirs, drama ministries, music departments, hollywood, Broadway, etc… It’s his habitat. When there is drama among his people (forgive the pun), satan is to blame.

Now, schools are cutting the arts. I believe that it is time for Christians to take back the arts. We are called to offer up our FIRST fruits and we need to stop offering second-rate art. We need to start schools and offer art classes (theatre, music, dance, visual art, etc….)

If we raise up a child in the way he should go (according to his bent) he will learn. The arts are a crucial tool and an amazing and perfect gift of God to His people!

Oh Chuck! Being a fellow thespian I am in total agreement with your frustrations. I wish I had an answer. Just keep doing what you’re doing and God will use it all. If the “church” chooses not to embrace it, then it’s not our fault.
Love ya, Brother!

By the way…Drama Mama is me…Tracie!!!

It’s so hard to hear about situations like that. Trying to get past a zealous gatekeeper would be incredibly frustrating. One might hope that once some good dramas and musical offerings were well received, there would be some “pressure” to continue but it sounds like that was not the case.

Why should we care about arts in the church? Lots of reasons. One that springs to mind is the fact that the church should encourage all folks in their gifts and skills (artists, engineers, construction workers, whoever!) The bonus of artists is that they can contribute to the worship services and worship setting. I’m always “preaching” that a service should be a like a wagon wheel – one core hub (theme/message) with lots of spokes. Maybe the spoke of music speaks strongly to one person; the spoke of the sermon speaks to another and drama to another. Sometimes the children’s sermon is what really speaks to me 🙂

The church has had such a varied history with the arts. Some magnificent works of visual art, architecture, music, etc. have Christian themes or foundations. And then there have been the times and places where the church sees art as something to be feared, thrown away, destroyed. I guess it can be “dangerous.” Which of course reminds me of the conversation about Aslan in the first Narnia book (I don’t have this exactly – too lazy to look it up….) “Safe? Of course he’s not safe. But he’s good.”

This conversation reminds me once again how fortunate I am to be in the church body I’m in. People WANT us to do more drama. We are always on the hunt for musicians and try to incorporate their skills as much as possible. For several years our VBS was an “Art Camp” run by some amazing visual artists in our church. Some of those same artists now paint during worship services at special times of the year (Advent, Lent) on a particular theme. Then those pieces are hung around the church. We actually have more art than we know what do with! That’s a problem worth having.

This post makes me so grateful for my church. Our leadership if very sympathetic to the arts; so much so, that I have quit my paid position on staff in Children’s Ministry to persue my dream of acting/directing/teaching/writing full time, with full blessings from the pastors.
Art is vital to the body. To quote the bard himself “the play’s the thing wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the king”

[…] Blog Search- Pastor Leaders: Does Anyone Care About Art in the Church? — Part One / Chuck Neighbors Category: Blog News | Tags: […]

Wow! Chuck I felt like I was reading my own experience. I went through a very similar experience at another church. And that goes to your point that this is the norm in many churches. That’s a shame because the church should be the place where the arts thrive, not where they’re stifled.

Hey Chuck. Art and the Church. Hm… There’s a bajillion things I could say on the subject, but, I’ll just say one… or two. I think art intimidates most Christians, at least certainly art shared in a church setting. Art isn’t easily controlled. The more we try to “control” art the more we suffocate it. Great art has a level of ambiguity and asks more questions than gives answers. I think that Christians are uneasy with that kind of art. We tend to favor art that answers questions– art that’s “message heavy.” I know this is a bit off topic… but I also see it relating to how this worship pastor was acting. He was trying to control the situation. There tends to be a heavyhandedness with art and artists in the church. IF art is allowed or expressed in some fashion in a church it’s usually confined/constricted to maintain manageability/control. I certainly don’t mean to paint with broad brushstrokes, I know there are many exceptions to the rule, but I’ve seen and heard enough to believe that this is an “issue” within the church. *stepping off of soapbox*

[…] Read Part 1 […]

Even as a actor performing mostly for churches, I totally understand the worship leaders attitude and skepticism. But true worship transcends art. What I mean by that is; we’re not primarily artists who worship, but we’re really worshipers who happen to be artists. Our art is just another way of worshiping. When what we do becomes less of a presentation, a performance, an attempt to dazzle with our talents, then we enter into worship with our art. And we draw others into worship. Our goal isn’t to be seen, but to disappear and allow God to be seen through us. Unfortunately there are many worship leaders who don’t understand this. They think (and they are usually right) that anyone who wants to do drama or a solo is only interested in being seen. I’ve found that communicating a genuine desire to glorify God puts worship leaders at ease. They’re less controlling because they know where you’re coming from, and feel it’s a “safe” place. Yes, I think arts in the church is important because God’s glory/worship is what the church is all about. And the worship leader should be the last one to want to put a lid on that.

Thanks for discussing these things, Chuck. It’s good to interact with like-minded people. I offer a few thoughts in response, (this coming from a Worship & Arts Pastor of church around 1200+).

– In your first paragraph I was concerned. Not for the obvious (Because the Worship Pastor was not “championing the arts”), but because the Senior Pastor and the Worship Pastor were clearly on different pages. Obviously I don’t know near enough about this context to have any sort of intelligent opinion, but based on what you shared it seems to me that either A) the Senior Pastor does not know his staff well enough to know that a drama-ministry was not a part of the Worship Pastor’s heart/vision for his/her ministry, or B) the Senior Pastor IS aware of how the Worship Pastor feels but ultimately doesn’t care because he/she is the lead Pastor and THEY want a drama-ministry. Both of these are problematic. I have a bigger issue with the Senior Pastor approaching you about starting a drama ministry above or behind the back of the Worship Pastor. (can you tell that I myself am a Worship Pastor?? Ha!)

– I have no qualms with a Worship Pastor saying “I have no vision for this.” Especially if that’s the God’s honest truth. This could be coming from a place of, “gee, I’ve never considered that before… honestly I have no vision for what that could look like!”… or … “My strengths lay in other areas. Having a drama ministry has never been how I’m wired. I’ve never envisioned that as a part of the ministry God’s called me to lead and shepherd.” And to both of those responses I say, “that’s great, that’s fine.” Me personally, I have a HUGE heart for the arts and for artists. I feel a large part of my calling is to shepherd these people, encourage them to make art, and encourage them to see their gifts of creativity as given by God, to integrate their faith with their art. And I have my own gifts and talents in the area of music, so that is clearly where our ministry is the strongest. But I also have a gift in empowering artists to make art. As a result, we have a THRIVING arts community here at our church, but ONLY in the areas that either A) I am particularly strong at (i.e. music) or B) areas where certain leaders have arisen (i.e. painting, drawing, writing). I personally don’t have a vision for drama. It’s not something that excites me, it’s not something that I want to pour my creative energy in to. This is NOT to say that I don’t see the value in it. I’ve seen drama have INCREDIBLE potential to move people, to tell story, to paint an image of reality that otherwise would go lost. But it’s not my thing, and so far no one at our church has risen up to take the lead. Perhaps if there was (such as in this story) I would love to encourage and empower them. But simply declaring “I have no vision for this” is not, in my opinion, an inherently wrong thing to say. (I understand you never said this, and that the context for this statement is more important).

– As a leader, I understand the value of doing a few things really well as opposed to doing a lot of things less well. As a church we do a few things really well (missions, serving the world and the community, worship, arts) and often times our emphasis on these things means we don’t do other things very well (at home bible studies, caring ministries, we can get 60 people to go to Africa for the summer but can’t can’t 6 people to teach 1st-4th graders). We choose to play to our strengths (aka: the strengths of the leaders) and understand we can’t be a church for ALL people (sorry, we don’t have recovery groups, single-adult groups, sunday school classes, etc). This conversation feels very similar, and it sort of continues my comment above. I only have so many creative hours in the week. These would be wisely invested in developing my strengths, not spreading myself thin so that we have a wide variety of flavors for everybody.

– Clearly the attitude of this Worship Pastor was not an easy one to work with. Making people feel like they’re a burden or a hassle is not shepherding well. Yes, somethings are more complicated and difficult, and may cause things to go differently for a week, but our jobs HAVE to be flexible. The platform is NOT ours… I repeat, it is NOT ours (nor yours, or yours, or yours… *points finger to other people in the metaphorical room). The minute we start holding tightly to control of the “platform” is the minute we need a vocational time-out.

– The issue of “excellence” is one I’m still unsettled on. I think in some ways it’s a cop-out to say “God demands excellence!” (does God? Really? I mean, “demand?” I can’t agree with this). And on the flip-side, I think it’s also a cop-out to say “well it’s the church, I’m a christian, I have a gift (or so I believe) and so therefore I should get to share that/showcase that.” But really this leads to a bigger more systemic issue with me: ought churches be so large and production heavy that we actually HAVE to ask, “is this good enough?” Once we’re there, is it too late? Is there inherent value to smaller churches where quality isn’t such a Dictator? Where everyone contributes something to the group, regardless of it’s polish or skill level? Once a church gets a certain size/feel, they’ve trapped themselves in to some sort of expectation. Even if (as in our case) they’ve done all they can to steer clear of the “show,” of being “overly produced,” you’ve still inherently created a quality-bar. But this is a whole different subject, relating to ecclessiology.

– Lastly, as I wrap up my novel, the church should care about the arts because God cares about the arts. God, as Creator, is glorified when we create. The world God Created was called “good,” not “perfect.” Perfect implies a static state where things don’t change. This is not what was Created. Rather, we are tasked to continue the on-going beautification of the world. Art unleashes the potential to declare truths about the Eternal. Art tells the stories of those who have no voice. Art opens the heart in ways that non-art can’t even dream. Art pushes people and pulls people towards the unSpeakable. And who makes this happen? Yes, artists. Therefore, the church MUST care about artists.

Chuck, you make great points. I heard the story about a dancer who danced this incredible program and afterward a woman said to her, “That dance, it really moved me. But I have to ask you–what did it mean?” And the dancer replied, “If I could tell you what it meant I wouldn’t have had to dance it.” This is what the arts do–tell us the truth that cannot be explained, summarized or spoken in any other way. Any culture (church culture or otherwise) that abandons this gives up one of the most effective ways of engaging with the truth and what it really means to be human.

I’m late to the conversation – mostly because it hit too close to home to not just rant immediately.

I once spoke with a director of worship who insisted that everything in the service be understood in a way by the congregation so they could articulate the point (or “message”). All music was tested solely by lyrics – the only exception being instrumentals, which she couldn’t real account for, but the pastor liked it so she had to go along.

Many dramas and musical pieces were disallowed for fear that it would carry the congregation into a place that couldn’t be explained by words. No danger of moving in the Spirit here, so y’all can relax.

Visual artists got around her by saying that weren’t putting up “art” pieces, they were just decorating to make the place look nicer.

I miss the drama that we use to have in our church It helped get the message across in a way that just preaching sometimes doesn’t .

I get the feeling this fellow felt like he didn’t have any “ownership” in doing anything, and saying he had no “vision” for this, meant ” this wasn’t my idea, so I’m gonna kill it…” I’ve run across that so many times..even in putting together choirs and singing groups. Everybody wants to have this in their church, but nobody wants to do the work involved. Well, I do….sigh…

Believe it or not, I experience some of the same kind of thing, in terms of it often seems like if a church has me on a Sunday morning, they’re only interested in me doing worship music – it’s often like they have little concept of music or a song that doesn’t serve some utilitarian function. I think the church’s criteria for valuing creative expression is constrained to how “useful” it is. So worship is useful because it’s expected and primes people for the sermon, and then maybe there’s an offertory song that’s useful for filling up the awkward quiet while the plate is passed, and a closing chorus is useful because it’s a good note to end on – I don’t mean any of this to sound angry, I get it, I do, but I’m aware of how much beauty is missed just because there isn’t space given for it to exist in the church. I find I’m always educating people on what having an artist/minister like myself looks like. Most times it’s frustrating, but sometimes by God’s grace I have the perspective that I’m building something in them, making them aware of new possibilities 🙂

Here’s the main thought that came to mind as I read your post, though. I think that people’s expectations are set really low. It only takes a worship leader seeing one bad drama for him/her to not want to see another one. In my case – and I risk sounding a little self-righteous here – I think people are so accustomed to hearing sub-par, predictable, mediocre songs that they think they’re the norm and that’s what they assume music is.

They’ve never had Tom Waits come and sing one of his throaty anthems to brokenness, they’ve never heard Paul Simon on a Sunday morning sing one of his delightful odes to the mystery of God and the beauty of grace. If they could, I imagine there would be many whose response might be “whoa, I didn’t know music could do that!” I think Rich Mullins is a good example of an artist whose music surprised people that way and captured their imagination – making people want more.

All that to say that I take all of this as a challenge as an artist to be curious – what is it that I could be doing in my work to better capture people’s attention? How can I, at every turn, surprise them with more than they were expecting? How can I stir in them a desire for more? How do I give them what they want (a catchy pop song with hooks that make it easy for them to engage) but then also give them what I imagine they need (a substantial lyric that uncovers their hiding places)? It takes me a good 8 minutes per song to do effectively what God has given me to do. But if a church lacks the imagination for that and only gives me 4 minutes, well… then I have to work a lot harder, but I try to receive it as if from the hand of the Lord and ask for guidance on how to accomplish what he’s given me to do in the time they’ve given me to do it. It’s often frustrating, but sometimes it has forced me into creative corners I otherwise wouldn’t have found. This is all assuming, of course, that they’ve agreed to have me in the first place.

If they haven’t, and if I’m hoping they will, the challenge is kind of the same in my mind – how do I capture the imagination of those in charge? How do I make them care about what I care about without demanding them to? How do I shape what I do in such a way that makes them feel like I’m helping them, doing them a favor, supporting their ministry instead of vice-versa. These are not the challenges I signed on for, but they are the ones I have to face. I think of this as my tent-making ministry. This is my day job so I can do my ministry.

For instance, last year I packaged a “concert” that was centered around the idea of confession, and this is what we presented to pastors. We found that they were much more interested in hosting an event that nurtured confession in their faith community than they were in just having another concert.

I’ve already written too much, but I want to say one thing about an idea that I think has crept into the church about quality that isn’t necessarily Kingdom centered. I know we worry about the quality of our actors/musicians/etc. There’s been talk elsewhere in the comments about this, and I totally get it. For years I played in coffee houses and a Christian coffee house was usually synonymous with bad coffee. The same could be said of Christian movies, music, fiction, etc. It’s embarrassing to be associated with all of that. I began to hear this in the church a decade ago, the idea that “Jesus deserves our best.” And on the surface that sounds right, and the heart behind it is really good. But in my experience it can become a hiding place for the sin of pride. If we’re not careful it can breed exclusivity and shame in our faith communities, the pressure to be good enough, to perform to expectation, etc. I think you know what I mean. But one of the most beautiful things about the church, in my mind, is that it’s a place where you don’t have to be Yo Yo Ma to be a part of the worship team. In our pursuit of excellence, let’s never stop being generous and full of grace, making room for all to serve.

I think if we maintain that attitude – if that were the focus of the worship leader you had a conversation with – then it makes us more inclined to allow for the arts and the people involved in them to have a voice and a platform in our ministries.

That’s what I really appreciate about this aspect of your ministry Chuck, how you equip churches to make room for those in the congregation to express their faith in their heart language – drama. You help them to bring their hearts to their people! It’s beautiful.

One parting thought – the artist has to learn how to serve the greater body, I think, too. What I mean is that too often I go into a church wanting to do my thing rather than allowing the church’s need to shape my thing to whatever would best serve that faith community. Does that make sense? If we allow our art to be shaped by what will best serve the body I think we can find more opportunities to serve.

Unless, of course, you’re dealing with people in charge whose ministry is at the mercy of their own misplaced identity and insecurity, as it sounds like was the case of the man in your story. I recognize that man because I’ve been him many times and I pity him and pray for him, trusting that God will lead me to a church where my ministry will actually be received. (easier said than done!)

I led drama in a large church for many years but it was an uphill battle the entire way because the pastor of worship “and the arts” was only interested in music. He was better than the one you’re referencing, at least he appreciated drama, but he had no interest in doing anything himself to foster it in any way. I understand where someone like this is coming from. In order to be a solid, competent music leader you need to be trained and focused on music. We also need them to be solid Christians who are theologically aligned with our church, have the ability to shepherd people, and so forth, down a long list of attributes. During the hiring process being good with drama gets shoved to the bottom of this list of desired attributes, just above being an astronaut and a race car driver.

When a group of people walks into a sanctuary you are going to have some who are brought to their knees by music and some who get bored and read the bulletin while waiting for the sermon. I honestly don’t think contemporary worship pastors get this. It’s so foreign to their way of thinking. Not everybody loves going to major league baseball games, but that must seem very odd to a team manager. You can do music with excellence but it really isn’t going to matter too much to some people. They are at the church for other reasons. They worship in their own way. And yes, people managed to worship before there were choruses.

What matters is communicating God’s love and message to as many people as possible in ways they relate to. As Paul says in I Cor: “I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some.” The best thing I heard as a director was when an elderly man who had been a Christian his whole life came to me and said he had never really understood a certain parable until he saw the one-act play we had just done. Drama has a way of fleshing out the words on the page and colorizing the sermon hanging in the air. There’s a reason why people watch so much TV and go to so many movies. They like it. They understand it. When we have concepts we want to convey about God how is this not a good thing?

I managed to squeak a few sketches into services every year for several years. Whenever I did I was profusely thanked. Everywhere I went members of the congregation told me how much they loved the sketches. But since I was working in a leadership void I eventually gave up. I couldn’t keep a team going when all I could promise them was that we may be able to do another sketch in about three months. I loved doing it but was forced to conclude that it was not possible. And I believe that if God wants that ministry to happen nothing will stop it from happening.

Chuck, I appreciated the posting. I’m glad to say our church has encouraged the starting of an improv/drama and puppetry ministry as an opportunities to expand the involvement of others in ministry.

Teaching/training of family friendly (clean) improv has been the greatest challenge, the local improv groups primarily focus on comedy improv for the bars/clubs, rather than theater improv where humor occurs within the context of the story being told.

Please keep moving us forward on the use of art to Glorify our Lord.

This is a good comment. Artists like this worship leader can be insecure – artistic temperament and all. But in the evangelical church art seems to have to fit into a box that some of the main-line folks don’t create. I am a visual artist as well as a musician. I have been to very few churches that capitalize on speaking to people through imagery like sculpture or painting. Now if its digital there may be quite a bit of that going on. The reality is that creative people are a misunderstood minority. People don’t get us yet the chuch can only benefit from speaking to visual thinkers as well.

This is a good word, God wants to use every aspect of arts in the church because everyone has different talents and we are all needed to fill a spot in the body. Just because a “toe” might not be the prettiest thing to look at, it is a very necessary part of the body. Everyone has a part to play.

I am a christian artist. First a Christian and then an artist. I have the humble opportunities to preach at the church my brother shepherds in Arizona. When one speaks of art, what is one speaking of. Art is essential to the community of beleivers, especially in todays contextual world of such visual stimuli. What do you think a sermon is, but a oral and textual artistic peice of work, hopefully Gods work. I perform visual arts in the church through live paintings as well as community art festivals that support Christian artists in the community. God “created” and so do the hands of those artists God has created. Art has been a part of the christian community since the time a simple fish was drawn on the ground in the sand to signify they were followers of Christ. The simple answer is…..it does not matter who does it, just that it is to be done. Dont create “programs” for art, but let those who create, create. Encourage their gifts just as you support the gifts of so many others. God bless you in your God given artistic endeavors.

It sounds to me as if it is a larger issue than one gatekeeper’s insecurity, ego and lack of vision. I think there is some responsibility, in this example, for the senior pastor to ensure that he has “buy-in” for making what is essentially his vision executed by a subordinate.

I’m wondering how this new program was instituted and introduced to the worship leader, because he didn’t “get it”. He didn’t catch the vision. That’s the senior pastor’s job to be able to aply express his vision so others can see it, and excite and inspire the responsible subordinates who will have to carry the new idea to its fruition.

Within an executive structure when new programs are initiated, especially from the top-down, anything new will always be met with resistance. Especially, in this case, if it is contrary to what the worship leader envisions as the scope of his job. The senior pastor must break through existing prejudices and current obstacles by infecting others with the vision, the potential, the awaiting low-hanging fruit and long term benefits.

In this case, I’m thinking the fact the program was arts-based is only incidental to its failure. Especially if there are 20 people who already prepared to be dedicated to the program, and the congregation received it well, it’s not a clash of arts vs. culture, which is often the common cause for conflict. In this case it was more of a disconnect among the leaders that led to its downfall.

Oh, my goodness … been here … done this!!! So true that … if the person in charge does not see/support the ministry … it will die a quick death. I used to think that the success I had with drama ministry was because I was such a gifted writer/director/performer. That was when I was young and foolish … !! It takes people who are gifted PLUS the “Top Dog” … whether it’s a youth minister, or senior pastor … whoever … if they don’t want it to happen, sooner or later (usually sooner) it won’t!

There is plus side to this: God can use “rejection” to move you into an even better place of service! (I KNOW this to be true in my own life!!!) Instead of moaning and groaning about how their talents are being wasted … a gifted person .. with a true heart for service … simply needs to redirect their vision. When one door closes … try another. For instance, if the senior pastor does not want or know how to use drama (be they full-scale or simple dramatic sermon sketches) perhaps the teen ministry, or children’s ministry can use them. And if the people in charge there don’t have the drama “Vision,” perhaps the gifted ones need to move their talent outside of the “box.” People in community theatre are often dying for a Christian contact. (I have also found this to be true!! What dear, dear friends I have made … and nurtured into a faith … by moving out of my “comfort zone.”

Anyway … this is what I think about that!! God will put you in a place of service, if you are willing to be moved occasionally!! 😀

Thank you for posting this article.

I think there is a failure to understand – “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I The Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me; And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love Me, and keep My Commandments” (Exodus 20:4-6 KJV)…unlike most other arts music itself can be created on the spot (take with a grain of salt or two), and can be a rather lazy endeavor in the sense that music itself can be considered directly vague…it also has a tendancy to appeal to emotions where the great arts seem directed at thought and ideas using symbolism as one of the main elements…it is unfortunate that we are not creating works in both music and visual arts that force an individual to the word…I believe there is a reason that the bible is of written word these days!

Fascinating tale. Came across your post just after I did some online scrubbing and came across this post from CT. Must be the artistic muse at work today:
//www.buildingchurchleaders.com/downloads/practicalministryskills/developingartsministry/ps109-a.html

[…] and Affirm Other Artists – The church needs artists. In my earlier blogs I have addressed the fact that fewer and fewer churches are offering an outlet for artists to be a […]

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