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Hey McBlog readers. I wanted to introduce you to an awesome blog if you haven’t already come across it. The blog is called “The Uprising”, written by one of my best buds, the one & only Brandon Miraflor. This blog is about “Creative Pastors”, and if you have a question about what exactly that is, just read the post.
At the end of his post, Brandon shared some links to “Creative Pastors” & I’d like to add a couple:
Russ Cripps
Amado Huizar
Tauren Wells
Paul Povolni
Paul Price
Enjoy. Love you ALL! -David
Who Needs a Creative Pastor?
“Hi there, I’m so-and-so the new Creative Pastor down at such-and-such church…” You hear it more and more but what does “Creative Pastor” really mean? It seem to be this new buzz phrase that churches across north America are adopting to describe this new breed or type of pastor.
Before anyone gets upset and stops reading because they think I’m opposed to the idea, let me say this: I personally think that there is a pressing need for us to have these types of pastors amongst us. Here at CLC {Christian Life Center} we have an amazing creative pastor on staff named Josh Rivas. Josh might not be known nationally but he will spend anywhere from 40-60 hours a week just on design/presentation/creativeness for our church.
So… we all know what it means to Pastor. But what does Creative Pastor mean? Let’s look at the word for a second.
cre·a·tive adj.
1. Having the ability or power to create
2. Productive; creating
3. Characterized by originality and expressiveness
This definition seems like it should define all pastors. However, this is not the always case. I believe we sometimes lack the ability to think creatively because we’ve been taught that people who are creative are liberal and generally not saved. But thinking and being creative is something straight out of the Word of God.
There is a need deeply rooted within our spiritual DNA for us to create. But so many times we find ourselves in a box. Whether we put ourselves there or whether it has been projected on us, none-the-less we can find ourselves stuck.
I once asked Wayne Francis, “What do you do when you find yourself in a box?” His reply was simple, “If I’m going to be put in a box, I’m going to make it a plaid box”. In other words be as creative as you can in every situation God places you in.
Many times we don’t have the time to be creative. We become arrested with so many other important things in the word of the Lord that creativeness gets put on the bottom of the pile. Lets face it, each week there are things we need to do and things we want to do. Sometimes it’s just easier to just stick with the bare minimum. This is where you can develop a young productive, expressive, creative pastor.
However I have often observed that young creative youth workers are perceived as worldly or loose if they are trying new and appropriate methods of reaching this generation. Please don’t get me wrong. I’m not talking about altering the message of the gospel, Acts 2:38, the oneness experience, etc. and the values that our elders have fought to preserve. I’m referencing to method.
Take the example of Twinings Tea. For the past 300 years, Twinings has influenced tea drinking and continues to be a leader in the tea industry. Stephen Twining, the 10th generation Twining, was asked how Twinings has continued to be successful over the long haul. He said, “It was our founder Thomas Twining’s philosophy to focus on high-quality tea and innovation to give our customers the best tea-drinking experience possible.” He went on to say that in the 1930’s when tea bags were becoming popular that Twinings didn’t reject the technology, but embraced it by saying, ”How can we make the best tea bag possible without changing the tea?”
I think sometimes we are afraid to embrace the “new”. There is the feeling of uncertainty. Will the bag change the tea, will the medium/method change the message? And the answer is, no. We serve a God the is bigger that technology, bigger than our traditions. His desires us to follow him and be creative – God’s word is true.
{For more reading on the whole method and message read this post by my friend David McGovern – THESAURUS }
So you see, having the ability and power to create, to be productive, being characterized by originality and expressiveness is what we need in this hour. WE DO NOT WANT TO BE LIKE THE WORLD!!!!! We just want to reach this generation. If we don’t, who will?
Who needs a Creative Pastor?… You do!
- Brandon
PS: Here are just a few creative pastors I follow. Who are some creatives you know?
Jason West
Jacob Pereida
Josh Rivas
Mitch Rose
David McGovern
Brandon Shanks
And since I had so many requests for more Jesus Culture, here you go.
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