We have so far covered six ways to be creative that primarily deal with supporting and serving your senior leader.  If you have stuck with me this long, you deserve the last four to be some practical tips on creativity.  So here we go… this post will identify some team roles that are needed and the last three posts will look at how those roles create.

#7 – Create in teams.

There are a few freaks out there that can sustain creativity over the long-haul all by themselves, I am sure, but I have never met one. What I have learned is that the most creative churches, organizations, and even artists create with a team.

I love music so I like to look at creative team through the lens of a performing artist. I know that there will be some that will not like the language I use because it equates church to entertainment, but I have long since gotten over caring about that, so you may just have to deal with it.

On every good team you need:

1.   A performer. This is the person who gets to carry out the product.  They are the speaking pastor, the worship leader, the video talent. The people who are up front during worship and can perform. There is often a temptation to think that this role needs to be equally shared among all team members. It does not, and neither do the other roles. Let the performers perform.

2.  A project manager. Some of the best music in the world would never happen if there were not project managers in the world to make sure that everything fell into place. As you plan anything in your teams, make sure someone in the room is capable of wearing the project manager hat. These are the detail folks on your weekend team--someone who knows when and how the mic will get on stage after the song. Not which mic or what color the mic should be – just making sure it gets there. 

3.  A producer. This is different from the two roles above. The producer sees the big picture and understands what is being communicated (overtly and more subtly) to the people in worship. Don’t be deceived into thinking because someone is good at mass communication they know how to produce every element and also don’t be deceived into thinking because someone is detail minded and a great project manager they can produce the elements.  The producer is in the room for feel.  Here is what I have learned about producing experiences – you either get it, or you don’t.  You probably cannot train someone to get the “feel”. This person can be a volunteer or someone on your staff, an aesthetically-minded person who makes sure the details and the performer come together to make something beautiful.

Next, we will dig deeper into each of thes roles.