The Journey Core Values Part III: Creativity

So far I have attempted to outline The Journey’s core values of Celebration and Community. In this post I will talk about Creativity.


Creativity will be a core value of The Journey because we believe that God is an artist and that He desires for His Church to embrace and utilize the arts to their fullest potential.

If you would like to read some of my thoughts on the arts and worship, I would encourage to check out this entry that I wrote last February.

Sandra and I share a love for the arts and because of that, we tend to find ourselves attracting artistic types of people. Most artists feel rejected or excluded from the church for a variety of reasons. We want to help restore the role of the artist and the arts in the church by encouraging artists to use their gifts during our celebrations, our outreach events, our Community Life Groups, anywhere and anytime.

Our Celebrations will involve the use of drama, dance, mime, painting, a variety of styles of music, technology, sculpture, you name it we’ll honor it!

 

We intend to use the arts when we minister in the community as well. We have already participated in one Arts and Music event in downtown Crestview, showcasing music, dance, art and drama.

I often hear people say that we are trying to compete with the culture by being creative. As I pointed out in my post on Worship and the Arts, I do not think that we are, nor do I think we should even try, to compete with culture. No matter how talented our actors may be, we cannot compete with Hollywood. What we need to do instead, is to create culture: to use the arts to enhance the Biblical narrative, to convey the message of grace and truth that we intend to share, to support the powerful messages of the Gospel. In this way we leverage the arts for the purpose of furthering God’s kingdom plan instead of attempting to merely compete with the kingdom of this world.

So, The Journey will be a place where creativity and innovation will be foundational. We will strive to provide space for the artists among us; to welcome them, to encourage them to use their gifts, and to help them find ways to encounter our Creator God in meaningful ways.

In the beginning God created … and so will we.