Building a Successful Creative Arts Ministry
I’ve been involved with theatre and the arts for a long time. I have seen people transformed in their seats upon witnessing a live event. Live theatre, dance, movement, spoken word: it makes a transformative, memorable impact on both viewers and participants. It’s a shared experience that can’t be replaced.
Creative arts ministries can take various forms in a church.
- Theatre or Dance in worship
- Teen drama or skit ministry
- Full-length plays
- Community theatre
- Community workshops
Their purpose is to educate, encourage, entertain and empower.
The Bible is a dramatic narrative of God’s relationship with humanity. Churches who want to explore the formation of a creative arts ministry understand that dramatic representation is biblical, it’s historical, and it’s emotional. A well-organized ministry engages many members of a congregation who may be otherwise uninvolved.
“Both religion and theatre embrace a responsibility to their immediate audiences and to the community that forms the context within which those audiences gather. Each, religion and theatre, too often forgets this point because of a tendency to be too insular. Over time, however, we ignore that which surrounds us at a high cost. The health of both religion and theatre depends to a great extent on the maintenance of a self-critical environment in which we regularly take long, honest looks at ourselves and carefully study our work.”
Welton Gaddey, American Theatre
Forming a creative arts ministry can be daunting. It is best to include someone who has experience in drafting the proposal, presenting it to the board or elders, and implementing a lasting ministry which will be seen as an integral part of your church’s mission.
The first step to beginning a ministry is to identify the need. It is also essential that there are enough volunteers who can help meet that need. This volunteer force must either have experience or gifts in the arts and/or have the ability to be trained. Once those boxes are ticked, an Elder or staff member will need to agree to oversee or nurture the ministry.
A budget will need to be explored for the ministry and funds must be provided. Funding usually comes either from private philanthropy or church resources. Once these milestones have been spanned, the ministry can be acknowledged by the leadership as an ongoing service and vital part of worship.
Now it is time for your inaugural production.
Beginning any creative arts ministry can be accomplished with strong support from the church leadership, a ministry leader with arts experience, careful planning and patience. Many churches are ready to use the power of the arts to make their worship services more meaningful and culturally relevant to their audiences.
Go and do good things.