Heart Soul and Might

This was a fascinating session where Nancy Beach interviewed Ralph Winter, an extremely accomplished film producer in Hollywood. Here’s part of his bio:

As a producer of Hollywood blockbusters, Ralph Winter has earned the attention and applause of audiences, actors, film crews and film studios for producing such favorites as X-Men, X-2: X-Men United, X-Men 3, the 2001 remake of Planet of the Apes, and two of the most beloved Star Trek movies (IV and VI). Ralph also is a man who is outspoken about his faith.

This interview was really intriguing because it mixed Nancy’s probing questions and Ralph’s authentic answers with clips of movies he’s made and commentary on what went on behind the scenes. For context, the four of us from Fellowship went the night before to see X-Men 3: The Last Stand so we’d have some of Ralph’s work fresh on our minds. I have to say I’m very impressed with his work. I’m not huge into sci-fi movies, but the special effects were amazing and it was great to think a Christian was behind a piece of art this excellent.

It was very refreshing to hear a well-respected Hollywood producer talk so openly about his faith. He no doubt is a strong believer and doesn’t hide it. It obviously seems that his amount of work is not suffering. He keeps getting asked to produce films!

In response to one of Nancy’s questions, Winter admitted that, as you would see in the X-Men series, he is drawn to the more dark films. He enjoys the tension that is built as dark and light are juxtaposed and the darker the dark, the lighter the light. In fact, he said “Don’t be afraid of the dark. We rob people of opportunity for the light to shine in the darkness…” He gave such a great perspective on how we need Christians producing dark so they are able to be the ones who most effectively portray the beauty of light.

Nancy effectively brought the purpose of the conference to bear in the interview when she asked him about collaboration and film-making. He talked extensively about what a matrix of collaboration it is to produce a movie - and do it with excellence while keeping it under budget. She asked him what is the correlation between collaborating to produce a movie and collaborating to produce a worship service, and he said it’s virtually the same process with many of the same issues. Only, worship services come around every 7 days while it might take a couple years to produce a movie.

He talked about three components that would be similar to most creative collaborative endeavors: Content, Structure and Style. A film needs a lot of attention given to all three. So does a worship service. Its incumbent on the leader to serve the process and make sure the team gets all they need within the constraints to pull off the project.

One of the biggest takeaways came when Nancy asked him about his role as producer as it relates to all the other roles like director, writer, actor, etc. He said he sees his role as the producer as being a servant. Serving everyone on the team so they are able to carry out their role properly. He said it’s his goal to serve everyone in whatever way he can so that they are successful both individually and collectively. That was very encouraging and I pray its my attitude as a leader as well.

He closed by citing some of George Barna’s research saying that “Film makers are the new teaching pastors of the next generation…and movies are the sermons.”

I don’t agree that movies should supplant sermons for delivering the gospel, but I think I got his point. We live in an MTV and movie generation. And films ARE going to reach a huge segment of the population if done well.

WOW. What an incredible session with Dan Allender - President of the Mars Hill Graduate School in Seattle. I’ll summarize the content here, but there’s no way to truly capture the passionate and engaging delivery… Dan’s talk was entitled “Bringing The Team Your Best.”

His opening statement: “Art draws forth the core issues of life.”

The core issue involves the human heart: will beauty move the heart? Beauty, Allender says, is a terrible thing: it is the battleground where God and the devil wage war. And Art is the battleground of the human heart. So, regarding beauty, one cannot be neutral.

In Arts Ministry, particularly in the church, there are five issues we will all face at some point that require our awareness and attention:

1) Crisis

You will face daily/weekly crises. They are always there… and if you’re not facing a crises on a fairly regular basis, you’re either not doing something right or you’re in the wrong place. Effective Arts ministry that is engaging the heart, attempting to convey beauty and truth, will incite emotion and strong opinion in such a way that crisis is inevitable. So, don’t be discouraged, but instead realize that it is a part of life and ministry and needs to be handled well. Get used to it.

2) Complexity

Life and ministry is more complex now than it’s ever been. We have more information now in a day than we’ll ever know what to do with. This erodes at simplicity and even sanity at times if we allow ourselves to be controlled by it.
We don’t want chaos, we want clarity. We need to be searching for that clarity in a culture that won’t just hand it to us. But too many of us allow the complexity of ministry, communication and relationships to pound away at our joy, creativity and contentment.

3) Betrayal

Allender said that if you haven’t experienced betrayal, you haven’t worked at a church. He was being somewhat hyperbolic, but his definition of betrayal is much more broad than most people think, I’m guessing. He cited the following sources of betrayal:

• politics
• territoriality
• turf wars

The more we are (or feel) betrayed, the more self-focused we become. We focus on the pain and play the victim.

4) Profoundly Lonely

We develop a lifestyle of hiding… not letting others in. A lack of authenticity and repelling from relationship. This is not healthy, but it is very real for many artists and arts leaders. Artists… well, everyone… needs to be in relationship where they know and are known.

5) Result of ministry: EXHAUSTION

And the more exhausted you become, you become a workaholic.

SUMMARY: The two results of the living out these issues to their ultimate conclusion:

• Closing Up
• Giving Up

This leads to shame.

God intends, through the Arts, to EXPOSE. Bring the core issues of life to the surface and into the light. Ultimately, it is Christ alone who can redeem people who are stuck in any of these issues.

But in the meantime, God will exhaust you until you are BROKEN and will touch you so that you LIMP. It is in the limping that I can live saying “I have no power in myself” - and that is where God wants to bring us. And it is in this concession and in the limping that the strength of God shows itself majestic!

For some reason, they called the Delirious? concert Session 3… so needless to say, I didn’t take any notes.

Speaker: Patrick Lencioni

Title: “Dealing with Your Team’s Dysfunctions”

I knew this would be a good session both for me and our team - I first read Lencioni’s book “The Five Dysfunctions of a Team” a few years ago, and this past fall began taking our team through it. I also use the Field Manual which has a bunch of helpful tips - some of which Lencioni talked about in this session.

He basically walked through the five dysfuctions, so that’s what I’ll do, and add some thoughts that he brought as well as observations of my own. The five dysfunctions all build on one another and so it’s difficult to work on 2,3 or 4 if this first dysfunction isn’t under control:
1) Absence of Trust
The fear of being vulnerable with team members prevents the building of trust within the team. A team can’t function effectively if  team members don’t have full trust in one another. The best way to establish ongoing trust is to have an environment of vulnerability where the struggle for position and recognition is non-existent, and all team members are cheering for each other. Vulnerability is risky - but it’s worth the reward of a team that trusts one another.

A healthy team can’t have team members who are self-focused and wondering who is getting the credit… This erodes trust because it creates an environment of competition and turns it into an individual sport rather than a team sport.

2) Fear of Conflict

The desire to preserve artificial harmony stifles the occurrence of productive, ideological conflict.

Healthy conflict is the only way to truly achieve results. It creates the appropriate amount of friction to stimulate people toward results and if a team has overcome the first dysfunction and trusts one another, the results will be productivity and success. You have to know people on your team aren’t holding back and choosing their battles! People who hold back don’t allow the energy of an issue and the competence of the team bring about the best results. If you’re holding something back, you’re hurting the team and not allowing the best to come about.

You can’t be afraid of conflict! If you are, your team clearly has a trust issue.

3) Lack of Commitment

The lack of clarity and/or the fear of being wrong prevents team members from making decisions in a timely and definitive way.

The key phrase here is: “If people don’t weigh in on an issue, they don’t ‘buy in’ on an issue.”

Don’t wait for consensus if it is hard to get to - look for truth, goodness and the BEST. Just know that people need to be heard and considered and if that happens - in a trust-based team - they will be committed to the direction that the leader determines is the best course.

CONFLICT allows us to achieve COMMITMENT.

4) Avoidance of Accountability

The need to avoid interpersonal discomfort prevents team members from holding one another accountable for their behaviors.

Peer to Peer accountability is ideal! Team members need to care about each other enough that they’ll need to hold each other accountable.

5) Inattention to Results

The desire for individual credit erodes the focus on collective success.

Here’s what dysfunctional teams focus on:

• ego
• status
• career development

Individuals need to put these things aside for the good of the team and focus on trust-based healthy conflict that leads toward commitment, accountability and the best results!

The two most important things that teams need once they’ve been able to work through these dysfunctions are COMMITMENT and CLARITY. When these are achieved on a team that trusts one another, the sky is the limit!

I highly recommend this book for your team. Click on the link here and order it from Amazon.com.

The first plenary session of the conference Tuesday morning was with Nancy Beach entitled “The Art of Collaboration” in which she outlined the Four Phases of Collaboration. These are basically the four phases of a well-oiled planning process where leaders and artists are collaborating in a healthy environment and getting results. Most of what this session talked about refers to planning a worship service, but the principles can be applied to any creative endeavor.
Phase One: DESIGN

In this initial phase of the planning process, big ideas are discussed and connectors and transitions are considered all moving toward maximum communication effectiveness and overall impact.

• “Feel Through” - Nancy exhorted us to “feel-through” not simply think through various elements in a program flow. This requires actually experiencing the element and getting into the mind of someone in the audience and asking “What am I feeling right now as I experience this?” The next question would be: Based on what I’m feeling during and immediately following this element, what comes next?

Too often we think through things and forget the emotional impact of the moment. This really risks losing a moment that God has something profound in mind for everyone. We need to really get into the moment and trust God-given instincts that we need to make the right “feel” decisions.

Key Word: INSTINCTS

Phase Two: DEVELOPMENT

Revisiting your plan often, and hopefully making right decisions along the way. The plan cannot just sit and gather dust - it needs to be looked at and tweaked to get to the very best.

The big challenge: Persevere. You need to fight for an element or a direction if you believe in it.

Key Word: PROCESS

Phase Three: GAME DAY

Game Day is the day of the service or event. This is when all the planning and processing really counts. The two resources you have that you are required to steward are:

• time
• people

You, as the leader, need to “own the culture” of game day and really take care of your two resources, time and people. Ask yourself “How can we better communicate?” If you have your plan together and take care of your time and people - always seeking to communicate well - you’ll win. If not, you’ll risk 1) a bad program, and 2) burning out your people.

During the service or event: Do what you can to READ the ROOM. This is an intangible and is SO important. Notice reactions, energy, volume, non-verbals… whatever you can observe and intuit to make any necessary mid-game changes that might make all the difference between a win and a loss.

Key Word: COMMUNICATION
Phase Four: EVALUATION

Just DO IT! We need to properly evaluate if we are going to learn anything and grow. Too many leaders overlook the incredible value that good evaluation can bring to the process and really maximize energy, time and resources toward growth.

But, good evaluation is the key. You must create a CULTURE of good evaluation, and one of the most important factors here is to always start with celebration. Celebrate the good and what worked first - then move into what didn’t work and what you can learn from mistakes or misses.

** A leader needs to “define reality” - and then move everyone toward that reality.

Recommended resources:

1. An Hour on Sunday: Creating Moments of Transformation and Wonder by Nancy Beach

2. Organizing Genius: The Secrets of Creative Collaboration by Warren Bennis and Patricia Ward Biederman

Five of us from the Worship and Arts staff team at Fellowship are here at Willow Creek Community Church in Barrington, IL for the 2006 Willow Arts Conference. The title and theme of this year’s conference is “Thwonk! The Art of Collaboration” I’ll be blogging the sessions of the conference I’m able to attend. The first two days are called “Act I” and are primarily plenary sessions of which all attend in the main sanctuary. Thursday and Friday is “Act II” and consists primarily of break-out seminars happening all over the campus and Barrington area.

Tuesday morning, our team attended a pre-conference session led by Nancy Beach, formerly Willow Creek’s Creative Arts Director and now Executive Vice President of the Willow Creek Association. I’ve gotten to know Nancy pretty well over the years and really respect her knowledge and her heart. She is a real lover of the Arts, and a true shepherd to artists. This first session was entitled “What Keeps Arts Leaders Awake at Night.” Each “Barrier to Sleep” has a corresponding “Sleep Aid”. The first “Barrier to Sleep” is:

1) Wrong People in Wrong Positions

Nancy first quoted Jim Collins from his book Good to Great:

“Letting the wrong people hang around is unfair to the right people… waiting too long before acting is equally unfair to the people who need to get off the bus. For every minute that you allow a person to continue holding a seat when you know that person will not make it in the end, you’re stealing a portion of his life, time that he could spend finding a better place where he could flourish.”

Begin with the “who” rather than the “what” and remember that people are not most important, the right people are. This can sound kind of cold if taken out of context and some people believe that because we are at a church and doing ministry, we need to let people flounder and wander in positions they’re not cut out for. That’s not good for the person, and it’s definitely not good for Christ’s Church. Because we’re doing God’s work, we should actually work extra hard to make sure the right people are in the right position on the bus.

Sleeping Aid: COURAGE

2) Criticism

Criticism is often very difficult to take because it stings and is easy to take personal. But it doesn’t need to be such a negative if:

First, we must consider the SOURCE

Next, we must diligently search for TRUTH. Is there a pattern to the criticism?

• Don’t see yourself as a victim.
• Don’t keep repeating the criticism over and over. Let it go!

Sleep Aid: TRUTH

3) Conflict

Most people try to avoid conflict or deny it exists. But, in ministry especially, there is always conflict to work through… In fact, Patrick Lencioni believes healthy conflict is the sign of a healthy team. The key is 1 Peter 3:8,11:

“Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble… He must seek peace and pursue it.”

• Be ready and willing to listen rather than push an agenda.
• There can’t be unspoken junk between people!

Sleeping Aid: PURSUIT OF PEACE

4) Worry

Nancy quoted Wayne Cordeiro in his book Doing Church as a Team:

“The first step in building core leaders is to believe that they are there. you must believe that God would never call a leader to oversee a ministry without providing everything that the ministry needs to become fruitful and successful. God is not so cruel as to call you to build an ark without providing the necessary materials for its construction. God is not so disorganized as to request a ministry and then forget to supply what it needs!”

Remember: God loves your church more than you do. It’s our job to fervently pray and diligently work… And, often try to bring in people from the outside for ideas. Many times, the best ideas come from people that aren’t on the “inside.”

Keys to aleviating worry:

1. Loosen my grip. Let go of control.
2. Invite others IN.

Sleeping Aid: TRUST

I wanted to wait until I had the time to do this post justice - hence, waiting over a week following our 2nd annual EXPRESS Festival of the Arts… The Festival ran Friday and Saturday, May 12-13 on the campus of Fellowship Bible Church in Brentwood, TN - and it was amazing! What an incredible expression of worship as our church body celebrated the gifts of over 100 artists displaying or performing over the weekend to the glory of God. It was truly an unforgettable and God-honoring weekend.

Over 40 visual artists from Fellowship displayed their creations in two of our buildings plus and exhibition tent in the parking lot. You can see, from the picture on the right, how the displays were arranged… and these halls line with booths were crowded all day. Many of the artists sold their work, and most of them stayed near their booths throughout the day to answer questions and interact with those walking through. There were painters, film-makers, mixed-media artists, potters, sculptors, jewelry makers…

We also had over 30 musical performances at five different venues through the campus starting Friday night with our Writers in the Round concert and concluding Saturday night with our “559 Coffeehouse” concert.Here on the left is Sam Mullins in concert in the Barn… Sam has had cuts with Diamond Rio, Michael W. Smith, Avalon and many others. He is a pretty incredible songwriter and also performed Friday night at the writers in the round concert.

Others in concert included Ronnie Freeman (Artist in Residence and worship leader at Fellowship), Jeni Varnadeau (just finished her 6th CD project), John Russell (great country songwriter), Kara Williamson, and many others.

Our Friday night Writers in the Round concert was one of the highlights from my perspective. The first hour featured songwriters Nathan and Christy Nockels (known as Watermark, and worship leaders at Fellowship), Ronnie Freeman, Tony Wood and Don Koch (over 30 #1 hits and many Dove Awards). Don didn’t have a voice so he brought friend and artist Alan Asbury to sing for him. I joked with Don that it was a blessing his voice was shot, because Alan sang Don’s song “In Christ Alone” better than Michael English ever did. (Dove award for Song of the Year back in 1994 I believe.) Ronnie sang a few songs off his new record coming out this fall… Christy blew everyone away as usual… singing “Knees to the Earth” - a song they penned for a Passion conference a couple years back.

The second hour featured Sam Mullins, pictured above, Chad Cates (who sang 2004 Dove Award Song of the Year “Everything To Me”) and John Brennan Russell. All three guys were amazing and it was very fun to hear the story behind the song from some extremely talented writers. John brought the house down with “You’re Too Ugly (To Be Cheating on Me)” - But I haven’t been able to find the right place for that song in any of our upcoming worship services for some reason.
Definitely one of the most beautiful and inspiring elements of the Festival was the two Saturday performances of our Dance Exhibition - featuring our very own Fellowship School of Dance. A forty minute program showcased students from all ages - age 5 up through high school. It was pretty incredible.We also were able to bring in the Still Point Dance Company, a Nashville-area professional dance company that our School of Dance is partnering with. Dance displays God’s glory in a way that no other art form can. The movement of the human body, created in the image of God, done with excellence is matched by almost nothing else. One word: WOW.

Fellowship is privileged to have Kurt Heinecke on the worship team… Kurt is the Music Director for Big Idea - the creators of VeggieTales - and Kurt was able to pull some strings so Fellowship could be the host for the EXPRESS Festival Sneak Peek of the return of LarryBoy in the latest VeggieTales episode “LarryBoy and the Bad Apple”. Kurt composes the music for all of VeggieTales’ shows, and did a wacky behind-the-scenes whirlwind tour of VeggieTales music following the Sneak Peek. Our Worship Center was packed with kids for this special event. It was a lot of fun for both kids and adults, and a big draw for family’s to make a trip to the Festival.

One of the highlights of the Festival - and by far the highest attended event - was the afternoon performance of the Drum Maniacs. I introduced the Drum Maniacs as 8 of the most percussively dangerous men on the planet and they did not disappoint. They performed pieces composed by Chris Brush, Mark Hammond and Mike Powell… and even had a very special guest. Yes… I had a cameo appearance for a cowbell solo during the middle of one of the pieces. I have to admit, I think I got the crowd chanting and swaying. (not!) But, it was a blast! (yes…that’s me on the infamous cowbell solo on the left)

This Festival was an incredible display of artistic expression from a body of believers that is blessed with an incredible amount of artistic talent. We simply want to be good stewards of the talent with which we’ve been blessed, and this Festival was a great way to expose the rest of the church and community to excellent artistic expression ALL to God’s glory!

I was too bleary-eyed the other night to continue typing… so, I’ll finish where I left off in my update on the Hollywood Connect meeting. The three others in attendance at the think-tank roundtable were:

Kim Guenther - Kim is from Atlanta and seems to have a ton of irons in the fire in a number areas. A singer, dancer and actor, she is involved with the creative team for  “Art Within” - an organization that develops and commissions talented screenwriters and play wrights who have promise in the secular arts industry. I believe this is how she became connected with Hollywood Connect and Michele Suh. She also owns an “interior botanical” company called “Plants Forever” - I don’t know much about this company, but I know she owns some nurseries and it sounds pretty interesting!

Barry Landis - Barry was a record label exec for over 20 years in the Word and Warner Brothers family and in the last 18 months has transitioned into more of a free-lance and consulting role with a number of companies. He sees this new season as one of networking with Christian influencers all over the country to the change the world. Barry worked with “Roaring Lambs” author Bob Briner prior to his death, and in honor of Briner is developing the Briner Institute which will influence and inspire Christians to excel and make a difference in culture to advance God’s glory. (the Roaring Lambs philosophy) I first heard Barry speak a couple years ago at the ReCreate Conference and just listening to him, it’s not hard to tell he’s a mover and a shaker…

Larry Moschell - Larry was in attendance for Byron Spradlin of A.C.T. - Artists in Christian Testimony. A.C.T. is basically a mission board for artist missionaries. Their vision is to equip and send out arts missionaries. Michele Suh with Hollywood Connect is one of their “missionaries” and receives some financial support. You can give to A.C.T. - a 501(C)3 non-profit - and earmark funds for a specific artist or general purposes, and receive a tax deduction. It sounds like a great organization for the advancement of the Arts for God’s glory!

One of the things we talked about was developing “Artistic Entrepreneurial Connectors” - relationships and gatherings which would create creative synergy and collaboration and enable artists and leaders to take advantage of resources, people, time, space, creativity, energy, etc. in a way that wouldn’t be possible without collaboration. This is why artists and leaders from across the country would even take the time to get together like this. Everyone has a busy schedule with more than enough on their plates to handle without another meeting. But, the great thing about a connection like this is that greater creativity is available as we pool resources and ideas and think beyond our borders out to the country and the world. And the cool thing is… That’s how God thinks, too!

One of the practical ways that this kind of collaboration is so beneficial was seen as I mentioned my need to book speakers for our upcoming Fall and Spring Artist Symposium Series at Fellowship. Both Kathleen Cooke and Michele Suh have promised to utilize their networks and influence in Los Angeles to help bring some great speakers to Nashville for the symposium series. I love how God works!

I had the privilege of being asked to join a remarkable group of people in a think-tank sort of meeting today at the headquarters of the Gospel Music Association in Nashville. Michelle Suh, the Director of Hollywood Connect from Los Angeles asked me to join a group of other Arts leaders from around the country to talk about how we could build bridges between the cities of New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta and Nashville to collaborate regarding the Arts, faith and the Church. This was only the third meeting and I guess a couple of the people that have been involved from the beginning recommended that I be involved, so they invited me. I’m very humbled to be included in this discussion and this movement. There were nine of us in attendance and for two hours, we discussed what our various ministries are all about and how we could synergize our efforts and resources to collaborate.

We’re still working on putting a name to this group of people, but one of the names floated around was “Global Arts and Entertainment Alliance.” The mission is: “To unite Arts and Entertainment Christians nationally so together we can contribute to our culture.”

It was exciting sitting around the table engaging in the dialogue and listening to the passion with which people spoke of their particular niche in the Arts world, and ideas around how we could collaborate to change our culture.

Here is who was in attendance:

Michelle Suh - Michelle is the Director of Hollywood Connect as well as a classical and jazz session violinist in L.A. She actually plays the violin with my favorite jazz piano artist David Benoit! Michelle is a pretty amazing woman - she has catalyzed the leaders of 18 different Christian ministries in the Arts in the Los Angeles area and they meet every other month to dialogue around how they can support and encourage one another in the journey of integrating Art and faith. She has opened this up to the previously mentioned key cities in the U.S. to try to help replicate the collaboration that is happening. She brought a colleague from L.A. who I’ll mention later, and invited people from both New York and Los Angeles to be a part of this dialogue. I’m really impressed with Michelle’s enthusiasm, passion and energy regarding the Arts in the world.

Kathleen Cooke - Kathleen is an actress in L.A. and has been very successful in film, t.v. and commercials. She and her husband Phil own and operate two companies in Hollywood - one being a production company, doing work in film, documentaries, videos, etc. They also have part ownership in Thomas Winter Cooke - a very successful entertainment company. Kathleen’s husband Phil has partnered with Ralph Winter, a producer and director for the movies X-Men, The Fantastic Four and Planet of the Apes.

John Styll - John is the President of GMA - the Gospel Music Association. He talked a bit about the GMA’s plans to build a state of the art, multi-sensory experience Hall of Fame for the GMA. Should be completed in 2007.

Randy Elrod - Randy has about week left in his position of Pastor of Arts at the People’s Church in Franklin. He has an incredible vision for an artist retreat and equipping center east of Nashville on 124 acres he just bought. I’ve known Randy for about 6-7 years when he first moved to town. Since he is the founder and director of the Re:Create Conference (which I’ve also posted on), he is most responsible for me meeting my wife, Heidi. If it wasn’t for meeting Mickey Rapier at that conference, I probably would have never met Heidi! Randy holds a special place in my heart. (And he has a great blog at Ethos that I read regularly - you should too!)
Matson Duncan - Matson is a very intriguing guy who lives currently in Nashville, but is soon moving to New York to study under the mentorship of world-renowned Christian artist Mako Fujimora. Matson is fundamental in the development of the IAM (International Arts Movement) conference in New York. He’s also the rep for the short-film “Most.” If you haven’t seen it, you need to. It’s only 30 minutes long, and I watched it twice today. It is a very impactful film.

David Hutchins - David stood in as a proxy for Dave Durham, my good friend and founder of The Crucible International - a non-profit organization built around helping people integrate their art with their faith. We have partnered in the recent past with The Crucible organization and see a ton of value in what The Crucible can mean to the Church as it encourages artists to embrace their calling and glorify God with their art.

I’ll post on the rest of the attendees tomorrow. There were three others in attendance who really impact The Arts movement, and have a TON to contribute. I’m humbled and blessed that God would continue to give me these kinds of opportunities to be involved on the ground floor level in the National and International Arts Movement. It is through self-less collaboration in instances like these where God can be most glorified through the Arts. I hope to report back many times in the future how well things are going, and how it is obvious that God is bringing Himself glory through the artistic expression of His people.

Getting out from beyond the borders of Nashville is truly life-giving. Please pray with me on how things will progress as opportunities for influence and contribution continue to expand. To God be all the glory!!

** There are parts of this collaboration discussion that remind me of my recent experience with the Willow Creek Arts Movement think-tank in Chicago. Nancy Beach invited me to be a part of that group that will meet at least twice throughout the year to discuss the national Arts movement and expecially its relation to the Church. Read here for my summary of my time on this think-tank in Chicago.

God, our Master Creator, has given us the Arts to display His glory. And as those created in His image, we have the incredible opportunity to EXPRESS ourselves in many creative ways that bring honor to Him in worship.

If you are in the Nashville area, you won’t want to miss this year’s 2nd annual EXPRESS Festival of the Arts here at Fellowship Bible Church in Brentwood, TN. This weekend, May 12-13. Our entire church campus will be taken over by over 100 Fellowship artists beginning Friday night at 7pm with our “Writers in the Round” concert featuring 7 of Nashville’s finest and most successful songwriters who also call Fellowship “home”.

Then, all day Saturday from 10am-10pm, there will be over 40 visual artists in three venues and over 30 musical performances on five stages. Visual artists will be selling their work, so come prepared!

Highlights will be Dance exhibitions at 11am and 2:30pm featuring many young dancers from our very own Fellowship School of Dance, 1pm “Sneak Peek” of VeggieTales’ latest episode of “LarryBoy and the Bad Apple!” and 3:30pm performance of our now world-renowned and infamous Drum Maniacs… with a twist and a surprise that will shock the world.

At 6pm we will bring everything together with a Worship Concert kicking it off with the Drum Maniacs, including worship led by our Celebration Choir, dance, poetry, drama and more.

Finally, at 7:30pm in the Back Barn is our much-anticipated “559 Coffeehouse” featuring 12 Fellowship artists alternating performances on two stages every 10 minutes. “559″ stands for 5 inputs, 5 minutes to setup and 9 minutes to perform. It will be a great way to close out the Festival.

Click here for the Festival program which will give a complete picture of the campus and the two-day schedule.

If you are in the area this weekend, this Festival is not something you will want to miss!

Wow. I just returned from an evening with five highly talented, working artists who God is using to change the world. Our Fellowship Arts Ministry partnered with Crucible International for the last installment of our Crucible Symposium Series entitled “Exploring Art and Faith”, with a panel discussion featuring Charlie Peacock (Dove Award winning writer, producer, artist), Ron Block (Grammy winning songwriter and guitar/banjo player for Allison Krauss and Union Station), Evelyn Brush (actress), Sharon Perry (dance instructor and choreographer) and David Arms (award winning painter). Dave Durham, the founder of Crucible International, hosted and moderated the panel, probing with provocative questions that explored the depths of their journeys as artists integrating their faith with their art and vocation.

The painting shown here is one David Arms displayed at the Symposium and is also on display at Bennett Galleries, entitled “The Feeling of Forgiveness.” David shared the story behind a number of his pieces - many of his recent works inspired by our Teaching Pastor, Lloyd Shadrach.

Ron Block, who is not only an amazing musician, but a thoughtful writer as well, told the story of his rise to success as the “secret weapon” of Allison Krauss’ band, only to crash and hit rock bottom ten years ago because, as he told it, he had “hooked up to the IV of worldly self-worth.” He explained that, while he was extremely successful in the eyes of the world, his self-worth was completely wrapped up in what he did, not in who he was. If he played good, he felt good about himself. If he played bad, he felt terrible about himself. It was not until he hit ground zero and realized his need to place his self-worth in what God believed about him, that he was able to turn things around. He turned to the “identity passages” in scripture to understand what is true about who he is in Christ - not the deceptions that self believes. Ron, who has 13 Grammys in his collection and played extensively on the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack, also dazzled us with a couple tunes this evening.

I really resonated with what Ron talked about, because I have struggled at various times with my identity being wrapped up more in what I do that in who I am. I too often hook up to the IV of others’ approval and determine my self worth based on whether others approve or not, rather on the fact that I’m a blood-bought child of God who He absolutely delights in. If you have struggled in the same way, I pray that you will find the truth - that God delights in You because you are His child, and that He takes pleasure in fulfilling His purpose for your life. I still battle, but I’m coming to realize in greater measure this truth, as I saturate my life with the promises of God outlined in His scripture.

I was especially compelled by Charlie Peacock’s story as a jazz musician who found Christ and has spent a lifetime working out how his faith informs his art. Being a lover of jazz myself (and influenced a number of years ago by Charlie’s lecture on the life of John Coltrane), I appreciate Charlie’s dogged determination to be true to who he is as an artist even in the face of industry demands for marketability - and even adding a little improvisation in everything he does. His recent jazz release, Love Press Ex Curio, is from his perspective, the jazz record he’s always wanted to do, and is an authentic expression of who he is as an artist. On this project, he wasn’t constrained by his record label’s need to market the project, so allowing him to explore some of the musical edges he’s not been able to in the past. I long to live in that freedom as an artist as well.

While this symposium was an evening of peering into the stories of five highly successful artists, in the end it was always about the glory of God, not the art. The art is a means to the end of glorifying God in all of life. It just so happens that art, by definition, speaks in a way that nothing else can - and so is able to reveal the glory of God in a way that nothing else can. Especially art that possesses all the qualities of beauty. (see my post here on Barbara Nicolosi’s talk concerning beauty) And what became clearly evident was that each of these artists ultimately focus not on their art or their career, but on how their art and their career point to the glory of God.

I will close with a quote from a book to which Charlie contributed (I picked it up tonight), that puts this all in perspective rather well:

“Here’s what I’ve figured out for myself. My life and my art are going to tell a story whether I try to or not. They will tell a story that says: ‘This is what a follower of Jesus is. This is what he is about. This is what he believes. This is what he thinks is important.’ Because this is going to happen and can’t be stopped, I had better make sure I know my role and my job description: a Christian is a living explanation. As I go about living I will either make the teaching about God the Savior attractive or I won’t. I make it attractive by living out what it is. It’s attractive without me. My life and artistic work is to represent it accurately and not do violence to its attractiveness…Be who and what you are. There is no truer starting place for making good and true art.”

Charlie Peacock, Making Art Like a True Artist, from It Was Good: Making Art to the Glory of God, Square Halo Books, 2000, p. 122.