Changing Culture 3 of 4

I’m super excited today as my author’s copies of The Creative Arts Ministry Field Guide arrived! I’ve checked them over and they look great…the book is ready for release this Friday, July 24th on Amazon!

As promised, here are two more tips on changing the culture of your creative arts team, right from the book. So far we’ve looked at writing down your cultural expectations, giving constant reminders, building friendships with your team members, and changing slowly.

Explaining Why

I constantly explain why it is important to be on time, come prepared, and respond to scheduling requests in a timely manner. I’m on a quest to help the team understand the value of doing ministry this way, and I never assume that everyone feels the same way I do. There are other ways to live, other ways to do ministry. Why this way? What difference does it make? This was particularly important for members who had been with the team before I arrived. New members tend to buy in quickly to the vision of how the team functions since they have nothing to compare it with. Long-time members almost always take more convincing since they are used to a different way. They need to understand the thinking behind why things should change.

Showing Results

When people become followers of Jesus or get baptized, I let the team know and tell them, “you had a part in bringing them to Jesus!” I explain that our values and expectations result in services that have high quality and high impact. We are setting the tone and breaking through barriers that keep people from listening to the gospel. The team needs to know that their efforts are making an impact!

The final two tips are on the way, stay tuned!