June 12, 2015
By Phil Maynard
Like the title says, be creative.
Nobody who would actually take the time to read a “Powerful Worship Experiences” blog would disagree with that advice. That is to say, nobody who has a hand in leading worship would advocate the alternative strategy: don’t be creative.
Everybody wants to honor God by being creatively energized in leading others in celebrating God’s presence and going deeper in living out God’s wisdom, but . . . HOW? How do we develop practices that consistently result in our producing creative results?
There is a myth among non-creatives (think of your engineering friends) or wanna-be creatives (I used to see a lot of those in the Introduction to Creative Writing Class I taught) that the creative process happens when an angel of inspiration suddenly swoops in and hands you a creative project full-born and perfected.
Writers, musicians, and artists who earn their way in the world through the production of creative work know that the truth is that creativity is hard work, and that to be successful requires discipline, focus, and routine. Especially when working in group settings, it is very much about proces