What do we mean by creative?
Creative means beginning with your dreams that exist within and formulating a process to incarnate those dreams into everyday life and practice.
In church ministry in general and young adult ministry in particular, creative means dismissing the demons that say, "we can't afford that" and "that will never work" and unleashing the power of the possible.
If money was not an obstacle, negative thinking was not an anchor, and a person had the authority to do new and bold things for others, what would you do?
How do we reach out and beyond the same people and invite the spiritually hungry into activities and programs with and for their peers?
How can we gather those who are spiritual yet unchurched and truly listen to them, their hopes and what, if anything, could make religion more relevant?
How can we convince local parishes that the presence of younger people, single and married, can bring new and fuller life to the parish? How can we help them do that?
How can we speak with clergy and lay leaders and help them understand that the only response to younger, and often loosely connected, younger people is not just a legal one?
If younger people are not coming to us, then what are some inventive ways to go out to them?
Can websites and social media be used more successfully than announcing another program?
How can we answer their questions, when they don't have a platform to ask them?
These and many other questions are the basis for church ministry today. They are the issues of our own younger people who truly are seeking answers and direction for their own lives. Apparently a lot of what they are hearing and reading from the church and about the church has not been helpful.
What do we mean by creativity? How can we be more helpful in connecting people to the life, the practices and the spirituality of our church?
Creativity means thinking, dreaming and trying.
Creativity means responding to what we know, what we have learned, and what we have been told. It does not mean trying only what we think or feel.
Creativity is not equated with success. It means we can try and maybe fail. It does not mean we won't try, even a great idea, because we might fail.
Often creativity is found in our mistakes and failures, more than it is in our wildest dreams.
Not everyone is creative. Some people are doers; others are organizers. But it takes the creative people to allow them to organize new ideas and get them done.
In too many organizations and systems today there is no room for creativity. Budgets are extremely limited. They will not fund new and unproven ideas.
“Friends of Young Adult Ministry” wants to fund new and unproven ideas.
Christ was amazingly creative. He wanted his apostles and followers to see the same things they all saw every day, with a new set of eyes and possibilities. When people saw an adulteress woman, Jesus saw a daughter of God. When they chase a leper to the edge of the city, Jesus embraced the man as a son of the Most High.
Christ knew what was. He wanted so much more for the children of God.
When the world held people in the sins, He offered them unlimited forgiveness. When people knew clearly what was expected of them in their popular culture, He told them, "I have come that you may have life and life in abundance."
Creativity builds a better world.