Friday at Daybreak’s Creative Infusion conference, one of the morning sessions was a discussion between Wes Dupin, senior pastor at Daybreak, and Mark Courtney, creative arts director at the church. They’ve worked together for 13 years, and Daybreak is regarded as a remarkably creative church, a place where all kinds of multimedia fit together in a church service. The two of them were asked several questions, and asked to respond and talk about ways they interact and work together.
One thing they continually emphasized was respect between senior pastors and people in creative departments.
Wes expressed he tries his hardest to respect all the people on the creative and technical teams; he regards them as co-ministers, and wants to reassure them that he finds their contribution to ministry just as important as the people who are actually on stage.
Conversely, Mark believes that his role is to support the senior pastor. He talked about how he and his team seek to help Wes realize his dreams. Mark said he understands that Wes has a real and powerful vision for the church, and Mark sees his own role as someone who works to make those visions a reality.
They also both talked about the importance of being open and honest with one another and with other teams. Based on audience response, it seems that many pastors and creative directors feel isolated from one another and from other teams. Here at Daybreak, they make sure to watch the service together each week, and to give one another honest and open feedback. Wes also tries to be open to suggestions for sermon series themes, titling, and other aspects of the service he’s involved with.
This entire discussion got me thinking: How do most of you interact with your creative arts team? How much trust and freedom are you willing to give them, and how much are they willing to give you? What are some tough things you’ve had to work through in your interactions with the creative team? And, finally, what solutions have you discovered through those struggles?
Ryan Hamm is assistant editor of Online Media at Christianity Today, International.
Posted by Brittany Tarr at 9:20 AM on May 21, 2007
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Wow! Sounds like they're a great team. I think it goes back to those relationships and they have to be based on mutual respect (just like any relationship, I guess!). So to keep those lines of communication clear, there has to be respect--and a level of trust. Your sister site, buildingchurchleaders.com, has been a big help for my church in this way--lots of helpful little articles, studies we can do as a team, etc. So thanks for that, too.
Posted by: Interested in Indy on May 21, 2007