The How of Ministry

Art is it, the how of ministry that is.

OK, I am prejudiced because I am an artist. I see the visual arts as the way to connect to other people. Art for me is a portal for service, a means of communication, a way to attract and unite people. I discovered art ministry by doing art ministry. I found it was a window to understanding people’s needs. For me it meant seeing the needs of teens from broken homes and difficult situations. And as a new friend reminded me this week the arts are just the how, the means to an end in ministry. The goal of ministry is relationship. The goal of ministry is connecting to other people. Ministry is not programming. It is not a well executed sermon, worship service or a slick bulletin. Those are just the how. What happens among the people involved between the conception of a message and the service is the real ministry.

Ministry happens when people are plugged into the church in their area of giftedness.
So if I talk about art ministry I can communicate the how of ministry to you. I confess that visual art is what comes to my mind when I talk about art ministry. The arts are really much broader than the visual arts. Even in my narrow focus I can admit that the arts are music, drama, poetry, writing, media, dance and graphics. The arts communicate. Communication connects, invites and expands the message. Our message is the message of relationship first between God and man, then man to man.

My plan was simple. Meet with the kids who had an interest in art and give them the opportunity to create. Have the supplies they needed and just be there giving a helping hand and a few suggestions. I was able to begin to steer them and help them begin to express their faith through art. We had a few shows. We made some mission goals and planned projects. But what really happened was an instant connection, artist to artist. What was shared was their struggles in life, their hopes, their fears, their vision. So much more happened on the personal level than I expected that when my new friend Chris shared his vision of art ministry from a musician’s viewpoint I knew what he was saying was true. It wasn’t just about the music on Sunday morning it was about the team and the way they communicated with each other and the congregation. Chris’ challenge when he had accepted his position on staff at my new church was to grow an across the board arts ministry involving as many disciplines as he could find leadership for and get us involved with the inner workings of the church. His vision looks suspiciously like Paul’s description of the body of Christ in the book of Ephesians.

In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit. Ephesians 2:21-22

The principles of the how of ministry, of course goes beyond the arts. We can engage and connect through sports ministry, helps ministry, disaster relief… the possibilities are as vast as the gifts and talents in your local church.