Collide Magazine

Know Your Role: Artist's Perspective

Barton Damer - Originally posted Monday, June 30, 2008 -

Who is really in charge of media at your church? Is it your media pastor, or does the senior pastor have to sign off on everything? Is your creative director responsible for directing the creative elements of your services, or does he simply execute the senior pastor’s vision?

At many churches, a tension surrounds the graphics, video, lighting, etc. Senior pastors have plans for what they want to accomplish, years of ministry experience, and theological training. Artists in the church also have plans for what they wants to accomplish, which are accompanied by years of production experience and media training. Believe it or not, all these plans, experiences, and years of training don’t always perfectly align. The result—a senior pastor who feels compelled to take the media reigns, so to speak, and an artist who feels chafed from a lack of freedom—are rarely pretty.

With that in mind, we solicited perspectives from a senior pastor, Ben Arment, and an artist, Barton Damer, in attempt to discover the keys to a synergetic relationship between the two roles. We believe beyond the aforementioned tension lies a powerful ministry dynamic from which your staff, your media, and your congregation can all benefit.

An Artist’s Perspective: Can You Change That Font?

MY STORY

It was Tuesday morning. I was excited because I worked extremely hard to crank out a last-minute project for my church. Of course, I wanted it to be excellent. I put in a ridiculous amount of hours over the weekend, so it would be done in time for the big wigs to approve it. The approval process was brutal. In many ways, I hoped for last minute projects, so I could work right up until it was too late to make adjustments. Usually, turning something in on Tuesday meant they had four days to make adjustments (mainly adjusting things that were previously approved at a lower level); however, that was not the case this time. I had escaped the entire week without any adjustments being made to the video. Could it be true? Of course not. Friday night the senior pastor called an associate pastor, who then called the head of the media department, who then called me around 10 PM.

The next morning I made the senior pastor’s changes with time to spare before rehearsals started. I breathed a sigh of relief as one of the higher-ups thanked me for going the extra mile and making this change so quickly. Now I could go home and continue the rest of my day with the wife and kids. Later that evening we went out to dinner, which would normally be a pleasant experience, except that I received another phone call from the church.

It was the pastor’s PowerPoint assistant, who promptly apologized for bothering me once again about the video.

“The senior pastor would like you to change the font for the words at the end of the video, ‘Sign Up In The Lobby Today,’” she said. “Can you do that before the 6:30 PM service?”

It was 5:30 PM. I was at dinner with my family. I lived 30 minutes away from the church. To this day, I still can’t believe that I’d never dealt with a client that demanding until I started serving in a church. I’ve never even answered God’s calling that quickly!

THE DILEMMA

The age of the corporate church is well into its development. We even label our worship as corporate. Many pastors now function as CEOs, authors, celebrities, weight loss trainers, and, in many cases, art directors. While pastors are busy people who often look for opportunities to delegate responsibilities, there is one area that too many tend to hold onto—anything visual. (For the sake of this article, let’s refer to anything involving print design, motion graphics, or video as “new media.”)

It is rare that a lead pastor would approve the youth minister’s sermon before it is delivered, make sure the parkers and greeters are scheduled for all 16 services, or stop by the nursery to make sure it passes the latest health inspection codes. Hopefully, you see my point: There are some things lead pastors simply trust will be done and done well. So what is a pastor communicating to their new media staff when he won’t let go of the visuals?

THE ARTIST’S JOB

As an artist, I am constantly researching and building an arsenal of works that inspire me. That way, when the bomb drops (last-minute project) and I need something fast, I’ve been saturating myself with ideas that will help launch me into production. I need to be able to create something fresh that will communicate appropriately using the best available methods. When I have thought out my concepts and have a purpose for my artistic decisions, I am well equipped to take the creative process beyond expectations.

Jeff Finley is an amazing artist and an acquaintance of mine. He has done work for some major clients including Pepsi, Virgin Mobile, Zune, and Ozzfest. When I asked him about designing for clients who may not be onboard with his vision, he articulated his philosophy this way: “Sometimes the client doesn't quite get it, but it's our job to help teach clients. They rely on us to do something great and that's what we should do. Sometimes the things we want to do are different than what the client expects or knows will sell.”

He continued, “Clients will come around and start liking what you're doing if you're passionate enough about it. And that's one of our goals.”

Re-read his statements and insert “pastor” everywhere you see “client.”

THE SOLUTION

A pastor should be able to trust his creative staff and let go, and I believe there are two steps in that process. The first is trust. As an artist I need ask myself several questions:

• What steps can I take to gain the trust of my pastor?
• Do I take initiative in my job?
• Does my pastor know more about new media concepts than I do?
• Am I open to suggestions?
• Does my pastor have to continually bring me examples of other things he’s
• seen elsewhere in hopes that I’ll catch the vision?
• Do I have a group of other artists with which to share ideas?

If the artist hasn’t considered these things it’s no wonder the pastor hasn’t let go. The artist hasn’t earned the trust of his or her pastor. If you’re an artist in a local church, remember,pastor’s are not trained as art directors, lighting designers, or video producers, so don’t make them do your job.

Once a pastor knows he can trust his artist, both are ready for the second step: letting go. During a talk on innovation at the BUZZ Conference in 2007, LifeChurch.tv pastor Craig Groeschel gave most of the credit for LifeChurch’s innovative ventures to staff member Bobby Gruenewald and his team. With that in mind, I contacted Gruenewald about the creative process at Lifechurch.tv.

“Overall, we have done the best when creative types that clearly understand our vision have been empowered,” he explained. “I also think there can be a process ‘tipping point’ where systems can hinder creative ideas. In general, I believe the number of approvals in the creative process should be kept to a minimum if the right people are involved.”

LOOKING TO BEZALEL

Several months after the aforementioned “font change” incident, I began working for the young adult services at my church. This time there were no limitations; there were no levels of approval. They wanted me on their staff because they loved my work and trusted me to do a great job. The young adult pastor was committed to using new media in creative ways, and I felt empowered to use my gifts as part of the team.

Pastors and artists need to work towards a level of trust that will free up the new media team to be all that God has called them to be. Pastors are slammed with a million other things going on. Being the art director is where I am gifted.

Overall, I had good experiences within church settings. I was blessed to have a ton of freedom to experiment and push my creative limits (most of the time). I’ve heard nightmare stories of designers who finish a project only to have the Pastor, his secretary, the worship leader, and whoever else walked into the room at the time, give input and offer “adjustments.”

For what it’s worth, I agree with Ben Arment. I ran when a particular mega-church asked me, “Will you get upset if you work all week long on a video for the services and then we decide to pull it if the Spirit leads us to do something else Sunday morning?” Apparently the Spirit only shows up on Sunday morning and only works through the pastor and worship leader at that church.

Personally, I believe the Spirit works through media, too. I thank God for a guy in the Bible named Bezalel whom God filled with both the Spirit and artistic ability (Exodus 31:1-5). Bezalel gives me hope that God can use me as well.

Read The Pastor's Perspective

Barton Damer is a Creative Director for RT Media Group. In addition, Barton is a creative contributor for GoMediaZine.com, where several of his tutorials can be found. View his work at www.bartondamer.com.