The first chapter of Genesis suggests we are made to make. Yet, if that’s true, why do so many of us believe we aren’t creative? How can we find inspiration? How can we use creativity to reach youth more effectively? To find out, we asked four experts.
Blaine Hogen began his professional career as an actor. He’s now the creative director at Willow Creek. He works in a variety of media and is the author of Untitled: Thoughts on the Creative Process.
Passionate about helping people engage God and His story, Lilly Lewin is a worship curator. She’s the founder of Thinplace, a pilgrimage of discovery and creativity, and the co-author of Sacred Space: A Hands-On Guide to Creating Multisensory Worship Experiences.
For more than two decades, Michael Novelli’s passion has been exploring the intersection of spiritual formation and experiential learning. He’s a senior curriculum developer for Sparkhouse and author of Shaped by the Story: Discover the Art of Bible Storying.
A graduate of the Austin Center for Design, Bethany Stolle lives at the intersection of faith, storytelling, business, technology and design. She’s also a senior curriculum developer at Sparkhouse.
YouthWorker Journal: As people created in God’s image, are we really created to create?
Blaine Hogen: Without question. Being created in God’s image means there are characteristics inherent to God that are inherent to us. Chief among them is creativity. God asked Adam to name the animals, till the land and subdue it. The mandate is to co-create with God.
Michael Novelli: The creation account is a poetic masterpiece. It paints a picture of the Creator-God seeding creativity across the universe. A remarkable privilege is given to humankind to be image-bearers. We’re invited to join God in re-imaging, restoring and remaking the world back to its intended wholeness.
YWJ: Who or what sparks creativity?
Blaine: Anything—a song, dance, photo or speech. God is behind all of it. If we have ears to hear and hearts that are open, He wants us to finish the world.
Lilly Lewin: I can get inspired anywhere, from the Dollar Store to the National Gallery in London. I also go to the Greenbelt Arts Festival in England to see what other worship curators are doing. Pinterest is another great way to get inspired. People post a little of everything from street art to high-end design.
Michael: Places and people that give us life. Creativity is about making connections. A scene from a movie or a walk through our neighborhood can inspire us. These associations help us think differently, see from a new perspective, solve problems and make meaning.
Bethany Stolle: Brainstorming, being open-ended and improvising. Debating, limitations and constraints are also powerful. The best ideas I’ve brought to fruition come through debate. Debates are problematic when you don’t have mutual respect, but when you focus on making an idea stronger in a community that loves one another, you can take risks.
YWJ: Who or what gets in the way of creativity?
Lilly: Busyness. When I haven’t spent enough time being quiet, still or in creation, I have no space to create. We don’t allow ourselves to lie fallow. Students aren’t trained to rest. They’re trained to do activities to put on their resumes. That kills the creative process. It doesn’t allow for space to do the things you might not know you’re good at doing.
Bethany: Fear of risk. Creativity requires vulnerability. If you don’t risk putting something out in the world, ideas disappear.
YWJ: Tell us about your creative process.
Blaine: I collect bits from songs, art, books and photos while being open to a spark of creativity. In The Creative Habit, dance legend Twyla Tharp calls these actions scratching. While I work in different mediums, I get initial inspiration from music, so I start scratching there. I’ll put five songs on repeat, crank the volume, and with pencil in hand, wait to see what comes. As thoughts come, I write them down. As songs inspire me, I put them in scratching piles in my iTunes library. I do this once or twice a week. The point is not to create full-fledged ideas, but to keep my brain fresh and filled with words, ideas, colors and thoughts.
Lilly: I create sacred spaces for a living. I take passages of Scripture and make them interactive. For example, I use duct tape in a prayer station about what keeps you stuck in your relationship with God. It becomes an act of confession. The next time you see that object, you think, “What things keep me stuck?” I hang out with people who are creative. Everyone needs someone to point out creativity because we’re so critical of ourselves. Without community, we don’t always give ourselves permission to be creative. We need people to say, “You’re good at this. You should do more of this. You don’t have to be afraid.”
Michael: The sabbath is about remaking and refueling us creatively. Creativity comes when I allow space for it. I find it in moments of rest, thinking deeply and allowing connections and images to circulate in my mind. Once I have a seed of creativity—an idea, an image, a thought—I process it with others. Others’ interpretations and notions cause me to re-associate my ideas and extend the creative spiral.
Bethany: I do a lot of design research. I interview youth, parents and leaders. I go into churches and homes to better understand not just what families say they value, but what actually happens. I’m passionate about building a team of people who come together, work, make sense of problems and then come up with ways to address them. We’ll bring together artists, youth ministers, musicians, theologians and screenwriters. When you mix people with different gifts and interests, what you get is amazing.
YWJ: What tools or practices would you recommend for boosting creativity?
Blaine: A great device (I use Evernote) to capture everything I think of. These are those scratching bits I mentioned. Read. Listen to music you might not be attracted to. Be quiet. Read. Watch movies. Go to shows. Be quiet. Read!
Michael: Do things that give you life. Journal or draw about how the experience was meaningful. Express how you met God in that experience. Be with people who are creative. Find out what they’re reading and watching. Seek experiences in areas unrelated to your work. Diversity of thought stretches us to think in new ways and grow creatively.
YWJ: How can youth workers utilize creativity to improve their teaching?
Lilly: Make the story come alive. Teach using as many senses as possible. Be aware of different learning styles. Have art supplies available. Kids need to do things with their hands. They need to respond in ways beyond listening. In the process of a talk, allow them to create. Say, “Come up with a symbol or picture that reflects what you hear.” Allow people to share what they created. The Holy Spirit becomes the Teacher as each person tells the story again as the group shares what it has learned. That allows for creative participation and gives youth ownership.
Michael: Engaging different types of students requires a different approach to teaching. Gone are the days when one should aspire to be the sage on stage. Instead, we should discover our roles as guides alongside. Youth gatherings should be about experiencing, processing and interpreting truth together. Instead of preparing persuasive speeches, curate experiences and thoughtful questions.
Bethany: A lot of highly creative acts happen because people are willing to take risks. They don’t know what’s not possible. It’s the responsibility of people working with youth to draw that out of them. Instead of doing it for them, invite young people to participate in the creative process. Ask them. Listen. Learn from them.
YWJ: How can we help young people develop their creativity?
Blaine: Don’t stifle it. Kids get enough of who and what they are not outside the church. The church should be a place for them to experiment with different versions of themselves. Create that space for them to create themselves.
Lilly: Give people space to share their gifts. I met a youth pastor who created an open mic night for his students. People brought everything from music to art. There was a girl with severe food allergies. She brought gluten-free cupcakes and told the story of being in a world where everyone else could eat what they wanted, yet she couldn’t. The church provided a safe place to express creativity. That’s a different way to view church than “I have to give a sermon.”
Michael: Spiritual formation is about naming that which God is stirring within us. Give opportunities for students to share what they’re thinking. Invite students to imagine, draw and create. Follow these opportunities with specific encouragement about their creation, naming their thoughtfulness and creativity.
Bethany: Kids stop drawing between the ages of 8 and 10. That’s when we start to grade them on quality. They lose their sense of wonder and their opportunity to express themselves. They fear there’s a right and wrong way to do it. Kids who say they aren’t creative inherit this message from adults. Actively offset those message, “You’re not good enough.” Focus on creativity as a process, not a product. That helps you recognize what you’re doing that’s already creative.
YWJ: How can we encourage youth to be creators of culture?
Blaine: Show examples of kids who are creating culture. Give opportunities to do it in small ways. Let them see they can actually make change.
Lilly: Too often in the past, we’ve said the best Christians are people in ministry. In truth, we’re all missionaries. We need to help students re-imagine who they’re called to be in the world for Jesus. What’s God created you to be and do? How are you going to be the best follower of Jesus in the midst of that? Speak into their lives: “You’re great at this. Go love Jesus through that. Go and be who God created you to be.”
Michael: Frame gatherings with the expectation that all come as equals to learn, experience and worship God. Give equal voice to all and highlight how students are teaching and revealing God to you. It takes time to re-culture a group with the expectation of sharing and creating. Few environments expect that from us, so it’s disorienting at first.
Bethany: Think about creative problem solving. Frederick Buechner said, “Vocation is the place where our deep gladness meets the world’s deep need.” Be creative within that. Find space to discover the gifts you have. Then live out those passions.
YWJ: What else should we know?
Lilly: When you discover what you’re passionate about and start doing it, not everyone is going to agree. It’s scary to practice what you believe you’re called to do, especially if it’s not what parents expect. If God’s calling you to do it, that’s what you’re supposed to do.
Michael: C.S. Lewis said, “Imagination is the organ of meaning.” The doorway into the depths of creativity and faith is imagination. Foster this by using storytelling, case studies, imaginative prayer, reflection, storyboarding and other approaches. Make active the analytical and emotional side of students. When our imaginations are triggered, we automatically consider the implications of our experience and relate it to our lives. Our ministries must be imaginative places.
Recommended Resources:
The War of Art by Stephen Pressfield
The Creative Habit by Twyla Tharp
The Next Christians by Gabe Lyons
Daring Greatly by Brene Brown
The Crowd, the Critic and the Muse by Michael Gungor
Wreck This Journal! by Keri Smith
