Presentation from a Musicademy training day on creativity in worship. Get over 40 free lessons from Musicademy http://bit.ly/1pQDyUF

1. Bringing new life to Sunday
services
• Introductions
• Structure
– What do we mean by creativity?
– The reading
– The typical service formula
– Why we need a more creative approach
• Attention spans
• Learning styles
– Some examples
– Integrating with the prophetic
– Making it happen
– Issues

2. Creativity
• What is worship?
• What do we mean by creativity?

3. The Reading
• In groups brainstorm creative ways that
the reading could be delivered

4. The Formula
• Welcome
• The Sung Worship
• Liturgy
• Notices
• The Reading
• The Children’s Talk
• Prayers
• The Sermon
• The Altercall

5. Attention Spans
• Amusing ourselves to Death
• 12-minutes chunks
• 15 minute limits

6. Attention Spans
• Traditional lecture format - 15 to 20 minutes

7. Attention Spans
• “Most people can maintain an attention
span of eight minutes. Then the mind
begins to wander.”
http://researchmag.asu.edu/stories/grabsci
.html

8. Information Overlead

9. Attention Spans
• “They say that the
average American has
an attention span of
about 20 minutes, which
is decreasing every year.
With our decreasing
attention span comes a
decreasing ability to
retain what we have
learned.”

10. Honey and Mumford’s
Learning Styles
Suggested four learning styles:
•ACTIVIST: ‘I’ll try anything once’.
•REFLECTOR: ‘I need time to think about it’
•THEORIST: ‘If it’s logical it’s good’.
•PRAGMATIST: ‘If it works, it’s good’.

11. Activists
• Learns best from active involvement in the
task, such as participating in business
games and team competitions
• Philosophy - will try anything once
• Needs - experience, variety, excitement,
activity
and people

12. Reflectors
• Learns best by reviewing upon what has happened, likes to
stand back and listen
• Philosophy - leave no stone unturned and be sure to look
before leaping
• Needs - objective data, the chance to reflect, analyse and to
reach their own conclusion

13. Theorists
• Learns best when new information can be linked to theoretical
contexts, absorbs new ideas when they are distanced from real
life
• Philosophy - if it’s logical then it must be good
• Needs - models and theories, complexity, perfection,
rationality, objectivity and a clear understanding

14. Pragmatists
• Learns best when there is a link between new
information and real life, such as case study and role
play
• Philosophy - there is always a better way to do things
• Needs - the chance to experiment, new ideas and
techniques, practical approaches and solutions to
problems

15. Elsewhere
• Mega churches in the US
• Emerging church (often radically different ways of
doing church well beyond what we are considering
here!)

16. Some Examples
• Advent
• God of Justice
• Risk
• Themed services
• Flatbread communion
• Song/poem: listen and discuss

17. Flash Paper
• Three tea lights
• Flash paper
• Write your confession on the paper
• Drop over the tea lights
• Learning: God doesn’t
remember these things
– they are gone

18. Write a Psalm
• Set some parameters:
– Thank God
– Ask God
– Praise God
– Questions for God
• Everyone writes a single line on post-its
• Read them one-by-one and have the response
“His love endures forever”
• Use the excerpts in future services as a call to
worship

19. External Resources
• EngageWorship.org – x200 worship Ideas

20. Some Practical Ideas
• Groups discussing “our ideal church”
• Case studies including a spiritual or moral dilemma
• Stations of the Cross
• Exploring worship with other senses
• Bookclub style
• Prayer tent / contemplative space / poustinia
• Poetry
• Film clips
• Listen to a CD – contemporary/worship/taize
• Sources – the web, Google Images, You Tube, Nooma
• Using contemporary media/TV themes

21. Creating space for the Holy
Spirit
• Creating space
• Responding to him
• The role of the prophetic in releasing creativity and vice
versa
• Prophetic acts
• Using prophetic words in imagery

22. Practicalities
• A “creative team”
– Theme / Bible passage
– Content in terms of
children’s talk/game,
reading, prepared art,
film clips, special activities,
presentations, drama,
“testimony”, interviews, the preach itself
– Assign and delegate responsibilities

23. At the very least…..
• Break up your preaching into chunks
• Keep it short!
• Use visual aides
• Use Powerpoint / Media Shout etc
• Share the sermon
with someone else
• Ask questions

24. Issues
• The older generation often don’t like it – they are
very happy with the ways its always been done
• Difficult to enable interaction in larger
congregations
• One person monopolising
activities
• Practical challenges like PA
and seating
• Management and control
• Performance vs participation