Worship Media Arts

Where do great ideas come from? The answer is quite simple- brainstorming. Whether working alone, or with a group of other creative teammates, great ideas often start with brainstorms.

Here are 8 rules for group brainstorming from my book (co-authored with Len Wilson) Taking Flight with Creativity: Worship Design Teams that Work.

1.) Keep the brainstorming team small

It is important to keep brainstorming groups at a relatively small size. Studies have shown that the most effective brainstorming groups consist of around 4 to 7 people. Any more than that and it’s hard to narrow down ideas and form consensus. Any less and it’s hard to have enough minds focused to generate good ideas.

2.) Even the playing field

The best creative groups find a way to check hierarchical structure at the door. No one wants to look bad in the eyes of their superiors, and brainstorming (from an ego standpoint) can be pretty risky. Creativity flows much easier when each member feels the same amount of authority to express and give input on ideas being discussed. The “flatter” the team feels organizationally, the better the brainstorming will be.

It may not be possible to organize staff positions in such a way that everyone is “flat” outside the meeting, but position and supervisory issues should be deemphasized during the brainstorming meeting.
Read the rest of this entry »

Matthew Federman and Stephen Scaia are a dynamic duo of awesomeness.

These writing partners of eight years have written and produced many series including Judging Amy, Jericho, Warehouse 13, Human Target, and Charlie’s Angels. They’re currently in development on a cable pilot as well as a Zorro re-boot for Sony.

They are highly respected by their peers, and their talent has kept them consistently working from the early days of their partnership.

A few years ago I got to know Matt and Steve when they were working on the episodic television series Jericho. A couple of years later I got to work with them as a designer on a pilot they had in development, and I must say, it’s truly exciting to experience their collaborative process in real time.

On a side note, and to further reinforce the notion that it is indeed a small world, Steve grew up only a short drive down the interstate from where I grew up, and while we didn’t know it at the time, we competed in high school marching band competitions. Anyway, on to more interesting things!

1. Guys, thanks for agreeing to participate in this series. When breaking a story in the writers’ room, the writing staff has to come to a consensus. Does being a writing team give you any advantages when breaking a story? I know you don’t take a vote, but do two voices help if you’re on the same side as an idea? Or do you really function as individuals in the room?

Matt: We function as individuals but tend to find ourselves on the same side of an argument. The main advantage for us is during staffing since we are packaged as two for the price of one, which helps in an increasingly competitive environment. In terms of story breaking, when it is going to be our episode, we tend to break a lot of the story on our own to take the weight off the room. We come in with a fleshed-out take. That seems to be appreciated.

Steve: Another plus to being a team in the room is that we both know each other so well that if one of us needs to be writing, or on set, we still have a presence in the room. Comes in handy, and saves time on catching up on what we missed if one of us was elsewhere that day.
Read the rest of this entry »

As an artist/writer/media guy, I am and always have been fascinated by the creative process. One of my greatest passions is that of storytelling. Storytelling can take many forms, from writing to video editing, from graphic arts to collaborative worship design. Inspiration for that passion can be drawn from many places, and I’m always on the lookout for things that can make me better at my craft.

Like many of the readers of this blog, I’ve been a fan of film and television for as long as I can remember. Those of us communicating the gospel in worship can gain much through an exploration of the processes used in Hollywood.

In addition to my work at Midnight Oil, I do graphic and motion design work for a number of “secular” clients. Over the last few years, I’ve gotten to know and work with several Hollywood writers and producers. I’ve learned so many things from listening to and watching my writer friends that apply directly to what I do at Midnight Oil, The Ohio River Valley District of the UMC, Simplifilm, and (from time to time) Ginghamsburg UMC.

After reflecting on some of the things I’ve learned, I began to envision a series of posts exploring creative collaboration and the creative process as known by Hollywood creatives. Several emails and conversations later, this series was born.

Over the next two months, I’ll be interviewing some of the entertainment industry’s most successful and up and coming television and feature film writers. If you design worship as a team, want to learn how to become a better storytelling, are fascinated by the creative process, or are just a fan of television and film, this series is for you.

First up is an interview with my friend Carol Barbee.

Carol is one of the most beloved writers/producers in Hollywood. I know quite a few people who have had the pleasure of working with her, and every single one of them has gone on and on about how great she is.

Carol has worked in front of the camera as an actor and behind the scenes as a writer/producer/showrunner. Her credits as a writer/producer include shows such as Providence, Judging Amy, Jericho, Swingtown, Three Rivers, Hawaii Five-0, and the new Fox drama Touch. I’ve had the honor of knowing Carol since about 2007, and I have great respect for her and her work.

When I asked Carol if she’d answer a few questions about what it’s like to be a writer/producer, she responded within moments with a resounding “YES!” I hope her responses will help you see your creative process from a new perspective.

1.) Carol, you have experience in front of and behind the camera. How did your time as an actor affect your role as a writer?

Having been an actor helps me as a writer in so many ways.  First of all, I’m not afraid of actors.  Don’t laugh—a lot of writers have never spoken to an actor and consider them a foreign and frightening life form.  Having been an actor, I think I understand what actors can say and also what they need in terms of motivation and drive for the character.  I also act out my scripts as I write them, and therefore supply endless entertainment to my assistant. Read the rest of this entry »

One of the most frequent questions asked at a Midnight Oil Seminar is, “How often should a worship design team meet”? The answer usually begins with, “It depends on your team”.

In the book I co-authored with Len Wilson, “Taking Flight With Creativity: Worship Design Teams That Work“, we explored that question in depth. Here’s an excerpt from the book that explores the question in detail:

Many churches already conduct a regular worship planning time. For a large church, it is often a gathering of pastors, musicians, and tech people. For a small church, it is frequently the pastor and the music leader exchanging emails or standing in the hallway together for a few minutes. What can your team do to make your meetings more productive?

Success comes in the details. In worship, as in entrepreneuralism, the first step is to evaluate the process. A weekly worship design team meeting should be more than a calendar-sharing session. Ideally, you are designing a worship event where lives are transformed through the creative presentation of the Gospel. Each worship element is not pre-determined, but developed together as a group.

The first detail to figure out is to determine how often the team meets. While worship styles vary wildly across regions, denominations, and congregational sizes, there seem to be only a few basic models for planning. We’ve outlined 3 popular methods below with some notes. This is not meant to be a comprehensive list, but a starting point for figuring out your church’s own unique solution.

1. Single team meeting weekly

This is perhaps the most common model for designing worship in a team. A weekly worship team can be staff, volunteer, or a mix of the two. There is a set weekly time, either during the workday or in the evening. It is recommended that this design team time and day remain generally the same each week. For example Tuesdays at 2:00pm might work well with an all-staff team. Evenings will probably be better if volunteers are involved.

In some ways, the weekly meeting is an easier model, particularly in terms of facilitating the logistics of planning. Small church planning structures, which are often highly relationship-driven, rely on ongoing communication between the preacher, music leader and other staff or volunteer team members. This communication happens face to face during the meeting, but also, and sometimes to a greater degree, takes place outside the team meeting via email and telephone.

Weekly meetings are also—arguably—easier in terms of managing interpersonal dynamics, because the team has more interaction with each other. This presumably leads to stronger relationships. (Of course, a high level of team interaction can have the opposite effect, but in our experience the more often a team meets the better its member relationships form and maintain.) If team members have sufficiently flexible schedules to do weekly meetings, the overall nearness of the team will likely be much stronger just because of the frequency of the gatherings.

More likely than not, teams that meet weekly are going to be staff. Understand that for many staff members, the idea of “another meeting” isn’t something that will be relished at first. Be proactive about making the meetings uplifting, casual, creative and fun. If done right, “design team day” will become the highlight of the week.

2. Multiple teams meeting weekly or on rotation

Although weekly worship planning has its pros, one of its cons is that it can become exhausting, especially for volunteers who have busy lives outside of the team. Burnout can happen pretty fast. Having multiple teams sharing the worship design burden can be a great solution to this problem.

In this model, several different teams design worship. For example, there may be 4 teams, each meeting once a month with the paid staff (usually a pastor, a music person, and or a media specialist). The paid staff come to every meeting and help to carry out the individual services. Planning could be for the upcoming week, or it may be for several weeks ahead.

Usually this method of planning includes a mix of preacher, music leader and key technical and creative volunteers. It might also be made up of an all-staff team. The worship producer is the link and becomes highly important to keeping continuity between teams. Teams that don’t have a producer in place should add one before moving forward on this method.

The length of these meetings can vary, but ideally they are around 2 to 3 hours. It is not necessary to determine every single song, prayer, and creative element within the group meeting time, but deciding the overall creative (theme/metaphor) direction for the service, and an order of worship should be the goal. Individuals outside the meeting can then carry out specific tasks.

Churches who preach in series, use the Revised Common Lectionary, or follow standard liturgy may find this method particularly useful, since the structure of the church calendar can facilitate planning ahead. However, such a structure is dependant on a preacher who plans ahead.

3. Single team meeting once every few weeks or monthly

If filling one good team – much less a whole bunch of them – seems like an enormous task, consider using one team, but spreading the meetings out to once or twice a month. This third common model may be the most realistic model for small and mostly volunteer-based teams.

The overarching goal in this model is to set the creative direction for several services at one meeting. When teams come together, the view is like a lens kept on wide-angle. Meetings are for brainstorming themes, metaphors, songs, and other creative elements for upcoming services. Only devote an hour or so to each service, hopefully less. Using this model means that more creative decisions are made outside of the meetings by individuals communicating via email, text, and telephone.

As you put your team together or restructure your existing team, keep in mind the things that can deflate the team. One detractor to morale often comes from looking at the way other “successful” teams prepare. At most large church conferences, the official playbook reads: a) worship is the primary event of the congregation, so b) it is due the most resources, and c) if given adequate resources, it will produce a growing church. In other words, act like a big church in the approach to worship design, and eventually you’ll become a big church. This may or may not be true. Examples may be cited either way. Even if it is true, however, not every congregation seeks to become a clone of its most frequently modeled mega-church. Enjoy the freedom you have to discover your own indigenous structure for designing worship!

If your team doesn’t fit into one of these models, what does your model look like?

For more a more complete look at worship design, check out our book Taking Flight With Creativity: Worship Design Teams that Work.