Mashed potato church
Posted by weaver in Uncategorized at 11:19 am | 
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Last week I and a colleague of mine met with a marketing consultant to help get a business off the ground. When we told Susan (said consultant) that we (Robin–colleague and myself) want to work with churches to enhance creativity, Susan asked plainly, “Are churches very creative?” The point of her question wasn’t a theological one or even practical to begin discussing creativity or the lack thereof in the church. Her question was one pushing us to ask if that is the best area of the marketplace in which to begin work.
What I find interesting about Susan’s question is the perception behind it. While there are churches that are doing creative and innovative things, I wonder if Susan’s question is representative of much of people looking at the church from the outside. Maybe the question is born out of the region in which I live, the midwest. Columbus, Ohio is not the hotbed of creative enterprises. It reflects the midwest quiet well. If we were food, we’d be mashed potatoes and gravy. Tasty and to some, important stabilizer to a meal, but not very creative and spicy.
Has the church become no more creative than a pile of mashed potatoes and gravy on a plate?
2nd of October, 2007 at 6:41 am
churches are people.
people are creative.
they can also be lazy.
creativity is, as Hammond said, “an act of will.”
one cannot be lazy and create.
maybe the church –the gatherings of people made distinct by their followship of Jesus - has become lazy. if she has, she is because she hasn’t yet grasped the greatness to which she has been called.
perhaps the leaders hoping for devotion-filled lives of reading the whole week and then sharing their feelings with others once a week, have forgotten the epic journey to which they have been instructed to call others.
but when sparked to action by necessity or ambition or curiosity or love, people can be very, very creative.