Creative tools and strategies for ministry
“Caine’s Arcade” a short film about a 9 year old, Caine Monroy, who built an elaborate cardboard arcade inside his dad’s used auto part store – is about to have the best day of his life. The film created to tell his story, has gone viral and gotten a lot of attention in the news. You can find out more about Caine’s story here. Do you have a story to tell or know a good story that needs to be told?
Caine’s Arcade from Nirvan Mullick on Vimeo.
The amazing growth of digital media is transforming the world and changing the way we communicate and even think. There are growing opportunities for digital evangelism.
Internet Evangelism Day is an annual focus day, scheduled for 29 April 2012. It creates a space for churches, ministries and individual Christians to investigate the many options for sharing the good news online.
The Internet Evangelism Day website is also a year-round online resource guide to help Christians understand these varied opportunities. Topics covered include: how to build a church website that is ‘outsider friendly’, using Facebook and Twitter in evangelism, and the growing options for using your mobile phone.
For many of these opportunities, you need no technical knowledge at all. And there are many opportunities to volunteer to be an email mentor to inquirers who have visited outreach sites operated by several online ministries.
Internet Evangelism Day is an initiative of the Internet Evangelism Coalition, based at the Billy Graham Center, Wheaton. It is supported by a wide range of Christian leaders and groups. “I am glad to commend Internet Evangelism Day,” said the late John Stott.
More information: www.IEDay.net
I had the opportunity to watch “Homeless for the Holidays” a film based on a true story about an executive that falls from the corporate ladder and finds it difficult to find work. He takes a very unpleasant job, but when the bills begin to pile up he soon realizes that his family is about to become homeless by Christmas. I was provided a free copy of the film so that I could review it. I was not obligated to write this review in any certain way.
This powerful story will move you to evaluate what you really have and what really matters. I was drawn into the story and what the family was going through was well played out on the screen. “Homeless for the Holidays” is mixed with humor and moments of uncertainties. Where the film lacks is in budget. It was done on a very low budget, so the acting and sometimes that visual are not of the highest quality.
The film is family friendly and is awarded five out 0f five seals by the Dove Foundation. You can find out more about the film and watch a trailer on the “Homeless for the Holidays” website.
It has been a while since I blogged. This has been a busy and exciting year. Since most of my time now is spent in producing films for ministry use, I have decided to write more about that subject. I also want to provide reviews for faith based films and other visual media tools. It is my hope that this will be beneficial to those who are looking for new opportunities and tools for ministry.
The “Idea” is the first step in developing a ministry tool and strategy. You probably have a lot of ideas for new tools and strategies, but are they good ideas. I have found the key to a good idea is identifying a need that the idea can help.
When it comes to ministry most individuals, churches or ministries are looking for a ministry tool or strategy to help solve a need. If you create a tool and strategy that really isn’t needed then it won’t get used.
Once I was part of a team that created a CD-Rom that was complex, but very postmodern. The project took a very long time to complete, but it got done. We created a website and had broad distribution. In the end only a handful people used it, because it didn’t really meet a need and it was hard to use. So, first identify the need. A good way to identify a need is to listen and ask others.
Once you have the need identified, bring people together to pray and brainstorm ideas. There are a ton of resources on brainstorming. I personally like using the Walt Disney Imagineering process for brainstorming. This is where you put ideas on sticky notes or note cards. Then group the ideas together that are similar. Then you “plus up” the ideas. This is expanding the original idea presented by writing more details on another sticky note or note card and placing it under the idea. Once you complete that process you are able to determine which is the best idea.
The next step once you have an idea is to prototype it. That will be covered next.
The last few years I have been involved with helping to develop a ministry tool and strategy that is being used around the world. Over the next few weeks I thought I would share some ideas that I have learned in the process.
I will cover developing the idea, creating the ministry tool, testing it and promoting the ministry tool or strategy. Are there any other areas or questions you may have that you would like covered?
Here are some Easter outreach ideas that can be used in your church and community. Please share some of yours as well.
1. Film Festival- show films that depict the story of Jesus- His life, death and resurrection. You can find a listing of films about Jesus from the Bible Film Blog.
2. Art Exhibit- have local artists or artists in your church draw or paint pieces about Jesus’ life death and resurrection. Have an exhibit where the community can come and view the artwork and interact with the artist to hear their “story”.
3. Music concert- select musical selections and Bible readings that touch on the life, death and ressurection of Jesus.
4. Backyard Easter Bash- Using the colorful eggs found in Resurrection Eggs host an egg hunt for the children in your community or church.
5. Easter Experience- A new DVD-driven group study that uses narrative drama and challenging teaching. To find out more check out the Easter Experience website.
Here is a great resource to check out. It is called the “Overflow Show“. The Overflow show is a free 5 minute audio podcast for christians which teach us how to natuarally “overflow” into our non-Christian friends’ lives with the gospel. Each show is different and brings new and helpful ideas. Topics include: how to transition to talking about Jesus; intellectual answers to objections about our faith; and many more. From answering questions, to removing doubts, the Overflow Show seeks to give you confidence and connect you better with non-believers. You can visit the “Overflow Show” website to listen to the show and find out more information.
“I recently discovered that over 500,000 of the population of my home town use the networking website Facebook,” writes a surprised computer user. Remarkably, 1.5 billion people now access the Web for a wide range of activities. A new internet service called ‘Twitter’ recently enabled eyewitnesses to pass on to thousands of other people their firsthand accounts (with pictures) of the jet that ditched in the Hudson River, well before TV and radio could tell the story. The digital world seems to change every time we blink!
How can Christians use this bewildering mix of technologies to share the good news? One place to find answers is Internet Evangelism Day’s website. It provides detailed resources, ideas and strategies to help Christians use what many leaders have called a ‘God-given medium’. These include a self-assessment tool for church websites, enabling them to better reach out into their communities.
Internet Evangelism Day – as the name suggests – is also an annual web-awareness focus day. Churches and other Christian groups can build a short focus spot into their meetings on 26 April, to explain to their members more about the potential for online evangelism, and how anyone can be involved in this rewarding ministry. A customized presentation (anything from 5 minutes to 50) can be easily created using free downloads from IE Day’s website: video clips, Powerpoint, handouts, music and drama.
One surprising fact is that online evangelism is for anyone, not just the technically gifted. “There are many ways to share your faith online, without any technical knowledge at all,” says IE Day Coordinator Tony Whittaker.
Church leaders who have already used these materials are excited. “This is a huge help for small churches such as ours,” writes a minister from California. “I am glad to commend Internet Evangelism Day,” says elder statesman John Stott.
IE Day’s website is at www.InternetEvangelismDay.com
There has been some great feedback on the last post about church and ministry websites. Most of those who left comments said that they utilize volunteers to create and maintain their church’s web presence. This is great. This is sharing and giving ministry away to those in your church who can use their gifts and abilities.
