From time to time, I like giving people a "Backstage Pass" to what goes on at Grace. Today, a backstage pass to our weekend service creativity.
Where we get our creative ideas from? How do we come up with our weekend series themes & branding? Our message titles? Our series features (like testimonies, dramas, interviews, video clips, games, etc.)? Not from me. From brainstorming teams.
We have 3 different types of brainstorming teams we use:
- Yearly Brainstorm — To draft a schedule for the year
- Multi-Series Brainstorm — Potential branding & features
- Single-Series Brainstorm — Needs, branding, titles, features
Last Saturday morning, a team of people gathered together to brainstorm on the 10 weekend series remaining in 2008. It was an incredible time of interaction, creativity, team-synergy, & fun. Here’s all it took:
- 1 worship pastor (prayerfully recruit & organize event)
- 9 people (a cross-section from newbies to long-timers)
- 1 conference room (a great work space)
- 2.5 hours (we went 3 minutes over)
- 14 donuts (for the sugar-high necessary for creativity)
- 1 pot of coffee (same as above)
- 17 easel-sized Post-it notes (a must-have)
- 1 2008 worship plan (which was finalized in 2007)
We have 3 ground-rules for our brainstorming groups.
- The "Vegas" Rule — What’s said here, stays here
- The "Let-It-Breathe" Rule — Give ideas a chance to "breathe" before you leap on it & tear it to shreds. 🙂 God might use that idea to spark another idea
- The "Don’t-Be-Tied-To-Your-Idea" Rule — Don’t stress if we don’t use your idea, even if it’s the greatest idea in the history of brainstorming
I am SO thankful for everyone’s time & ideas. God is REALLY going to use them this year.
(But with all the creative ideas plastered around my office, I fear my office appears just like John Nash’s in A Beautiful Mind.)
Hey Tim…I just read your
email on brainstorming and was
wondering if you have ever
done a series on the power
of forgiving others.
Jackie
We’ve done various weeks on forgiveness, but never a whole series. I’ll put it in my “idea hopper.” Thanks!