Creativity is a blessing and a curse.

Creativity led Pastor Ed Young, Jr. and his bride to place a bed on the roof of their church.  Their bed-in drew attention far and wide to Pastor Young’s new book on what the Bible has to say about sex.  Feel free to continue the debate regarding whether this was a proper use of creativity.  There have been some interesting articles and discussions about this display.  (My wife made it clear that we would never, under any circumstances, attempt anything like that.) 

A group of regional ministry leaders met recently and used their creativity in a less demonstrative fashion.  They discussed how to provide church planters and bivocational pastors with health insurance.  The easy answer is to have them work for Starbucks at least twenty hours per week.  Starbucks provides health insurance for employees who work that much or more. 

But what if you don’t know a latte from a frappuccino?  Starbucks might not fit best.  UPS also offers benefits to part-time employees.  What other creative solutions are available? 

Bobby Minor has developed a creative solution for church startup funding.  He has been on staff at Waves of Faith Church in Fort Worth, Texas for the last several years.  He is leaving Fort Worth for Durham, North Carolina to serve as pastor of Mosaic Church.  Mosaic is an intentionally multi-ethnic church plant. 

Bobby is using his creative skills to fund this church start in a manner I have never heard of before.  He is developing a fee-based coaching network with some of the most creative thinkers in American Christianity as his guest speakers.  He is doing this instead of asking for financial pledges from supporting individuals and churches for a period of time with nothing but regular reports as accountability.  Both the giver and the recipient receive value in this venture.

Dr. Larry Osborne will speak about multi-site churches.  Robert Lewis will talk about ministry to men.  Alan Danielson will talk about small group ministry.  The list of high-powered speakers grows each day.  You can read all about what Bobby is doing at BobbyMinor.com/coachingnetwork. 

Some of us, like Bobby, are more creative naturally than others.  I am not the most creative guy in the world.  However, I’ve learned that my creativity leaps forward exponentially when I work with a team in collaborative settings.  I have the privilege of working with a group of people who know how to work together to get things done.  Who are your teammates who bring out your best creativity? 

Years ago I read The Popcorn Report by Faith Popcorn.  The name of her company, Brain Reserve, stuck with me.  She gathered around her the brightest, most insightful people she knew from a variety of disciplines and backgrounds.  They consulted with all kinds of businesses with which they were unfamiliar.  They asked questions and saw solutions that others did not or could not.

I used the same approach as a pastor.  I gathered the best people around me whenever we had a major project to tackle.  I discovered what you already knew: Great people get great results. 

Coaches, consultants, and denominational leaders can help you develop creative solutions to the issues your ministry faces. 

Rick Warren says, “Use all the brains you’ve got and all you can borrow.”  That sounds smart to me.