INVESTING IN THE LIVES OF YOUR ARTISTS
By Rory Noland
As fall approaches, many of us head into another ministry season with well thought-out goals and renewed vigor. With that in mind, I'd like to pose a question: What are you doing to invest in the spiritual lives of your volunteers? You may have some wonderful new programming ideas (and that's great!), but how are you going to build into your volunteers? How are you going to shepherd them? How are you going to take them the next step relationally and spiritually? While planning and executing services is an important part of what leaders do, it's not all we do. Nor is it, in my opinion, the best part of ministry. As I look back on thirty plus years of church work, the most memorable aspects are not the services, specials events, or the music. Those things are fond memories, but what I cherish even more are the people with whom I've done ministry all those years. Many of us are still good friends.

In 1 Peter 5:2-3, we are encouraged to care for the people God sends our way: "Shepherd the flock of God among you, not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness; nor yet as lording it over those allotted to you charge, but proving to be examples to the flock." It's no accident that Peter points us to the image of a shepherd caring for his flock. In John 21, Jesus asks Peter three times, "Peter, do you love me?" Every time Peter responds, "Yes, Lord," Jesus replies, "Then feed my sheep." It is yet another reminder that ministry is all about caring for people and that the way we love others is the way we love Christ. Similarly, God is asking us to take care of the artists God has put under our leadership. I'd like to discuss this charge on two different levels: large group settings dealing with the group as a whole and smaller group settings dealing with a few individuals at a time. In either case, the goal is to utilize those opportunities to care for our volunteers. I'll offer a few humble ideas of my own on how to do that, but my hope is that this article will stimulate your own thinking on the topic and that we could eventually pool all our ideas together.

Large Groups, a Macro Approach
Large groups like the choir or band as well as the worship, drama, dance, or audio/visual teams usually meet regularly for rehearsal. For that reason, they have time already built into their schedule that can be tapped for spiritual gain. Always try to make rehearsal more than just an artistic experience. As often as possible, try to interject some kind of spiritual dimension into rehearsals. It can be something as simple as a well thought out prayer, Scripture reading, or sharing time. Or it could be a bit more involved. You could lead a devotional on the theme of next Sunday's sermon. You could expound on the lyrics of one of the songs you're practicing. Or you could have an extended prayer time. Whenever I can, I prefer to stop about twenty minutes before the end of rehearsal, break into small groups, and have people pray for each other. If your church has multiple weekend services, you could lead a Bible study or book study between services.

Sometimes it's good to get out of the church building. Take the team out for bowling, for dinner, or on a picnic. Throw parties. Go see a movie, concert, or show together. Attend an arts conference or a worship seminar together. Fun activities are very effective in building community.

Also, retreats and workshops are excellent tools for spiritual growth and they come in many different forms. Many churches schedule a fall kickoff retreat for their ministries. Others position the retreat in the middle of the ministry season, like January or February, when volunteers might need a shot in the arm. Still others schedule a retreat at the end of the season to celebrate the year in ministry. Arts ministries often conduct a Saturday workshop devoted to developing specific skills as well as spiritual growth. Whether it's a retreat or workshop, the spiritual benefits of such events last for several months.

As you look at your ministry as a whole, what can you do to take your artists the next step spiritually this next ministry season?

Smaller Settings, a Micro Approach
Let's move on to some ideas for smaller group settings, which would include conventional small groups, personal meetings, and one-on-one discipleship. In these smaller settings is where you, as a leader, will have your greatest impact on people's lives. Here too, the possibilities are numerous. Many churches provide small group experiences for their members on weeknights. However, it is often challenging for those serving in arts ministry to attend a separate small group in addition to weeknight rehearsals and early call times before the services. For some, it's just not feasible to be away from their families an additional night of the week---all the more reason for us to help bear the responsibility for the spiritual needs of our volunteers. Some churches piggyback a scaled down small group experience onto rehearsal; they meet a half hour before or after rehearsal. Some meet for dinner before rehearsal. Others meet between services on Sunday.

Some of your most fruitful ministry will occur in the form of one-on-one mentoring and discipling. Unfortunately, this is the one area that leaders most often neglect. I am reminded of a youth pastor who spent forty hours every week preparing Bible studies. He never got out of his office to meet and mingle with the kids. He was a great teacher, but students drifted away from the youth group because none had any personal connection to the leader. He claimed to love the students, but he never spent time with them. Ironically, he was too busy doing church work to do the work of the church, which is ministering to people.

Be sure to offer your artists, especially your key leaders, some kind of personal connection with you. I once had a musician who constantly complained he wasn't being challenged musically. He assessed his talent a little higher than I did, and the truth is he wouldn't have been able to handle anything more challenging. Then a crisis surfaced in his life and he started coming to me regularly for Bible study and prayer. Eventually, the complaining stopped because he was getting something more valuable than just playing in the band. He was getting my personal attention. He was getting some of his relational and spiritual needs met in a way that only the church can provide.

When it comes to giving personal attention to volunteers, be strategic. Your job, as a leader, is to raise up more leaders to help shoulder the responsibilities of the ministry. The success of your ministry depends on it. And who else is going to raise up those leaders besides you? I try to give the bulk of my time to key leaders and those with leadership potential; those who are in effect future leaders. With that in mind, I ask you a question I often ask myself: who are the top three key team members in whom you'd like to invest personally this next year?

After you've identified potential candidates, the next question is: How are you going to invest in them? Or, what are you going to do with them? You could schedule regular appointments for one-on-one disipleship or prayer. Or, you could use one of the best opportunities for building relationships known to man…lunch! In fact, I recommend keeping a lunch "hit list." Every quarter I look over my roster of volunteers and ask, "Who haven't I had lunch with in awhile?" Then I put those names on a list, get on the phone, and schedule lunches with those people.

Always look for opportunities to hang out with your people. Jesus taught a few sermons here and there, but most of his teaching was imparted as he and the disciples were out fishing, walking from town to town, or just sitting around. In the same way, look for opportunities to "do life" with your people. Invite a volunteer to join you and your family for dinner. Ask someone to join you on an errand or for help with a major project around the house. Play tennis, exercise, or go golfing together.

If investing personal time in the lives of your volunteers is new territory, start with small amounts of time. If you only have one lunch a week with a volunteer, for example, that gives you about fifty opportunities a year to minister on a personal level. If you have a large ministry, don't worry about getting around to every single person. Give what you can reasonably give to as many as you can. That's what Jesus did. He spoke publicly to thousands, but gave personal time to a smaller group, which included friends and his twelve disciples.

Please don't think that you have to be an extrovert or super relational to invest in the lives of others. Introverts can be just as effective, if not more so. An introvert may not walk into a room and be the life of the party, but when someone needs to talk, he or she is usually the person others feel most comfortable opening up to. So don't be intimidated if you don't consider yourself highly relational. All you have to do is be willing to give a part of yourself to others. That's what Paul did. He told the church at Corinth, "We have spoken freely to you, Corinthians, and opened wide our hearts to you" (2 Corinthians 6:11). In the same way, I encourage you to open yourself up to your artists and love them as people, not as some cog in your ministry machine.

I know a music director who's very quiet and shy. He could never imagine standing in front of a group teaching a Bible study. Yet he loves to head to a nearby restaurant after rehearsal and hang out with his worship band. That's an excellent way for him to spend time with them. Some of my fondest memories of my early church experience took place when our youth leader met with us after meetings or when I was invited to attend breakfast planning sessions with him. In the same way, volunteers value personal interaction with you.

In his letter to the church at Philippi, Paul sounds rather frustrated that he can't find enough leaders who really care about people. "I hope to send Timothy to you soon. . . I have no one else like Timothy, who genuinely cares about your welfare. All the others care only for themselves and not for what matters to Jesus Christ" (Philippians 2:19-21 NLT). May we be the kind of leaders who genuinely care about people and invest in our artists on a personal level.

Rory Noland is the director of Heart of the Artist Ministries, an organization dedicated to serving artists in the church. A composer, songwriter, author, and speaker, Rory is a graduate of the Chicago Musical College at Roosevelt University and served for 20 years as music director at Willow Creek. He is the author of The Heart of the Artist: A Character-Building Guide For You and Your Ministry Team and Thriving as an Artist in the Church: Hope and Help For You and Your Ministry Team and his most recent, The Worshiping Artist: Equipping You and Your Ministry Team to Lead Others in Worship.

Heart of the Artist -  http://heartoftheartist.org/