Worship VIA creativity

The publications team is the only ministry team I've been a part of in my four years at HMCC. Every year alot of things change (including the community that was built over a year in LG), but my MT has been one constant factor through my four-year journey of knowing Christ. Because of the consistency, I was able to build upon my relationships with others on the team and I am SO thankful for this opportunity to serve--I really praise God for the way He used this team to grow my heart for the local church and show me how I can administer grace in different ways. I cannot stop RAVING about how much serving on a ministry team has impacted my life as a Christ-follower.

Here are three reasons why I love serving on the publications team.

1) The transformation of this team displays God's power

• MAN I still remember walking into my first meeting at a classroom in Mason Hall. It was the most awkward meeting i've ever been a part of--legit. I know there were efforts made to facilitate relationships, but I couldn't help but see my teammates as mere colleagues that I work with to "pump out" projects.


• Fast forward four years--after numerous personal QT sharing, hot seats, dunkin donuts runs, awkward is the LAST word I would think of to describe this community. I think I broke out into tears in front of a group for the first time in this MT, and I've found our meetings to be such a safe place to honestly share how I was doing. I didn't have to worry about what others would think of me or try to play up to a title I had, and I just felt so free to be me. Sometimes that meant breaking out into tears, and sometimes it meant the wild NY came out. Whatever it was, I just felt so accepted and supported.

2) Serving on this team reminds me that skills alone are not enough

• To be honest, there were many times I contemplated quitting. My natural tendency is to do things I'm good at, and to avoid things I'm weak in. Even though I joined the team because I had an interest in graphic design, I quickly learned that producing graphic design work for personal use was very different than for.. the glory of God. I couldn't just do what I knew how to do (or thought was aesthetically pleasing), but needed BIBLICAL inspiration. If I wasn't growing in my relationship with God, or if I didn't learn anything from the passage a sermon series was based on, I wasn't producing anything. The projects I've worked on that still leave me in awe are the ones where I have no idea how I ended up with the final product--the designs were truly inspired by the living Word of God and the HS, and God is the only one that can receive the credit.


• Even though I am one of the "older" members on the team now, I still have moments where I want to quit. Objectively speaking, I have much less practical experience and training in the arts than many of my teammates. Though my pride is constantly begging that I do things I excel in, serving on pubs lets me boast in my weakness and leave room for God's grace to shine through. There is nothing like seeing fruit and confidently claiming it was ALL GOD.

3) Preparing for upcoming events grew my love for the local church

• I think one of the pitfalls not growing up in a youth group is the tendency to overlook traditions or regular structures. I often rationalized not going to church on a Sunday by claiming I didn't need to be legalistic, or that my relationship with God didn't depend on meeting attendance. I valued meeting together on a Tues or Wed for small group Bible studies, but frankly didn't value meeting together as an entire church nearly to the extent that I should have.
  
• Serving on pubs has helped me to care for the local church as a whole (not just my LG) because we were praying and preparing for church-wide events months before it was announced to the congregation. We started praying and preparing early so we could seek inspiration from the HS, and having been involved in-advance with the creative process for a student missions conference, Easter celebration, or baptism service have helped me to better understand why we do what we do.

OK wow I didn't mean to go that long but I'm just so thankful for the opportunity to serve alongside eight other designers who are all seeking ways to worship God VIA c r e a t i v i t y.

(wish i took a pic of our team motto before the giant binder clip got lost, but this shall do for now--the female designers)