a bunch of random thoughts

First of all, I talked to my best friend and he is coming home next weekend from Corvallis (YAY! I HAVEN'T SEEN HIM SINCE HE LEFT IN SEPTEMBER). So we are going to get to spend some time together. It's going to be a busy weekend, but I am really excited to see him since it's been so long. So, I will make time.

Next, I am really excited about what I am studying right now, and I have been thinking about asking Renata (my history professor) if I can do an independent study on the history of art and the church. I was just talking to the hermeneutics group last night about how I haven't written a paper in almost a year (writing used to be one of my passions, before I discovered all this other stuff). But this stuff I am studying actually motivates me to research these topics and even attempt to bring them up in normal conversation (this doesn't go over very well because most people find this stuff really boring).

Here is what this has made me think. The position that I am in right now at Ethnos is that I am serving on a team that comes up with ways to creatively respond to teaching. This is, essentially, a position leading worship, not unlike what Paul does with music. I think this type of creative response is intertwined with postmodernism and I think it will expand in the coming years to become a significant part of worship gatherings in the Christian Church.
Now, one thing Paul has always said to everyone is that a strong Biblical knowledge is essential for leading worship. I think that is so true, because in order to worship, it requires we understand (at least a little, obviously not completely) the God we are worshipping and why he deserves it.
Now, if you think of creative reponse as an aspect of worship, it only makes sense that any leader participating in creative response should also be well-educated for the same reasons the musical worship pastor would need to be.
I think it's possible that in some churches this could create a third pastoral position (not that there are always two, but I'm going with the model of what we are doing at Ethnos). So, if we didn't have the team, it would make sense to hire someone to fill this "creative response" leadership role.
The reason why I bring this up and why I've been thinknig about it is that I believe this is important and I also think it is something I could do, down the line. Obviously there is a team to fill this role at Ethnos, and that is the main way I serve there. But, honestly, there are a ton of things under the umbrella of creative response that could use more structured and detailed leadership. For example, one of the things we have really wanted to develop is an appreciation for fine arts and their meaning in worship (paintings, drawing, sculpture, etc). In my opinion this hasn't really taken off yet, because there haven't been a lot of artists interested in sharing their skills with the community. I am working on how to encourage people in that respect. There is also a film and photography team that hasn't happened because of much the same reason. Getting these things off the ground is supposed to be a piece of my role in the church. But sometimes this seems like a bigger job, one that could easily be a full-time worship position.
I guess what I am saying is, I see this as a new area for ministry and through Ethnos my eyes are being opened to it. It is something I have really developed a passion for. Through that I am slowly learning the complexity of how we worship and respond to God, and why that response needs to be based on Biblical truths and not human emotion.

I feel like none of this has made sense at all, and I can't really pick out the right words to describe what I think or how I feel (this is one of the downsides to being me... ugh). I am working on putting together some material on the value of art/creativity in worship that Paul and I are (hopefully) going to talk about when he gets back. That is my first step in involving more people in art and film in the church. But yeah... hopefully when I write that stuff down it comes out more articulately (?) than all of this has.

Why does it seem like things always make more sense in my head?