A challenge for communicators is to continually tackle the work we do, regardless of how fun and exciting it is. Sometimes, it’s downright boring. This five-part series tackles boring vs. fun in church communication. Read Part 1, Embrace Them Together.
I asked Kelvin Co to write this series because I was struggling with this very issue. I volunteered to help my church do communication, excited by the prospects. But the reality became drudgery and progressed slowed to a halt. I was faced with the boring vs. the fun.
Kelvin has shared four strategies for tackling this: Embrace them, build your credibility, prevent the boring and empower volunteers. A final strategy is to stay grounded as communicators and as Christians. Kelvin has expanded on this on his own blog, encouraging us to:
- Attend worship services.
- Pray and study God’s Word.
- Minister to people.
- Keep learning.
- Experience art.
Any creative activity needs to be sustained or it can get dull. Get back to the basics. Get back to God. Get back to people. Get back to the books and the art that inspire you. As we continually ground ourselves I think we’ll be able to approach the boring with the proper attitude. Maybe it won’t seem so boring.
I posed the same question to Steve Fogg in our Getting Started series and I liked his answer:
“I don’t equate boring with what I do. … If something is boring yet informative and nails our mission… win!”
How are you dealing with the potential for boredom in your work?
Photo by aagius & hodgers
Joe Wickman
November 7, 2012
Seems like the key you’re pointing out is engagement. I couldn’t agree more that participation in the mission of the Church is obligatory. Good call.
Jeremy
November 7, 2012
I love # 5 Experiencing art. Getting trapped in a rut and not having “inspiration” really makes things difficult. I am immersed the creative field and all my friends are creatives, but I get caught in the boring trap from time to time.
Brainstorming with volunteers can spark so many great ideas and give you that push to break out of the boring.
Thanks for sharing Kevin.
2Ultra Christianity
November 8, 2012
Kevin & Kelvin, this is really an interesting question. As a Christian blogger and writer I deal with this question on almost a daily basis. I love to research and write that is what I do best. I also love:
*Studying and reading my Bible
*Ministering my faith to others
*Praying and seeking God (not many like to do this. It does get easier, especially when you know that you know when you enter in to the throne room)
* I love Church. Praise worship fellowship… all of it
* Wait a minute… I think I am reciting the list in your post, ugghh.
What I don’t like:
* Marketing, it sucks
*Spam
*Social marketing (what’s the point? tweet, like, digg, G what?, reddit… where’s the whabit etc)
* Mobil (isn’t the gas station)
Ok, I think that maybe it.
P.S. Presidential Elections. now that is it.
The Believer
November 8, 2012
Right, but I wonder if the same can be said of the old New Testament Church, whether church workers and leaders then had the view that it should be fun and not drudgery…the persecuted church doesn’t mind also…
I get the point of course about the challenge of using some creativity and art to add fun into church work, but what I’m concerned of is the rampant entertainment that’s played in today’s churches so as not to keep the members bored.
In balance, I suggest we ought all to be reminded too that the Cross with its powerful message of love, grace, and salvation is still what should all keep us going.
Dean Seddon
November 9, 2012
If church is getting boring, there is a problem somewhere, either with church or with ourselves. I would consider myself to be somewhat creative, so I find it a struggle sometimes when something is presented a little flat or there is no room for creativity.
When this happens, I have to accept it and leave it alone. Creative types tend to like project based work, I know from my own experience rather than fight it, I have embraced it, so I know work on projects, that way I can use all my energies in a deployed way whilst preventing the descent into boredom or something becoming a burden.
(I know we all have to do things we prefer not too, I am simply meaning I don’t commit to long term (2+ years) projects unless there is ongoing development.
Dean Seddon
http://www.connecthouse.co.uk
http://www.twitter.com/deanseddonuk