Foundations Helpful For Effective Local or Regional Networks (and/or Partnerships)
Are you seeking to see a local, regional or national network (and/or partnerships) of Christian musicians and artists developing in your area - but not sure how to get there?
I would venture to say that most or all of us increasingly desire to see greater unity developing in the Body of Christ in response to Jesus' prayer in John 17, etc., as well as the growing desire to be working together with others in these days because we can so easily see that the need out there is far greater than any one or a few or even many of us can do together…we all need to work together as much as possible as we see the Day approaching!
So, whether in Vancouver, Canada; Paris, France; Pretoria, South Africa; Istanbul, Turkey; or Kabul, Afghanistan, what are some of the things that we may want to see set in place to help lay the foundations for a well-functioning local network of Christian musicians & artists and arts supporters/patrons, etc.?…not a foundation which might spring up quickly and fade away just as suddenly, but one which can stand the test of time and hopefully remain once we've passed on the baton to the next generation.
In this day and age with the internet and the computer, it is much easier than previously, for obvious reasons, to network and develop partnerships, etc. and so the computer can come in very handy in assisting us in the development of many aspects of what I propose as being some of the essentials of establishing a local functioning network. However, I believe PRAYER and deepening biblical RELATIONSHIPS, passion for God and godly character are the major keys...
SOME ESSENTIALS:
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+ DEVELOP YOUR VISION STATEMENT: In order to help you to be able to communicate with others whose hearts the Holy Spirit is already stirring in the same directions (though you won't know who those people are until you share the vision, most likely), you need to be able to clearly communicate the vision so people can get an idea of where you're heading and whether that resonates with what God is putting on their hearts. If it is, they'll come on board with you as the Holy Spirit confirms this to them and to you…in whatever way/s that may mean.
+ WHAT ARE YOUR CORE VALUES?: Along with developing your vision statement, it is also helpful to put down, concisely, your core values, so that you and those you want to consider working with will have something that can help you to understand where each other is coming from and how you wish to function/operate on many levels…this can help to promote unity and love and help to prevent misunderstandings and disunity. Here is an example of the Core Values of the Great Commission Worship & Arts Center: http://DiscipleTheNations.org/rield/index72.html
+ LOCAL PRAYER NETWORKS: depending
on the amount of freedom you have in your country politically/religiously,
you could utilize email and the internet/web sites, etc. to do quite a bit
of this - via regular newsletter updates, etc., coordinating local prayer
network meetings to pray, build relationship, share vision of what the Lord
is saying as you're asking for His direction and heart for what He is wanting
to do in your region and how He wants to involve you in it, etc. Perhaps He
will lead you to do some prayer walks, or to pray for specific musicians/artists
or leaders in your region…whether believers or non-believers. Let the
Holy Spirit lead your meetings and let HIM plan your agenda. It is amazing
what comes out of this!! Come earnestly seeking His will and direction and
be open to just listening to Him. Spend time worshipping Him.
Although we often want to start with big numbers, I would recommend that it would be best (unless the Lord thinks it's better to do it differently in your region : ) ) to begin with a few folks that you know that share similar vision to see artists and the arts reclaimed for the glory of God as a part of His larger purposes in the earth today. As you begin to meet and seek His vision together, and as He begins to bring others that share similar vision, you will then have a good core from which some healthy growth and expansion can develop. However, if you start too big too soon, you may have people with all kinds of vision coming and soon you may be in trouble. The Bible reminds us not to despise small beginnings…and if we remember that ministry flows out of relationships, and realize just how important good relationships are to unity and moving forward together in faith, we will be willing to wait for the bigger numbers if God has that for us. If not, He can do major things through a handful of people, as well, if their hearts are right and they're obedient to what He is calling them to.
For anyone moving in these directions of prayer networks, etc. I would like to strongly recommend John Paul Jackson's excellent book called NEEDLESS CASUALTIES OF WAR. Often zealous prayer warriors can unwittingly bring on unnecessary spiritual backlash if they do not understand the realms of authority that they have been given in Christ Jesus…sometimes we can tend to want to move into areas we're not ready for and then wonder why we face the consequences. John's book is very helpful and encouraging in helping us to avoid UNNECESSARY BACKLASH, though we will of course experience some backlash since that is also the nature of being in a spiritual war. His book can be found all over the internet or purchased through your local Christian bookstore.
You can see, here, http://disciplethenations.org/PrayerNetworkMA.html
what we are doing in the Greater Vancouver region in this regard. We have only recently begun. We have just recently become aware of another prayer network focused on the film industry in Vancouver, which began some months earlier. May God raise up many more!
+ DEVELOPING LOCAL RELATIONSHIPS:
Although this is very time consuming, it is also very rewarding!!
If you are someone who really has a passion to see unity and networking/partnerships
developing at a very functional level, I would recommend that you begin to
spend time praying for God to bring you HIS connections that share similar
vision, and when He brings you together in His timing (it may be years!, though
not necessarily - He also brings a lot of people 'suddenly'!), get together
for a face to face visit if possible, in order to share with each other the
vision on your hearts, get to know each other, pray with and encourage each
other, and find out how you might be able to take some next steps to work
together.
Also, exchange contacts that you each know which might be able to be of
benefit to the other or those they know. Then follow up on the visit and continue
to develop a relationship as able through email, occasional phone calls or
visits, showing interest in their personal lives, praying for them, encouraging
them as needed, and beginning to work on various initial projects together.
As your relationships deepen, you will likely find yourself being involved
more and more in each other's lives and also in their artistic endeavours,
and others being drawn in. Again, ministry flows out of relationship, and
true unity can't happen if the relationship is only at a level where we 'network
and leave'em'…basically using the other person for what we can get out
of them… Let's remember to treat them as fellow brothers and sisters
that Jesus loves and to treat them as we would want to be treated. Let's lift
them up and truly love them because the networks/partnerships will only be
as healthy and strong as our core and foundational relationships are.
You will want to build relationships with worship & arts ministry
leaders, with local church leaders, local ministry/missions leaders, individual
musicians and artists as well as arts supporters and patrons, local Christian
bookstore, Christian recording studios, media/communications ministries, etc.
Now you're probably beginning to see why this can take some years to develop…but
if, early on, you connect with numerous others in your region that are doing
the same thing, it can certainly help in many ways in cutting down the time
as you pool resources and interconnect with each other. Also, connecting with
leaders is another way to more quickly connect with others that share similar
vision, since leaders are usually already quite connected.
+ DATABASE / NETWORKING DIRECTORY: As
you are in the process of developing relationships, you will also want to
keep record of certain information about each relationship you develop or
contact you make which may be relevant to what God is putting on your heart.
Develop some kind of database which you will find useful, and I would recommend
that you put the info together in such a way, from the beginning, with a view
to potentially making it accessible to others in the future. The more you
network, the more you will want to share information…it saves everyone
from having to re-invent the wheel again and again and again…
At some point, once you have a healthy list on your database, you may
wish to put together a form, something perhaps similar in some ways to this
one: http://disciplethenations.org/networkingmaform.html
which can then be sent out to the people on your database, in order to offer
them the possibility of sending info to you which they would like to have
included in a regional networking directory. How this is done, whether as
a free service or as a business venture, depends on how the Lord leads you.
But this tool should prove to be a very helpful tool in helping to encourage
potential networking and partnerships, in addition to just having a much better
sense of what God IS doing throughout your region in and through His artists
for His glory!
+ NETWORKING RETREATS: Once you have a group of regional music/arts leaders and related leaders that you know share similar vision, it would be helpful for you to meet together for a networking retreat where relationships and working together could be developed further as there is more seeking of the Lord and sharing ministries/vision and resources together as well. It is also a time to encourage each other. Perhaps other networking retreats with non-leaders could be hosted in various locales throughout your region in the future as well, as the Lord leads. For an example of what a retreat might look like: http://DiscipleTheNations.org/index60.html
+ TRAINING EVENTS/INTERNSHIP OPPORTUNITIES, etc.:
One of the major needs in the Church in these days (though this
need is decreasing somewhat as more and more of the Body is being awakened
to the fact that God IS wanting to restore the arts for His own purposes),
is to see the Church gain a fresh understanding of the biblical foundations
of the role of music and the arts in the Bible, in His Kingdom, and the role
of His musicians and artists in the Kingdom of God and in the Great Commission,
etc. Therefore, training is absolutely essential - in every level of the Church,
and not only with the musicians and artists that are rising up.
Training options can abound…and I would recommend that we consider
utilizing, as much as possible, holistic approaches to training people, so
that, in addition to the academic - which tends to be our focus in western
society, we also have some good practical/hands-on and hopefully mentored
training, and have a very deep understanding of our need to train musicians
and artists in the area of godly character development, a good understanding
of His Word, and especially to encourage them to focus on developing a deeply
intimate relationship with Jesus Christ, etc. If we want to glorify God with
our whole hearts, allowing Him to create through us the art He wants to use
to help draw mankind to Himself in worship, we as His artists and musicians
need to keep our relationship with Him as our primary focus, otherwise our
art will affect us and others, but not in the ways that our hearts or God's
desires.
Some training could be done in academic settings, others in personal mentoring situations, through private or public art lessons, through music/arts camps, through internships, through short term projects locally or overseas, etc. It would be great if various ministries could provide the training TOGETHER - again, in order to lighten the weight for everyone while also not re-inventing the wheel unnecessarily, plus having the opportunity to work together and share the blessings and get to know each other more deeply and see God working through you as a team.
+ RESEARCH and RESOURCE CENTERS/CONSULTING: Providing consulting for local individuals, churches, ministries, etc. is something that is greatly needed, as well as letting people know of upcoming events, resources available, opportunities for involvement, networking opportunities, etc. A regional newsletter can be very helpful in this regard. As your network develops, and as the momentum to work together grows, you may wish to propose the idea of developing, together with local churches/ministries that share similar vision, a local resource center for Christians interested in the arts: http://DiscipleTheNations.org/index94.html
+ EVENT COORDINATION: Although you
can do a lot with a small team of committed people in event coordination,
the more you are able to work together with others in your locale or region,
the better - there can be shared resources, shared work, shared costs, greater
unity developing, greater witness to the surrounding community as they see
the people of God coming together, etc.
You may wish to hold retreats, camps, conferences, prayer walks, networking
events, prayer events, worship events, training events, etc.
+ NETWORKING/PARTNERING WITH NETWORKS FROM OTHER REGIONS/COUNTRIES - cross pollination, etc., recognizing the joy of being a part of a much larger Body as we minister TOGETHER: While your network is developing, you may wish to network with networks of other regions and nations, as well. There's lots that can be learned form each other and it can be such a joy to work together as teams internationally as well as the Lord brings these relationships into being!
One way you could begin to do some networking in your region, as you develop
your relationships/database, is to let them know of the following resource,
which you are welcome to adapt to your situation, according to the parameters
set for that:
http://DiscipleTheNations.org/article_Christnty&ArtsResIntro.html
+ ENLISTING LOCAL BUSINESS-ADMINISTRATIVE TYPES TO FACILTATE ARTIST POOLS: see example HERE
+ PROMOTING THE NETWORK: Newsletters, local Christian media, web sites, through local churches/Christian schools/ministries and missions, at conferences, etc.
An additional way to work together in order to promote what God is raising up by bringing awareness to the Body is to have local music/arts ministries put together an introductory video and/or PowerPoint Presentation which could be made widely available (city-wide, or perhaps even a nation-wide intro video) to include key intro, vision, resource, networking and contact info, as well as some potential partnership possibilities, etc.
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The above are things that we have been doing, are in the process of doing, or moving into the direction of doing here in Vancouver, BC, Canada. Some of these things have been in the works for years - ie. vision and core values development, relationship development, prayer, coordinating events, training opportunities, research, resource development, network and partnership development, newsletters, web sites, promotion, consulting, database, etc. and networking directory is now about to be sent out, etc., with hopefully an upcoming retreat for local leaders before long, and a series of regional worship & arts conferences throughout Greater Vancouver over a 2-week? period of time in the coming year, with other upcoming events envisioned, etc. The prayer network recently began (thank you Lord!!), and hopefully it won't be too long before we can begin to work together to see regional resources centers developed as well. We have a long way to go, but are very encouraged to see what God has indeed been raising up here in Vancouver over especially the past 7 - 10 years as we strongly sense He has put us here for such a time as this! We seek to follow Him step by step for however long it takes. To God be the glory!
- Grace Wiebe, August 2003
Great Commission Worship
& Arts Center