I am so excited and humbled to be a contributing author in Inspired: Unlocking Your Creativity from the Kidmin Nation Library. I wrote Chapter 7: Creativity Begets Creativity! And I believe that.
Inspired is a book written by different kidmin leaders from around the world and from big and small churches. We shared all we know about creativity: what it is, how to get more of it, and how it works in children and family ministries.
You might think I’m biased when I say this is a great book, and you’ll be right! I’m totally biased, but allow me to tell you why I think this book deserves to be in your own ministry library.
By the way, I’m including an Amazon affiliate link below. If you buy this book through that link, I will earn a commission without further cost to you. It helps me run this site, and I will be forever grateful.
And since we kidmin folks are usually tight on budget, scroll all the way down to enter my giveaway. You can win a copy of Inspired! Hey, if you win, can you do me a favor and leave a review of it on Amazon to help get the word out about this book? Thanks, friend!
Title: Inspired: Unlocking Your Creativity
Editor: Tina Houser
Publisher: Four Rivers Design (July 17, 2018)
Book Summary (from Amazon): As you stroll through the pages of Inspired: Unlocking your creativity, you’ll be challenged to stretch your creativity to new levels. You’ll be encouraged, if for some reason you think God left the creative bone out of your body. You’ll gain knowledge about how creativity actually works. You’ll gather ideas that may open a whole new area of ministry possibilities for you. And, most importantly, you’ll be inspired to use your creativity to glorify the Creator God who gave it to you in the first place.
Buy from Amazon: https://amzn.to/2NnhjvT
Review:
Kidmin folks are one of the most creative people I’ve met and it’s not because we’re all amazing with glue and construction paper. It’s because being in kidmin forces you to stretch your creative muscles in order to effectively lead.
Inspired will help you look at creativity in different ways. Like how there’s creativity in planning, in using technology, and in event planning. It will also encourage you to look at creativity as a God-given ability, because it is! God gave you creativity and this book will help you harness it in…well, creative ways!
Here are just a few of the contributing authors and what they wrote about.
Joy Cannup wrote on different barriers we may face when it comes to creativity. If you don’t feel like you’re creative enough for something, you may just be facing a creative barrier. Joy gave practical ways to overcome those barriers and they may help you out.
Corinne Noble shared her creative process and the steps she takes when planning a new ministry project from start to finish. If you have a big project or event to put together, you can follow Corinne’s planning process to have a successful event.
Julie Dearyan wrote about how to determine if your ministry events add value to your ministry or detract from it. She also gave examples of events they’ve done in her ministry along a short evaluation of the events. This chapter excited me to look at our own ministry events with fresh eyes.
Jordan Davis wrote about creating fun environments that wow kids from the moment they step inside your building. He also shared a funny story about dumpster diving that will inspire you to look at the things around you with different eyes.
Ken Neff gave tips on how you can get creative with a small budget. One example is to ask stores for the product boxes they would discard anyway, like carpet tubes that can become giant pencils or pirate ship cannons.
There is so much to unpack about creativity and the contributing authors in Inspired did an amazing job in helping me look at the different parts of my own ministry to see where I can inject more creativity. It so full of helpful information that I hope you will pick up your own copy. It’s a book you can return to again and again for inspiration!
Buy from Amazon: https://amzn.to/2NnhjvT
Oh and in case you’re wondering, I wrote about 10 creativity exercises you can try to inspire you! Now onto the giveaway!
Giveaway: Enter below to win a copy of this book!
