10 Things to learn about Church Design

I had previously posted about the discussion strand about the mediocre state of art in churches and my passion to see that disappear. I don't want to restate the whole argument but thought it would be worth posting the walk-aways from Paul and me from the whole discussion. These points are certainly not locked into the church and its design only...these can be used across the board.

1. Evolve
Our design should be the challenged and evolve...all of us no matter the level we see ourselves on.

2. Don't minimize
The message is too important to be minimized by copying culture.

3. Don't hide...
Church's cannot simply hide behind deadlines and "from the top down told me"...we, as communicators, must push creativity beyond the "first idea" with leadership and our teams (if we have them)

4. Reclaim the leading edge.
The church must reclaim the arts and be the leading edge of creativity.

5. Find a collaborator.
It's key to find someone who will challenge your thoughts and ideas, be a sounding board and help direct or redirect you toward successful ideas.

6. Devour the theme.
Look at keywords and inundate yourself with good design, and hope that it rubs off.

7. Throw it away.
Write down your first ideas -- and toss them into the trash. The likelihood that your first ideas haven't already been done (exactly the same way and most likely better) are slim to none.

8. Push Your Limits.
Verbalize or write down every idea you have, no matter how crazy, complicated, abstract, controversial it may seem.

9. Gather Materials.
Find as many elements and pieces that help you effectively communicate the concept. Often you have to adapt (or tweak) your concept to fit with what you are provided from your resources.

10. Take Criticism.
Listen to criticism and separate yourself from your work as much as possible. There are some critiques you will need to ignore but many will help you grow as you continue to create.

More detail on some of these points can be found on Wiseacre's blog.