The Votes Have Been Tallied! January 09, 2007

The results are in for our second annual Show Us What You're Made Of! Contest. You continue to blow us away with your creativity! After reviewing the many entries we received, we have narrowed it down to a winner.

Congratulations to...
Mars Hill Worship Gathering - Jacksonville, Florida - Sr. Pastor Adam Flynt

Mars Hill is a brand new church plant that has hit the ground running! They just launched last fall with 200 people and have been going strong since. Their first year included a study of Psalm 139 called "Identity." During this 5-week series, they took a basic element, the worship guide, and gave it a dramatic twist by transforming it into a credit card. These custom-printed cards, complete with message series information and the church's web address, were enclosed in a handmade gift card-sized envelope to allow space for additional information.

These cards served a bigger purpose, however. They were handed out each week in order for members to use them as conversation starters and invite tools. During each service, a few gift cards for the local coffee shop were hidden under random chairs in their worship center. Pastor Flynt found himself  in line behind one such person taking advantage of the gift card, and it sparked a great conversation!

On the final day of the series, each person received two cards. At the conclusion of the message, each member was given the opportunity to sign their card and turn it in as a sign of their true identity in Christ. The second one could be kept to serve as a reminder to themselves. The staff then divided up the cards that were turned in to pray over them.

This was a great attention grabber that provoked thought as well as action by serving as an invite tool. Way to go, Mars Hill - we look forward to seeing you at C3!

Second Place goes to...
Door of Hope - Fairbanks, Alaska - Media Director, Tyler Williams

Some of you may remember Door of Hope as a finalist from last year. Well, Tyler Williams and Door of Hope brought their A-game yet again this year. They continue to use humor and creativity to keep their congregation up to date on everything happening at Door of Hope. These short clips have fun with the subject matter while communicating the necessary information. Here are a couple of examples:

OUT OF SEASON SNOWMAN: A church alternative for Halloween with a theme of "winter wonderland" (fall in Alaska!) and no snow in sight forced them to look outside the box. A foam carrot, a top hat, a scarf and two twigs birthed the snowman who doesn't go away when the snow melts. Here, the man under the snow is still around doing his job--just without the snow.

CAVEMAN CAMPING: This short clip demonstrates the very difficult and somewhat embarrassing issues prehistoric man faced when camping. Don't forget your teddy bear, a sharp stick, blow torch, and the oh-so-important toilet paper. The caveman in this video was careful to include these necessities!  "Don't camp like the caveman! Camp like the 21st Century comfort-capable person you are at the Youth Summer Camp!" 

And Runner Up is...
Church of the Suncoast - Land O' Lakes, Florida - Lead Pastor Brian Moon

Church of the Suncoast, a brand-new church on a tight budget, managed to pack a powerful punch with their video submission.

SAVE THEM: Short and to the point, this video wastes no time hitting you in the heart. It asks the poignant question "If you had a friend, and you found out they were dying...what would you do to Save Them?" In just over a minute it paints a powerful perspective on those around us that really are dying.

---

Excellent job, all! We want to say an enthusiastic thank you to everyone who participated. It really is a treat to see such outstanding creativity in each submission. Thank you again for sharing!

Light Christmas Message November 16, 2006

As you start to plan your Christmas services this year, you might want to check out Ed's Light Christmas sermon as an example of high-impact results from basic elements. Using very simple lighting effects (spotlight, match, etc.) to illustrate key message points, this sermon would be easy to execute in most settings. You can find the message DVD here, or see the whole Christmas service on this DVD. And don't forget to use your promo code for free standard shipping! Just enter shipgift at checkout.

Win Tickets to C3! November 13, 2006

If you haven't entered our Show Us What You're Made Of Contest yet, be sure to get your submissions in by November 17. Your creative idea could win you and a guest free admission to our Creative Church Conference next February at Fellowship Church!

So far we've heard from some great churches doing cool things:

• Reverse trick-or-treating by handing out goody bags with church info on Halloween night
• Buying a job-related website domain name and posting it on signs around town to promote a "Taking Care of Business" series
• A family-to-family outreach program using simple refrigerator magnets that puts ministry directly in the hands of church members

How about you? Did your team produce a print piece that turned out particularly well? An event for students that seemed to make a big impact? A weekend series where everything really came together? There's no limit to the creative ideas at work in the local church. Let us know what you've been up to - we can't wait to see it!

Speedy New Search Tool October 05, 2006

We love it when we can streamline and simplify the work of church leaders, so we're especially excited about the new sermon search tool on CreativePastors.com! Now you can explore the complete text of more than 600 sermons that Ed has delivered during his sixteen years at Fellowship Church - and it's all available within our simple search bar.

It couldn’t be easier to use. Getting ready to preach a message on lust? Type lust into the search bar on the left hand side of the site. Within seconds you'll be taken to a search results page, where you’ll see the number of times that word is mentioned within the text of the transcripts on the site. Click the link and you’ll find every series and message where that word is mentioned, along with a short sample showing the reference in context.

Whether you’re looking for different perspectives on a book of the bible, a unique approach to a much-used topic or a specific cultural reference, you’ll find your results in the blink of an eye. And this month, every sermon transcript is available for 15% off. So go have fun with our new search tool and stock up on your favorite sermon transcripts!

Show Us What You're Made Of - Year 2 October 05, 2006

You really blew us away last year with your phenomenally creative Show Us What You're Made Of Contest entries - we had to do it again! Our second annual contest is officially underway. Send us your creative ideas by November 3rd and you could win 2 free tickets to our Creative Church Conference in February and 2 copies of Ed's book The Creative Leader. Get the whole scoop here!

It's a blast seeing how churches throughout the world are pushing the creative envelope to reach their communities, so we'll share the fun with you throughout the month by highlighting some entries here. The ideas have already started to show up in our inbox! Check out the first official entry we received this afternoon from Adam Flynt of Mars Hill Worship Gathering in Jacksonville, Florida:

We have just started Mars Hill about a month ago after two years worth of praying and working.  We launched with over 200 people in worship the first night and have been running strong since.

The idea I'm submitting is for our next series called "Identity".  It is a 5 week study of Psalm 139 about where we find our true identity.  I've attached a picture of our worship guide.  They are actually custom made credit cards with the series information on them.  Each person will get one as they come to worship.  At the end of the series we will make sure everyone has two so that they can sign one and turn it in as a sign they want their true identity in Christ.  They can sign and keep the other one as a reminder.  We hope it will be a great invite tool as well.  We are also thinking about putting a couple bucks on each card at the local coffee shop so people can go after worship and spend some time getting to know each other.

Pretty cool, Adam! Thanks for sharing your idea. We can't wait to hear from the rest of you!

Elevate News July 24, 2006

There's lots of excitement around our new Elevate Children's Curriculum these days! Here are a few quick reasons why:

1. Elevate began shipping last week and has been landing on the desks of Children's pastors throughout the country.
2. Video samples and previews for Elevate are now available online at CreativePastors.com.
3. We're featuring 20% off the Base Pack for the first Elevate series, On the Trail.
4. Fall is just around the corner. Children everywhere are going to be heading back to school within the next few weeks and we can't wait for them to experience Elevate!

New Site Tip June 29, 2006

Next to our downloads, you might have noticed a blue circle with a question mark in the middle. Click on this and you'll see an example of that download format. This is a great way to learn more about the different types of downloads we offer, and what will best meet your needs.

And in the not too distant future, we'll be rolling out an expanded contents PDF for our Kits and other selected products, allowing you to see a very detailed description of exactly what's inside.

CreativePastors Site Gets Overhauled! June 19, 2006

We're excited to introduce the new CreativePastors website! You'll definitely need to check it out firsthand, but let us tip you off on a few things to expect.  No doubt you'll notice a fresh look,  complete with a new logo. It's more than a pretty face, though - every change we've made is designed to improve your experience, including:

• All resources for a message series can now be found on one page
• Prominent, clear navigation makes things easier to find
• Blog and podcast content on the home page keeps Ed Young's free weekend messages and articles front and center
• Add a product to your cart without being taken to a new page
• Complete your order by checking out on one simple page
• Simplified account management, including downloads and order history 

And the fun's not over! We're continuing to develop new ways to make CreativePastors a pleasure to use and a frequent source of support and encouragement for you and your ministry.

Check out the new digs and let us know what you think!

A New CreativePastors is on the way! June 15, 2006

At this very moment, we are transitioning to a brand new CreativePastors website! We've kept your interests at the forefront during this entire project and have focused on making the site super quick and easy to use. We can't wait to show you around the place, so check back soon for the official unveiling!

Last Days to Order G-Force June 09, 2006

To make room for our brand-new Elevate Children's Curriculum, we will be removing G-Force from our CreativePastors inventory. If you've been meaning to place an order, make sure to get it in before this Tuesday, June 13.

And if you haven't had a chance to check out Elevate yet, you can catch the vision with this PDF . This curriculum is being developed completely in-house by our FC Kids department and takes children's church to a whole new level. One important difference from the G-Force curriculum is that Elevate offers you the option of showing the skit and Bible story on DVD, keeping you from having to recruit and train actors if you'd prefer not to. Elevate also offers you a training DVD for every small group activity, taking the guesswork out of small groups. We're so excited about the creativity and flexibility Elevate offers - we'll be sharing more about it in the next few weeks!