Emily's long overdue, all-inclusive list of church resources (mostly FREE!)

         I am forever getting emails asking me for my resources on art and media. Mostly it's churches and people I know that work for churches. After a couple of years of doing this, I thought to myself "Duh, do a post about".
         So, here it is. Emily's long overdue, all-inclusive list of resources. I created/recycled a TON of media over the years and 80% of it started with these amazing sites.

A question I can't answer.....

What is worship? Somehow I always get asked this question and I seriously hate answering that question.

*sigh*

I know, I know. I'm a worship leader and so I'm supposed to have this completely epic answer, but the truth is when I get asked that question I usually stand there with my mouth gaping open until some generic answer I heard at some conference or read in a book falls out of my mouth.

Cultural Relevance begins at the Cross

Relevance is such a buzzword in churches right now. We all say that we are and we take a great deal of time ensuring the cultural relevance of our services. I’m a huge fan of what I call ‘intentional relevance’ in churches. I believe that intentional relevance can be a very powerful tool to create an environment that is optimum for reaching the unreached. It’s really just a term I use to encompass how we use various elements like drama, music, lights, sound, visual art, etc. to get the message across on any given Sunday.

I was on a walk not long ago doing some brainstorming. As I strolled around, I passed a church in my neighborhood. I’ve passed it a million times, but this time it really caught my attention. The sun wasn’t quite up and this church has a glowing cross lit on the top of it. I just stopped and stared. This cross that I had seen before suddenly was so mesmerizing. I felt God say; “This is relevant above all other things” It just really spoke to me as a creative in the church.

Marketing Fail of the day!- Day one!

I am blessed to have the opportunity to do church marketing and design on a regular basis. It's fun and I love it. It's awesome to try an think of new, relevant ways to get the message out there.

I regularly search the internet looking for new ideas and inspirations. There are so many talented artists in the church that are constantly coming up with beautiful ways to share faith through media.... then, there are the other guys. I know you know what I'm talking about. Who hasn't gotten a track or seen a billboard that makes you shudder at the fact that you get lumped in with 'those people' because of your faith.

So, in the spirit of improving the quality and relevancy of Church marketing, I will be posting these everyday (with commentary). Feel free to send anything my way that you deem offensive, stupid, funny, or just plain sad. It can be anything from billboards to t-shirts! TOGETHER WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE :-P

We will start out with a few here today:


(I can practically feel the love spilling off this, can't you?)


(Just in case you forgot: Jesus is watching you buy that porn)


(Um.... somebody didn't think this through. I don't know who that guy is but I think he's giving it an 'amen')

And first up a personal favorite:

(yeah, because that's so going to happen. Just do what we tell you and don't think about it, dang it!)