Everyday Creativity in Pioneer Valley
Spent this morning with Uniting Church members in Pioneer Valley near Mackay in Central Queensland. It’s a sugar cane area and right now it’s harvest time. After a cooked breakfast we worshipped together, giving thanks for the harvest. We connected the parable of the sower with reckless investment in the community.
Later in the morning we used Dewitt Jones’ DVD, Everyday Creativity. Dewitt is a photographer with National Geographic who produces top quality training videos for the business environment.
The main points covered by Dewitt in this inspiring video:
* Creativity is a matter of perspective.
* There’s always more than one right answer.
* Don’t be afraid to make mistakes.
* Learn to break the pattern.
* Reframe problems into opportunities.
* Train your technique.
* Care about people.
Having built a shared commitment to creative risk-taking, we looked at the challenge of seeing each person as a ‘mission agent’ of their church in the context in which they live. We followed this up with an exploration of pathways for people who are moving from potential contacts, to being in touch, to taking part in activities, to embracing the gospel and following Jesus, to learning to serve, to providing leadership. The most interesting comment for the morning was the feeling by many women that they are not capable of providing leadership, often because they have been put down by members of their family.
Satya Yerramsetti, minister at Pioneer Valley Uniting, is originally from the South East coast of India. He and his family have launched “Project Shelter and Hope” with an aim to build eight homes for people who were affected by the Boxing Day tsunami last year.
