WILLOW Magazine, Volume 15, Issue 1 Ministry Connections: Worship/Arts by Nancy Beach How Do You Measure the Impact of the Arts? Years ago, when I was in the midst of a difficult era of transition, I found myself driving a long distance to take my daughter to summer camp. My return trip was at least 10 hours, and I played one CD until it should have worn out. The music was from Nicole Nordeman, an emerging artist at the time, and the song I listened to over and over and over was titled Every Season. That song ministered to my anxious heart, with lyrics that reminded me of how normal my experience really was, and how present God would be with me in every season. Combined with some great books I was digging into during that era, I credit the song with bringing me to a much healthier place, a place of trust and growth and healing. I’m not sure how the impact of the music would be measured in a survey, or quantified in a study like Reveal. As I engage and interact every week with church artists from North America and other parts of the world, I am reminded often that what we aim to do on Sunday mornings — to move people toward transcendent moments of wonder and transformation — is almost impossible to assess in terms of actual impact. And yet all humans would agree that the power of music, story, theater, and visual images have an accumulated effect on our formation as people that is enormous and frequently life-altering. Lee Strobel showed up at our church as an atheist, a guy not only far from God but actually quite skeptical and hostile. He often tells the story of how the arts — imperceptibly over time, Sunday after Sunday — snuck around the back door of his heart and slowly but surely opened him up. The music, drama, and videos of those early experiences in church contributed significantly to his journey toward God, combined, of course, with relevant biblical teaching. So how could we measure the extent of the impact, and what is working optimally in our churches and what could be vastly improved? How can we more clearly understand what parts of our efforts on Sunday morning are making the most difference, and what we should consider changing or letting go of? We are attempting to formulate questions and processes that will assist us in seeking greater understanding along these lines. But I’m not sure we’ll ever be able to completely measure the impact of the arts. And maybe that’s OK. I always say you know you’ve had a moment when you’ve had it, even if you can’t fully explain the experience. That’s part of the mystery of this gift God gave us called the arts, and I, for one, will be forever grateful. Nancy Beach is executive vice president of the arts for the Willow Creek Association Top