Creative Behavior offers a good introduction to the emotions of color. It is the psychology behind how people respond to color. For instance, here are some examples of how North American culture typically interprets colors:

RED: urgency, passion, heat, love, blood, excitement, strength, passion, speed, danger
YELLOW: warmth, sunshine, cheer, happiness, cowardice, brightness
BLUE: truth, dignity, power, coolness, melancholy, heaviness, trust, reliability, belonging
ORANGE: playfulness, warmth, vibrant
GREEN: nature, health, cheerfulness, environment, money, vegetation, fresh, cool, growth, abundance
PURPLE: wealth, royalty, sophistication, intelligence, spirituality, dignity
PINK: soft, sweet, nurture, security
BLACK: sophistication, elegant, seductive, mystery, death, rebellion, strength, evil
WHITE: purity, cleanliness, lightness, emptiness, pure, virginal, youthful, mild
GOLD: prestige, expensive
SILVER: prestige, cold, scientific

A color’s meaning depends on its context. Creative Behavior explains the importance of color as:

• Applying color principles fosters desired audience response.
• Warm colors tend to “move toward you” while cool colors tend to “move away from you.” So a designer can use warm colors for emphasis and cool colors to minimize emphasis.
• Brighter colors attract our eyes first, and if overused, can cause visual confusion. Overusing a bright color as an accent reduces its effectiveness.
• Differences in color value and intensity can evoke very different emotional reactions. Light red is associated with cheerfulness, but bright or dark red can induce irritability. Light yellow-green is associated with freshness and youth, but the darker shade olive is associated with drabness and decay. Light sky blue is associated with tranquility, but the deeper value indigo is associated with depression.
• Different cultures interpret colors differently. White is the color of death in Chinese culture, but purple represents death in Brazil. Yellow is sacred to the Chinese, but signified sadness in Greece and jealousy in France. In North America, green is typically associated with jealousy. People from tropical countries respond most favorably to warm colors, people from northern climate prefer the cooler colors.

So remember to think about a color’s context the next time you need to choose one for your design.

Designer Mark Bixby shares a list of things you should know about your logo. Here is how seven of them apply to your church:

1. Your logo is not your brand. Don’t expect it to be.
2. If you are unable to articulate why someone should choose your church over another Sunday activity, a well designed logo is not going to fix that problem.
3. Your logo is also not your value proposition. Don’t expect it to be. “How will people perceive us as reaching the world, if it doesn’t say we are in our logo?” They will know you are reaching the world, when you actually are reaching the world. Chances are also good, they won’t care.
4. The pastor of a church should remove themselves from the design process. Find a designer you trust, and resist the urge to “play designer” yourself. You will get a better logo in the end. It will be based on the attributes of your church and not your personal preferences and tastes (your personal taste simply doesn’t matter to your congregation).
5. You will never “know it when you see it”.
6. Your congregation does not care about your logo. It’s hard to believe, but making your logo bigger will not make it more memorable, it will just make your message less memorable.
7. How you use your logo is more important than its design. Develop an identity plan before putting your logo on anything.

Keep in mind that your logo is important, but there are also many things that are more important. A great logo is useless if you can’t take care of what’s more important.

When it comes to making your ministry more efficient, sometimes the smallest tweaks can create the biggest results. Take UPS for example. They are saving $600 million per year by optimizing the flow of 14.5 million packages they receive each day. The tweaks include preloading vehicles in the morning and routing drivers according to volume and favoring right-hand turns.

Special thanks to ZDNet for highlighting the news.

Outreach magazine organized a panel of twelve ministry leaders and experts to help determine which 25 churches in America are the most innovative. The list is as follows:

1. LifeChurch.tv (Edmond, OK) :: Craig Groeschel
   >> other achievements include being one of
   — the 100 Fastest-Growing U.S. Churches in ‘04, ‘05, & ‘06
   — the 50 Most Influential Churches in ‘05 & ‘06
2. Granger Community Church (Granger, IN) :: Mark Beeson
   >> other achievements include being one of
   — the 100 Fastest-Growing U.S. Churches in ‘04 & ’05
   — the 50 Most Influential Churches in ‘06
3. North Point Community Church (Alpharetta, GA) :: Andy Stanley
   >> other achievements include being one of
   — the 100 Fastest-Growing U.S. Churches in ‘04
   — the 50 Most Influential Churches in ‘05 & ‘06
4. Fellowship Church (Grapevine, TX) :: Ed Young Jr.
   >> other achievements include being one of
   — the 100 Fastest-Growing U.S. Churches in ‘04, ‘05, & ‘06
   — the 50 Most Influential Churches in ‘05 & ‘06
5. Mosaic Church (City of Industry, CA) :: Erwin McManus
   >> other achievements include being one of
   — the 50 Most Influential Churches in ‘05 & ‘06
6. Seacoast Church (Mt. Pleasant, SC) :: Greg Surratt
   >> other achievements include being one of
   — the 100 Fastest-Growing U.S. Churches in ‘05 & ‘06
   — the 50 Most Influential Churches in ‘05 & ‘06
7. Community Christian Church (Naperville, IL) :: Dave Ferguson
   >> other achievements include being one of
   — the 100 Fastest-Growing U.S. Churches in ‘04
   — the 50 Most Influential Churches in ‘06
8. National Community Church (Washington, DC) :: Mark Batterson
9. Mars Hill Church (Seattle, WA) :: Mark Driscoll
   >> other achievements include being one of
   — the 100 Fastest-Growing U.S. Churches in ‘05 & ‘06
   — the 50 Most Influential Churches in ‘05 & ‘06
10. New Hope Christian Fellowship (Oahu, HI) :: Wayne Cordero
    >> other achievements include being one of
    — the 100 Fastest-Growing U.S. Churches in ‘04, ‘05, & ‘06
    — the 50 Most Influential Churches in ‘05 & ‘06
11. Mars Hill Bible Church (Grandville, MI) :: Rob Bell
    >> other achievements include being one of
    — the 100 Fastest-Growing U.S. Churches in ‘04
    — the 50 Most Influential Churches in ‘05 & ‘06
12. The Potter’s House (Dallas, TX) :: T.D. Jakes
    >> other achievements include being one of
    — the 100 Fastest-Growing U.S. Churches in ‘04 & ‘06
    — the 50 Most Influential Churches in ‘05 & ‘06
13. Crossover Church (Tampa, FL) :: Tommy Kyllonen
14. Church of the Open Door (Maple Grove, MN) :: David Johnson
    >> other achievements include being one of
    — the 100 Fastest-Growing U.S. Churches in ‘04
15. Redeemer Presbyterian Church (New York, NY) :: Timothy Keller
    >> other achievements include being one of
    — the 50 Most Influential Churches in ‘05 & ‘06
16. Healing Place Church (Baton Rouge, LA) :: Dino Rizzo
    >> other achievements include being one of
    — the 100 Fastest-Growing U.S. Churches in ‘06
17. The Journey Church (New York, NY) :: Nelson Searcy
    >> other achievements include being one of
    — the 100 Fastest-Growing U.S. Churches in ‘05
18. Saddleback Church (Lake Forest, CA) :: Rick Warren
    >> other achievements include being one of
    — the 100 Fastest-Growing U.S. Churches in ‘04, ‘05, & ‘06
    — the 50 Most Influential Churches in ‘05 & ‘06
19. North Coast Church (Vista, CA) :: Larry Osborn
    >> other achievements include being one of
    — the 100 Fastest-Growing U.S. Churches in ‘04
    — the 50 Most Influential Churches in ‘05 & ‘06
20. Willow Creek Community Church (South Barrington, IL) :: Bill Hybels
    >> other achievements include being one of
    — the 100 Fastest-Growing U.S. Churches in ‘05 & ‘06
    — the 50 Most Influential Churches in ‘05 & ‘06
21. Imago Dei Community (Portland, OR) :: Rick McKinley
22. Christ the King Community Church (Mt. Vernon, WA) :: Dave Browning
    >> other achievements include being one of
    — the 100 Fastest-Growing U.S. Churches in ‘04
23. Radiant Church (Surprise, AZ) :: Lee McFarland
    >> other achievements include being one of
    — the 100 Fastest-Growing U.S. Churches in ‘04, ‘05, & ‘06
24. Living Word Christian Center (Forest Park, IL) :: William Winston
25. The Sanctuary (Santa Clarita, CA) :: Marty Walker

If you are a pastor looking for some innovative ministry ideas, these 25 churches are a great starting point to begin your search. Visit Outreach magazine online for more on how this list was created and for profiles of some of these innovative churches.

Seth Godin states that there are two things that kill marketing creativity.

1. Fear
2. Lack of Imagination

Fear is nothing more than hyped-up worry. So stop worrying about failure or criticism and start focusing on the things of God and what He wants you to do as Matthew 6:25-34 teaches. Of course, there will be times when things do not work or go as planned, but learn from your mistakes. It will only strengthen your creativity.

Lack of imagination is simply poor stewardship of the brain God gave you. Learn to imagine like you did like as a child. Most importantly, don’t instantly kill the ideas you imagine because you think they are impossible. It could be you just don’t know yet how to make it possible or entertaining the idea could be the link and inspiration you need for an even better idea.

So stop fearing and start imagining, and you will find yourself reaching a new level of creativity.

Maps of War has created a fascinating map that depicts 5,000 years of religion in 90 seconds.

In the words of General Norman Schwarzkopf,

Leadership is a potent combination of strategy and character. But if you must be without one, be without the strategy.

Special thanks to Chroma for the quote.

If you are church plant looking for your first facility or even an existing church considering going multi-site, you may want to consider the advantages of a National CineMedia movie theater. Their theaters include AMC Theaters, Cinemark, and Regal Theaters. They intentionally try to get churches to rent their facilities, which benefits include:

• Four-hour theater rental
• One-hour set-up and tear-down
• Choice of one to four auditoriums
• Lobby access
• Event coordinator services
• Non-profit rates up to 50% off the standard retail price
• Multi-auditorium discounts
• Long-term contract savings

For more information, watch their online video.

Special thanks to Mark Batterson for sharing the resource.