ABOUT W&C
THE IDEA
In 2015 the idea of Worship & Creative was birthed to bring creatives together to simply make the church better. My original thought was to utilize social media to build a community and push them to a website and YouTube to help train and inspire all creatives. I had a really good friend who served alongside me in our youth ministry and was a YouTuber for his profession, so I asked him what he thought about Worship & Creative. His exact words were, “you’re sitting on a gold mine”. I was so inspired by his input that I created a website, YouTube Channel, Instagram, Twitter, and a Facebook page. For the next couple of months, I started creating content to put out on all platforms and I felt a rush of creativity flowing through me.
Finally, I felt confident enough to start posting my content for the world to see. I had Worship tutorials, countdown videos, stage sets, graphics and so much more being posted on all the platforms. I felt as though what I was doing was going to change the face of the earth as we know it. About 3 weeks in I suddenly had a wave of insecurity come over me about my content across the board. I wasn’t getting many views on YouTube, my Instagram had 23 followers and I lost my confidence because of the amount or lack thereof likes and views I was getting. I found myself second-guessing my ability to create and lead others in the process, so I gave up.
THE INSECURITY
There was a season of life where I put this dream to build this community behind me and just focused on my local church. A lot happened in my personal life the next 3 years that recentered my focus back to Jesus rather than on my personal vendetta. Unfortunately, I spent my first seven years of full-time ministry focusing too much on what “position” I held and what I can do rather than keeping Jesus at the center of it all. If I really break it down, I was insecure and gave up because I didn’t find my confidence in Jesus. I became self-sufficient.
Let me tell you, God humbled me in a big way. I went from leading worship in front of 10,000+ to being an admin, a job I never wanted or was even good at. This season shook me to the core. I never understood depression on a personal level, on the Enneagram I’m a 7 who is supposed to be an enthusiastic optimist who always sees the bright side of things. For the first time ever I went into a deep dark place where God was literally putting me through the fire and hammering me into shape. Fast forward just a little over 2 years and I’m a Campus Pastor for our church after being the design director for a bit. I never would have thought this would be what I do but God is funny like that. He knows exactly what He is doing even when we are idiots trying to create our own path. I’ll unpack this season a bit more in another post.
THE DREAM RE-BORN
In 2018 the dream of Worship & Creative came back to life with a fresh perspective and vision. I began creating content again for this platform but this time my confidence was in Jesus. The amount of likes or follows I got didn’t matter to me anymore. I knew that what I was creating was from the throne room of heaven and that God was pleased with my worship to him. I created and posted diligently every day based on my devotions from that morning. There was something beautiful from this method that gave me endurance. This endurance came because I no longer was creating for man but for my Father who says He is proud of me.
If you look at our Instagram you hardly will see a post from me anymore. Why? Because the Lord showed me that I am a champion of other people and that is what He is calling me to be. I can’t help but think, what if someone like the current Worship & Creative had seen and believed in me with a repost? Would that have changed everything? All I know is that God’s plan is bigger than mine and I have to trust Him through the process. It may seem like no one sees you and that what you are doing doesn’t matter, but let me tell you that God sees you and you matter to Him. Let your creation be a sacrifice of worship to Him. He will bless that. This is why I respond to artists as they say thank you for showing them love with “KeepCreating”. I don’t want them to give up on their God-given gifts, talents, and dreams all because they feel inadequate. What you do matters. You are making a difference so please for the Love of God, keep creating.
THE PODCAST
That brings me to today. The new season of Worship & Creative has begun. We are having weekly conversations with creatives from all over about Creativity, Leadership, and Mental Health. I went through an 8-month break from W&C because of a traumatic experience in my career as a Pastor. This put me in a deep depression and I was super unsure about what I wanted to do with this. A part of me wanted to give it to someone else but deep down I knew that wasn’t the answer. So I fasted and prayed for 8 months while dealing also with some serious mental health issues and finally, the Lord spoke loud and clear. W&C has always been here to inspire creatives to be the best version of themselves and up till this point, it has basically only been highlighting graphics and videos of content creators. But now we are heavily focusing on having conversations through our podcast tackling tough conversations and pushing creatives and leaders to grow in who they are. We will continue to highlight creatives but we are adding the conversations into the mix weekly.
Thank you for being a part of Worship and Creative and I hope we can make a difference in your life.
TAKEAWAYS
God has a plan for your life.
Let your confidence be in Jesus
What you do matters
Never stop creating
Thanks for reading and going on this journey with us.
Julian Garcia
Worship & Creative
Check out the original Worship and Creative Instagram @worshipcreative