Guy Richards / Ordinary Life with a Brand Strategist

Give Me a Break!

Hi everyone,

I see this in the church alot. A kids plugged into church because his family are believers but they "do church" like you do a weekly hobby, the kid doesn't see real power and as soon as he gets the chance he's out.

Below is a glimpse of my friend Sam Rainer's book that has not been released. Sam is a Pastor, president of Rainer Research, manages his own blog Church Forward and writes a column and blog for Outreach magazine.

Give Me a Break! By Sam S. Rainer III

The number one reason why young adults 18-22 leave the church is because they simply wanted a break from church. And I believe this speaks more to the condition of the church than it does the hearts of this generation. More is revealed in my book, Essential Church? (to be released this fall), but I thought I would share a few thoughts with you before the book is released. We interviewed over 1,000 students in a large, nationwide study to take the pulse of why they drop out of church. We were certainly surprised with the top result: they simply wanted a break from church.

Why?

Ingrained in the minds of our youngest generation is the deep-rooted philosophy that taking a sabbatical from church is permitted or even refreshing. But church is not a chore, nor should it be viewed as such. Unfortunately, many churches have turned attendance into a duty likened to taking out the garbage – it’s necessary so your life doesn’t get too stinky.

But lost somewhere is the idea that we are to grow discipled warriors for God. Church can be fun; fellowship is many times viewed as one of the essential purposes of the church. But our churches should produce and grow disciplined, God-glorifying people, not callow Christians.

Taking a break from church is synonymous to taking a break from God. The two are inexplicably tied – Christ the bridegroom, the church his bride (Ephesians 5:31-33). Regardless, many of our youth believe that this hiatus from church is worthwhile. They take a break from church like they would any other social venue.

And we shouldn’t react with disdain, but rather with a loving heart that shows them how critical a role church plays in the life of people.

At issue in many churches are the vast amounts of programs and “spots to fill.” Our youth see adults in the church begrudgingly serving in areas for which they have little passion. They see their parents and others getting sucked into the vacuum of church service.

And it becomes much harder for the leadership of the church to build ministries around people who will not champion them. But if we begin to show the 18-22 year-old group that serving in church is more about using your God-given giftedness and less about stepping in because there is a spot in a program to fill, they are less likely to want a break from church.

The essential church provides an environment where community is created. The essential church doesn’t rely on endless programs to attract others; they use people to connect with others. This generation is attracted to the church that realizes they are essential to the survival of the body of Christ. And once they realize how essential they are, then they certainly won’t want to “take a break” from church.

The Beauty of Typographic Communication

Hi everyone,
This is a guess post from my friend and fellow designer Tim Smith.Things to know about Tim:
    He was born in England
    His wife's a gymnast
    Loves the Lord
    Drinks a lot of Lady Grey Tea
    And is one of the best up and coming designers
Keep your eye on him…

-Guy

I find myself sketching a Bodoni uppercase ‘A’ on a notepad while I’m talking on the phone. It’s a fairly accurate rendition; I’ve done it hundreds of times before. The fact of the matter is that I am obsessed. Letterforms, to me, are far more than simply functional units that we use to make up words. They are individual art-forms, each with their own identifying characteristics and opportunities for creative exploration. I have filled a great number of sketchbook pages with stenciled letters, hand-drawn type, cutout text, and compositional studies that explore “the letterform as a design element”.

To think that as designers, we are limited to our 50 or so favorite fonts and an Adobe color palette is a huge mistake. It’s amazing how much you can convey with type if you approach it differently and find it’s character. I remember sitting in a type III studio at the Rhode Island School of Design a few years ago; in just ten minutes the class came up with over 100 ways to make type descriptive (and there are infinitely more). Anything from “burn it, twist it, fold it, rip it, smudge it”, to “collage it, bake it, illuminate it, photograph it, construct it, and carve it.”

A willingness to experiment with type seems the key to making it expressive, which in turn creates an emotion beyond your ‘Black 12pt Times New Roman, auto kerned and leaded’. At RISD, I saw an Optima ‘Q’ become a flower vase, and a Helvetica cake. I saw hand-stitched foam type floating down the Providence River. There was always blue masking tape messages adhered to the walls of the campus, advertising some upcoming event. I found letterforms in the scratches on tabletops, in ornate iron railings, in a junkyard heap, in the pose of a musician, and even in groupings of hairs stuck to the plastic walls after a shower. At that time, the world was my toolkit and creativity was everywhere. So why should I lose this world of opportunities– just because I finished school? No.

This keen experimentation has led me to a career of approaching design projects differently – I’ll always ask myself first, “can I convey this message with type alone? And if so– How?” I draw, I paint, I collage, and I think. And ultimately, this fascination with the beauty of type and discovery of letterforms has taken me down any number of paths that have led to what every designer craves in communication – uniqueness.

Tim Smith is a freelance designer in Boston, MA, and was recently recruited as a lead designer for Staples Inc. He received a BFA Graphic Design, RISD ’07 and a BFA Painting, UNH ’04. A portfolio of recent works can be found at www.designbytimsmith.com