Every spring, tens of thousands of the world’s most creative mindsdescend on Austin, Texas for South By South West. The event includes over 400 indie bands, an interactive media conference and a film festival.
The first time I experienced this artistic pilgrimage, I wondered where all the churches were. My answer came on Friday night from a suited street preacher yelling for repentance.
Conversations such as the Q Conference, have shown that the Church’s role in a post-christendom culture must be to create culture that is more relevant, beautiful and creative as what the lost world has to offer. This is a far cry from Christian creative movement of the last few decades, focused on creating cheap knock-offs of secular culture.
The same day I encountered the street preacher, a nice guy from a music label gave me some free pizza and beer. He didn’t yell at me, explaining why his label was so much better than all the others. He just served me.
Every year, the artists who will shape the music, media and movies of the future come together for SXSW. What if Austin’s churches made it their goal to minister to the creators of tomorrow?
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