Interview with Gary Johnson

By Brad Dupray

Indian Creek Christian Church (“The Creek”) in Indianapolis, Indiana, has a well-earned reputation as a church committed to expressing the truth of the gospel in creative ways through worship experiences. Gary Johnson has served as senior pastor at The Creek for 20 years, leading it from a church of 250 to 4,000 in weekend worship. Gary has been on more than 50 mission trips to foreign countries, teaching pastors and church leaders in cross-cultural settings. He has earned two master”s degrees from Cincinnati (Ohio) Christian University, a master”s degree from Lincoln (Illinois) Christian Seminary, and a DMin from Grace Theological Seminary, Winona Lake, Indiana. Gary and his wife, Leah, have been married 30 years and have two sons and four grandchildren.

How would you define worship?

Worship is more than a Sunday morning experience. It should be the way we live 24/7. We should be forging a walk with God that is passionate, engaging him relationally throughout the day, and every day throughout the week. Worship is more of a way we live than what we do on a Sunday morning.

What is the senior minister”s role in directing the church to achieve that?

It”s twofold. First, educating the church””preaching and teaching about how practicing the presence of the Lord is to be done. Second, it”s emulating, or exemplifying, that teaching. I must consistently model practicing God”s presence. That”s my responsibility. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 11:1, “Follow my example as I follow the example of Christ”; so I must teach by example.

Do you serve as the “quarterback” in directing the planning of worship, or is there more of a give-and-take?

I”m more of a coach. I”ve got a team of very exceptional players””highly skilled and talented. I tell them what the bottom line is for each worship service, and they call the plays. I do not micromanage them. I”m fortunate to have these gifted artists who take and amplify the day”s bottom line with finesse and urgency. I would be lost without them. It”s fun and a great experience to be working with them.

How do you keep the church service from just being a “show,” another community extravaganza?

We provide a message with substance. We speak at deep levels. It”s not “Bible-lite” at all. We communicate with a sense of urgency and depth; people then understand this is not entertainment. Also, we have studied our target group””those people we want to reach with Christ. So we use worship elements that connect with their world. When worship elements are a match to their personal lives, they don”t think of this as “just being a show.”

How do you maintain cultural relevance while helping people experience the appeal of ancient truths?

We place high value on the Scriptures, so we communicate consistently that the Word of God is relevant and applicable to life today. We craft our worship experiences so there is a single “bottom line,” a single truth, for people to take home with them. We don”t want people walking out with a list of five catchy phrases. We want one central truth to be remembered””and lived out””throughout the week.

And I”m assuming that has a practical application.

That bottom line has to be livable; it has to have a practical application to life, keeping with James 1:22, “don”t be mere hearers, be doers of the Word.” We try to create worship so there is a response to Jesus. At different times we provide resources. For example, earlier this summer we did a series called “My Life Stinks.” It was about the six common areas where we “do life” (like marriage and family, money, job). Our adult ministries team put together a resource packet that went along with the morning worship focus. It had a list of recommended books, a devotion for that week, a DVD that had more teaching on a deeper level on that topic, mediography recommendations, etc.

That”s application plus.

Every week we want the people to walk out with a direct challenge to live the Word. Our vision statement at The Creek is “Transforming lives””one at a time.” So we challenge one another to experience that. So if Sunday morning worship does not press us on, push us forward, compel us in some way to be more urgent followers of Jesus, then we have failed.

How do you make use of different elements of worship? It sounds like more than three hymns and a prayer.

We spend a lot of time creating worship experiences. It is a lengthy process. First, it”s essential we have a worship and creative arts leadership team; I have to work in a team environment. I am responsible to determine, “What is it that the Holy Spirit wants the church to hear from the Word of God?” We have a single focus for the whole year. This year our single target is the word irresistible. We want to become an irresistible people of God so people are drawn through us to Jesus.

How far in advance do you begin developing that yearlong focus?

That target was identified in the fall of 2007, and I am now working on the preaching target for 2009. Working with our staff, I divided the year into preaching components answering the question, “How can we be transformed so we become irresistible?”

Do you then have shorter series that fit within that larger context?

Yes. Our worship design team puts together an entire series two months prior to it taking place. That happens at a single long meeting. I create, one week prior to that meeting, a series template and communicate the one main thrust of that series. Then I identify the measurable outcomes we should experience by the end of the series. I break down each message in the series by date, text, and a one-paragraph description of what that sermon will be, including the bottom line. The worship design team then plans each worship service using that bottom line because everything must keep pointing to the bottom line in the service.

At some point they have to narrow it down to a given Sunday.

The worship design team plans worship services four weeks in advance. This is where the special elements come into play””they”re able to include drama and media pieces (videos, DVDs). We do a great deal with graphic representations. The stage is designed to reflect the series. We often use secular music to connect with people who are not yet believers.

Do you ever get negative feedback from that?

Some, but it”s limited. We”re careful in the selection of materials. By and large the feedback is very positive from people who are not yet followers. As well, believers here see and appreciate our creative attempts to connect with people who are not yet Christ followers.

We use tactile elements from time to time. An example: when preaching on friendship and accountability, I taught how Jonathan and David had formed a covenant. Covenant is a Hebrew word meaning to chain or fetter. Jonathan and David chained, or fettered, themselves to one another. As people were walking in to the service we gave them a piece of chain. I”ve seen many people keep a piece of that chain, say, on their key ring as a reminder of their walk in faith with one another.

We use lighting elements from time to time. For example, during the week of Easter we conduct a Tenebrae service. Tenebrae is Latin for “the darkening.” That service ends with the worship center gradually becoming darker and darker and darker. We use a lot of candlelight in the service, and the service comes to a conclusion with one single candle being extinguished. That candle represents the death of Jesus. So people walk out in absolute silence””and darkness. The lighting effect has been used to enrich the worship service. Then, when they return on Easter Sunday, it”s all about celebration.

Does the worship service function as an evangelism tool?

That”s a huge passion of mine. We determined some years ago that we are a mission-driven church, as opposed to a member-driven church. Joe Ellis of Cincinnati Christian University is a great teacher and advocate of churches being mission-driven. Jesus came to seek and save the lost, and that should be the number one focus of churches””to lead people to Jesus. We see the weekend worship experience as a pivotal opportunity for that.

How do you prepare to make that happen?

We have studied our target group, people who live within a five-mile radius of The Creek. We know the average age, educational background, and family structure of our community. Ours is largely people who are age 30 to their early 40s and are married with children. That is our principle target group. Seventy-five percent of the population in our five-mile radius fits that profile.

How do you make a specific appeal to that group?

We know from studies that if we win the husband/dad to Christ first, 93 percent of the time his family will follow him to Christ. So our principle target is a married man with children in his 30s to early 40s. What are we doing to draw him to Christ? We believe we have one chance at him; there”s no guarantee he”ll come back. We have to create a worship experience he finds compelling so he will come back. So we will not sing all four stanzas of an old gospel hymn, because that”s not what he”s listening to in his truck.

How do people who have been attending the church for a long time respond to that approach?

We don”t attempt to please all people””that”s impossible. We educate our people that our number one purpose is to bring people to Jesus. It”s not about me being happy with the worship service. It”s all about creating an irresistible environment where the hardest of hearts, the strongest of skeptics, would want to return and keep searching for answers, for hope.

The believer and nonbeliever are two completely different audiences, right?

We have to be mindful of the gap between a believer and the person who is not yet a believer, and close that gap. With regard to everyone who is already here who is in Christ, it is our responsibility to grow and mature them to understand that lost people matter to God more than anything else. So we need to grow past what we want in the Sunday worship experience and know that there are souls at stake with regard to eternity. We have to educate our people here that we must be relevant with our culture.

What do you want people to walk away with at the end of the worship service?

A transformed life. A marriage that is improved. A dysfunctional family that is healed. Addictions that are broken. Hope that has become realized. Hope for a transformed life by the person and power of Jesus.

Brad Dupray is senior vice president, investor development, with Church Development Fund, Irvine, California.

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SIDEBAR: The National Church Music Conference is adding a senior minister track to its 2009 program with Gary Johnson addressing how a senior minister can create a synergistic creative experience with his team. The conference will take place in Plainfield, Indiana, April 21″“24. For more information visit www.n-c-m-c.org.