Origins

A Christian Creative Agency Origin Story

We are a christian creative agency, but we haven’t always been. It’s crazy. When I look back at when I started this journey, I never could’ve imagined what the Lord had in store for this ministry. All I knew is that I wanted to use my gifts, talents, and abilities for the Kingdom. I wanted to make a difference with my photography and video abilities. After getting the organization off the ground, I quickly learned a couple of things. This is our origin story.

First, a ministry runs much more affectively as a team rather than being driven by any one individual. As Christians we know that things run more affectively within community as apposed to outside. We are called to work within community for the gospel. Yes, it can be more complicated in this setting, but we were created for community. As a do-it-yourself introvert this was something that didn’t come naturally. To be completely honest, it wasn’t working with others that scared me, but rather the idea of sharing my ministry with others. Remember, I’m a DIY personality. My pride said this was my ministry. I didn’t want to share what “I” had built with others. The problem was, I hadn’t built anything at all. I had taken a dream and vision the Lord had given me, and started after it with good intentions, but as soon as things got difficult or there was any type of trust required I abandoned the idea for things that “paid the bills.” The ministry was just floundering in limbo. For three years it sat and did nothing. Part of that was due to the fact that I was wandering aimlessly through the process of gaining 501(c)3 status with the state, but the reality of it all was that I lacked trust.

Something needed to change.

So far things were off to a great start (sarcasm)! I was prideful in building something that wasn’t working, I lacked trust in the Lord finishing what He had started, and I was selfishly trying to do things on my own. What a way to start a ministry using my gifts, talents, and abilities for the Kingdom! Something needed to change, but isn’t it a blessing to know that we serve a gracious God? I don’t know about you, but I take incredible comfort in the fact that we serve a gracious, loving, patient God. He knew long before I started Reliant Creative (Go Photo Ministries at the time) that the first of many struggles with the ministry, would be getting over myself. He was still willing to share this dream with me knowing I would get in the way, and He will be faithful to complete what He started. As soon as I started seeking what the Lord wanted for this ministry, as soon as I started pursuing His ways rather than my own, as soon as I got out of the way, amazing things started happening. The second thing I learned was that photography and video were only pieces to a much bigger puzzle.

A brand is more than great imagery.

Your brand is only as strong as its weakest link. You can have the most beautiful imagery, but if everything else is not up to par with that imagery, then that imagery will never live up to it’s full potential. I quickly learned that in order to have the most affective Kingdom impact, Go Photo Ministries needed to offer more than photography and video. Most ministries, in fact the church as a whole, have done a poor job taking advantage of creative services. There are a lot of reasons for this negligence. Often times it’s due to budget, but I have found that it is primarily due to the fact that ministries are busy doing ministry. They don’t have the time, energy, or resources to spend figuring out how to creatively and affectively speak to their target audience. Great images can help, but in this day and age they aren’t enough on their own. Go Photo Ministries needed to become more than a photography and video company. It needed to become a creative agency. And so, our first act as a creative agency was to re-brand our own ministry. Go Photo Ministries is now officially Reliant Creative, a full service christian creative agency designed to serve gospel-centered ministries and churches.

We are a Christian Creative Agency. We tell stories.

Remember when I said amazing things started happening when I got out of the way and pursued what the Lord wanted for the ministry? Well, I got out of the way, and the last year has been incredible. In the Spring of 2015 we officially received 501(c)3 status with the state. Something I had honestly given up on completely. Since then we have completely re-branded three ministries and we are in the early stages of a fourth. The most amazing part, because we are a 501(c)3, you have completely covered the cost for these ministries that wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford what we offer. It’s been incredible to watch how the Lord has provided through you, our donors. Reliant Creative is now a team of incredibly talented creatives all working together to build and strengthen the brand identity of ministries that are doing amazing work for the Kingdom. We are a small team, a creative agency, dedicated to helping ministries realize their full potential by using creative services to build brands that can affectively speak to their target audience. But, we are more than just a small community of creatives. We are a large community of people who realize the need for creative in the church, people who realize that creativity can be a powerful tool, and when it’s used well and leveraged to help tell stories, we can better bring awareness to a world in need of Jesus.
If you’d like to learn more about what we do or how you can come along side us as we grow the ministries and brands that are on the front lines for Christ, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

About the Author:

Zach Leighton

Zach Leighton

Zach Leighton has been working with Christian ministries and nonprofits for over a decade, helping them tell their stories and testify of God's redemptive work. He's a StoryBrand Certified Guide and has done extensive work tailoring The Hero's Journey framework used by StoryBrand to the ministry sector. When he's not working directly to serve ministry clients, as the Principal Creative at Reliant, he spends much of his time developing strategy and casting vision for the ministry of Reliant.

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