In 2024 the communication and media teams at the Oregon Conference, Washington Conference, and North Pacific Union embarked on a collaborative journey to connect with a growing community of digital creators in the Pacific Northwest and beyond through an annual event called Creators Lab. This year, they continued that journey in Tacoma, Washington!
Creators Lab 2025 featured keynotes and hands-on learning labs from nearly a dozen digital creators that covered topics like radio and podcasting, social media content, and artificial intelligence. Pastor Kevin Wilson of Portland’s Sunnyside Adventist Church and Pastor Rome Ulia of the Auburn Academy Church traced the connection between faith and creativity back through Christian history to the days of Jesus and even further – to the Old Testament – reminding the hundred or so people who had gathered for the event that God has always called creatives to help Him share messages with the world.
Rubén Casabona, associate director of Communication at the Lake Union Conference, attended this year for the first time with his wife, Cassandra, and their son, Isaac. “I’d been meaning to go to Creator’s Lab last year, so I was really glad I got to be part of it this time,” said Rubén. “You could tell this event was thoughtfully put together, from the program and amazing food to the inspiring presenters and hands-on experiences in the labs. What really stood out to me was how it was clearly built by creators, for creators, you could really feel the difference. It was such an organic community where people genuinely connected, encouraged each other, and shared their passion for creating meaningful content. It was also reassuring to see so many talented people in our church still pushing to tell impactful stories. It reminded me that it takes you to tell your story, and that your story matters.”
Another important aspect of Creators Lab was its interactive space design. Young families played with their toddlers in a retro “living room” set in the lobby. Excited teens and seasoned creatives took polaroid photos together and hung them on a polaroid display. A half dozen attendees all from different churches talked over questions about life found on their table’s conversation card displays. Every corner of the South Tacoma Adventist Fellowship gymnasium came alive with people connecting face-to-face over their love and curiosity about digital creation.
Lindsey Gispert, a recent graduate of Walla Walla University’s Film, Media, and Communications program, joined the team this year as a featured speaker. “I saw pictures of Creators Lab last year and it looked so fun but I wasn’t able to go,” said Lindsey. “Honestly going into this I thought of it as a creative retreat – a place to go if you’re in any kind of rut or dealing with writer’s block or needing help brainstorming any kind of work project and getting to be around a bunch of different people who are all very creative in their own right. And it was a super great way to do that.” Lindsey shared that Creators Lab offered a vital next step in the transition from college classes to the broader world, “Coming from my college experience, I was most excited about the labs. In college classes you tend to see the same people over and over, so in my head getting the chance to take some master classes from different people seemed really cool. The labs were sort of like a class setting but a bit more collaborative.”
Finally, Creators Lab brought the digital community into the physical world, connecting many who may have only interacted online to face-to-face connection. As Lindsey shared, “I liked having the chance to learn things outside of a YouTube video that’s half an hour long and leads me down a rabbit hole. I’m all for learning from other humans and talking about our experiences in person instead of just online. The internet is a great resource, but sometimes it’s just better to talk directly to a person.”
With stories still unfolding and many new projects arising from this growing community, the Creators Lab team hopes to bring the event back to the Holden Center in Gladstone next spring.
