ABOUT
By local experts for creatives.
Creative Tides empowers creativity to flow within the Church and ripple out to the local community by curating accessible, expert-level resources for all creatives and building church-to-church partnerships.
Worship & Creative Arts Ministry within the Church is a unique ministry, requiring many niche and particular skill in tandem with a humble, servant heart. In this way, this ministry is unlike any other ministry or job and thus, can sometimes feel very isolating, confusing, or frustrating with a "sink or swim" pressure put on both those serving and those leading. We believe that there is high caliber knowledge and quality skill among those within our local community and therefore, Creative Tides Ministry exists to build church-to-church partnerships and resource all creatives in an affordable and attainable way, capitalizing on the "experts" in our own churches and community. This partnership provides a network of support, friendships, and sustainability in a ministry that once felt isolating. As resources and expertise are shared, our hope is that these skills would ripple outside the Church walls and contribute to the community. The skills honed and crafted with excellence will contribute to a thriving, local economy; the relationships forged from shared commonality and interest will develop trust and opportunity for evangelistic impact and sharing of the Gospel, outside the church walls.
WHY 'TIDES'?
Wikipedia Definition of 'Tide': "The rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another."
The name "Creative Tides" was chosen because we grow as we are pulled and challenged by one another, while 'orbiting' around and being drawn into discipleship by the gravitational pull of Jesus, the Son.
ON THE BASIS OF SCRIPTURE
“...I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called . . . But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it... So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves . . . Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.”
The Board.
Our Board is made up of passionate volunteers whose expertise spans ministry, nonprofit development, finance, the creative arts, and higher education—bringing both wisdom and vision to our mission.
Ashlee Truitt
Founder & President
Ashlee is a Worship Pastor at Red Hills Church in Newberg, OR. She has been married for 4 years to her best friend, Adam. She is a photographer, videographer, and graphic designer. She is passionate about resourcing, platforming, and equipping creatives, which is why she founded Creative Tides Ministry, which curates accessible resources and community-building events taught by local experts for church worship and tech teams, fellow Worship Pastors, and individual creatives in the community in general, to improve their craft or team building skills and network with other creatives or churches. She is an avid Disney fan and religious Gilmore Girls watcher and a typical coffee-addicted millennial.
Chris Hahn
Vice President
I’m Chris Hahn, and I’m an accomplished audio engineer and video producer based in Salem, Oregon. With over two decades of experience under my belt, I’ve dedicated my career to crafting top-notch audiovisual content, primarily for churches and nonprofit organizations and small businesses. When I’m not doing that, it’s family, community service, and music. I play in two bands, write, produce, engineer and mix projects for local artists, doing remixes, playback engineering, live sound, DJing, lessons, classes, camps, anything to keep the sonic energy moving.
Jon Grover
Treasurer
Jon joined the Creative Tides board in 2025, eager to apply his background in finance towards supporting the ministry. He has over 20 years of experience in public finance and is currently working with the City of Hillsboro as the Assistant Finance Director. Jon is a bass guitar player, volunteering regularly with his teenagers (way better musicians) at Red Hills Church. He also serves in Children's Ministry with his wife and kids, and has a passion for seeing young kids develop their skills in worship at an early age. The whole family loves to travel, and is nearing the halfway point of seeing all 50 of the United States. Jon looks forward to seeing Creative Tides operate into the future as a self-sustaining ministry, supported by the creative people it serves.
Jeana Linhart
Secretary
Meet Jeana Linhart, who pours her heart into her role as Director of Worship and Women’s Ministry at Grace Baptist Church. When she isn't leading at church, you’ll likely find her with a paintbrush in hand! Jeana is a true artist at heart and thrives on finding creative ways to weave beauty and art into every part of daily life.
Aaron Barnhart
Development Chair
Aaron is a professional musician, engineer and educator with years of experience in the music industry. He has a passion for songwriting, performing, and production that is evident in all the work he creates. Aaron holds a Master of Music from The University of Oregon and a Bachelor of Music from the Berklee College of Music. He went on to be signed to Universal Music Group’s Christian division where he released a full length album entitled “Missing Pieces”. After touring nationally, Aaron left the label and released two more self produced EPs under his own Label. He has a wealth of experience as a touring musician, producer, and engineer. He has toured internationally with Grammy winning artists, as well as recording numerous bands and solo artists. He is currently owner and operator of Reverent Recording Studios in Salem Oregon. In 2015, Aaron and his wife Jillian left Los Angeles and moved to Salem, OR. Aaron is a professor of worship arts and music industry at George Fox University.