What appears in this portion of the website are somewhat random reflections about the role of the arts in churches.  The arts, for me, include poetry, music, visual arts, drama, dance, indeed any form that can enhance our worship of God and our call to be a loving and healing presence in the world.

February 5, 2025

Markings in our Worship Spaces

As I pick up the theme from last time of significant places and significant events, I would invite you to consider the question, “How do we mark significant happenings in our worship space?”

It is often true that worship spaces include memorial elements of some kind, the most common perhaps being stained glass windows, but other creations may also be in place as memorials to one or more persons.  When my church, many years ago, decided to install a new pulpit and lectern, along with a new communion table, those were placed in the sanctuary as the result of memorial gifts.  In that case, in particular, there were no attached memorial plaques, but instead a memorial book was placed for all to see and celebrate those remembered through the gifts.

I am not, however, just thinking of memorial gifts, which become permanent installations and fixtures in the church.  I am also wondering if other elements enter into the space to perhaps remember a Lenten or Advent journey, or to continue to rejoice over a significant church anniversary, for example.  It may be a banner that has continuing meaning in the worship gatherings, or perhaps come other kind of decorations that both remember past events and instill meaning into upcoming events.

For example, we have an artistic cross that hangs on one of our church walls throughout most of the year.  We remove it during Advent because we then use that space for items that enhance the Advent journey.  But it is present during most of the year because it is not only an obviously significant symbol of our faith, but because it also connects us with past seasons in the life of the church.

As a point of ongoing reflection, how do we evoke the past in order to encounter it and use it to help shape our future?

January 18, 2025

“This is none other than the house of God…”

It was as Jacob was running away, fearing for his life, that he stopped and slept in a place that he would later name Bethel.  As he slept, with a stone for a pillow, he dreamt of angels ascending and descending on a ladder that reached to heaven.  When he awoke, he said, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it.”  Then he said, “How awesome is this place!  This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.”  He took the stone that had served as his pillow, set it up as a pillar, and poured oil on top of it.  Then he named the place Beth-El, which literally means, “The House of God.”  (The story is found in Genesis 28:10-22)

As I wrote last time about the significance of place, I kept thinking of this story about Jacob and his sudden awareness of God’s presence in the place where he had slept.  It was important to him to mark that place, and to name the place as well. 

Though we don’t often think about it today, or at least I don’t, almost every place, every town, every city has been named for a reason, either because something happened there or a family with a particular name settled there. 

Which leads me to wonder, if we could name the place where we live, or where we relax, or where we feel particularly close to God, what name would we give that place?  How would we express the significance of that place to us?

I have to give some more thought to the names I would give to the places that hold significance for me.  I invite you to do the same.

January 4, 2025

The Importance of Place

Places are significant.  Places help to shape who we are, and how we live our lives.  There are certainly many other factors as well, but places touch us in profound ways.

Sometimes I think that we pursue experiences in places because they are significant for other people.  And, we can certainly find things in those places that move us too.  But it is our own spaces that contribute to our growth, our welfare, our peace.

One of my favorite books was written by a cultural anthropologist named Richard Nelson.  It is entitled, The Island Within.  In the book he explores the land and peoples of the north, as well as considering their impact upon his life, and the interactions between the places and himself.  In the preface he writes:

“I also realized that the particular place I’d chosen was less important than the fact that I’d chosen a place and focused my life around it.  Although the island has taken on great significance for me, it’s no more inherently beautiful or meaningful than any other place on earth.  What makes a place special is the way it buries itself inside the heart, not whether it’s flat or rugged, rich or austere, wet or arid, gentle or harsh, warm or cold, wild or tame.  Every place, like every person, is elevated by the love and respect shown toward it, and by the way in which its bounty is received.”

I have always found his reflection to be quite profound.  Sometimes we long to be elsewhere, to experience life in new and exciting ways.  His offering is that any place can be significant as we engage in life around that place, and allow it to touch our life.

I will continue to reflect on this theme in future posts, but, for now, where are your significant places, and how do you allow them to touch you, perhaps most especially the place where you live day in and day out?

December 13, 2024

Art in Context

I love museums.  They allow me to see and spend time with works of art that I would otherwise never be able to see in person.  I am grateful that individuals, communities and various forms of government have had the foresight to gather collections and make them available to people.

I also learned long ago, that one thing about art is that when it is created for a particular context, it also has the most meaning in that context.  This was brought home as I listened to a professor describing the intricacies and meanings associated with various parts of an altarpiece that had been bought and then displayed in a museum.  The professor asked us to imagine the original church where the altarpiece had served as a focus of devotions for many people across a number of centuries.  The impact that the altarpiece had in that setting was different to be sure than the impact it had for museum visitors.  Even those of us who looked at it with eyes of faith were still seeing it more as art taken out of its context than as a way to help us worship.

When we create art for the church, it can be transferable from one church to another most certainly, but it is apt to have its greatest significance in the church that commissioned it, because the people, at least some of the people, shared in the process of creation with the artist.  It was developed in the mind of the artist for that space.

We have a cross that hangs on the wall of our sanctuary throughout most of the year.  It is especially meaningful for our members because a couple of us created the cross and shared that process with others.  It being a cross, it could certainly find a home in another church.  But then it would be a gift to that church, or possibly a purchase for that church, and it would be missing the connection with the act of creation.

It is certainly possible for the people of a church to work with artists to create all of the art of a church.  It is also likely that some portion of the art will be purchased separate from involvement with the artists.  I would imagine though that the most meaningful creations, the ones which inspire the greatest devotion, or afford the most intimate connection with God, would be the ones where the creativity of the people and the artists had come together, such that the art was an expression of their joint vision and faith.

I will continue to enjoy museums and appreciate their gifts.  I will also continue to be aware that the cross in our sanctuary has a deeper connection to God for me than does any religious object in a museum, no matter how beautiful and detailed it may be.  That is the power of art experienced within its intended context.

November 26, 2024

Haiku

It was in about seventh or eighth grade that I was introduced to Haiku.  Many of you may have had a similar experience.  If not, in brief, Haiku is a form of poetry that is composed of three lines and seventeen syllables.  The first line uses five syllables, the second line uses seven syllables, and the final line completes the poem with five more syllables.  There are, of course, many more subtleties to this art form, but that basic structure is what appealed to me in those school years.  You see, I wasn’t very good at writing rhyming poetry, but I was good at math.  So not only could I figure out the structure of Haiku, but it didn’t have to rhyme.  I had found my form of poetic expression.

Through the years I have continued to appreciate Haiku, including buying a book about it to further educate myself, which introduced me to the idea that modern writers of this form take liberties that diverge from the three lines and seventeen symbols.  In another book on my office shelves, which offers a series of creative expressions of the Christmas story through story and verse, there are two or three Haikus.  During one Advent season, as I gathered with my youth on a Sunday morning, I brought out two of these Haikus and we spent time reading and discussing them.  Then I asked them to write three Haikus about three different aspects of the Advent and Christmas seasons.  They too were familiar with this form of poetry from school experiences, and they responded with creativity.  At the same time, I joined them in writing, and again discovered the joy that I derive from this art form.

One part of Haiku that I believe is so powerful is that the poet needs to find the right words, and put them in the right places, in a way that is necessarily brief, because of the structure that is imposed by the traditional art form.  It requires one to think, to evaluate the possible words, and to make choices that communicate clearly in a rather minimalist way.

It occurs to me that preachers, or maybe any speaker, might benefit from the use of Haiku.  If a preacher were to sit down and write a Haiku before beginning to work on their message, it might help to define the focus of that message.  Too often we preachers have so much that we would like to say, even so much that we are excited to share, that we fail to establish a clear focus and thus wander around for much too long a time.  By having to define the message in a mere seventeen syllables, we might be able to recognize more clearly exactly what the message is that we are anxious to share.

When I listen to a sermon, or to a speech of any kind, the clearer the focus is, the more I take away from it.  I want to offer that same gift to others.

November 16, 2024

Patrons of the Arts

When I go to a music center or a theater, I am one of those who glance through the list of names of people who have supported an organization and are designated in various categories.  Chances are slim that I will recognize any name, but there is still a fascination for me because these individuals have found an organization to be meaningful enough in their lives that they have given financially to support the artistic creativity of that organization.

As I wrote about our performance series last time, I mentioned our Patron of the Arts program.  This is an opportunity for people to support our program in categories ranging from $50 to $750.   We are a small church and so it doesn’t take long to read our list of names.  But I am incredibly grateful to each and every person who gives in that way.  In truth, because we keep ticket prices modest enough for anyone to be able to experience the fine music that we offer, these Patrons are the ones who help us to bring such fine programs to our community. 

There were times in history when the church universal was one of the prime patrons of the arts.  Sometimes that was a matter of wealthy bishops having a commitment to the arts and the inclusion of the arts in churches.  Sometimes there were wealthy church members who served as patrons for artists whose work they found impressive or inspirational. 

But with the advent of the Protestant churches, the preaching of the word became the primary means through which God was revealed to the people.  The arts took a back seat in many cases, and in some churches the visual arts disappeared altogether.  Music has remained a staple in most churches, and when funds have been available, often through memorial gifts, stained glass windows have graced the sanctuaries of some churches.  However, the reality in many churches was not only that patronage of the arts disappeared, but the visual arts themselves were nowhere to be found.

Fortunately, in the last one hundred years especially, some churches have reawakened to the power of the arts in their midst.  There are churches that have art on their walls, others that host art exhibitions, and still others that have art galleries where they display the collected art of the congregation.  It is heartening to hear the stories of these people who have opened their hearts and minds to the arts again.

I wonder though whether the church in general will again emerge as a patron of the arts.  I hope so.  I think it can be a wonderful partnership between the church and artists.  It does involve a willingness on the part of churches to being open to seeing life expressed in a variety of ways.  It does involve a willingness on the part of artists to help nurture an understanding and appreciation for such expression.  It can be an enriching journey for both the church and the artist.  I hope it happens more frequently.

November 6, 2024

A Performance Series

My congregation has sponsored a concert and arts series since 2009, and we are now launching our series of concerts for the 2024-2025 season.  When we first began, knowing that finances are always tight in smaller churches, I told my Board that the Series would be self-sustaining, that it wouldn’t need any support from the church budget.  As we are set to begin our thirteenth season, we have kept that promise.  We certainly operate on a very tight program budget, but through careful stewardship and the generosity of faithful donors to our Patron of the Arts program, we continue to be self-sustaining.

I offer this brief history because, despite my vow at the beginning of the venture, there was uncertainty about the ability of the Series to function entirely on its own.  After all, to undertake an arts series sounds both ambitious and costly.  And, to tell the truth, it is ambitious, and it can be costly.  But we have managed to offer high-quality concerts and art exhibitions, and have done so within our series budget.

Sometimes smaller churches dream small.  That caution is in part due to being careful with the resources that are available.  But it is often also true that people are afraid that their church may not survive if they attempt anything that is too ambitious.  The trouble is that when we adopt that survival mentality, we are already close to losing something that is important, even precious, to us.  When we begin to depend only on our own resources to survive, rather than on God’s leading to thrive, we have begun to defeat ourselves.

In truth, anything is possible, if we walk in faith, plan well, and find others to join us in turning a vision into reality.  Our concert series is testament to that.  If you had told me thirteen years ago that we would by now have presented concerts featuring artists from around our country, and even from around the world, I would have been very skeptical.  If you had told me that the quality of music that we hear in our small church is equal to what you hear in famous music halls around the world, I might have wondered where you were getting your ideas.  But we have done these things, and more. 

If you are a part of a smaller church, or perhaps even a larger church with limited vision, know for a certainty that anything truly is possible.  Vision, hard work, faith and partnerships accomplish so much more than we can even imagine.  The fun is in watching it all come to life.