Worship Weblog
Liturgical Arts
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
‘Seeing the Savior’ exhibit at John Knox Presbyterian in Seattle
John Knox Presbyterian Church is hosting a new exhibit through Christians in the Visual Arts, Seeing the Savior, through the end of July. From the Annunciation to his Second Coming, 34 insightful and colorful interpretations of the birth, ministry, Passion, ascension, and return of the Lord are masterfully portrayed by 13 artists from a variety of artistic and ethnic backgrounds.
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Friday, June 20, 2008
A picture of connections in the biblical narrative
From the Everyday Liturgy blog:
Seems some people keen on visualizing the narrative intersections of the Bible have linked all the different cross-refrences, metaphors, images, and stories together in a biblical mosaic of color.The alternating grey and white at the bottom are the different books of the Bible, and the colored arcs connecting them are all the different narrative strands.
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Thursday, May 15, 2008
Christina Saj’s ‘Six Days of Creation’ at New Brunswick Theological Seminary
From christinasaj.com (as featured in Image Update):
New Brunswick Theological Seminary is pleased to present “SIX DAYS OF CREATION” an exhibition of paintings by Christina Saj. This exhibition is located in situ at the Seminary Chapel on their New Jersey campus adjacent to the Rutgers University. The works, inspired by Genesis, are six 52” X 100” panels depicting the six days of creation. The series was conceived specifically for installation in the chapel, a modern, 50’s vintage, circular worship space, spartan in it’s décor, with seating that is moveable and conforms to the needs of the community using it. Outside seminary worship, the space is utilized on Sundays by nonresident congregations. The show is augmented by the inclusion of a number of Saj’s other works inspired by icons, such as Transfiguration, a five foot rendering of a silver cross which dominates the Lobby outside the chapel.
“Six Days of Creation” illuminates the Seminary Chapel. Saj is the current artist in residence at the New Brunswick Theological Seminary. The appointment of artists in residence enriches the community. Saj, a practicing artist with an established record who will present programs and/or workshops throughout the year for the purpose of helping students think about, experience, and experiment with an artistic practice in the context of ministry and especially to the worship life of the church. Saj is also teaching a workshop about sacred space this semester. Her exhibition will run thru the end of May.
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Thursday, April 17, 2008
Easter Visuals at First Reformed in Pompton Plains
The picture and below note were sent to us by Roy Okma and are posted here with permission:
I am a Calvin graduate and I recently attended your Worship Symposium as a representative of the First Reformed Church in Pompton Plains, NJ. I have attached a picture of our first experiment of using visual arts within the church as a way to enhance the worship experience. I just want to thank-you and the staff at Calvin for an excellent conference and I wanted you to see some of the impact that you are having around the country.
Our church has been around since 1736 and the worship style is more traditional.
Looking at the picture, we made the following changes for our Easter Sunday service:
1) Built and stained the wooden cross in front of the church
2) Ran drapes of white fabric from the cross spreading over top of the entire congregation
The visual effect on Easter was unbelievable as the sunlight played off of the fabric making for an inspiring visual effect. The project was so successful that we are starting a visual art team in our church and also adopted the idea of displaying art work through out the church.
I just wanted to write you an e-mail to share with you and the Calvin staff some of the results from all of your work. As you stated in the conference it is not at all about the ”grant money”; these ideas can be implemented by anyone.
Regards,
Roy Okma
Related Resources
Eyes to See: Grassroots Discoveries on Worship and the Visual Arts
Worship and the Visual Arts
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Wednesday, April 09, 2008
Blog reports from Transforming Culture conference in Austin
Blog reports from Transforming Culture, which featured Eugene Peterson, Jeremy Begbie, Barbara Nicolosi, Andy Crouch, David Taylor, and CICW director John Witvliet:
- Two Days After from David Taylor
- Day 3 Panel Discussion from doulos2k.net
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Friday, March 14, 2008
Comment’s Report on International Arts Movement Encounter
The International Arts Movement (IAM) is a non-profit arts organization founded by the Japanese-American Nihonga painter and National Council on the Arts member Makoto ("Mako") Fujimura. IAM’s mission is “to gather artists and creative catalysts to wrestle with the deep questions of art, faith and humanity in order to inspire the creative community to engage the culture that is and create the world that ought to be.” Each year, IAM holds the IAM Encounter with workshops, lectures, salons, film screenings, exhibits, and more. This year, more than ten countries and thirty-five U.S. states were represented.
At the 2008 Encounter that convened from February 28 to March 1 in Tribeca (lower Manhattan), Mako referred to a “Third Language.”
Related Resources
Interview with Mako Fujimura at Symposium 2008
Worship and the Visual Arts
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The Old Hymns - from 1891
From Chip Stam’s Worship Quote of the Week:
Sometimes we may think that we are the first generation of Christians to experience intense discussions (or arguments) over appropriate texts, instrumentation, and musical styles for corporate worship. Not so! Today’s WORSHIP QUOTE OF THE WEEK is taken from the preface of an 1891 hymnal. The author is Basil Manly Jr., one of the four founding faculty members of our seminary here in Louisville; his argument, even 117 years ago, is that we canÆt afford to lose the old hymns. Does this sound like it could have been written in 1991?
THE OLD HYMNS (1891)
For some years it has been apparent that the rage for novelties in singing, especially in our Sunday-schools has been driving out of use the old, precious, standard hymns. They are not memorized as of old. They are scarcely sung at all. They are not even contained in the undenominational song-books which in many churches have usurped the place of our hymn books.We cannot afford to lose these old hymns. They are full of the Gospel; they breathe the deepest emotions of pious hearts in the noblest strains of poetry; they have been tested and approved by successive generations of those that loved the Lord; they are the surviving fittest ones from thousands of inferior productions; they are hallowed by abundant usefulness and tenderest memories. But the young people of to-day are unfamiliar with them, and will seldom hear many of them, if the present tendency goes on unchecked.
--Basil Manly Jr. (1825-1892), from the preface of MANLY’S CHOICE: A NEW SELECTION OF APPROVED HYMNS FOR BAPTIST CHURCHES, Louisville, Kentucky: Baptist Book Concern, 1891. This rare volume, containing only the texts of the hymns, was given to me by a friend in our church. She was cleaning out the piano bench at home and thought I might appreciate it. She was right. Thank you, Stacy. A rough count shows that there are 254 hymns; 53 authored by Isaac Watts, 22 by Charles Wesley, and 16 by John Newton.
For more information on Basil Manly, Jr., take a look at http://www.cyberhymnal.org/bio/m/a/n/manly_bjr.htm.
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Wednesday, March 05, 2008
Hope Liturgical Works on liturgical art and space
From Hope Liturgical Works, as featured in Image’s Update:
The worship space should be an environment rich in meaning, depth and texture. It is a space intended to renew our yearning to be firmly in the world, but decidedly not of it. To do this, it must engage our senses and imagination, in order to point us beyond them.
The liturgical art and furnishings which inhabit these spaces are among the most challenging to design and create. They must comply with the constraints of doctrine and tradition, but still suggest the vitality of living spirit; reflect the particular theological sensibilities of the congregation, but also allow that the congregation will grow and change in its understanding of itself and of God. They must comfort us and challenge us; remind us of the past, inspire us for the future, but keep us, securely, in the present.
It is the sanctuary for what is, at once, the most public of testimonies, and the most personal and private of experiences.
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Thursday, February 14, 2008
‘Christ of the Earthquakes’ by Alberto Torres
Alberto Torres portrays Jesus on the cross with his mother Mary, Mary Magdalene and Saint John. The Bible tells how at the hour of Christ’s death, darkness fell and the earth trembled. A replica of an anonymous 18th century work in the La Paz Cathedral Museum, this beautiful painting also makes reference to an image of “Christ of the Earthquakes” venerated in the Cuzco Cathedral.
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Tuesday, February 12, 2008
‘Thomas’ by Rex Hausmann
‘The painting “Thomas” deals with the nature of Faith, and how at the end of one’s life, when all the intricacies are finished a beautiful composition is created.’
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Friday, February 08, 2008
Image journal’s website redesign
Image has a beautiful new website at www.imagejournal.org. Check it out, and also see their newsletter and new blog.
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‘Redeemed One’ by Virginia Wieringa
We celebrate with Symposium attendee Virginia Wierenga that two of her pieces were accepted for the Celebration of the Arts these past two weeks at First United Methodist Church in Grand Rapids. She displays her two vivid pieces on her blog. Also see her Anastasis banner.
Friday, December 21, 2007
“A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse” - Advent at South Bend CRC
A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. Isaiah 11:1
Advent installation at South Bend Christian Reformed Church
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Advent Lament at Ann Arbor Campus Chapel
As part of its Worship Renewal Grant, the Campus Chapel in Ann Arbor, Mich., has been doing an Advent series on lament:
Advent is a season of anticipation. It anticipates Christmas and the celebration of Christ’s birth. But it ultimately is a season in which we anticipate his coming again and restoring all things.
And it is a season in which we lament.
Why Lament in Advent?
In order for us to anticipate with longing the coming of Christ, we must recognize why it is we need him to come. That is what laments are-- opportunities for us to speak honestly of our need for a Savior. As long as we pretend everything is just fine we will never appreciate why, for instance, hosts of angels burst into song at his birth.
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Tuesday, November 20, 2007
“Awake, My Soul”: New Documentary on Sacred Harp
Awake, My Soul: The Story of the Sacred Harp
In Awake, My Soul: The Story of the Sacred Harp, filmmakers Matt and Erica Hinton put a camera where no camera has gone before: in the old fashioned rural churches of Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi where young and old gather to sing Sacred Harp, an a cappella hymn-singing tradition with roots in post-Puritan New England. Sacred Harp was, the filmmakers contend, America’s first music, and though it all but disappeared with the changing trends in American music over the last century and a half, it was ultimately preserved—not by the academies and institutions, “but instead by unschooled rural southerners who sang it not for an audience, but for one another and for God.” Combining history, archival images, interviews, and candid recordings, Awake, My Soul chronicles the intriguing story behind this much-loved musical tradition.
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