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Becky paints during worship at the 1997 National Conference of the Association of Presbyterian Christian Educators (APCE), incorporating a visual expression of faith into the service.

A drop of paint slid between my toes. The sudden sensation caused me to remember that long-ago Advent, when I first picked up a brush to paint in worship. My hand had shaken so much that the liquid dye in my brush ran down my outstretched arm, dripped off my elbow and splashed onto my bare feet. A rustling sound drew my attention back to the present. It was the sound of the congregation settling into their seats, waiting for the scripture reading to start. They weren't visible because my canvas stood between us and that was the way I planned it. The focus belonged on the unfolding visual narrative I was going to paint, the scripture passages and the music, not on me. As the reading started, I put my brush to the fabric-a line was born and my composition began.

As an artist, my sense of vocation includes creating art in faith settings-individually and as part of a community. Just like musicians, actors and dancers want to offer their gifts in worship, so do I. It's only natural that visually-oriented people want to express their relationship with God through visual imagery. Given the many positive responses I receive from people after I paint, it's clear to me that many others feel the same way I do. This is why I welcome opportunities to paint in worship. But those responses have also challenged me to find ways for others, especially those who don't think of themselves as artists, to create visual art for worship. There are many ways visual art can be a dynamic, energizing force in a worship service. The collaborative art models described in this article are examples of how that can be so-multisensory demonstrations of personal responses to God expressed in community.

Here's What One PW Is Doing
For the spring 2001 gathering of Presbyterian Women in Heartland Presbytery, Kimberli Boyd brought her own music-on a cassette and in herself. Her rather untraditional keynote address relied on more than words to share her message as she communicated love, community and the creativity of a life in Christ. Then she guided participants in interpreting scripture with movement, integrating ideas from around the room to create an offering of dance. Women who would typically say, "I can't dance," found themselves choreographing scripture, free of emotional restraint and enjoying a bond of community through the movement of God's Spirit.

Following a day filled with workshops, Bible study, community building and mission opportunities, the gathering's closing worship echoed the day's events as participants from 43 churches literally wove themselves together with the help of brightly colored crepe paper streamers. As one participant noted, this gathering offered a tangible experience of "drawing close to one another in community."

Renee Neff-Clark
Horizons Representative, Heartland Presbytery

 

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