Art Ministry

Christian Art Ministry

The purpose of our ministry is to provide the congregation with another means to experience and express their Christian spirituality.  As a ministry team, we are responsible for providing appropriate and meaningful opportunities, by way of displays, classes or workshops, presentations and more to fulfill this purpose.  The words “responsible,”  “appropriate” and “meaningful” are core to the sometimes delicate, diplomatic nature of choosing programming.

Meaningful—all artwork has meaning to varying degrees.  For this ministry, that meaning must relate to Christianity.  It might be more all-encompassing on occasion, like God and Nature, or Creation.  It might be very specific, like an image of the Crucifixion.  Traditional Christian symbols are not a requirement.  The process involved in making the artwork may also be relevant.  Whatever the medium, the Christian relationship must be present.

Appropriate—although some artwork may have a Christian meaning or relationship, it may not necessarily be appropriate to display in our church.  Artwork or presentations that try to shock, disgust, or anger and generally provide a strong negative experience are not appropriate.  This type of work can be valuable to force a viewer to question and evaluate his beliefs, but it will not be tolerated by the majority of our congregation.  At the other extreme, artwork which is so benign as to be almost meaningless is also not appropriate.  Surely it is “safe,” in that it will not offend most people, and a flimsy rationale could tie a Christian meaning to almost anything.  This leads us to the final word:

Responsible—we must follow the purpose of our ministry.  To offer our congregation programming which is not truly Christian is to be irresponsible.  Our identification as a ministry depends on being true to the purpose.  We must be ethical, for we have identified ourselves as a ministry, and ethics dictate that we do not provide programming to suit our own purposes.  We must strive to provide that which we have promised.  A flimsy rationale could also be considered a lie, and to perpetuate a lie in the name of a Christian ministry is unacceptable.  When we have a borderline programming idea, the real purpose of the idea needs to be evaluated by the ministry team.

Sometimes it helps to identify what something is not, in order to better understand what something is.  Christian Art Ministry is not a decorating committee.  As we continue to evolve programming, we may occasionally have bare walls.  Extending the time displays are hung would help in this situation.  However, to put something on those walls just to cover them up does not fit the purpose of our ministry.  We are not a gallery, implying that we are showing work for the purpose of selling it.  If someone would like to purchase artwork from an artist, we would not stand in the way, but we will not promote it.  Selling will be a private issue between artist and potential purchaser.  Supporting Christian artists might entail providing studio space, display opportunities, workshops and presentations to share knowledge and talent, but not selling.

Christian Art Ministry is developing programming.  We are excited about this opportunity to serve Zion.  If you have any questions or interest in joining us, please talk to any art ministry team member: Judy Finnegan, Joanne Smith, Lin Griffin, Cindy Krill and Alice Tomer.