The congregation with a heart for culture
Beauty heals and comforts
Church and culture belong together and influence each other. Art history students need to know the bible, otherwise much in art will be a closed book to them. Novels and poetry collections are often full of biblical images and references. And a whole host of religious music from Bach’s cantatas and St. Matthew Passion are highpoints for many people. Not surprising then that many churches use their often beautiful, monumental buildings for cultural activities. What are your opportunities in this respect?
So the building can be a spur to a cultural activity, but the environment can be that as well. In Elst in the central part of the Netherlands there are many highly trained people who are interested in social and artistic subjects. The Jordaan is a district of Amsterdam which is home to many artists. Art and culture often ask questions about the meaning of life, about death, love and religion which can be the basis for meetings and conversations.
A number of suggestions
- Open the church buildings in the summer months, tourists are given a tour of the building and organise a midday organ recital.
- Organise a concert that is open for everyone, every month or for weekly for a set period of time.
- Organise exhibitions.
- Ask congregation members to exhibit holiday or other themed photos.
- Ask different artists in the region to hold a joint travelling exhibition to be held in a number of churches.
- A poetry group can attract people from outside the church. Poets offer a language they can understand and which also provides new ways of expressing faith.
- Organise a film house: watch a film together and discuss it together.
- Stage a musical as church community.
- Join in with national days or weeks: book weeks, a poetry festival or national initiatives e.g. One World Week.
- A church-based painting club could paint bible stories and exhibit them once a year.
- In the province of Drenthe in the Netherlands, a number of churches open their doors with exhibitions between Ascension and Whitsun, see www.feestvandegeest.nl.
When you speak of culture, the question is: which culture?. The classical culture? Pop music? Bach or Andre Rieu? Large city or village? That will depend on the context of the congregation and the possibilities or limitations of the church building. Cultural activities can be organised in cooperation with local associations, a book shop or art gallery. Another possibility would be to recruit people or organisations beyond the church: theatre, musicians, and poets. Involve different target groups and ages.
Possible approach for the church
- As a church consider appointing a working group that will draw up a year plan, look for organisers but also for creative people.
- Make sure you have sufficient resources. Devise a budget, consider asking if there are any grants from local arts foundations, charities or local authorities for these activities.
- Involve congregation members in the activities: hosts and hostesses, promotion, producing information, taking care of the interior, decoration and atmosphere.
- Involve people from outside the church as well in the setting up and organisation (e.g. local artists).
- Think about a possible follow-up: what if people show an interest in the church, in the church’s message, in the meaning of all the stories? During a poetry or film group the discussion may go further than listening to beautiful poems.
Art can also irritate, engender resistance, make you think, provoke from time to time. This too makes people alert and awake, not soothed to sleep by the amusement, but challenged to give a response.
Can we as church be a place where people are challenged to creativity? Where beauty is a value, where an institution can be allowed to be ‘beautiful’? Could the plastic Formica tables and the plastic flowers be replaced by something more tasteful? Are we allowed to spend money on this? The gifts of the Spirit are not limited to providing leadership, serving, managing and good stewardship. There are also the gifts of creativity in all sorts of fields. Moses knew this when during the construction of the tabernacle he asked for people who are good at designing and making beautiful cloth. ‘Dressing ’the space matters. Artists need exhibition space.. The challenge from the church is: come to us, take your place and show us what you can do! And, yes, sometimes the artists will need money, you cannot get ministers or musicians to work for you at a bargain price.
‘If you no longer surprise people with beauty, they will lose courage’. (N. T. Wright)
