At the start of our new millennium, it is a good idea to provide quality visuals in our worship environments. Our technological age bombards us daily with rapidly changing, ever-present images, so we are accustomed to seeing and hearing simultaneously. The more compelling reason for providing quality visuals in worship is that art evokes the spirit of God for those who experience it. When such visual art appears in the worship service, the space changes from a place where people come to worship to a place where people come to encounter and to be engaged by God. Good visual art transcends itself. People grasp at these moments of transcendence in museums, concert halls, and theaters; but they fall to their knees in communal worship where such instances translate as flashes of the sublime. Some people feel that the church should accommodate itself to the fleeting, instantly readable, illustrational imagery rampant in our culture. Our challenge, at a time when our congregations are thinking visually, is to reject the easily accessible, facile images that too often appear as saccharine and sentimental illustration. Visual art that invites people into the presence of God communicates abstractly, through the power of suggestion. Often, visual art confronts. This kind of visual imagery in our worship settings ushers in the Holy. Numerous issues arise related to providing quality visuals in worship. (Overarching issues are the focus of this article rather than specific recommendations, since each congregation has unique needs.) Consider the following issues before committing to specific solutions: permanent work versus temporary work; innovative work versus more traditional work; scale of work in relationship to the chancel space; visual integration of the work in the ecclesial space (does the work amplify rather than compete?); opportunities for education about the work; congregational size as a determinant of kind and extent of engagement (a small church pays the artist for materials only; a large church pays several artists simultaneously for design proposals). Explication of these issues is framed by an understanding of art as both product and process. Historically, the church has engaged art as product — painting, sculpture, tapestry, stained glass, and so on. Today, it is advantageous for congregations to engage art as process — through the painter, sculptor, weaver, artisan, or craftsperson who engages the community. From the inception of the idea to the finished product, this companioning process enhances the possibility of congregational support for visual elements in worship.
By understanding art as process, congregations may learn to:
Worship planners and designers also need to take into account that many congregations experience multicultural worship and that children communicate naturally through the non-verbal vocabulary of the visual. Under these circumstances, creating temporary, evolving, or changing visuals for worship builds bridges of understanding. This dynamic process keeps meaning-making alive. During the creation of a work, the arts committee (formed as an autonomous committee or subcommittee of an existing committee) must assume active responsibility for educating the congregation about works in process. The educational process could include:
The critical educational function of the arts committee helps reduce controversy and resistance to the use of visuals. The sudden appearance of something unexpected in communal space can be lethal. Contrary to popular myth, an educated (and therefore invested) congregation rejoices in the creation of significant, space-enhancing art. One of the problems congregations routinely encounter when acquiring visuals for worship involves the size of the new work in relationship to the whole space. Consider the relationship carefully. Too often, visual noise is introduced in place of visual enhancement. This concept is more easily acknowledged when you consider the current trend of placing multiple, small, seasonally significant objects around the base of the table. This concept is less easily acknowledged when you think about symbols on paraments or wall works (banners, painting, relief sculptures) in the space. Congregations also encounter problems when they add paraments to chancel furniture. They do not consider the architecture of the chancel furniture in relationship to the shapes and sizes of the paraments. Catalog paraments rarely suffice because they are unrelated to the table's size, the pulpit's planes in relief, and so on. When a right relationship is achieved, then visual harmony results. Quality art created by competent artists helps worship celebrants achieve transcendence. Thus, it is in the best interests of the congregation to seek and employ an artist and value his or her expertise. Consider supporting an artist-in-residence, who — in exchange for studio space and a small stipend — could implement special visuals in worship once each liturgical season. Such an artist designs the work, organizes the project, works out the mechanics of installation, and instructs people in the medium. (For a fuller description of an artist-in-residence relationship, contact Wesley Theological Seminary's Center for the Arts and Religion at car@wesleysem.edu.) In our time, when art defies definition, the artist would benefit from the nurture of the community, while the church would benefit from the artist's fresh insights. Each is concerned with issues of ultimacy, and each communicates through symbolic languages. They are natural allies. Questions for reflection and discussion:
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— Catherine Kapikian is Director of the Center for the Arts and Religion, Wesley Theological Seminary (UM), Washington, D.C.
Other Millennial Perspective Articles: | The Centrality of Christian Worship | Worship Forming Faith | Hope | The Changing Cultural Look of Worship | Visual Arts | | Advent: Between the Times | Worshiping with Jubilation | Children and 21st Century Worship |
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| Introduction | Preface | Contents | Copyright | | Millennial Perspectives | Worship and Study Resources | | Seven Days of Praise and Prayer |Prayer and Worship for a Jubilee Week | The Last Letter: Revelation’s News | Repairing the World: God's Gift of Jubilee | Hymns | Additional Liturgical Resources | Appendix |
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