A Trip to St. Petersburg, Russia
Growing up, I attended worship every Sunday at Springfield Friends Meeting in High Point, North Carolina. Quaker meeting houses are not known for their ornate decorations or visual art. In fact, this statement is included in our Book of Discipline, Faith and Practice:
“Paintings, crosses, and stained glass are all outward symbols, or representations, of the divine. Worship in the manner of Friends calls us to strip away, and seek beyond, all outward forms and be transformed by the direct experience of the divine. Thus, a traditional Quaker meeting house, void of all symbols and representations, is an ideal setting in which to seek the inward light.”
Friends gather for worship in an unadorned room, and the Springfield worship space was and is as plain as I have ever seen. The walls are painted a cream color with a slight pink tone. There are no crosses, no stained glass, no candles, and no artwork of any kind. The only color that breaks the stark simplicity is viewed through the large glass windows, and those windows look directly into the two hundred year old cemetery!
Why do I tell this story? Reading Visual Faith (Engaging Culture): Art, Theology, and Worship in Dialogue by William Dyrness took me to a foreign world. Of course, I have served in other denominations since my time at Springfield, and through my mission excursions, I find myself worshiping in all types of venues – from tent camps in Haiti with makeshift structures to elaborate Russian Orthodox churches filled with icons. But I must admit I have never quite connected the dots between the visual arts and worship. Because I grew up only knowing worship in a simple, plain space, anything else seems weird, over-the-top, or even gaudy.
At the church I am currently serving in Louisiana, I walk into our gigantic sanctuary with ten ceiling-to-floor stained glass pieces, and I simply stare in awe and bewilderment. Even more so, as I make my way down the road to our contemporary worship space, I wonder why we pay someone on staff to be the “Director of Visual Arts.” Yes, the paintings, the sculptures, and the large cross made of little crosses are beautiful, but what do they really add to worship? Frankly, in my lack of discipline and familiarity, the artwork distracts me. When I am supposed to be worshipping, I ask, “Now, why is that there? What is that supposed to mean?” This feeling came to a crescendo one week when a man stood on stage in the corner and painted while the pastor preached. My mind could not overcome the distraction to see how the verbal message and the visual art connected. This seems to be exactly what Dyrness is describing in his book. Because art was taken out of Protestant worship, and especially the Quakers concentrated on their inner spiritual lives[1], art was a lost art!
A piece hanging in our contemporary worship space.
The art world can be confusing with its abundance of forms and styles. I, for one, ring true to my “ISTJ” style, and understand that “art” is a context that does not suit many modern Christians who like convincing, rational presentations. Yet, I am slowly coming to learn that visual art is a rich context for exploring meaning, spirituality, and worship in interactive, collaborative and visual ways. As Dyrness writes, “A carefully wrought and intelligent object or painting, when it is patiently observed, opens up windows on the human situation in a way that other cultural products cannot.”[2]
Rembrandt’s “The Return of the Prodigal Son”
It was not until this past February in St. Petersburg, Russia when I stood in front of Rembrandt’s The Return of the Prodigal Son that I understood Dyrness’s passion. I was visiting the Hermitage, and my friend, Clint Baldwin, encouraged me to stop by the Rembrandt piece. Having been with me in the London Art Museum, he knew my attention span would be short! After strolling through nearly the entire building, I turned the corner and covering the wall was this piece by Rembrandt. Never had a piece of art elicited any type of emotion from me…until this. The story from Luke 15 flooded my thoughts. I experienced the joy and exuberance of the father. I felt the forgiveness and grace coming off the canvas and into my heart. The painting was solemn, and I could feel God wrap His arms around me, as the father placed his arms upon the son. I stood in front of that painting for almost a half hour. As Clint and I later discussed, this piece is a reminder to seek to love people for who they are as characterized by understanding that all have the Image of the Creator, the Imago Dei, infused in them. The Creator created this man Rembrandt and instilled in him enormous creativity and the gift of expression. With that, Rembrandt himself became a creator and used his gift to produce this piece of art that so many years later could elicit one person (and many more) to worship and experience God in a new way through art.
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[1]William A. Dyrness, Visual Faith (Engaging Culture): Art, Theology, and Worship in Dialogue (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2001), Loc. 198.
[2] Ibid., Loc. 309.
About the Author
Ashley Goad
Ashley is the Global Missions Pastor at First United Methodist Church in Shreveport, Louisiana. She's a UNC fanatic, Haiti Enthusiast, Clean Water Activist, Solar Power Supporter... www.firstserves.org www.solarunderthesun.org www.livingwatersfortheworld.org13 responses to “A Trip to St. Petersburg, Russia”
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I think you make an excellent point Ashley: we all worship in different ways. Some of appreciate and perhaps even need visual art to stimulate our faith and inspiration. Others of us don’t, and it can be distracting. It shouldn’t be something that is forced on us. God created us all differently, all different kinds of learners. Perhaps that’s one reason why there are so many different denominations.
What an excellent point you make, Liz. Perhaps that IS why there are so many denominations. God created us individually, with different tastes, different interests, and different passions. I think the ultimate point is that it is not what avenue we take (denomination, traditional vs. contemporary worship, etc., etc.), but that we do indeed connect! Looking forward to seeing you, Liz!
Ashley, I appreciate your honesty and your openness. I remember walking through a beautifully decorated church in Hungary with a Texas pastor who spent half a minute looking around, only to state: “I can never worship in a place like this!” and briskly walked out. Obviously the beauty and art work was not to his liking! From my travels (I too stood before Rembrandt’s wonderful painting in St. Petersburg), I have often been moved by art I have found in churches–and even by the soaring cathedrals themselves–as well as in museums (some of the best alter pieces are now in museums) and found many portals to worship and even to the awe and wonder of God, which is the purpose of the Gothic churches. It is a big change from my often drab, Protestant roots…but I am finding spiritual nourishment and deeper understanding in visual arts as time goes, as so many of these artist, like any missionary, are indeed using their gifts to direct us God. Hope you will continue to gaze and let God speak through so much beauty this out there. (And thanks for making me long for St. Petersburg!)
John, perhaps on a future trip to Romania, we can make a stopover in St. Pete?!
I absolutely used to be that Texas pastor!! Then I matured slightly and at least keep my comments to myself! Clearly, I still prefer some things over the other, but I can at least now appreciate art. And, as you encouraged, I also pause and try to see the beauty in all things. I may not understand, but taking the time to know that others will understand and connect brings me to a a happy medium. Continue to keep me honest, friend!
Good thoughts Ashley! I still want to come with you to Haiti on one of your trips 🙂
It’s pretty amazing that the presence of God can be equally powerful in a plain Quaker chapel as it is inside of Westminster Abbey. We serve a magnificent God who meets us where we are in our journey of faith… and in our personality 🙂 HA!
Stefania! YES! You, me, Haiti… April?? I’ll be going in October, three days after the CapeTown trip. That may be a little soon for ya. 🙂
I appreciate you taking us on your journey with this topic, Ashley. There were/are benefits to being in a space that is plain and is intentional in encouraging personal engagement with our God. And yet there is this sense of the “mystery of God” when we our attention is moved through art and we find ourselves experience our relationship with our Creator through the creative mediums He equipped us to purposefully create. How does your current home church approach art and creative ministry?
Deve, what a great question! We actually have a Director of Fine Arts on staff, and we also have another person on staff who fills our walls with art. Much of his creations hang or stand in our contemporary worship space. The large cross on stage made of tiny wooden crosses… The twelve paintings representing the apostles… The large canvases filling the hallways leading up to the auditorium… And then there are the massive stained glass windows in the sanctuary, the traditional worship space… What I now appreciate about each of the pieces is the ability to illustrate the messages of Christ and allow a number of participants to connect to Christ on a level that I never could.
Ashley,
Wow! Brilliant! I love your post.
I too grew up in churches that were unadorned. I too have a short attention span where art is concerned. Art was also the only class I received a grade lower than a “B” in while in junior high school, and if you read my post for this week, you will see that I cannot draw to save my life! However, as I get older, I realize that art can be an excellent way to show the depths of the human condition, even though my personal attempts at visual art don’t convey anything except confusion.
I love your mentioning the Quaker meetings. First of all, I didn’t know that about you. Secondly, I was reminded that God is all about diversity. Not every church has to have art as its focus. In fact, for some people this just might take away from worship rather than enhance it. There is no one right way of worship. It’s ok to use art, and it’s ok not to use art. It’s ok to worship with liturgy, and it’s ok to worship without a set liturgy. I am grateful for this. Imagine if we all had to be exactly the same — how boring would that be?
Thanks again for your good post. It got me thinking. I like to think.
Bill, you hit the nail on the head. Everyone worships differently. The Creator created us uniquely, and He reaches to some through art, and to others through sports! 🙂 What I had to realize is that first, I am not “dumb” person for not being able to connect through art, and second, that I am thankful to have my own abilities to connect to God in a variety of other ways. You’re right, how boring of a world would it be if we were all the same?! ….But I, for one, am glad that I have a buddy like you to share my lack of artistic talent!
Ashley my friend, great post indeed. I love the honesty and how to so gracefully paint the picture of how we are all on a journey with visual life in the arts. I can identify with everything you wrote and I was edified by you words “After strolling through nearly the entire building, I turned the corner and covering the wall was this piece by Rembrandt. Never had a piece of art elicited any type of emotion from me…until this. The story from Luke 15 flooded my thoughts. I experienced the joy and exuberance of the father. I felt the forgiveness and grace coming off the canvas and into my heart. The painting was solemn, and I could feel God wrap His arms around me, as the father placed his arms upon the son. I stood in front of that painting for almost a half hour. As Clint and I later discussed, this piece is a reminder to seek to love people for who they are as characterized by understanding that all have the Image of the Creator, the Imago Dei, infused in them.”
Thanks a lot!
Thanks, friend! Indeed, I will never forget that day or that feeling of standing in front of a piece of art that spoke so clearly to me. I stand in awe of our Creator.
Ashley,
Thanks for this post. I love that our initially meaningful conversations have continued to bear fruit! So cool when this happens! And it continues to bear fruit because I have certainly been blessed by reading the above.
I want to offer one thing here — which I assume you are already adhering to and which I believe I wrote about in our Monday group chat together — that I hope is helpful.
As you are expanding your inclusion of welcomed imagery into your quiver of formational methods, I would just encourage to not forgo the appreciation of and wonder at the more ‘austere,’ ‘simple,’ ‘streamlined,’ ‘minimalistic,’ approach of Friends (and other “fantastic ‘iconoclastics” 🙂 — Shakers, Mennonites, etc.).
Really, it is impossible to escape image. There is nothing that is not image. We can only choose or not choose to accept certain manifestations of image as relevant/legitimate/acceptable.
Thanks again for your post!
Looking forward to more upcoming life-giving conversations together.