By: Shermika Harvey on October 19, 2018
Greetings to the lucky finder of this GOLDEN TICKET from Professor Derek Rowntree!. Present this ticket at the main entrance of this educational journey at nine o’clock in the morning of the fourth day of September. Do not be late for the book given on this day will unlock critical patterns to change the course…
By: Jake Dean-Hill on October 18, 2018
After experiencing the incredible visual beauty of China, William Dyrness’s book, Visual Faith (Engaging Culture): Art, Theology, and Worship in Dialogue, put words to how that beauty relates to the Christian Faith and Church. Art and beauty have always seemed to point me to the Creator and been a form of worship for me. And…
By: Shawn Hart on October 18, 2018
“Christians already recognized that while images could be useful in promoting appropriate worship, they were also dangerous. Not only were there the biblical warnings about idolatry, but there were also pagan and political connotations that needed to be avoided[1].” What a thought-provoking book on a topic I can honestly say I have never read a…
By: Karen Rouggly on October 18, 2018
Have you ever heard the phrase, “It’s in the bones” or that heard that you might feel something “deep in your bones”? Essentially, it means that when you learn or understand something so deeply that it becomes a part of you. “While bones frequently evoke images of death, they also may evoke resilient images of…
By: Harry Fritzenschaft on October 18, 2018
Rowntree asks us the question, more frankly asks me the question, “Why are you studying?”[1] Perhaps more contextually, the question should be, “Why are you pursuing a doctoral degree (the glamorous DMin LGP)?” Upon starting my seminary education in January 2017, my original purpose was to acquire a doctoral degree, a terminal degree so my…
By: Jean Ollis on October 18, 2018
This era of hyper focus – and even addiction – to Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and google images reinforces Dryness’ premise that visual images are their own substantial narrative. Dyrness, in his work Visual Faith (Engaging Culture): Art, Theology, and Worship in Dialogue focuses on the importance of introducing/reintroducing the visual experience as a tool in…
By: Greg on October 18, 2018
“Come in and find a station”, the teacher said, “we are going to make Halloween cupcakes.” The parents and their kids came in, sitting around many tables ready to work together on this Saturday cooking class. After everyone washed hands they began to mix, mingle and make and only is done when dealing with adults…
By: Jason Turbeville on October 18, 2018
“In some mysterious sense, all art aspires to be worship”[1] In this statement William Dyrness closes his chapter, Reflecting Theologically on the Visual Arts, with a call to understand that all art, whether by Christians or not, cries out to aspire to something greater than the artist. He goes onto argue the artist whether wanting…
By: Mary Mims on October 18, 2018
I graduated from high school over 40 years ago. I spent around 18 years taking college and graduate level courses. And now I am just reading books on How to Study correctly? I guess I should be a bit angry that no one told me there was a secret to all of this book learning. …
By: Colleen Batchelder on October 18, 2018
William A. Dyrness, professor of theology and culture at Fuller Theological Seminary and visiting lecturer, invites his readers to walk through the hallowed halls of church history and understand the influence of visual art upon theology. His text, Visual Faith: Art, Theology, and Worship in Dialogue explores the dynamics of culture, generational expression and the…
By: Jenn Burnett on October 18, 2018
I was single for much of my undergraduate degree. Married but no kids during seminary; but then had to finish some extra Masters level courses after I’d had children and it required absurd levels of commitment and reorientation. The transition wasn’t pretty. I remember lying on the bathroom floor, plagued by unrelenting morning sickness, with…
By: Tammy Dunahoo on October 18, 2018
The best version of Tammy Dunahoo is when I live on the edge of the quarter, the old kind with George Washington’s head on one side and the eagle’s wings on the other. I have what some might see as a strange hard-wiring as there is a practical, analytical, thinker (“heads”) on one side and…
By: Mike on October 18, 2018
William Dyrness’ Visual Faith challenges evangelical Protestant leaders to add an artistic eye-lens when viewing how to do church and claims that art reflects order and wholeness to God’s creation. I immediately associated with the visual art forms connected with Scripture. For example, “you can’t walk on water if you don’t get out of the…
By: Mark Petersen on October 18, 2018
Some of you may remember that I am co-sponsoring the Spark Initiative, a granting and mentoring opportunity for millennial social innovators who are paired with millennial givers. We will be meeting this weekend at the Leadership Studio at Muskoka Woods located two hours north of Toronto. As a part of this season’s work, all of…
By: Rhonda Davis on October 18, 2018
During our trip to Hong Kong, I heard many of you discussing the Enneagram, and various reflections on your “2-ness” or “8-ness.” I was curious about this, so I decided to take the assessment myself.[1] My result: over-the-top-3. After assessing my type, I fell down the rabbit hole of discovery. Apparently, this is common for…
By: Dave Watermulder on October 18, 2018
Around the world each week, Christian people and churches gather to worship. They do so in cathedrals and mega-churches, in neighborhood parishes and pubs, in homes and school cafeterias. Baskin-Robbins ice cream only has 31 flavors, but Christian churches come in way more varieties than that! Each tradition within the larger Christian body has its…
By: Chris Pritchett on October 18, 2018
The driving questions of Dyrness’ Visual Faith assume an unfortunate and erroneous relationship between art and the Christian faith. It strikes me that this book, and Dr. Dyrness’ influence at the Brehm Center at Fuller over the past eighteen years have essentially made the book irrelevant anymore. There is a strong Reformed tradition at Fuller Seminary,…
By: Harry Edwards on October 18, 2018
For as long as I can remember, writing well has always been a roadblock to pursuing advanced degrees—at least the kind of writing required to pass courses. Secondary education and the years in college did not prepare me well for the task of writing. Sure, we had English, Literature, Grammar, but nothing on how to…
By: Jennifer Williamson on October 18, 2018
I am convinced that the Church cannot continue to do global missions in the 21st century as she did in the 20th century. The world is not the same as it was 100 or even 50 years ago, and as culture and context changes, so must the means through which we proclaim the unchanging gospel…
By: Sean Dean on October 18, 2018
There is a point in the movie Patch Adams where Patch and Carin are talking about Patch’s epiphany about how medicine should work. Carin expresses her distrust in Patch’s positive outlook on medicine, because people hurt people. Patch’s response always gets me, he asks her “and who hurt you?”. In most of our society this…
