By: Jon Spellman on September 10, 2014
I’m reflecting on the arrival of my first batch of books for this semester. That happy little brown box with the smiley symbol emblazoned across the front always brings me joy when it arrives and in this case, the joy was a little more pronounced than usual. It was also accompanied by another sensation I…
By: Miriam Mendez on September 7, 2014
I can remember as a child being told to “pay attention.” I don’t know about the rest of you but for most children it was not the easiest thing to do. And now, as an adult, I still believe that it is not the easiest thing to do. I would offer that paying attention or…
By: Carol McLaughlin on September 5, 2014
As I write I can lift my head slightly, glance over the top of my laptop to see before me images of significance, invitation, and embrace. Over time they have contributed and added to my faith. As I began to read Visual Faith: Art, Theology and Worship in Dialogue by William A. Dyrness I stopped…
By: dminlgp on September 5, 2014
It seemed more enticing to think through Dryness’ book Visual Faith: Art, Theology, and Worship in Dialogue Engaging Culture with the help of a heading from a proverb in Nigeria’ Chinua Achebe’s famous novel “Things Fall Apart”. When visual art is expressed in all its human forms, people are presented with an opportunity for…
By: Telile Fikru Badecha on September 5, 2014
Visual Faith: Art, Theology, and Worship in Dialogue Engaging Visual Faith: Art, Theology, and Worship in Dialogue Engaging Recently I attended a leadership training conference where I watched someone do a side artwork during the preaching of the word ( see the picture above). This was my first cross-cultural experience of this type, and I…
By: rhbaker275 on September 5, 2014
Several years ago I read The Rise of the Image, The Fall of the Word by Mitchell Stephens. I was at the time becoming aware of the toxic reality around me; the erosion of my value system and the unexplainable disconnect that seemed to be taking place between the church/faith I loved and…
By: Bill Dobrenen on September 5, 2014
My mother died this week. It happened suddenly and peacefully. Her cancer, which had spread from the lungs to the bones to the spine, finally won the battle. The passing was a difficult time for my father. He was mom’s caretaker for the past ten years as she had succumbed to alcohol-induced dementia a decade…
By: Travis Biglow on September 5, 2014
Good evening to everyone. I just want to give you heads up. I just got in from work and went to copy and paste and my Micro soft word would not open. So I am going to wing it tonight. I also did not get my book from Rowntree so I will be will be…
By: Julie Dodge on September 5, 2014
“…churches often appear imaginatively empty.”[i] Such a statement breaks my heart. As Christians, we worship God the Creator of everything that ever was and ever will be. We worship the God who his greater than our imaginations and broader than we can understand. He is without limit. His creativity is without end. God, who created…
By: Stefania Tarasut on September 5, 2014
I bought my first icon this year. It took me about thirty minutes to decide if buying this icon was a sin. It’s funny, but when you grow up with Orthodoxy in the background and the Protestant voice labeling icons as idol worship, you can’t help but pause and question what you’re about to do.…
By: Richard Volzke on September 5, 2014
William Dyrness’s book, Visual Faith: Art, Theology, and Worship in Dialogue[1], provides historical context to how art and Christianity have impacted one another over time. The early Catholic Church (before the Reformation) incorporated elaborate art and architecture into their places of worship and services. It was used to draw people into the worship experience. During…
By: Clint Baldwin on September 5, 2014
“It is possible that we might win the battle of words, but lose the battle of images. And losing that battle could well cost us this generation.”[1] I think Dyrness offers a vital point with this statement in noting that modes/methods that worked in the past will not necessarily work in the present. However, with…
By: John Woodward on September 4, 2014
Every time I travel to Europe, I take time to visit churches (which, amazingly, are kept open and accessible rather then locked-up like in the United States). Most of the churches I visit are Catholic or Orthodox, which provide s tsunami of sensory stimulation, from sight to smell, from sound to feel. Rich in images…
By: Phillip Struckmeyer on September 4, 2014
From the moment I saw the title of the book, How To Talk About Books You Haven’t Read by Pierre Bayard, I became implicated by the title. Not only for my past, but in an immediately predicting sense of what was about to take place. While not even owning the book, with just the mere…
By: Brian Yost on September 4, 2014
To read or not to read, that is the question. At least that seems to be the question posed by Pierre Bayard in his book How To Talk About Books You Haven’t Read. Bayard draws our attention to an obvious but often overlooked reality; we can’t read everything and we immediately begin to forget that…
By: Mitch Arbelaez on September 4, 2014
As I am completing this assignment on Visual Faith, I am on assignment here on the tropical, Caribbean island of Puerto Rico. Yes, missions is a tough job, but someone has to do it. As I am “suffering for the Lord” in this beautiful three story hacienda located on the northern coast of the island…
By: Liz Linssen on September 4, 2014
I remember while working as a lecturer in a university in Seoul, talking to a fellow colleague, Mr. Kim. He was an art professor there and he showed me some of his personal work: sculptures of heads which were part pig, part human. I asked him why he created such art and he told me…
By: Deve Persad on September 4, 2014
From Miriam-Webster’s Dictionary: 1 an opening especially in the wall of a building for admission of light and air that is usually closed by casements or sashes containing transparent material (as glass) and capable of being opened and shut. 2 a means of entrance or access; a means of obtaining information. Adding a window to…
By: Dawnel Volzke on September 4, 2014
I can’t say that I have always enjoyed reading, especially those books outside of genres that most capture my interests and attention. Looking back, I must honestly admit that I haven’t truly read any textbook or novel in its entirety. Despite this admission, I have been able to effectively gain the knowledge needed through my…
By: Ashley Goad on September 4, 2014
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…
