Theology & The Arts

The arts help to build bridges between people and foster understanding.  Within the context of the Church, art is a universal way of expressing Christian faith, spirituality and its mystery.

Art enables the meaning behind complex words to be more easily conveyed in ways that are understood through other senses.  Art in its many forms (eg, labrynth, icons, painting and poetry) can reach across generations and cultures, to open opportunities to build more resilience, joy and connection.

The purpose of the Synod’s Theology and The Arts coordinator is to stimulate and provoke presbyteries, congregations and artists to engage in the arts in life, worship and mission.

We help presbyteries, congregations and faith communities bring the arts to events and activities, for example:

• Camps or retreats focusing on the arts, working with local artists and engaging in different art forms
• Exploring faith through labyrinth events
• Working with congregations who want advice on using art to bring additional meaning to community festivals or milestone celebrations
• Curating exhibitions which offer the opportunity for people to use visual art for reflection, thinking or conversation
• Building storytelling events and well-crafted worship events
• Worship and retreat leadership, including Assembly and Synod meetings.

This work is done in collaboration with faith communities, congregations, presbyteries, Synod and artists of all kinds, including visual artists, performing artists, musicians, story-tellers, writers and poets.

We work closely with other eLM teams to ensure Theology and the Arts is integrated into schools, exhibitions, new and renewing communities and many others.

More information can be found here

Download the 2019 ministry update here

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