WANTED: Artists in the Church
Churches need artists. Lots of them.
We need good people in all the standard artistic slots — music directors, choir members, wordsmiths. But there are so many more artistic skills needed.
Visual artists are underused and under-appreciated in today’s church. Painters and artisans used to be so important that their roles in the church were subsidized. That is why even small churches across Europe are filled with beautiful windows, murals and sculptures. This was also the age of great church musicians — the Bachs and Handels. But the love of art extended to things we consider mundane. The doors, furniture and fixtures of small churches built hundreds of years ago were created by artists. Art mattered!
This has been less true in the New World church. Where once we might have commissioned a great tapestry, we now buy from the catalog or fall back on homemade banners, etc. which are nice but would fail to qualify as artistically belonging to the ages.
And then there are the property artists, financial artists, leadership artists.
Many small churches are able to continue ministry because somewhere in their history, some member was an artist in caring for property, making investments or inspiring and rallying people.
In the days before the Church recognized the talents of half the population, small churches often prospered because of the people skills of a pastor’s wife or deaconess. They worked largely unrecognized and poorly compensated (if at all). They used their social gifts to see the potential within the community and instinctively knew how to nurture it. They never had any “power,” so protecting their power was never at issue. They are rarely mentioned in church histories.
Regardless, of the area of expertise, artists thrive on something the Church doesn’t really have much time for — chaos.
Artists are happiest when life is not predictable — when the rules don’t stand in the way of initiative and experimentation.
Many Church leaders have stifled creativity. It was probably not intentional. They may have had the congregation’s best interest (from their point of view) at heart. But church leaders tend to like structure, order, predictability, and comfort. They want their jobs to be easier. They surround themselves with people who complement these goals. They are rarely artists.
This sends creative people already in the Church packing. And those who are not in the Church will sense that they will never be of any use — so why bother.
While we say we are working for change and growth, we are actually judging members by their obedience. Choices will be made based on order, ease and comfort.
In reality, artists and non-artists need to exist together in amiable friction. That’s the spark of life. That’s what’s needed if congregations are ever going to live up to their lofty mission statements.
That’s why in spite of decades of talk about growth, the momentum in the Church is decidedly in the other direction.
This is not going to change without artists.
What can we do about it?