To Pastors: Why the Arts Matter
Dear Pastor Friends:
We've told you about the Vermont Conference on Christianity and the Arts. Here's why we think this so deeply matters and how you can get involved.
Why It Matters
Some ask whether the church doesn’t have more pressing concerns. Why invest in this?
Creativity and beauty are good because they’re what God is like. After a flurry of creation and declaring it good, Genesis says God created us in his image. Creativity is central to that image.
In the middle of the tabernacle instructions, we find a command to “add precious stones for beauty.” Not for theological significance but for beauty. Beauty is a reflection of God.
The heart of the gospel is the love of Christ. Demonstrating Christ’s love isn’t just about presenting propositional truths, but about loving heart, soul, mind, and body. Whose heart hasn’t been moved by a story, a song, a movie, or a photograph? The arts are a way to touch hearts, a way to speak to emotion and not just intellect, a way we care for the communities and cultures we live in.
The arts, when done well, reflect the glory and wonder of God.
The Scriptures themselves are one third poetry—song, lament, love poetry, drama. They’re full of stories, and story was a primary way Jesus taught. The arts are central to how God talks.
Arts conferences cultivate the gifts of those who often feel the church is indifferent to their gifts and calling, and our conference is intentional about seeing how those gifts intersect with faith.
Churches that engage in the arts find the arts enrich their lives together.
The arts were, for much of history, cultivated and curated by the church. We believe the church needs to re-engage in this important part of life and culture.
The arts are not extras, but part of who we are, how we love, how we glorify God, how God himself communicates.
How You Can Get Involved
Come. Show by your participation that you regard this as important, and learn more how a biblical view of the arts can enrich our churches.
Send a Group from your Church. The arts flourish in community. Invest in a group registration (5+), and then find people to fill those spots. This way, when people come back excited about their art, they aren’t alone but have a community that’s excited with them.
Promote the Conference. While we’re thankful for even simple announcements of our event, we love it (and get the strongest responses) when churches really get behind the conference, share a love for the arts, explain why they matter, and keep the conference before people.
Donate Financially. We’re more interested in your participation than your money, but the conference costs more to put on than registration fees cover. Donations let us stay affordable while bringing in a broader range of speakers and giving scholarships.
Sending a Donation
We’re happy to recognize churches that donate as conference sponsors.
Hunger Mountain Christian Assembly (HMCA) has agreed to handle funds for VCCA. HMCA isn’t the end recipient of these funds; HMCA simply handles the funds as a service to us. Make a check out to Hunger Mountain Christian Assembly, put "VCCA Conference" in the memo or on an attached paper, and send it to:
Hunger Mountain Christian Assembly
PO Box 188
Waterbury Center, VT 05677
For Your Church Bulletin
Christianity and the Arts Conference: Sept 17, 2022
The Vermont Conference on Christianity and the Arts seeks to build community among artists of faith in and near Vermont, and to encourage good and thoughtful art deeply rooted in a Christian view of the world.
The arts matter deeply to the church because creativity is part of the image of God within us, because the arts are a way to glorify God, and because the arts are a way to touch hearts and love the community around us.
Our fall conference breakouts include painting, songwriting, linoleum block printing, pressed flower art, mosaic making, fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, alternate guitar tunings, photography, and more. Sessions on “The Spiritual Practice of Creativity,” “The Intersection of Faith and Art,” and “Cultivating a Community of Arts in Your Church” round out the offerings. Pre-conference intensives (Sept 16) in songwriting and fiction let participants go deeper.
And it's about relationship as much as lectures and workshops. Great art is often produced by artists in community with other artists. So we hope you'll come and invite your friends.
Want to sign up or just know more? Go to www.VermontChristianityArts.org. Questions? Email VermontChristianityArts@gmail.com or contact us through the website.