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A Short Intermission

Church for artists

How much are you able to be yourself at church? Encounters on the Edge issue no.25 A Short Intermission tells the story of a group of professional artists in Kensington who remarked "we go into church with only 30% of who we are."

Many Christian actors, poets, writers and musicians, feel that church can be uneasy with the arts because the former can't control the latter. Church can also be nervous of the bohemian reputation of the artist lifestyle. They in turn commented that the church at large is ignorant of art, its disciplines and purpose and that it abuses artists, in the sense of expecting them to give their craft for nothing; art is not viewed as serious but as a hobby activity, like ladies doing third rate water colours in their drawing rooms.How do we bridge the gap between these two, apparently incompatible, cultures?

Artists are one more in a growing list of groups who are challenging our assumptions that church in its traditional congregation form is not enough. Artists have a prophetic role to play in a society searching for meaning and hope. We need to nurture and encourage them. Order this issue to read the story of Intermission and learn some lessons of what planting churches for professional artists will look and feel like.