A Renaissance of the Arts for Churches of Christ

I stood in the quiet chapel at Thanksgiving Square in downtown Dallas holding my breath in awe, gazing upward. The spiral stained-glass ceiling was mesmerizing. It winds skyward in bursts of jewel tones and is one of the largest horizontally mounted stained-glass windows in the world. I have seen pictures of it in books and thought it must be housed in one of the great cathedrals of Europe. I did not realize it was right here in my city.The lower panels begin in varying shades of blue representing the color of peace. As the spiral climbs upward, the colors become warmer and meet sixty feet above the chapel floor in a circle of beaming yellow light. This magnificent work of art, entitled Glory Window, takes its name from Psalm 19: “The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork” (Ps 19:1 NRSV). The creator of this magnificent window, French artist Gabriel Loire, meant for the ascending window to “express all life, with its difficulties, its forces, its joys, its torments, its frightening aspects. And then, bit by bit, all of that falls away and you arrive finally at a burst, an explosion of gold; you arrive at the summit.”For me the Glory Window simply represents the presence of God through beauty, and I stood in the chapel captivated and weeping. At that moment I felt the powerful presence of something Other, and I could only think, “Praise God, Praise God, Praise God.”It was a transcendent and spiritually formative experience to be fully engulfed in beauty which evoked true worship. I felt exposed and raw but wrapped in pure, overpowering love. I did not want to leave that space or break the moment of communion with God. The gossamer veil between heaven and earth parted for just a moment; I caught a glimpse of the glory of God, and I will never be the same.The arts are a powerful force that have the ability to spiritually transform us and transport us into the presence of God. Art and beauty can be an expression of praise. The arts can provide a pathway to experience and relate to God. They tell stories, communicate pain, promote healing, speak truth, and call for mercy and justice.The arts have a profound way of inspiring our minds and nurturing our souls through experiences that are beautiful and transcendent. Gregory Wolfe states, “Art invites us to meet the Other­—whether that be our neighbor or the infinite otherness of God.” Art, like faith, helps us rise above the splintered and broken world in which we live and reach something more beautiful and more holy than ourselves.One of the inherently theological aspects of the arts is through their search for reconciliation and redemption. Unfortunately, these deeply spiritual experiences have been rare in the lives of many Christians and almost lost in many Churches of Christ. Nearly all churches value and acknowledge the worth of music in worship, but due to a variety of reasons, other forms, such as the visual arts, have been marginalized over time and labeled suspicious or idolatrous.Yet Scripture does not forbid making or enjoying art; it forbids the worship of it.I believe we need a full biblical understanding and renaissance of the arts in worship and find a way forward for the integration of  the arts which will enrich worship and lead to spiritual formation for Churches of Christ.I am exploring these topics and more in my doctoral thesis at ACU. One of the issues my research will address is how Churches of Christ have been limited by a tradition that supposedly dismissed aesthetics, art, innovation, and creativity during worship. While there are many admirable qualities about the Stone-Campbell Restoration heritage, I suggest that Churches of Christ have lost the ability to tell the story in our culture, because our worship relies too heavily on intellect and reason and has divorced any transcendent meaning from the practices of worship. Our artless, prescribed acts of worship were suitable for a time gone by, but they are no longer adequate and are in fact detrimental to our witness in the world.I propose there is a way to acknowledge our heritage while navigating a compelling future for worship integrating the arts for Churches of Christ. I invite you on this journey with me as we explore the intricate and beautiful relationship between art and faith.