Art in Worship
I am a Painter and a Dancer. I have painted and danced in worship settings for almost 10 years now. I have to be honest I have been avoiding this question all week. Using Creative Arts in worship, as worship is so close to my heart. In fact it IS my heart.
As creatures created by The Creator I feel we are all creative beings. If we have the Creator of ALL things living in us then there is creativity in us. Everyone in different ways can be creative and receive from the creativity of others. All this said, it has been an up hill battle being part of actively integrating dance and other visual art into the contemporary worship scene. I have written about some of my own experiences on my blog.
So how can we integrate these things? Well I can tell you a bit about how I have tried to do this over the years. You should take time to get to know the “crowd”. If you think your church is ready for having someone paint in worship then starting out small and simple with lots of explanation is wise. You can’t expect people to understand what the painter or dancer is expressing. Although I don’t feel that a painter or a dancer needs to always explain what they are doing and why I do feel that if introducing these into your worship setting you should draw people in by explaining what is happening. This enables people to understand and receive from the creative arts.
One thing I have often encountered in almost every worship setting I have been a part of is the acceptance of the visual forms of worship by the worship musicans. Because in most of our churches music has been around for so long as an accepted form of ‘worship’ it can be looked on as the only or best way to worship collectivity. When other forms such as dance or painting come into the picture it can be treated as a nice special way to worship but not accepted as an equal part of the worship team. To me dance is not a nice cute way to worship. It is my instrument. I have experienced times with worship musicians who completely accept dance as an equal partner in the worship team and it was always AMAZING! In these moments I have had the opportunity to lead the worship through dance. Does that sound crazy? Well it is a bit, but it shouldn’t be. If only this could happen more. I don’t say that because I want to lead or have a need to be in charge but because I know how powerful it can be.
If the worship musicians are not fully supporting the dancers, painters, poets etc then it will be difficult for these artists to give of themselves fully. In the same way think of how amazing it would be as musicians to have the support in word and deed of the artists. Such a powerful team working together could do amazing things. When supporting each other and not competing for spotlight incredible things can happen.
As creatures created by The Creator I feel we are all creative beings. If we have the Creator of ALL things living in us then there is creativity in us. Everyone in different ways can be creative and receive from the creativity of others. All this said, it has been an up hill battle being part of actively integrating dance and other visual art into the contemporary worship scene. I have written about some of my own experiences on my blog.
So how can we integrate these things? Well I can tell you a bit about how I have tried to do this over the years. You should take time to get to know the “crowd”. If you think your church is ready for having someone paint in worship then starting out small and simple with lots of explanation is wise. You can’t expect people to understand what the painter or dancer is expressing. Although I don’t feel that a painter or a dancer needs to always explain what they are doing and why I do feel that if introducing these into your worship setting you should draw people in by explaining what is happening. This enables people to understand and receive from the creative arts.
One thing I have often encountered in almost every worship setting I have been a part of is the acceptance of the visual forms of worship by the worship musicans. Because in most of our churches music has been around for so long as an accepted form of ‘worship’ it can be looked on as the only or best way to worship collectivity. When other forms such as dance or painting come into the picture it can be treated as a nice special way to worship but not accepted as an equal part of the worship team. To me dance is not a nice cute way to worship. It is my instrument. I have experienced times with worship musicians who completely accept dance as an equal partner in the worship team and it was always AMAZING! In these moments I have had the opportunity to lead the worship through dance. Does that sound crazy? Well it is a bit, but it shouldn’t be. If only this could happen more. I don’t say that because I want to lead or have a need to be in charge but because I know how powerful it can be.
If the worship musicians are not fully supporting the dancers, painters, poets etc then it will be difficult for these artists to give of themselves fully. In the same way think of how amazing it would be as musicians to have the support in word and deed of the artists. Such a powerful team working together could do amazing things. When supporting each other and not competing for spotlight incredible things can happen.
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