Dear friends!
I couldn't help but title this entry with the question that I am sure is on all of your minds.
Well, after a few weeks of hiatus from blog-world (due in large part to the general busyness of the end of the semester)I am happy to say that I am back and will be keeping you updated again on a more regular basis.
I hope some of you took the opportunity to follow my side-project during the Lenten season, which was a blog based on a study of
The Hole in Our Gospel. Many of the young adults and college students in my ministry chose to go through the study and follow the blog. The study was a small part of the ongoing theme I chose for this year of "Poverty and Justice." During the summer we will gather in people's homes on Friday evenings to watch films that deal with these themes, and then discuss them afterward.
The weekend after Easter I directed an art retreat called IGINTE along with several young art professionals including my wife Rachel. We had over 30 people in attendance; most of them were between 18-28, but we also had several people well into their middle years come as well. Overall the entire retreat was a great success. Teresa Moyer, a professor at Eastern University, was our keynote speaker and she introduced the topics of the weekend with a beautiful balance of academic fervor, personal story sharing, and Spiritual leading.
The retreat itself was intentionally modeled in a way that would be conducive to the creativity of artists. The basic layout was familiar to typical retreats: we all gathered together for main room sessions, which included worship time, a 20 minute topical conversation introduced by Teresa, and a 30 minute panel discussion with panelists representing four prominent fields of art: music, visual art, theater, and creative writing. After the panel discussion the audience broke into four groups based on the four art forms listed above, and the panelists became their group leaders. For two hours the groups delved further into the topics discussed through their art. Collaboratively they created artwork together that flowed directly out of what they were experiencing and discussing. On Saturday all the groups met for four hours in order to develop pieces of art that they would share with the other groups on Sunday.
In my opinion the sharing time on Sunday was one of the most powerful parts of the retreat. Each person was able to share something very meaningful, vulnerable, and spiritual with the rest of the group. For example, each member of the visual artist group created a small piece of art which they called a "vessel." Inside the vessel they placed something that represented either a broken area in their life which they wanted God to take away, or a part of their life where God had worked and they were grateful for. After each person had a chance to share the meaning of their vessel and what it contained we walked to the beach in quiet solemnity and watched as each person threw the contents of their vessel into a fire pit as an "offering" to God. Each vessel contained something personally connected with the individual's relationship with God, and the power of visually witnessing these individuals completely handing over that area of their life to God was incredibly moving. Many of us were choked to tears.
The theater arts and music arts groups were equally touching in their own ways. The theater group walked the other three groups through a theatrical and unique retelling of the creation, fall, redemption meta-narrative of the bible. At one point they used beach water to retell the amazing beauty of Christ's redeeming work over all His children. The music group did something unexpected by not specifically sharing their artistic gifts, but rather a vivid picture of the spiritual struggle that happens as a result of their artistic giving. They explained to us that as singers their art is almost the most personal expression of art that is out there. Rather than "perform" for us they chose to share some of the "self-talk" they often speak to themselves. As most artists can relate to, their self-talk was less than flattering, and honestly downright abusive. After sharing their self-talk they shared some "God-talk." God-talk is basically what we know God actually says is true about us, that we are adored and loved by Him, that we are worth something, that we have a purpose. It was extremely moving to hear the self-talk juxtaposed with the God-talk. The truth of God draws a stark contrast to the lies of this world and of the evil one.
I was in the creative writing group, so it's hard to say what our sharing was like from an outside perspective, but from an insider's perspective it was one of the best weekends of my life!
I encourage you to read my monthly newsletter to see a few quotes from some of the participants so you know what their experience was like first hand. Everyone enjoyed the experience so much that the leaders are currently discussing plans to begin a Christian arts collective in Philly for young adults and college students. We are having our first meeting to discuss these plans this coming Sunday.
Please take time this week to pray for art students, both for those who have no relationship with Christ, and those who struggle to live in the art world without being "of" the art world.
I will write more about this in my next entry, but please also be praying for me and my wife Rachel. Rachel recently joined the CCO, praise God! We will be working together starting in the second half of May. We will be spending the next year reaching out to art students at Eastern University and in the city. Before that we need to raise an extra $2200.00 a month. We know all things are possible through Christ, and that God will always provide for all of our needs. Please pray with us and watch and see our Father in heaven miraculously provide.
In Him,
Your humble co-worker in ministry,
Elliott
