Worshipers entering Tualatin Presbyterian Church on All Saints Sunday saw two sets of banners. Banners hung from the sanctuary ceiling were covered with “names of folks who have gone ahead of us—from people who established local adoption agencies to great historical leaders like Martin Luther and Mother Theresa,” says Ellen Van Schoiack, visual arts director for the Oregon congregation. Two plain banners were suspended on either side of the cross. As a prayer of thanksgiving, worshipers were invited forward to write names of people who had influenced their faith. “I was able to write the name of my mother. It was touching to look at the banner and see an old person’s handwriting next to a child’s scrawl,” Van Schoiack recalls. The newly-inscribed banners were raised by drop lines while the congregation sang “For all the saints who from their labors rest…” As Tualatin Presbyterian has discovered, art created by the congregation can profoundly affect worshipers—especially when leaders take time to understand the essential process of planning visuals for worship.

Start with Scripture
Van Schoiack says that art in her congregation “is intended to help set the tone of the service or guide the participants’ attention or response.” That’s why Tualatin Presbyterian’s pastor and music director work with the art team to plan visuals. “Rather than bring an artistic concept into the room with us, we start with a scripture. We go in to look at the passage, usually a lectionary reading, and see what flies out. Connecting artists with worship planning helps us focus on the community’s spiritual needs and avoid spiritual expressions that were our private expressions,” she says.

At Grace United Church in Sarnia, Ontario, “pods” gather to study Scripture, pray, and seek spiritual discernment before creating art for worship. The pods include people gifted in theology, worship planning, or art. Christine Jerrett, minister of spiritual direction, urges GraceWorks pod members to approach Bible passages asking “Who is this God who calls us to worship?” and “Who are we in relation to such a God?” Studying Scripture and creating art together helps pods experience themselves as “a people of God, alive with the energies of the Holy Spirit, joyfully living in and witnessing to the liberating victory of Jesus Christ to the glory of God the Father,” Jerrett says.

Be open to the Spirit’s leading
Beginning with the Bible leads to amazing visual insights from the Holy Spirit. “God has far more eclectic ideas than we do!” Jerrett notes. And, as Van Schoiack and her team have discovered, being open to inbreakings of the Holy Spirit sparks “fearless confidence and humble trust.” The Tualatin team thought the 2005 Advent lectionary readings had too much Lenten imagery, hardly the way to prepare people for Christ’s coming during Oregon’s endless dark winters. Identifying the lectionary theme of God’s abiding presence helped them choose new texts about biblical images of light.

They used strong but lightweight materials—drop line, strings of light, fabric, photo backdrop paper—to create and hang an Advent installation from the sanctuary’s highest space. “Till we hung it we had no idea how the fabric would shift and create patterns of light and shadow. No matter where you were, you were aware of this big looming thing, a reminder of God’s abiding presence and the goodness of light,” Van Schoiack says.

Include many perspectives
Trusting the Holy Spirit’s leading prevents art teams from making snap decisions.“Once you have a team, you have to trust the team and their process. Bad ideas usually go away on their own. But five or six ideas down the line, that bad idea will make someone think of an idea that works,” says Steve Caton, director of worship and the arts at Covenant Life Church in Grand Haven, Michigan. He advises creating teams that are as diverse as possible.

Stephanie Pals, a professional hair stylist, says, “I feel like the designated non-art person on Covenant Life’s design team. I think Steve asked me to join to make sure the art ideas are relatable. There’ve been meetings where I’ve said, ‘I’m not sure worshipers are going to get this.’ ” She estimates that about 40 percent of Covenant Life’s visual art is presented as an interactive worship option. At Christmas, people wrote prayers and hung them on the walls. Another time, worshipers could select a cup, scoop ashes into a garbage can, and then wash the cup to symbolize Christ’s offer to cleanse their lives. “Worshiping God is not just singing. Doing art is sometimes a more comfortable way to say, ‘I want more of him,’ ” Pals says.

At Cornerstone Christian Reformed Church in Ann Arbor, Michigan, all ages are learning the same faith vocabulary. Preschoolers through fourth graders draw pictures that get posted to the church’s devotions weblog on Vertical Habits. The youngsters worship while the adults have Bible study. During adult worship, the kids work on devotions and journals. Hee Lee, the children’s director, says it’s easier for most of them to express themselves in pictures than in full sentences. “I thought the habit of lament might be difficult for the kids. But they drew what they were going through, like waiting for an adopted sister. Their parents and friends look at their pictures online. And we refer to the art during the next week’s worship, like what does it mean to say ‘I love you, God’ and did you practice that habit of love,” she says.

Next Week: CATHERINE KAPIKIAN on helping churches transform worship spaces

On View: Pentecost by Dennis Di Vincenzo, 2008. Dennis is a graphic artist and member of The Artists Registry. Learn more about his work at www.dennisdivincenzo.com

This article was first published by the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship, http://www.calvin.edu/worship/. Text by Joan Huyser-Honig, Photography by Steve Huyser-Honig. Used with permission.

It is Finished, 23" x 16.5". collagraph, 2005, by Sandra Bowden.

How can the arts deepen our practice of Christian worship? In this podcast, Dr. John Witvliet gives direction to this question. Witvliet recommends that we think about the primary actions of worship - prayer, proclamation of scripture and celebration of the Lord's supper. Witvliet begins here with the key elements of worship, and expands into thinking about how different art forms can enhance and deepen each of those experiences.

Listen to the entire podcast, Episode 10 - Worship and the Arts - here>

Dr. John Witvliet is director of the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship (Grand Rapids, Michigan) and associate professor of music and worship at Calvin College and Calvin Theological Seminary. He is the author of The Biblical Psalms in Christian Worship and Worship Seeking Understanding. This interview was recorded at the Transforming Culture: A Vision for the Church and the Arts Symposium.

worshipodcast.com is a podcast series designed to stimulate discussion about the stuff of Christian worship, including music, the arts, technology, and preaching.

Kevin Gibson has been on the pastoral staff of First Baptist Church, North Kansas City, Missouri, since June 2002. Intrigued with podcasting when his wife Christy created a podcast for a master’s level class in July 2007, Kevin ventured into podcasting on his own.

Sandra Bowden is a founding member of the board of Episcopal Church and Visual Arts. For over 30 years the signature element to Sandra Bowden's work has been the inclusion of a Hebrew text, compacted by eliminating spaces between words and line, carefully inscribed, but not intended to be read. The text can be the image itself or sometimes it is located in layers of strata beneath the surface of the earth. Visit her website here >

Carl Jung defines synchronicity as “meaningful coincidences”. I chose this title because it suggests the process that I go through to come to a final piece. The process starts long before I ever enter the print studio, it started years ago in fact. Even as a little girl I cut pictures out of magazines, saved greeting cards and “precious” objects found on a beach or at a yard sale. Through my adult life I have continued this obsession. When I pick up things at a rummage sale or find photos and letters in a box in my parents’ attic, I don’t usually know what I’ll do with them. It’s not until later when I’m preparing to go to the print studio do things call out to be together. I’ll spread out all my treasures, of lace, feathers, stamps, old books and photographs and see what pops out. Things call to be together and a story begin to emerge. As the artist I combine the objects to suggest a storyline, make an outline but it is the viewer who makes the process complete. You come to the piece and complete the story, flesh out the meaning. There is a part of the collective unconscious at play here that makes these pieces sing. They are more than beautiful works of art. They are a secret whispered, a snippet of song long forgotten, an old joke that still makes you laugh, a line from a poem deeply loved.

On View: Bird and Feather, 15" x 22", Monoprint by Lisa Marie Thorpe, 2008. Lisa Marie Thorpe is artist-in-residence at The Bishops Ranch in Healdsburg, California and a member of the ECVA-San Francisco Chapter in the Diocese of California.

Meaningful personal changes are often unrecognized in the moment in which they occur and aren’t recognized as such until much later. The images in this series began as photographs made for my own personal satisfaction and were done over a considerable time span. It is only by looking back at them recently that the change moments (transformational) became recognizable to me. What I see now is that these images are markers of change moments spiritual in nature.

Some of the images are given what is for me a new meaning by the way the film image is interpreted. What I saw in the camera’s viewfinder felt right intuitively. That was reason enough for me to make the photograph. Traditional, straight forward prints don’t convey the sense of their meaning. The images have been reinterpreted to better represent what I feel happened in those moments.

Robert J. Epley is a photographer living and working in Nederland, Colorado. His work has received numerous awards and is included in the collection of the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center. His work can be seen in 'Portraits of the Self,' an exhibition of Episcopal Church and Visual Arts.

On View The Road Not Taken, by Robert J. Epley. Photograph.

The MFA is the new MBA 1, according to Daniel Pink, and it might even be the new MDiv 2.

Pink portrays artists' conceptual skills, developed through drawing, color theory and eye-hand discipline, as essential to today's business skill set. America's boardrooms have begun to listen. Corporations like General Motors are training employees with workshops to develop their conceptual thinking skills.

In this morning's New York Times one workshop teacher talks about what happens when he goes into a Fortune 500 corporation and teaches the employees to draw. Brian Bomeisler says that in teaching people how to draw, "I am teaching them an entirely new way to see. They unbox their minds and absorb what's really there, with all of the complexity and beauty."

Bomeisler sounds like a minister. After all, one of the church's missions is to teach people how to see with new eyes. This blog carried an article 'With Eyes to See New Life' just two weeks ago. The 21st century church encourages the formation of merciful eyes because it seeks a merciful heart for the world. The church's aim is to show the world what the world 'most needs to see,'3 in all of its global complexity. And so, as the church moves forward in its 21st century mission, the MFA may just be the new MDiv.

On View: Contemplation I by Jerome Lawrence. 24x36, acrylic on canvas. BFA, Georgia State University. Jerome Lawrence's solo exhibitions in Georgia include galleries such as Sabra Gallery, Ferst Center for the Arts at Georgia Tech, Chances Gallery, City Gallery East, VSA Arts for All Gallery, and others. His artwork is part of the documentary Shadow Voices & Building on Faith by Mennonite Media, and he has been interviewed by CNN news, WXIA-TV and WSB-TV in Atlanta, Georgia.

Jerome Lawrence's work was featured in Visual Preludes 2006, an exhibition of Episcopal Church & Visual Arts for the 75th General Convention of The Episcopal Church, Columbus, Ohio, 2006.

1 Masters of Fine Arts, Masters of Business Administration. Daniel Pink is the author of A Whole New Mind.
2 Masters of Divinity, the degree held by many ordained priests and ministers
3 Frank Burch Brown, Gesa Elsbeth Theissen, Theological Aesthetics, A Reader, 2004, Wm. Eerdmans, p. 268.

Have you ever felt pressured because you failed to conform to someone else's standards?
Kyrie eleison
Have you ever sought anonymity in order to be yourself without fear of retribution?
Christe eleison
Have the standards of an institution exerted such pressure on you that, when conversion was not possible for you, you sought sanctuary in duality?
Kyrie eleison

Freedoms of speech and worship in the United States are protected by the First Amendment to the US Constitution.

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." ~ The First Amendment was ratified on December 15, 1791

On View: Black and white are considered pure colors in the artist's palette. When mixed in equal proportions they create 50% gray. Gray is not so much a duality of white and black - once combined we cannot separate out pure white from pure black. Gray is its own color entirely, with its own identity, properties, strengths and weaknesses.

During the first prayer of the Easter Vigil service, the priest addresses God as Creator and Divine Revivifier. O God, who wonderfully created, and yet more wonderfully restored the dignity of human nature... (BCP,p 288). This prayer is an active prayer of response, a prayer spoken by the priest on behalf of the people who have just heard the story of Creation. It is a dangerous prayer, acknowledging that there are cracks in the fabric of the universe. The Seen and the Unseen are not divided into a tidy arrangement of separate absolutes. Oh no. The business of God is at work amongst the people gathered. And the priest, by virtue of his or her vows, stands between God and God's people to claim the new life that God is giving, has given, and continues to give.

It was with this event in mind, the Easter Vigil service that occurred across the globe on March 22 2008, that I chose art that might represent for us a revivifying image for our eyes, that we might see this new life, this 'Christos Aneste!', that our priests have already proclaimed and received on our behalf.

Traditional Resurrection imagery depicts Christ breaking the bonds of death, for himself and for all of humanity past present and future, in the iconic representation 'The Harrowing of Hell.' visible in this link to the British Library's online gallery. This folio from Queen Melisende's Psalter dates to the early 12th century, with the verso (left page) showing an illumination of 'The Harrowing of Hell'. Christ is shown bursting through the doors of hell, in a pose filled with strength and action. Christ's descent into Hell triumphs in the saving of all souls residing there, and in this image Christ is grabbing the hand of a man who is himself in an active pose of climbing out to claim new life himself. The recto (right page) is an illumination of 'The Angel at the Empty Tomb', with sleeping guards and the angel of the Lord proclaiming the resurrection at the entrance to the abandoned rock. Three women are shown entering the scene from the left. They are arriving with plans to dress Jesus' body for burial, and carry flasks filled with unguents. 'The Harrowing of Hell' uses narrative imagery to tell the story of Christ's Resurrection from a biblical perspective.

'Easter', a mixed media piece by Dennis Di Vicenzo, uses contemporary graphics to tell the story of Christ's Resurrection from his perspective. Di Vicenzo breathes new meaning into the symbols of Easter and offers us a visual language of new interpretation. In 'Easter', there is action as the Pascal lamb and all that follows is poured out of the cup of salvation. The communion host, the fish, the heart, the text from the prayer book, the stained glass windows - all of these symbols illustrate the story of Easter. In using imagery that is understood by people today, Di Vicenzo is in his own way offering his viewers eyes to see new life.

And yet, something is missing. What do we have in 'Easter' to draw all of these individual pieces together? It is the very same that is missing from 'The Harrowing of Hell.' The imagery in both pieces of art needs an explanation if it is to have meaning for a person today. Would you have known that the two rectangles beneath Christ's feet were doors if someone had not told you? Likely not. Would you recognize the cup as pouring out God's promise of salvation to all peoples? Perhaps not.

In both of these pieces of art, the crack in the fabric of the universe is represented. The Seen and the Unseen mix it up, just like in life. The artists have done their work. If you cannot see the story of Resurrection in these two pictures, take heart. Through your baptism and your priest, you have been given eyes to see new life. Go out into the world and see symbols and signs of the resurrection for yourself.

On View: Easter by Dennis Di Vincenzo. Mixed media, 2007.

As seen in: Feasts for the Eyes, an exhibition of Episcopal Church & Visual Arts, Judith McManis, Curator.

Acknowledgments
With thanks to Donald Shell for suggesting the icon of 'The Harrowing of Hell'; to Deirdre Good for assistance with art direction; and, to Larry Hunter for his Vigil sermon.

And he bought a linen shroud, and taking Jesus down, wrapped him in it, and laid him in a tomb which had been cut out of the rock. Mark 15:46

A couple of years ago, an artist associated with our parish died. As a tribute to his life and labor, we exhibited a few of his works in our gathering space. Many people came for the exhibit and spent time with the impressive canvases of garden flowers, fruits, and other objects of nature. Some of the paintings were enormous oils with heavy gilded frames; others were diminutive, almost whimsical portrayals of the basic things of life yet portrayed in grandiose style.

The more I lived with these paintings the less I saw of the objects. Walking through the space each day I gained a new perspective on his work. Gradually, as if thread by thread, I began to notice that every painting had a linen cloth wrapped deep within the composition. Not an afterthought or casual object of Renaissance style, the cloth struck me as the central figure, the very essence of each painting. This incredible artist had taken a negative space and emphasized it so much that the cloth became the centerpiece of the composition. And in every case, the cloth was white. He had given us an image of nature’s rebirth amidst the flowers and fruits, and at the same time, he had bestowed something of our own rebirth into each composition by transforming simple linen into a shroud of resurrection.

We often miss resurrection. It’s there, right beside us each day. But somehow, we become so fixed on all the objects around us that we fail to see the central theme. So when things are crazy, we focus on the elements creating the chaos instead of the undercurrent of hope and joy amidst it all. We become so absorbed in the details, we fail to see the deep abiding theme of new life running like a beautiful shroud throughout life.

I now return to the image of the shroud when I lose sight of God’s resurrection in my life. Having that image has helped me when the details start to control and I forget the total composition of my life. I begin to see the white linen – something left behind – as evidence that new birth, new life is taking place. I stop and visualize how that shroud looks in my life and I start looking for it amidst all the busyness that captures me. And the incredible thing – I have yet to find a place where God has not already left that beautiful shroud for all of us to see.

About the Author: The Rev. Michael Sullivan is Rector of St John's Episcopal Church, Lynchburg, Va, and author of Windows into the Soul - Art as Spiritual Expression, Morehouse, 2006.

On View: Untitled, with white, by Taylor Harbison. 2003. Oil on canvas. Courtesy of the Daniel Garza and the Estate of Taylor Harbison.

Art is a powerful force. It contributes to the formation of our attitudes, our beliefs and even our behaviors. It is the subject of study in history and sociology, and more recently, in the church.

An examination of how art exists in cross-cultural contexts reveals a list of roles that art and artists play. This list includes:
- ascribers of meaning;
- ascribers of status;
- catalysts of social change;
- enhancers and decorators;
- interpreters;
- magicians;
- mythmakers;
- propagandists;
- recorders of history;
- sociotherapists;
- storytellers; and
- teachers.
(from Celebrating Pluralism - Art, Education and Cultural Diversity, F. Graeme Chalmers, 1996, The J. Paul Getty Trust.

In addition to the qualities of art and artists listed above, I would add the following:
- prophets;
- keepers of conscience;
- visionaries;
- recorders of humanity.

On View: Elijah in the Chariot of Fire, Contemporary Byzantine Icon by Betsy Porter. Photograph by Richard Anderson. More information is available at the artist's website, betsyporter.com

As Seen At: Gallery 1055 in the Diocese of California, 1055 Taylor Street, San Francisco. Through mid-April.

Express to make known one's opinions or feelings

We are often content to move through life in a straight line, painfully aware of the obvious and pleasantly amused by harmless deviation regardless of magnitude. We encounter art and it doesn’t seem to matter to the creators of it what we really want, the type of day we’ve had or what kind of stress we’re under. Many of us are taught to see to the needs of others and we’re often surprised when others don’t care for themselves much less about us.

The moments we think that we are in control come and go with varying effect on our actual position of power, while our opinions change, our moods shift, our consciousness wavers and the only certainty seem to be that we want what we want when we want it. A better understanding of others will allow greater influence as we attempt to move, excite, and otherwise manipulate a person’s emotions, attitudes, ideas, etc. to gain acceptance, compassion and understanding or whatever else we have determined at this moment is what we want.

We must understand that our most crystal clear expression may not be so to a large part of our audience. Design your expressions to both continue the process of your understanding and to begin mine. We know that what is outside of us is the same but is seen differently by each one. And if we each see that which is outside of us differently, sharing the specifics of tints and shades within our mind becomes an increasingly difficult task. Emotions are common, but how many of us can admit to feeling only one emotion without a mix of many others in different degrees? Your ability to express is an important part of my ability to understand. Of the differences between individuals I ask you importantly to consider differences in mental health. With differing access to information, varying capacity to understand and to not misunderstand and differing ability to make use of information there is ample opportunity to either harm and take advantage through confusion or to gainfully assist others by becoming an instrument of clarity. Which do you want?

Imagine being on a desolate planet. You are a blob. Your only thought is to survive. Parts of you extend in search of nourishment. Locomotion is developed to further assist your search. Your development of senses helps to glean every advantage from your surroundings. Your purpose becomes to effectively maneuver within your environment reserving strength, increasing stamina, maintaining peak condition in order to efficiently obtain nourishment and knowledge; ever increasing your ability to not only sustain your existence but also to thrive. Contentment and dissatisfaction are gaged to monitor your progress in achieving this goal. To thrive is what you want whether you realize it or not. You encounter an identical blob. How much can you assume? With identical parts can you also assume identical thoughts, emotions, desires and identical purpose? Can our entire existence be summed in the practice of getting what we want without regard for the thoughts, emotions, desires and possible purposes of coexisting blobs?

Within your life and your life’s work, take full advantage of that which makes you a unique “blob”. Highlight the laughter of a shimmering lake in a way that only you can. Entrench the coarse shrill of a scream into our psyche or deliver a “knock out punch” with that feather of an idea you didn’t think you had much use for. There is a way of seeing that only you possess. An important tactic in getting what we want is to share. Giving a part of you is prerequisite to receiving in many cases. Share with your audience helpful thoughts, feelings, experiences, attitudes, and even that for which we haven’t words but know in our hearts has shared value.

On View: Infinity by Jerome Lawrence. 20x24, acrylic on canvas. BFA, Georgia State University. Jerome Lawrence's solo exhibitions in Georgia include galleries such as Sabra Gallery, Ferst Center for the Arts at Georgia Tech, Chances Gallery, City Gallery East, VSA Arts for All Gallery, and others. His artwork is part of the documentary Shadow Voices & Building on Faith by Mennonite Media, and he has been interviewed by CNN news, WXIA-TV and WSB-TV in Atlanta, Georgia.

Jerome Lawrence's work was featured in Visual Preludes 2006, an exhibition of Episcopal Church & Visual Arts for the 75th General Convention of The Episcopal Church, Columbus, Ohio, 2006.

Art is not created in a vacuum. Each of us builds on the work of those who have gone before us, adding our own unique vision to a larger body.

This photograph was taken in the Temple of Dendera. North of Luxor, in Egypt, this temple looks like many ancient Egyptian temples, but all is not as it seems. Just as a neo-gothic church was built to harken back to the mystery of gothic churches built centuries earlier, this temple was built by the Ptolemies who ruled Egypt from 305 BCE to 30 BC. They were a Greek family who came to rule Egypt following Alexander the Great's conquest. The Ptolemies built new buildings in the style of the ancient Egyptians of 2,000 years earlier. This picture is of the hypostyle hall with its 18-Hathor Columns supporting a roof decorated with astrological scenes. This Ptolemaic temple was built on the foundations of a temple that probably dated to Khufu from around 2570 BCE. The temple was begun by the Ptolemies and completed by the Roman Emperor Tiberius who reigned during Jesus' lifetime.

It is neither purely Egyptian nor Greek, but a Greek interpretation of the glory of Egypt. Then graffitied on this column is a cross from a time when the hall was used for Christian worship. The cross is carved so that a Egyptian God is holding it aloft giving the old column yet a new interpretation. Then adding its own layer of meaning, I photographed the hall with light slanting through the old temple thinking of how each of us builds on what has gone before.

Like every work of art, the photograph is as much my autobiography as anything. Each work is another page in the diary of the artist as the choices made in creating a piece all reflect the creator. Each layer from Khufu, to Ptolemies, to Tiberius, to Christian graffiti, to a contemporary photograph leaves meaning hidden within the finished print. Each layer the diary entry of an artist contributing to a much larger work.

"According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building on it. Each builder must choose with care how to build on it."
I Corinthians 3:10

As Seen In ECVA Sketchbook, Jan Neal, Editor
Read more of Frank Logue's commentaries here.

See more Frank Logue photography here.

Where are the artists whose primary focus is art? It is a given that artists work from their own cultural context and life circumstances; this we can expect. If art is a blender, then the artist's life, training and influence are what goes into the mix. What comes out is art, at least some of the time. And it is the artist that throws the switch.

- Some artists, iconographers especially, can fit religion in a neat and tidy way with their craft. This is evident in their ability to assimilate to proscribed traditions. Their primary focus seems to be on faith.

- For other artists, their art reveals a road map of their seekings, spiritual and otherwise. Their body of work is a set of visual morning pages. Their primary focus also seems to be on faith.

- And then there are the artists whose work reveals the quality of their listening and their response to the call to originality. Pie-Raymond Regamey, the French priest and visionary, wrote in the mid-20th century that 'strictly speaking sacred art only requires a sacred character of the actual artistic creation, of the artist's exercise of his [or her] art.' For artists such as these, their primary focus is art. I think we need a deeper understanding of this; I certainly do.

On View: "Little Buds Tell Us Spring is Near", watercolor on paper by Emma Lou Martin.

Emma Lou Martin will teach a workshop on the use of watercolor in the landscape and the studio at Art and Soul 2008, the annual conference at The Cathedral Shrine of the Transfiguration in the heart of Virginia's Shenandoah Valley. To download information about this year's conference, click here.

Pie-Raymond Regamey quotation from Theological Aesthetics - A Reader, ed. Gesa Elsbeth Thiessen. By Gesa Elsbeth Thiessen. Published 2005, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. Originally published: London : SCM Press, 2004. To purchase a copy of this book, click here.

The Manga Bible is a Bible adaptation created in the style of 'Manga', which is Japanese for 'comics' or 'whimsical images.' The concept artist for the project, Siku, has published four different volumes:

- The Manga Bible - Raw, A small format edition containing the Manga adaptation of the full Bible plus brief features such as 'Introducing the Bible', creators' commentary on key scenes, and a 'Drawing the Manga Bible' workshop by Siku himself.

- The Manga Bible -Extreme, Containing both the full TNIV text of the Bible plus the entire Manga adaptation, this is the most Extreme version of the Bible yet! The extra features include Siku discussing the creation of The Manga Bible, an artist's workshop, and an introduction to the Bible.

- The Manga Bible: NT-Raw, A small-format edition of Siku's New Testament. As well as the comic strip, it contains a number of 'extras': a 'Creating the Manga Bible' interview with Siku and Akin, a 10-page sketches gallery and a brief article explaining what the real Bible is and how it came to be written.

- The Manga Bible: NT-Extreme, A deluxe, large-format edition of Siku's New Testament. As well as the comic strip, the 'Creating the Manga Bible' interview and the introduction to the Bible article, it contains the full text of the New Testament scriptures, using Today's New International Version of the Holy Bible

Ajinbayo Akinsiku, the concept artist and graphic designer for the project, is in seminary in London with the goal of ordination as an Anglican priest. He is quoted as saying, "Christ is a hard guy, seeking revolution and revolt, a tough guy." (New York Times, "The Bible as Graphic Novel" by Neela Banerjee, 2/10/08, A14)

A link to purchase The Manga Bible is available here with the convenience of one-click purchase through the Amazon.com Associates program. All purchases referred from visio-divina.com support Episcopal Cafe Art Blog, Episcopal Church and Visual Arts, and Visio Divina programming.

For behold, you look for truth deep within me ~ Psalm 51:8a

The artists' way includes periods when the artist feels much more like the prodigal than like the beloved. This 'prodigal period' is marked by a yearning within the artist to get closer, to return home, to start again. These yearnings are signposts of course, vapor trails indicating something much deeper at work. Outwardly the 'prodigal period' can be marked by a vague restlessness. For some the 'prodigal period' is filled with a quietness that can throw the artist off the trail of an important invitation to spiritual growth. Whatever the presenting symptoms, the 'prodigal period' for an artist is always indicative of a desire acting deep within the artist to bring their creative work and their spiritual life into closer harmony.

An artist's work is the artist's visual proclamation to the world. The 'prodigal period' impels the artist to resolve the differences between what the artist is creating and what the artist was born to create. For Christians, the Baptismal Covenant guides our life as the beloved of Christ and it guides the artist's way too. The resolution of the 'prodigal period' is to be found in a closer pairing of what the prodigal artist creates with what the beloved artist is creating in the mind and heart of Christ.

Seeking to be the beloved artist, the prodigal artist tends to those actions and predispositions that separate them from loving their neighbor, from remembering others, from loving God heart and soul. As these actions become known, the artist may sense the qualities of a penitent heart beginning to emerge - feelings of regret and remorse, even shame, are possible. But here is the joy hidden in the dark and the time to remember the parable of the lost son (Luke 15:11-32) Sincere sorrow for failings will be met with compassion and forgiveness. Admit the imperfection; pray for wisdom; pledge to try anew. And if all of this seems too much at first, a simple beginning is the discipline of a work blessing before each creative session. Just as the preacher intones on Sunday, 'May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all of our hearts be acceptable unto You, O Lord, our Strength and Our Redeemer,' so too the artist at the beginning of each work period can dedicate themselves and their work to God's glory.

O God, whom saints and angels delight to worship in heaven: Be ever present with your servants who seek through art and music to perfect the praises offered by your people on earth; and grant to them even now glimpses of your beauty, and make them worthy at length to behold it unveiled for evermore; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
- Collect for Church Musicians and Artists, BCP p. 819

On View: Fifth Station, The Cross is Laid on Simon of Cyrene, painting by Simon Carr.
Acrylic on Canvas, 24" high by 22" wide

As Seen In: Walking the Way of the Cross, The Rev. Thomas Faulkner, Curator. An exhibition of Episcopal Church and Visual Arts.

Photographers and their ways of seeing have profoundly changed the way I walk through the world. Just yesterday I was silently thanking my artist-photographer friends for opening up new ways of seeing, simply by doing what it is they they do best.

As the sun warmed the street in front of my mailbox there were stripes of brilliant green emerging from cracks in the asphalt. Each was a perfectly formed wisp of color, with arching leaves and pulsing veins. Some had tall thread-like extensions that ended in rounded seed-like shapes reaching high into the air above the matting of leaves below. Together they paraded a vibrancy of life, drinking in the sun for nourishment as we might enjoy a glass of orange juice with our morning toast. The not-so-ordinary in this for me was getting down on my knees so that I could notice each wisp was no larger than the head of a pin.

In that instant, I received a blessing in the form of a pause amid my daily work for a brief yet sustaining glimpse at the wonder of God's creation. I found myself less connected with the events of my day and more reflective on the gifts of God. The sense of renewal that I experienced pointed toward a kind of personal photosynthesis, akin to the plant kingdom's gift of taking sunlight and water and converting it into the stuff of life.

"An encounter with the beautiful lifts our eyes beyond the commonplace and gives us a reason for going on, for ranging beyond the mundane, for endeavoring ourselves always to become more than we are." - Joan Chittister, OSB, 'Monastic Wisdom for Seekers of Light', Religious Life Review, vol. 40, May/June, 2001; as quoted in Theological Aesthetics, A Reader, Gesa Elsbeth Thiessen, ed., Wm. B. Erdmans, 2004.

On View: Church Office, Thanksgiving. Photograph by the Rev. Scott Fisher, Fairbanks, Alaska. With thanks to Ann Fontaine for the hat tip.