Purchase For the Beauty of the Church: Casting a Vision for the Arts

For the Beauty of the Church, edited by David Taylor, is one of those unique books that addresses both the indicative and the imperative, theory and practice, head and hands. We have had many great books and teachers help us develop a theology of the arts and help us do theology through the arts, from Tolkien to Begbie to Wolterstorff to Seerveld to Rookmaaker, etc. This book, however, while including a theology of the arts "along the way," traces out the implications of this theology in the lives of pastors, artists, and the church communities with whom they live and move. It reminds me of St. Paul's `task theology" that offers theologically-contoured responses to practical questions, the primary questions here being 1) how the church can nurture and pastor the artists in its midst, and 2) how artists can offer their abilities and insights to the church.

As Taylor writes in the Introduction, this book "aims to inspire the church, in its life and mission, with an expansive vision for the arts" by offering "a complex reflection on the arts and the church - the church, that is, as the gathered community in its local manifestation and in its varied functions, such as worship, discipleship, community, service, and mission"

In this book, Taylor has pulled together an excellent group of discussion partners, each of whom are either pastors, or artists, or theologians, and sometimes all three- a group you would like to share a long evening together with over a bottle (or two) of wine in your front room. Each chapter is filled not only with theological and practical reflections but also with stories, stories of how each of the authors has attempted, both successfully and not, to bring churches and artists together "for the beauty of the church."

A few personal highlights:
Andy Crouch's use of Genesis 1-2 to remind us that art is a gift whose good cannot be reduced to its utilitarian `usefulness," but is rather a calling to participate in the larger human activity of "culture making."

John Witvliet's encouragement (chapter 2) to both churches and artists to consider how arts might become "liturgical art" and thus express, challenge, and deepen a church's corporate acts of worship: praise, confession, lament, proclamation, and sacraments, etc.

Eugene Peterson's comparison of the work of pastors with the work of artists and how his pastoral vision and identity was shaped by the Israelite artist, Bezalel, and the artists in his congregations: "they were artists, whether anyone else saw them as artists, and regardless of whether anyone would ever pay them to be artists. Being and artists was not a job. It was a way of life; it was a vocation...And it has been artists in my life - not exclusively, but more than most others - who keep the distinction sharp between vocation and job description."

Barbara Nicolosi's chapter on shepherding artists was one of my favorites. She offers suggestions for identifying, teaching, nurturing, and challenging artists to pursue excellence in their field "for the general edification of the body of Christ and for the world," because beauty and art, when done excellently, can "open a channel of revelation between God and man."

Joshua Banner's and David Taylors's chapters offered a plethora of practical suggestions and insights drawn from their long experience as "arts pastors," called to tend to the spiritual and artistic formation of artists but also to prepare their churches to receive, celebrate, and hear from the artists in their midst. As Taylor writes: "We have no business remainig naïve or impulsively enthusiastic, as if all we needed were merely more art. Rather we need good art that serves the good purposes of the church. And that requires a great deal of wisdom and humility."

And, of course, anything Jeremy Begbie writes on the arts and theology is worth reading. He offers six ways that the subversive and hope-offering Spirit might enter our present and draw us toward a future in which the arts and our churches flourish together.

Finally, David Taylor picks up Begbie's theme and looks toward a hopeful future: "My hope is that we will see churches thoughtfully develop arts programs...My hope is that we will see a greater number of young Christians entering art schools...My hope is that a greater number of seminaries will add art-related courses to their curricula...My hope is that parachurch organizations will proliferate to complement the work of the church...My hope is that there will be an increase of involvement in professional societies by believer artists...My hope is that we as Protestants will recapture a culture of patronage...I hope for an artful cultural cross-pollination...I hope to see a fruitful exchange between Christians of different denominations."

That's a lot to hope for, but Taylor not only hopes for a bright future for the arts and the church but he has offered the church a book that has the potential to help us all lean into that future and see it become a Spirit-formed reality around us.

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