ArtWay

Beauty is not pasted over suffering but grows out of it—like the proverbial shoot from parched ground. Bruce Herman

Books

Bond, Fiona: The Arts in Your Church

Book Info

Fiona Bond: The Arts in Your Church. A Practical Guide, Piquant Editions – Carlisle, 2001
 
Why the arts, in church, today? What are the benefits and pitfalls? How can we plan for success? Who can help?

Practical and inspiring: The Arts in Your Church is a much-needed resource for church leaders and lay people alike. Fiona Bond argues that in contemporary culture, we are used to receiving and processing complex information through a combination of image, sound and word. The arts are an integral part of communication today.
 
In his foreword, Jeremy Begbie commends this book on three scores: "First, it combines vision with practical advice. There are many books which paint a stirring picture of the arts in the purposes of God ... but none which links the two so clearly and show you how to turn the vision into a practical reality. Second, the books shows that the church cannot afford to treat the arts as mere illustrations .. the arts do their own kind of work in their own kind of way, helping people dig deep to unlock Christian truth, with breathtaking power to touch head and heart ... Third, the author's background and professional life make her uniquely qualified to write a book like this ... Here is an author who lives and breathes what she writes."
 
The appendix which evaluates 10 very different real-life case studies of arts in church is extremely useful, with contributions by Jeremy Begbie (St Andrews), Andrew Bonner (Glasgow), Katherine Freeze (Seattle), Anthony Nanson (Bath), Rod Pattenden (Sydney), Julia Porter Price, Anne Mullins & Paul Lowe (London), Andrew Rumsey (Cambridge, Sarah Savage (Cambridge), Ben Witherington III (Kentucky).

Special Features:
Practical. Illustrated with b/w photographs. Includes 10 real-life case studies with discussions.