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Visual Arts in Worship - Joan Huyser-Honig
Visual Arts in Worship: From either/or to both/and
by Joan Huyser-Honig
What defines you? Is it what you know and do...or what you see and love? Must you choose? Your answer likely affects how you see the role of visual arts in worship.
What defines you? Is it what you know and do...or what you see and love? Must you choose? Your answer likely affects how you see the role of visual arts in worship.
Light and dark. Apple, fig leaf, ark, rainbow. Star, cross, 153 fish. Taste and see that God is good. Abram, Jacob, Samuel, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Paul, and John—all vision struck. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory.
Linen garments, branched candlesticks, curtains embroidered with cherubim. Stone, cedar, cypress, gold.
Soaring arches, stained glass, mosaic floors. Icons, robes, vestments, candles. Stencils on rice paper, catechetical posters, Holy Week processionals, images flickering across big screens.
Christians around the world have different ways of using visual arts in worship. Yet we worship the same Potter, who through the indwelling Spirit shapes us to become more like Christ Incarnate.