THE FOLLOWING PAPER WAS GIVEN AS PART OF A WORKSHOP AT THE 1998 NATIONAL CONFERENCE FOR LICENSED READERS IN THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

Excerpt:

If your ministry is one of leading worship and teaching, you cannot afford to ignore the arts. For one thing, you would discount the experience of all the people who find creative activities valuable. For another, you would end up with a lop-sided theology in which words and concepts are given excessive value. As Neil Smith of the Community of Christ the King has written; “The arts are about revelation and are therefore a profound pathway to engagement with spiritual truth”.

This paper gives some pointers towards the practical importance of creative activities. It then offers some reflection on the theological significance of the arts.

Read more. The Church and the Arts