| |
2008 Worship and the Arts Conference
'The Body'
"For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body."
(1 Cor. 12:12-13).
Come to the 2008 Worship and the Arts Conference to engage your theological imagination and renew your creative spirit as we consider the theme of “the body” in worship. Sponsored by Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, Society for the Arts, Religion, and Contemporary Culture, and the Office of Theology and Worship of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), this four-day event will offer pastors, worship leaders, liturgical artists, church members and seminarians ideas and inspiration for creative approaches to worship planning and leadership.
Through lectures, workshops with professional artists and creative worship experiences, participants will explore the biblical, liturgical and theological symbolism of the body in a variety of media: music, dance, drama, writing and visual arts.
Learn
more at the conference Web site.
Tuition: $100 (free for students)
Lodging: $207 Laws Lodge, Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary
Meals: $73
Call (800) 264-1839 x600 for reservations
Keynote lectures
Mark Torgerson, Keynote Speaker
Celebrating the Body: Seeking Fullness in the Arts and Worship
Mark Torgerson will offer three lectures. The first address, “Inhabiting the Body: Ambiguity and Ecstasy,” will explore biblical and cultural understandings of “the body,” with special emphasis on the gifts that liturgical artists bring to the body of Christ in worship. The second address, “From Walking to Running: Uncovering Artists in our Midst,” will consider the state of artistic expression in current practices of worship, presenting specific challenges and visions for liturgical creativity. The third address, “Growing and Building: Integrating the Arts with Excellence in Worship,” will provide insight on how to engage artists in liturgical planning and leadership, through invitation, collaboration, evaluation and celebration.
Mark A. Torgerson (Ph.D., University of Notre Dame) has been working and teaching in the areas of theology, worship and the arts for 15 years. He teaches full-time at Judson University, Elgin, Illinois, and part-time at several mainline seminaries. His recent book, An Architecture of Immanence: Architecture for Worship and Ministry in the Twentieth Century (Eerdmans, 2007), explores the development of theological, liturgical and architectural influences in relation to church design. He is a painter who has produced numerous pieces as expressions intended to be used in communal worship settings. Mark is also an ordained minister in the Evangelical Covenant Church and so brings pastoral sensitivity to his explorations of worship and the arts.
Workshops In Liturgical Arts
Conference participants will have the opportunity to choose from workshops in five areas: dance, drama, music, writing and visual arts. Each three-hour workshop, guided by an experienced liturgical artist and teacher, will feature participatory exercises, exploration and discussion of selected topics, and constructive feedback on liturgical creativity and leadership. Workshops take place from 2–5 p.m. on Thursday, July 10, and Friday, July 11, 2008. The workshops are independent, so that participants may attend the same workshop (e.g., dance) both days (different topics will be addressed on Thursday and Friday), or may choose to register for different workshops (e.g. writing and drama) on Thursday and Friday.
Dance — Clare Byrne, Workshop Leader
Thursday, July 10, 2008 2–5 p.m.
What does the body say, all on its own, without interpretation? Each body speaks differently, and has important energy to communicate and enact. We will explore movement as a practice of listening and responding. No previous movement training is required; in fact, novices are encouraged! We will look at movements to investigate their inherent "grammar" — how they embody ideas of surrender, renewal, wonder, solidarity, among many others. We will move alone, in duet and in groups, practicing the necessary negotiation of inner focus and outer awareness. Exercises will look at the body in all its physicality: the muscular/bone systems, neurological pathways and the endocrinal systems, and for each the power to create and enact intention. We will end by creating individual "mantras," "rosaries" or "sequences” for use as a practice of private prayer.
Friday, July 11, 2008 2–5 p.m.
We will look at creating or improvising movement for public liturgy and performance and how to develop simple phrases of movement to be used by a performing chorus or by the whole congregation. No previous movement experience is required; in fact, novices are encouraged! The workshop will include an introductory warm-up, and then examples of very simple phrases that might suggest different intentions or enactions — celebration, renewal, mourning — to a participating congregation. Then individually and as a group, participants will play with "phrases" of movement that could be used in different contexts and for different meanings. The workshop will focus on how to develop deep, meaningful movement, simple enough to do and translate and that both challenges and sustains the collective body of the people.
Clare Byrne is artistic director of Clare Byrne Dance and professor at Long Island University in Brooklyn, New York.
Drama — Will B. MacAdams, Workshop Leader
Thursday, July 10, 2008 2–5 p.m.
From funeral services to rituals marking the end of the harvest, religious leaders the world over tend to communities and individuals as they face death, loss and the passage of time. These themes have also been inspiration for theater artists and poets for time immemorial. Participants in the workshop will explore the boundaries between the liturgy and the theater by creating a ritual that ministers to an imagined community that has lost a child. The workshop will begin with the story of this community and will end with a discussion of how the work of theater artists and ministers overlap — and where they diverge. To prepare: select a passage from scripture, a selection from a sermon or a service, or a piece of writing from a non-religious source that explores grief, loss or the passage of time. Passages should be brief (one to two minutes in length) and emailed to willblaze333@yahoo.com by July 8. Note that participants will be performing/embodying these texts physically and should wear clothes they feel comfortable moving in.
Friday, July 11, 2008 2–5 p.m.
From Easter services to baptisms to rites of spring, religious leaders across the world are asked to perform rituals marking births, beginnings and passages out of darkness and into light. Such stories have long been inspiration for artists as well. Workshop participants will explore the ways that ministers and theater artists practice the art of regeneration and renewal by creating a ritual that celebrates an imagined community emerging from the end of a war. The workshop will begin with the story of this community, and will end with a discussion of how the work of theater artists and ministers overlap — and where they diverge. To prepare: select a passage from scripture, a selection from a sermon or a service, or a piece of writing from a non-religious source that explores birth, dawn, or the passage out of darkness and light. Passages should be brief (one to two minutes in length) and emailed to willblaze333@yahoo.com by July 8. Note that participants will be performing/embodying these texts physically and should wear clothes they feel comfortable moving in.
Will MacAdams is apprentice/intern company director at Actors Theatre of Louisville.
Music — Chuck Marohnic, Workshop Leader
Thursday, July 10, 2008 2–5 p.m.
Topics to include:
- New ideas for an alternative to praise and worship
- Modernization of traditional hymnody
- Use of secular music as well as traditional worship songs
- Selecting the correct music minister and musicians
- New ideas for congregational participation
- How to cultivate a creative music church ministry
Friday, July 11, 2008 2–5 p.m.
Topics to include:
- Use and importance of improvisational music for worship
- Proper use of music for Scripture
- How to develop “mindful listening”
- Creative uses of technology, synthesizers, video, etc.
- Getting the most out of the church band
- Creating alternative forms of worship and more
Chuck Marohnic is a world renowned jazz pianist, composer, professor and author, who currently serves as director of music at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church, Louisville.
Writing — David Gambrell, Workshop Leader
Thursday, July 10, 2008 2–5 p.m.
How do liturgical metaphors inform our theological understanding and shape the life of faith? In this workshop, participants will explore the metaphorical nature of biblical and liturgical language, focusing on images of the body in the Bible and the liturgy. After a brief review and discussion of contemporary scholarship on metaphor in poetic and liturgical language, participants will be invited to engage specific biblical passages in a variety of ways, with the objective of producing prayers and other texts for use in worship. There will be an opportunity to share this work and receive feedback from the instructor and other participants.
Friday, July 11, 2008 2–5 p.m.
How do we write songs, sermons and prayers for the whole body of Christ? In this workshop, participants will explore strategies for developing liturgical language that is inclusive/expansive and empowers the full participation of the people of God, focusing on texts that relate to the human body in all its beautiful diversity. After a review of recent scholarship and some salient illustrations from familiar hymns and prayers, participants will be invited to write liturgical texts that open up our knowledge of God and enhance the "work of all the people" in worship. There will be an opportunity to share this work and receive feedback from the instructor and other participants.
David Gambrell is associate for worship, Office of Theology and Worship, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), and a candidate for the Ph.D. in liturgical studies at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary.
Visual Art — Ellen Phillips, Workshop Leader
Thursday, July 10, 2008 2–5 p.m.
The body is inspired, nourished and enabled to survive as a result of imagination and intuition. In these two sessions we will explore the idea of art as a way of knowing. After our initial discussion, the time will be spent in creative meditation, using a variety of art supplies to discover what it is to flow imaginatively and enable us to see not only with our eyes, but as the poet e. e. cummings says, allow it so that “the eyes of (our) eyes are opened.”
Friday, July 11, 2008 2–5 p.m.
Visio Divina is a form of contemplation that involves reading a passage of Scripture and then using art as a meditative focus. This class will include a time for discussion and then a time for creative meditation using a variety of art materials. The participants in this class are requested to come by the art room on Wednesday afternoon in order to pick up the Scripture passage that will be used on Thursday.
Ellen Phillips is an award-winning painter and sculptor, whose works are found in galleries and churches in the Atlanta area.
Conference
Schedule
Registration: 3 p.m.
Student Orientation: 4–5:30
p.m.
Dinner: 6
p.m.
Opening Worship / First Keynote: 7
p.m.
Reception: 8:30
p.m.
Breakfast: 8 a.m.
Meditation Centers: 9 a.m.
Worship: 10 a.m.
Second Keynote: 11 a.m.
Community Lunch: noon
(Students: Lunch with Instructor)
Workshops: 2-5 p.m.
Dinner: 6 p.m.
Singing Together: 7:30 p.m.
Preparation for Closing Worship: 8 p.m.
Movie / Snacks: “Babette’s Feast”: 9:30 p.m.
Breakfast: 8 a.m.
Meditation Centers: 9 a.m.
Worship: 10 a.m.
Third Keynote: 11 a.m.
Community Lunch: noon
(Students: Lunch with Instructor)
Workshops: 2-5 p.m.
Dinner: 6 p.m.
Singing Together: 7:30 p.m.
Preparation for Closing Worship: 8 p.m.
Breakfast: 8 a.m.
Meditation Centers: 9 a.m.
Closing Worship (Eucharist): 9:30 a.m.
Students will be able to register for this event as a course for credit at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary. Continuing Education Units (CEUs) are also available through the Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary office of Lifelong Learning.
For more information, contact Claudio Carvalhaes
at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary or David Gambrell at the Office of Theology and Worship of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) |
|
