Get ideas and guidelines for liturgical art
How does one incorporate art in worship in a way that is faithful to the Word and the Reformed tradition and responsive to the movement of the Spirit and the pastoral needs of the community? Here are some guidelines and ideas.
Here are some concrete ideas to spark your creative reflection on the scripture readings for upcoming Sundays in the Revised Common Lectionary. These are just offered as examples; you should feel free to adapt to suit your own gifts and interests.
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Trinity Sunday (June 7, 2009) Isaiah 6:1-8. Hems and hymns. The prophet Isaiah has a vision in which the hem of God’s robe fills the temple and the heavenly host chant “Holy, holy, holy.” (1) Design oversized banners for your place of worship (perhaps inscribed with the word “holy” in various languages), that seem to drape down from on high, filling the space with God’s glory. (2) Write a new musical setting of the Sanctus, the hymn of the heavenly host.
11th Sunday in Ordinary Time (June 14, 2009) Mark 4:26-34. Seed stories. Jesus teaches about the realm of heaven using parables about seeds, including the story of the tiny mustard seed. (1) Write the shortest prayer or poem you can — a haiku, perhaps — about the kingdom of God. (2) Make a mobile for your worship space, representing the branches of the mustard shrub; populate it with paper cranes (“the birds of the air”).
12th Sunday in Ordinary Time (June 21, 2009) 2 Corinthians 6:1-13. Obstacles and gifts. In this letter to the church at Corinth, Paul relates a “litany” of obstacles (riots, labors, sleepless nights …) he has encountered in ministry as well as a list of spiritual gifts (holiness of spirit, genuine love, truthful speech) that have enabled him to persevere. (1) Interview people in your community about obstacles and/or gifts in their journey of faith; assemble a video montage or sound collage. (2) Build a wall out of cardboard boxes, painted on one side with words that represent obstacles in ministry; inside the boxes, put slips of paper bearing the names of spiritual gifts.
13th Sunday in Ordinary Time (June 28, 2009) Psalm 130. Mourning prayer. This psalm of lament is a cry from the depths: “my soul waits for the Lord more than those who watch for the morning.” (1) Write your own prayer of lament; recall a sleepless night or “dark night of the soul.” (2) Write or paint the words of this (or another) prayer of lament on a set of curtains or drapes.
14th Sunday in Ordinary Time (July 5, 2009) Mark 6:1-13. The footprints of disciples. Jesus sends the disciples out in mission and ministry, telling them to shake the dust off their feet where they are not welcome. (1) Design a welcome mat for the entry of your house or place of worship, with words of invitation from the scriptures (e.g. “Come to me, all who are weary”). (2) On long strips of paper, trace your footprints (or those of children in your congregation); Alternately, you might walk barefoot through paint; washing each others’ feet at the end of the activity could be expressed as a gesture of service, hospitality and love.
15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (July 12, 2009) 2 Samuel 6:1-5, 12b-19. David’s dance. When the ark of the covenant is installed in the tabernacle, David leads a procession, dancing with all his might. (1) Lead (and teach children, perhaps) a simple, joyful dance as liturgical symbols (i.e. book, plate, cup, water, cross, candle) are brought into the sanctuary. (2) Write a song with percussion and stringed instruments for the opening of worship; alternately, compose an “Alleluia” for the reading of the gospel.
16th Sunday in Ordinary Time (July 19, 2009) Ephesians 2:11-22. Christ the cornerstone. Paul describes Christ as the “chief cornerstone” of the temple of God, who makes us “members of the household of God” and “proclaim[s] peace” to those far off and near. (1) Make a plaster-of-paris or papier mache cornerstone, with some prominent symbol of Christ (e.g. fish, cross, or alpha/omega), and ask members of your congregation to sign it. (2) Design a stone stand for a processional cross, perhaps engraved with symbols of Christ, or words of welcome and peace.
17th Sunday in Ordinary Time (July 26, 2009) John 6:1-21. Bread baskets. Jesus feeds the multitudes by the Sea of Galilee, and the disciples gather up the leftovers in twelve baskets “so that nothing may be lost.” (1) Make a set of baskets for your congregation; these might be used to distribute communion, gather the offering, or collect prayer requests. (2) Design an art installation with twelve baskets, each containing a picture or symbol of someone or something considered “lost” in our world.
18th Sunday in Ordinary Time (August 2, 2009) Ephesians 4:1-16. Body language. Paul uses the metaphor of the human body to convey the unity of the church and the diversity of spiritual gifts, working in harmony for building up the community of faith. (1) What part of the body are you? Write a paragraph or poem exploring this metaphor. (2) Choreograph a dance involving several different people as members of the body with different gifts, yet one in body and Spirit … (see Ephesians 4:4-6); you might design a movement piece that accompanies the reading of this passage in worship.
19th Sunday in Ordinary Time (August 9, 2009) John 6:35, 41-51. Hunger and thirst. Jesus says "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty." (1) Make a pair of collages or abstract paintings illustrating the experiences of hunger and thirst. (2) Go to lunch or coffee with an artist friend, and talk together about what nourishes your spirit and refreshes your creativity.
20th Sunday in Ordinary Time (August 16, 2009) 1 Kings 2:10-12; 3:3-14. Healthy, wealthy, and wise. Solomon prays to God for an understanding and discerning mind, and God is pleased to grant this gift (as well as riches and long life). (1) Write a litany or prayer for wisdom. Where do you see particular needs for wisdom and discernment in the church and world, and in your personal life? (2) Compose a new “song of Solomon,” setting one of the wisdom psalms to music (e.g. Psalm 1, Psalm 19, or part of Psalm 119).
21st Sunday in Ordinary Time (August 23, 2009) Psalm 84. A birdhouse in heaven. Psalm 84 sings of the beauty of God’s dwelling place (here, probably the temple), describing it as home for sparrows and swallows. (1) Build (or buy pre-made) birdhouses, and decorate them lavishly; this would be a good activity with children. (2) Render one or more verses from this psalm in calligraphy, using the shapes of birds and/or temple doors (see Psalm 84:10)
22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time (August 30, 2009) James 1:17-27. The mirror of the soul. “For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves in a mirror; for they look at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like.” (1) Make a frame for a mirror inscribed with words of scripture — particularly charges or calls to action. (2) Write or paint these words backwards, as viewed in a mirror.
23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time (September 6, 2009) Mark 7:24-37. Ephphatha! Jesus heals a man who can neither hear nor speak, saying “Ephphatha, be opened.” In the baptismal rites of the early church, this prayer was used as an illumination of the senses. (1) Write a prayer for illumination with the response: “Be opened!” (2) Learn a prayer for illumination (or some other liturgical text) in American Sign Language.
24th Sunday in Ordinary Time (September 13, 2009) James 3:1-12. Tongues of fire? James writes of the dangers of false teaching and careless speech, comparing the destructive capacities of the human tongue to a forest fire. (1) Make a collage in the shape of a bonfire, using words that describe “inflammatory” speech (e.g., “gossip,” “lies,” “curses”). (2) Write a prayer of confession, using the analogy of fire to describe the sins of deceitful and hurtful speech and hurtful.
25th Sunday in Ordinary Time (September 20, 2009) Mark 9:30-37. Welcoming a child. Jesus takes a child in his arms, saying to the disciples:“Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.” (1) Invite children at your church to draw or paint their own pictures of Jesus. (2) Sculpt the figure of Jesus holding a child.
26th Sunday in Ordinary Time (September 27, 2009) Psalm 124. Free bird! This is a joyful song of deliverance: “We have escaped like a bird from the snare of the fowlers; the snare is broken, and we have escaped.” (1) Choreograph this psalm for dance or movement in worship; you might use strips of fabric to represent the raging waters and the fowler’s snare. (2) Make a mobile or other installation with fiber, feathers, and fabric, illustrating a bird breaking through a net.
27th Sunday in Ordinary Time (October 4, 2009) Job 1:1, 2:1-10. Job’s affliction. Caught up in a strange wager between Satan and the Lord, Job finds himself destitute and bereaved, sitting in a heap of ashes, scraping his wounds with a piece of broken pottery. (1) Write Job 1:1-5 on a piece of pottery and smash it. (2) Write (and perhaps photograph) the word “faithfulness” or “integrity” in ashes or dust.
28th Sunday in Ordinary Time (October 11, 2009) Mark 10:17-31. The eye of a needle. Jesus says: “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” (1) Cross-stitch this verse and embroider or illuminate it with the image of a camel and a needle. (2) Present this passage as a dramatic scene or choral reading in worship. (You might also play with the idea of “many who are first will be last, and the last will be first” (Mark 10:31), for instance inviting people to come forward for communion beginning with the last rows in the sanctuary.)
29th Sunday in Ordinary Time (October 18, 2009) Psalm 104:1-9, 24, 35c. The fabric of praise. The opening verses of Psalm 104 use a great deal of cloth imagery: God is “clothed in honor,” “wrapped in light,” stretches “the heavens like a tent,” and drapes the earth with the deep seas “as with a garment.” (1) Design a stole that says “Bless the Lord, O my soul” and/or includes visual imagery from this psalm. (2) Create a fabric installation for your worship space, using sheer, translucent materials, to illustrate the image of God’s presence “clothed in honor” and “wrapped in light.”
30th Sunday in Ordinary Time (October 25, 2009) Psalm 34:1-8 (19-22). Taste and see. Psalm 34:8 says "O taste and see that the Lord is good; happy are those who take refuge in [God]." (1) Recruit volunteers in your congregation to bake fresh bread for the celebration of the eucharist. (2) Create a table cloth or communion table parament with words from this verse.
All Saints Day (November 1, 2009) Revelation 21:1-6a. The new Jerusalem. This passage offers a glorious vision of the new creation, in which the holy city descends from heaven, adorned as for a wedding feast. (1) Design a mural, depicting the saints awaiting God’s new creation, with Christ at the center (“He will dwell with them as their God”). (2) Make a banner or calligraphic rendering of the phrase: “See I am making all things new” (Rev. 21:5, which continues: “Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true”).
31st Sunday in Ordinary Time (November 1, 2009) Ruth 1:1-18. True companion. Ruth pledges to remain with her mother-in-law Naomi: “Where you go, I will go … Your people shall be my people, and your God my God.” (1) Draw or sculpt Ruth’s hand, reaching out to Naomi. (2) Using alphabet beads, make a bracelet or necklace with these words and give them to a sister or brother in faith.
32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time (November 8, 2009) Mark 12:38-44. Your two cents. Jesus praises a widow who contributes all that she has — two small copper coins — to the temple treasury. (1) Write a monologue from the perspective of the widow. Why did she choose to give all she had? What difference did she hope to make with this generous offering? (2) Make a contribution (at least two cents!) to a community arts project or fund for arts in the schools; ask friends and family members to join you in this endeavor.
33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time (November 15, 2009) 1 Samuel 2:1-10. Hannah’s Song. Hannah’s revolutionary song of faith — echoed by Mary in the Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55)—proclaims the good news: that God will overthrow the powerful and raise the poor from the dust. (1) Compose a new “protest song” based on Hannah’s great hymn. (2) Design an icon-style painting of Hannah and Mary singing together.
Reign of Christ (November 22, 2009) Revelation 1:4b-8. Eternity from A to Z. “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty. (1) Build a model of a clock, suggesting the eternity of God; make the hands in the shape of the cross; replace all the numbers with alphas and omegas. (2) Write an alphabetical poem or litany of attributes of God, from A to Z.
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