BELIEVER FOR ARTISTS: Pastor Jonathon Wiggins | CO

AOA NEWS
By Tahlib

Last October, in the tense days following the destruction of the controversial religious-themed artwork, "The Misadventures of the Romantic Cannibals" at a Colorado museum, Pastor Jonathon Wiggins reached out to the affected artist and offered a hand of friendship (Watch video). Wiggins is the young evangelical pastor of Resurrection Fellowship Church in Loveland, Colorado, and he didn't have to get involved. The museum's display of the artwork by California art professor Enrique Chagoya had sparked a firestorm in the Loveland community and as it grabbed national media attention, other clergy questioned his absence from the protest. Following a series of private exchanges with Wiggins, the artist offered to paint, for free, a "beautiful" portrait of Jesus for Resurrection Fellowship Church. On Sunday, June 19, 2011 (Father's Day), the massive new portrait was unveiled at the end of Wiggin's sermon to the thunderous applause of his appreciative congregation (Watch full sermon on video below).

Alpha & Omega Project for Contemporary Religious Arts salutes Pastor Jonathon Wiggins as its first Believer For Artists (BFA).



***If you know a member of the American clergy who is working to bridge the artist & church divide, please nominate them today!