BELIEVER FOR ARTISTS: Pastor Mark Ross | WV
AOA NEWS
By Tahlib
The board of director's for Alpha & Omega Project for Contemporary Religious Arts is proud to recognize Pastor, Dr. Mark Ross of Marion Baptist Church as a Believer For Artists for his being open to how an artist interprets scripture in their creations.
Earlier this year, Pastor Ross saw something in his Baptist church that he thought he'd never see, and in his newspaper column he wrote, "On a bulletin board, beside a list of opportunities for Christian service, was a bikini! There it was, a life-sized sketch of a girl wearing a striped string-bikini top." Being a good Baptist, he launched an investigation, saying, "No, it was not an inquisition. I was saving the inquisititon until later."
It was during his investigation that Pastor Ross was to discover something he'd never considered before. In his own words, Pastor Ross found out the following: "I learned that the itsy-bitsy swimsuit was part of an art project by some of our students. The leader explained to me that the painting was “biblical art.” This gave me an opportunity to have a small stroke and then to launch into a diatribe on biblical studies. The conclusion of which was: “I am the expert on the Bible around here and I can promise you that nowhere in the Bible does the word “bikini” appear, not in Greek, not in Hebrew, and not even by implication!”
"After having spoken the word of truth and taken a stand for goodness and God, I gave the leader a chance to respond. She calmly said, “It is in Ephesians six.” Tearing down the hall to my study, I jerked a Bible from the shelf and quickly read Ephesians six. Then I rushed back to the hallway sketch. I had to look at the sketch closely and Paul’s letter to Ephesus even more closer. [Saint] Paul wrote, “Therefore, take up the whole armor of God…” and Pastor Ross noted, "The girl in the sketch had on stylish sandals with small colorful beads, “As shoes for your feet put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace.” The artist had drawn a bejeweled belt around the girl’s waist. Paul wrote, “And fasten the belt of truth around your waist.” Then, I saw what I was looking for and finally understood. He wrote, “And put on the breastplate of righteousness.”
What Pastor Ross discovered was the ability to look at the word of God through the eyes of an artist adding, "There it was in living color, the breastplate of righteousness, a bikini!" While his own picture of a breastplate of righteousness was different from the artist-teacher, he found he had room in his own theology, faith and mind to allow for her interpretation too.
Alpha & Omega Project for Contemporary Religious Arts salutes Dr. Mark Ross, pastor of Marion Baptist Church, 1258 Marion, West Virginia as a Believer For Artists.
***If you know a member of the American clergy who is working to bridge the artist & church divide, please nominate them today!
By Tahlib
Earlier this year, Pastor Ross saw something in his Baptist church that he thought he'd never see, and in his newspaper column he wrote, "On a bulletin board, beside a list of opportunities for Christian service, was a bikini! There it was, a life-sized sketch of a girl wearing a striped string-bikini top." Being a good Baptist, he launched an investigation, saying, "No, it was not an inquisition. I was saving the inquisititon until later."
It was during his investigation that Pastor Ross was to discover something he'd never considered before. In his own words, Pastor Ross found out the following: "I learned that the itsy-bitsy swimsuit was part of an art project by some of our students. The leader explained to me that the painting was “biblical art.” This gave me an opportunity to have a small stroke and then to launch into a diatribe on biblical studies. The conclusion of which was: “I am the expert on the Bible around here and I can promise you that nowhere in the Bible does the word “bikini” appear, not in Greek, not in Hebrew, and not even by implication!”
"After having spoken the word of truth and taken a stand for goodness and God, I gave the leader a chance to respond. She calmly said, “It is in Ephesians six.” Tearing down the hall to my study, I jerked a Bible from the shelf and quickly read Ephesians six. Then I rushed back to the hallway sketch. I had to look at the sketch closely and Paul’s letter to Ephesus even more closer. [Saint] Paul wrote, “Therefore, take up the whole armor of God…” and Pastor Ross noted, "The girl in the sketch had on stylish sandals with small colorful beads, “As shoes for your feet put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace.” The artist had drawn a bejeweled belt around the girl’s waist. Paul wrote, “And fasten the belt of truth around your waist.” Then, I saw what I was looking for and finally understood. He wrote, “And put on the breastplate of righteousness.”
What Pastor Ross discovered was the ability to look at the word of God through the eyes of an artist adding, "There it was in living color, the breastplate of righteousness, a bikini!" While his own picture of a breastplate of righteousness was different from the artist-teacher, he found he had room in his own theology, faith and mind to allow for her interpretation too.
Alpha & Omega Project for Contemporary Religious Arts salutes Dr. Mark Ross, pastor of Marion Baptist Church, 1258 Marion, West Virginia as a Believer For Artists.
***If you know a member of the American clergy who is working to bridge the artist & church divide, please nominate them today!
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