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BELIEVER FOR ARTISTS: Pastor Joseph Shreve | WV

AOA NEWS
By Tahlib
The board of directors for Alpha and Omega Project for Contemporary Religious Arts is proud to recognize Methodist minister, and Pastor Dr. Joseph Shreve of Chapel Hill United Methodist Church in West Virginia as a Believer For Artists.

This past year, Pastor Shreve was a leading advocate for the painting of a new mural at Chapel Hill United Methodist Church as a tool to help bring the stories of Jesus to life. Created by West Virginia artist Sheri Gaudet, the massive 80-foot-long by 8-foot-high mural took over two-months to create, and the each of the events told in the mural are chronicled on the church website.  Pastor, Dr. Joseph Shreve, said, “Sheri Gaudet’s mural of ‘The Life of Christ’ is both a tremendous tool for teaching about our Lord Jesus Christ and a wonderful focus for meditation and prayer for those who seek to follow Him. Chapel Hill United Methodist Church is truly blessed to be the recipient of this gift of art.”

Alpha & Omega Project for Contemporary Religious Arts salutes Pastor Joseph Shreve 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!


Artist Sheri Gaudett with Mural

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Comments

Tahlib said…
In the non-Catholic Christian tradition, there is a long standing resistence to the embrace of the visual arts based on our Calvinist roots. As you'll recall, John Calvin, in the 16th-century, worried that displaying representations of God would provoke idolatry and violate the First Commandment ("Thou shalt have no other gods before me."). Methodist, Baptist and also Evangelical churches therefore have embraced the performing art of music but resisted the visual as a slippery slop toward idolatry. It is however a credit pastors like Joseph Shreve that such ministries are beginning to see that its not the image that creates an idol but how it is treated. For many people, the visual arts are as powerful a medium for connecting with faith as the musical and so I am thrilled to add my voice of congrats to Methodist Pastor Shreve and to artist Sheri Gaudett for using God's gift of the visual art to build a stronger connection to the Christ story.
Sun Aug 21, 07:02:00 AM EDT
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