BELIEVER FOR ARTISTS: Pastor Barbara Huisman | IA

AOA NEWS
By Tahlib

REV. BARBARA HUISMAN, former interim pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Fort Dodge, Iowa is a Believer For Artists. Earlier this year, she was introduced by beginning with the story of a statue of Jesus in a church in Soweto, South Africa, that had no hands - they were broken in an attack by police. The statue wasn't mended because church members said they were the hands of Christ in the world.

According to Huisman, being the hands of Christ can go past teaching and preaching. Being the hands of Christ can start with the creation of art work. She used artwork in the journey of death with her father, "Art became not only an expression of beauty, but a form of prayer," she said. "A response to God's grace." During her time at First Presbyterian Church in Fort Dodge, she used her experiences in conducting interfaith outreach and as a personal reawakening of sorts.

She said, "I didn't know how to feel," she said. "To me, art is prayer. Art reigns over unbridled thoughts." Today, pastor Huisman leds "CANA" an organic mission station of the Presbyterian Reformed Church in America located in Fort Dodge, Iowa.

The Alpha & Omega Project for Contemporary Religious Arts salutes BARBARA HUISMAN as a Believer for Artists!

**E-mail your NOMINATION for a BELIEVER FOR ARTISTS today!