Why Does Our
Community Need a Christian Arts Center?
Back
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Connection
Center
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Connecting artists with their Power Source
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Connecting artists of faith across denominational borders
Intercultural –
The whole is greater than the sum of the parts: synergism when
we come from different backgrounds of faith—like the military
assembling, we are encouraged to see so many in our ranks
Nehemiah 4:19 & 20
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When the Israelites were rebuilding the wall surrounding Jerusalem,
Nehemiah told them to station themselves around the wall, some
building and others standing guard. He said, "The work is extensive
and spread out, and we are widely separated from each other along
the wall. Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, join us there.
Our God will fight for us!"
The wall
builders are the denominations, each doing a great work, for the
work is extensive, but there are times we are to join together—when
the trumpet sounds—to build each other up in our faith!
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Connecting pre-Christian artists with artists of faith
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Place of
Preparation
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Training ▪ Teaching ▪ Discipleship
Messiah Project is not a church—and we are not competing
with churches—but the community needs a neutral place to have
seminars, workshops, classes, performances to which people who are
not “churched” can exposed to Christianity through artists of
faith—a place to disciple young Christians and to influence
pre-Christians
Example: We want to influence the Brad Pitt's in our
community to use their gifts and talents for Christ
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Fellowship ▪ Inspiration
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Encouragement ▪ Empowerment:
Unlocking the gifts within us is empowering!
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Home for
Marketplace Ministry
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Permanent physical presence as a point of identification
Central focus—one
place for artists to share creative ideas and inspiration from each
other to develop their gifts
Artists may be
able to use their gifts in a church, but they may be the only visual
artist in that congregation, for example, or the only trained
dancer—these artists need a place to meet other artists who share
their passion and giftings.
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Our market: the community and beyond
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Encouraging believers in their faith
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Providing wholesome entertainment with a Christian message
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Sharing our faith through the arts in secular and sacred venues
What if scenario: The Taliban forbid music; Mao destroyed
songbirds in China—we in the U.S. think we’re immune from such
tyrannical acts, but we have a formidable foe here who would like
nothing better than to ban all sacred art—music, nativity scenes,
dance—from public venues. What would our world be like without
sacred music that lifts our souls and embeds the Holy Scriptures in
our minds and hearts? What if we never see a nativity scene at
Christmas (oh—I mean holiday time)? Will our children and
grandchildren grow up thinking that Santa and snowmen are the
essence of Christmas? What’s next? Will sacred art be taken off
the shelves of our public libraries? Will sacred music be banned
from publicly supported symphonies?
The Messiah
Project has a mandate to promote our Judeo-Christian heritage
through the fine arts—and that means continuing to provide venues
for artists to share their faith through their art, to provide
performances and displays that speak of God’s excellence in the
world, and to share the Gospel among the nations through the arts.
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How do we
facilitate such a vision?
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Organize people from across the community who want to sing, play
instruments, and experience a multitude of expressions of worship
through the arts.
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Develop a community of scholarly individuals to explore different
schools of thought as to forms of worship.
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Staff
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Director: Establish goals and yearly concert agenda with the help of
an advisory council. Establish budget for operation.
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Grant writer: Person who understands the focus of the ministry and
will find funds to support the ministry
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Events coordinator / Volunteer recruiter: Person who will coordinate
and promote the events
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What will
Messiah Project’s contribution be to our community?
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What a year will look like:
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There will be monthly concerts and art shows featuring both local
and international artists, including but not be limited to:
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Visual art shows featuring local, national, and international
artists
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Musical performances featuring local artists and international
individuals and groups. Some of these concerts will be at the
facility and some will be organized for local churches.
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Rehearsal space for productions
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Scholarly pursuits for groups to explore the life and works of
artists. Possibly an entire season would be devoted to one
composer. This would also be used as an outreach to the school
children.
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Why is this
important to our community?
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With
current trends in music, much of the rich heritage of church music
is being lost or diluted by the noise of our society. We hope to
bring to the community not only the essence of crafted music but
give a glimpse into the passion that filled the heart of the
believer when the art was created. When we are reminded of the
quality of our heritage and find expression of it through the arts,
our lives become more secure as we build upon the solid principles
and unwavering faith of the fathers of the church.
o
Our
society, fueled by the news media, thrives on how someone or some
institutions are failing and all the sensationalism that comes from
revealing mistakes of a few. This constant barrage to our senses
chips away at the foundation of the very faith we want to pass on to
our children and grandchildren. It is our responsibility and
privilege, then, to offer both educational and performance venues
for people of all ages so that they have a sacred refuge from
worldly influences. In a sense, the Center is a hiding place where
God’s gifts can be nurtured and faith sustained.
Prepared Lindsey &
Jane Robison
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