Date of Award

12-2018

Document Type

Thesis

Primary Advisor

Dr. Carson E. Reed

Secondary Advisor

Dr. David C. Kneip

Committee Reader

Dr. Kelli Bryant Gibson

Abstract

This Doctor of Ministry thesis presents the results of a project in which a group of four artists from across the United States met via video conference to create liturgical art activities that can be integrated into the Sunday morning worship for Churches of Christ. The problem identified at the beginning of the project was a lack of integration of the visual arts in worship in Churches of Christ. I understood this lack to be due in part to an iconoclastic heritage in Protestantism as well as a focus on rational intellectualism and desire for simplicity in worship as a result of the Stone-Campbell Movement. During January and February of 2018, the team of artists studied the historical, biblical, and theological rationale for integrating the arts in worship and collaborated to create six liturgical art activities. The art activities were then evaluated by four ministers in Churches of Christ who each hold a Doctor of Ministry degree. I evaluated the efficacy of this project by triangulating the findings of my field notes, survey results from the artists, and survey results from the ministers who served as outside experts. I concluded that the six liturgical art activities are indeed usable in worship in Churches of Christ, and furthermore, they have the potential to enhance worship and facilitate spiritual formation. This project was a first step toward the over-arching goal of igniting a renaissance of the visual arts in Churches of Christ, which helps both church leaders and churchgoers view worship and the visual arts as intertwined with and vital to the message of the gospel.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

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