The Breath and the Clay
Artists (speakers/workshop leaders/Q&A panel members): John Mark McMillan, Stephen Roach, Jason Upton, Cageless Birds, Joel McKerrow, Josh Riebock, Stephen Roach, Mykell Wilson, Ray Hughes, Gemma Bender, Taylor Johnson, Eastlyn and Joshua, Vesper Stamper, Turtledoves, Avril Ward
Date: March 22–25, 2018
Location: Awake Church, Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Cost: $100 (but see pricing details for other options; some events free to public)
Description: “The Breath & the Clay is a creative arts gathering exploring the intersections of faith, art & culture. The weekend event includes times of worship, keynote speakers, performances, and a curated art gallery hosted by CIVA. Hands-on workshops [poetry, choreography, songwriting, painting, photography], a private luncheon and an after-party are available for additional purchase.” If you’re not able to attend, you should at least check out their Makers & Mystics podcast, which is in its third season.
Urban Doxology Songwriting Internship (PAID)
Application deadline: April 15, 2018
Dates of internship: June 3–July 30, 2018
Location: East End Fellowship, Richmond, Virginia
Description: “The Urban Doxology Songwriting Internship is an intensive eight-week leadership development program offered in partnership by Arrabon and East End Fellowship. Interns participate in a learning experience of the following subjects: (1) biblical theology and exposition (2) worship studies with a focus on multicultural worship (3) race, class and culture (4) songwriting and (5) community engagement. Interns will spend the remainder of their time writing songs, rehearsing music, and planning worship for a congregation in the urban context.”
“Telling Stories: A Conference of Faith and Art”
Speakers: Natalie Diaz, Barbara Brown Taylor, Esra Akin-Kivanç, Arthur Skinner, Alex Harris, Herbert Murphy, Peter Meinke
Date: April 19–22, 2018
Organizers: Eckerd College, Palma Ceia Presbyterian Church, NEXT Church, Image journal
Location: Eckerd College, Saint Petersburg, Florida
Cost: Free
Description: “With the theme of ‘Telling Stories’ as guide, this conference will employ discussions, poetry readings, presentations, visual arts, and theater to examine art’s power to confront current narratives, allow people to tell their own stories, and explore new ways of talking about God, faith, and social responsibility. . . . Designed for anyone interested in the imaginative and prophetic intersection of faith and arts.”
Call for Creation-Care Worship Materials
Submission deadline: April 30, 2018
Sponsor: Christian Reformed Church
Description: The Climate Witness Project and other CRC ministries are partnering to crowdsource creative worship resources that “celebrate and honor God’s creation while addressing creation-care challenges, such as climate change, facing the world.” Songs, prayers, images, videos, sermon notes, litanies, and other elements are all invited for submission and will be collated and published online in fall 2018. By submitting your work, you agree to the terms of a CC BY-NC license.
Call for Papers on US Immigration and the Arts
Submission deadline: May 1, 2018 (abstract)
Organization: Society for the Arts in Religious and Theological Studies
Description: SARTS “seeks presentations by scholars, teachers, pastors, or artists that explore creative/artistic engagements with and/or responses to the reality of immigration in the United States. Topics include but are not limited to the perspectives of the various groups of people on the move, crossing and policing borders, religious landscapes of immigration, immigration and the imagination, place making, political advocacy, and activism. All forms of artistic expression are welcome.”
Hymn Society Songwriting Contest
Submission deadline: May 15, 2018
Sponsor: The Hymn Society
Prize: $500
Description: As part of the Hymn Society’s ongoing commitment to the enrichment of congregational song, the executive committee has announced a search for a new short-form song suitable for congregational singing. (Both text and tune must be original.) In addition to receiving prize money, the winning entry will premiere July 15–19, 2018, at the society’s conference in St. Louis, Missouri, and be published in the Autumn 2018 issue of The Hymn.
“Afterlives of Biblical Women in Art, Literature, and Culture” (summer course)
Instructor: Amanda Russell-Jones
Date: July 2–13, 2018
Institution: Regent College, Vancouver
Cost: Starting at Can$700
Description: The arts have profoundly shaped our interpretation of biblical characters, whether we realize it or not. In this graduate-level course, one of the learning objectives is to be able to “discuss the significance of a variety of biblical women, differentiating between the content of the biblical text and the ways later additions and interpretations changed how the woman was viewed.” How has the mirror held up to women like Eve, Bathsheba, Mary Magdalene, the woman at the well, etc., made the biblical texts clearer, and how has it distorted them? You do not have to be a currently enrolled college student to register.
If this topic interests you but you’re not able to take the course, I’d encourage you to check out two books that came out last fall. The first is Vindicating the Vixens: Revisiting Sexualized, Vilified, and Marginalized Women of the Bible, edited by Sandra Glahn, which received a five-star review from Christianity Today. The second is the monograph Reimagining Delilah’s Afterlives as Femme Fatale: The Lost Seduction by Caroline Blyth, whose reflections on the topic can also be found on the Auckland Theology and Religious Studies blog—e.g., here.
Glen Workshop
Faculty: Chigozie Obioma, Scott Cairns, Lauren Winner, Marianne Lettieri, Gina Franco, Lee Isaac Chung, Over the Rhine, Ned Bustard, Malcolm Guite
Date: July 29–August 5, 2018
Location: St. John’s College, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Organizer: Image
Cost: Starting at $1,150 (scholarships available)
Description: “Situated in the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, the Glen Workshop is equal parts creative workshop, arts festival, and spiritual retreat. The Glen’s arresting natural environment is contrasted by its casual and inviting crowd of artists, writers, musicians, art appreciators, and spiritual wayfarers of all stripes.” Workshops are offered on spiritual writing, songwriting, fiction writing, poetry writing, poetry reading, mixed-media art, relief printing, and filmmaking. The faculty lineup is phenomenal! And I appreciate the all-inclusive package option.
Art & Theology 