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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BELIEVER FOR ARTISTS: Pastor Jonathon Wiggins | CO

AOA NEWS
By Tahlib

Last October, in the tense days following the destruction of the controversial religious-themed artwork, "The Misadventures of the Romantic Cannibals" at a Colorado museum, Pastor Jonathon Wiggins reached out to the affected artist and offered a hand of friendship (Watch video). Wiggins is the young evangelical pastor of Resurrection Fellowship Church in Loveland, Colorado, and he didn't have to get involved. The museum's display of the artwork by California art professor Enrique Chagoya had sparked a firestorm in the Loveland community and as it grabbed national media attention, other clergy questioned his absence from the protest. Following a series of private exchanges with Wiggins, the artist offered to paint, for free, a "beautiful" portrait of Jesus for Resurrection Fellowship Church. On Sunday, June 19, 2011 (Father's Day), the massive new portrait was unveiled at the end of Wiggin's sermon to the thunderous applause of his appreciative congregation (Watch full sermon on video below).

Alpha & Omega Project for Contemporary Religious Arts salutes Pastor Jonathon Wiggins as its first Believer For Artists (BFA).



***If you know a member of the American clergy who is working to bridge the artist & church divide, please nominate them today!

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N.C. Baptist Church Unveils Murals on May 21

ENC TODAY

By Aniesa Holmes

NORTH CAROLINA - Cape Carteret Baptist Church is hosting a day of fine art and fellowship with its first “A Celebration of Art in the Church” exhibit on May 21 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. For more than a year, two murals have also been under construction and are finally ready for public viewing. Ann Boyer LePere’s “The Scarlet Cord” consists of 12 canvases, each 4 x 6 feet in size, painted in the church’s former kitchen. “The murals represent four principles that the church has been studying,” LePere said. “They are connecting with Jesus, becoming like Jesus, serving like Jesus and sharing like Jesus. These acrylic paintings will be installed as four triptychs in the cupola of the newly constructed Family Life Center. “The Scarlet Cord” represents the Bible story of Rahab who assisted Hebrew spies and was spared destruction by tying a scarlet cord in her window. A red line runs through all 12 canvases which visually and spiritually connects them. Lynda Gregory has also put the finishing touches on a whimsical undersea mural that she has been painting directly on the walls of the children’s ministry wing since last year. [link]

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Alpha Omega Arts Seeking BELIEVERS FOR ARTISTS

AOA NEWS
By Tahlib

INDIANAPOLIS - The Board of Directors for Alpha & Omega Project for Contemporary Religious Arts announced a new initiative today, BELIEVERS FOR ARTISTS. Nominations are being sought by congregation members, artists and the general public to honor US clergy who are also artist advocates. Nominees will be selected by the board and announced monthly beginning Sunday, July 3rd. "This is an interfaith nomination process," said Ernest Britton, Project Director. "We expect nominations to come in from coast-to-coast highlighting clergy who have worked during the past year to bridge the 'artist vs. religious divide' in America." All nominations will be placed in contention for the annual A&O Prize for Clergy Advocates, and should be submitted by email to board chairman, Pastor Jackie Jackson at BFA@alphaomegaarts.org.

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