Worship comes in different forms. While many equate the term with music heard during a church service, others say the word has a broader meaning.
“Worship is much more than music,” said Andrew Heathershaw, worship pastor at Millers Creek Baptist Church in Millers Creek.
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Contributed photo Linda Joines’ entry – “We Have Come to Worship Him” – to her church’s art exhibit displays the three wise men as they follow the star to Jesus. Millers Creek Baptist Church is hosting an exhibit featuring “Encounters with God” March 29-April 19. |
The church is hosting an art exhibit March 29-April 19. The theme – “Encounters with God: Biblical Scenes of Worship and Transformation” – was aimed at offering artists a broad definition of items to display.
“I was just trying to find ways to expand our congregation’s idea of worship,” Heathershaw said.
While this is the first art exhibit the church has done, Heathershaw said he hopes it is not the last.
One of Millers Creek’s church members has been working closely with Heathershaw on the project. Linda Joines has been a member of the church for 14 years. She found the church after her retirement from Lowe’s Home Improvement headquarters.
She wanted to be involved in ministry, and Millers Creek offered her that opportunity. She sings in the choir, teaches Sunday School and volunteers with various ministries at the church including adopted grandmother to Heathershaw’s children.
“I’m in all these classes with all these wonderful people who have natural talent,” said Joines, who belongs to an artist group that meets once a week. She began painting after she retired. It was something she had always wanted to try.
Since oil was the first medium Joines used, she finds it hard to choose another, but for her submission into the church’s exhibit she went with acrylic.
Her painting is a silhouette of the three wise men on their camels following the star from Matthew 2:1-12.
“I’m a perfectionist, a realist,” Joines said. “It has to look like something.”
Normally, Joines said, it takes her a long time to complete a painting because she wants every detail to be perfect. This piece was different.
“I was really relaxed,” she said. “I was not concentrating” as much as usual.
She liked the painting so much she’s already chosen it as this year’s Christmas card. Joines said she works with three or four art groups and has been amazed at their responses.
Joines said only two topics are off limits at the art classes she takes – religion and politics. She received a little pushback when she tried to let the group know about the exhibit, but they were able to send out an email announcing the call for submissions.
Another member who has training with museum exhibits is helping with the frames and displays. The church often has opportunities for musicians to share their art with the congregation but this is a different kind of talent, Heathershaw said.
The church, which is the site of Millers Creek Christian School also has submissions from students of all ages.
Submissions have varied from oil paintings to stained glass and mixed media. Art will be displayed in the main hallway of the church with labels next to each piece indicating the artist’s name, title of the piece and a verse of scripture that inspired the art. Heathershaw hopes artists will dig into the Bible to find many instances of worship.
“We’re hoping that as people look at [the art] that they will be inspired,” Heathershaw said. “I would hope that it would grow from here.”
The exhibit will be open during church office hours and before and after church services.
The church is taking submissions up to early March. Contact (336) 838-4446, ext. 26, for more information about submissions or visiting hours.
Visit millerscreekbaptist.org.