Christ & Creativity
Joined and Knit Together
It was the second time I learned to knit that stuck. The first time, my grandmother taught me during a summer vacation; I remember struggling with the yarn and needles, wondering if this would even turn into something usable. The second time was when I was in seminary. My sister had started knitting, and over one Christmas break I re-learned. This time the stitches were more even, the results more gratifying. Like many knitters I began with scarves--lots of scarves.
Reflections on the Sacred Center
This month we feature an engaging meditation through word and image on what (and who) centers us in our roles as women and as ministers. The prayer here was inspired in part by news that the founder of The Young Clergy Women Project, Susan Olson, has been united with her new daughter Selam in Ethiopia. God is knitting that new little family together, and we YCW's are filled with joy for our sister in Christ!
Click below for the rest of suzanne's meditation. God brings many things to birth in and through us, no matter what our circumstance of life, family or vocation might be.
Are you a writer, poet or visual artist? Do you play around with photography or paint? We want to hear from you!
Each month this column features new work by and/or for young clergy women. For more information about what we're looking for, click here.
And now, on to this month's feature...
Handmade Clergy Stoles by "Piecemaker Rev"
I recently opened a shop on Etsy called Piecemaker's Piece for the stoles that I design and make. For my senior thesis project at Union Theological Seminary, I designed and sewed 6 stoles (Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter, Pentecost, and water) as well as a prayer shawl (All Saints' Day--w/ pictures and names of women I consider my cloud of witnesses). The reception was wonderful, with people asking if I would make them to sell--so now I am!
The Call to Create: An Interview with Mary Allison Cates
We continue our intermittent series of interviews with YCWs who blend art and ministry in ways that are nourishing and inspiring. The Rev. Mary Allison Cates is our subject this month.
Also, do you know fabulous YCWs with a story to tell about pursuing art and the creative life along with ministry? Let us know so we can contact her for a future column!
In Need of God by Sharon Benton
Sharon Benton wrote the following note to us back in March:
I'm in the process of trying to write a sabbatical grant focused on interweaving the sacred feminine (God the Mother, Sophia, Creator) with my own creativity and intuitive ways of knowing. As I write within the parameters of the grant application proposal, I begin to realize how impossible it is to genuinely embody my sabbatical in the proposal - the proposal instructions leave no space for the creative endeavor! So I offer my grant proposal to Fidelia's Sisters - in its true form.
The Call to Create: An Interview with Suzanne Stovall Vinson
This month we begin our intermittent series of interviews with YCWs who blend art and ministry in ways that are nourishing and inspiring. The Rev. Suzanne Stovall Vinson (suzanne l. vinson through her art) offered such thoughtful responses that we offer her thoughts completely unedited here. Don't miss the photos as well...
Also, do you know fabulous YCWs with a story to tell about pursuing art and the creative life along with ministry? Let us know so we can contact her for a future column!
Wearing the Robe
Before we get to Jess's lovely poem about the joys and incongruities of being a young clergy woman...
Next month we will start a new feature in Christ and Creativity, an intermittent series of interviews with YCW's who also practice art, writing or other creative pursuits. We want to hear what drives them to create, who and what their creative inspirations are, and any advice they have for others who want to undertake a creative practice.
If you know someone who would be a great subject for this series, drop us a note.
And now, "Wearing the Robe" by Jessica Rivera.
Scotland: Watercolors by Elsa Peters
This month Elsa Peters shares her beautiful watercoIors with us. She writes this by way of introduction:
I was an art major in college. I thought that this was what God wanted me to do: paint. But something happened; I ended up in ministry. I was called into pastoral ministry where I've never been able to find a place for my art. Instead, it's something that happens when I retreat from my ministry.
Painting is what I do to connect with myself and my God. I carry a travel set of watercolors, find a spot to sit and start painting. I lose track of time. I usually get a sunburn and I remember to see again. I look carefully at creation and breathe deeply, knowing that this is good, even if I'm not happy with the outcome of my work.
These watercolors were created while retreating in Scotland in July of 2008. I traveled with two other YCW to find creativity and strength through the art of friendship.
"Waters of Love" and "Birth Water": New Poetry
Pastor and poet Sharon Benton sent these poems last month with the comment, "It's the end of January, so baptism texts may be over..." And yet the themes of void, chaos, formlessness, and being born to new life are timely as we approach Ash Wednesday and the reflective season of Lent. In Mark Jesus' baptism is followed "immediately" by his wilderness sojourn. And so it, oftentimes, with us as well.
Do you have some words or images to share? Send them along! See our submission guidelines for more.
Preaching Poetry
Special thanks to managing editor Ann Bonner-Stewart, who brought to our attention this poem, which illustrates the power of words and the ways that words interact with one another in different contexts.
Do you have some words or images to share? Send them along! See our submission guidelines for more.
