Creating from faith

Mosaic Community Night is a midweek, intergenerational gathering for fellowship, dinner, prayer, and study at Saint Philip’s. All are welcome every Wednesday.

If you spend any time in an Episcopal Church, you’ll see that art is everywhere and is interwoven with our spiritual experience as a community. Whether we meditate on a statue of the Virgin Mary, watch the light filter through a stained-glass window, or listen to one of Bach’s organ works—creative life envelops us in church.

But what happens when we exit a Sunday service and head out into the world?

This October, parishioner, professional writer, and workshop facilitator, Matti Bowen will lead four weeks of reading and discussion about the places where spiritual life and art intersect in our lives. Whether you consider yourself creative or an art appreciator, you are invited to consider how we define Christian art, what makes a Christian artist, and how that work can transform how we understand our faith.

Through four weeks of texts and guided discussion, you will encounter painters, novelists, essayists, filmmakers, poets (all lay people) whose Christian faith played an important role in their artistic life. Each week participants will take home a series of creative prompts to challenge and stretch their ideas of spiritual practice and personal creativity.

The schedule includes:

Week 1: October 5, 2022
Introduction and Gathering Week (Click here to download the readings for this session)

Week 2: October 12, 2022
Creation: Artistic Acts and the Veneration of Nature Bringing Us Closer to God

Week 3: October 19, 2022
Accessing and Expressing the Interior World: Faith, Contemplation, and Art

Week 4: October 26, 2022
Each of Us, Together: Building Community Through Sharing Personal Experiences of Faith

Schedule

4:30pm Hospitality teams meets to make dinner
5:15pm Evening Prayer in the Chapel
6:00pm Dinner
6:30pm-7:30pm Christian formation in the West Gallery

You are welcome to participate for the entire evening or just a portion. If you don’t drive at night or kids need to get to bed, feel welcome to attend for prayer and dinner. If you’re running late after work, then join the group at 6:30pm for study. Whatever works for you is perfect.

If you have questions, please contact Peter.Helman@StPhilipsTucson.org or Taylor.Devine@StPhilipsTucson.org.