Visual Arts in the Worshiping Church (The Calvin Institute of Christian Worship Liturgical Studies

by Lisa DeBoer

Although numerous studies have examined biblical and theological rationales for using the visual arts in worship, this book by Lisa J. DeBoer fills in a piece of the picture missing so far — the social dimensions of both our churches and the various art worlds represented in our congregations.
 
The first part of the book looks at Orthodoxy, Catholicism, and Protestantism in turn — including case studies of specific congregations — showing how each tradition’s use of the visual arts reveals an underlying ecclesiology. DeBoer then focuses on six themes that emerge when Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant uses of the visual arts are examined together — the arts as expressions of the church’s local and universal character, the meanings attributed to particular styles of art for the church, the role of the arts in enculturating the gospel, and more.
 
DeBoer’s Visual Arts in the Worshiping Church will focus and deepen the thinking of pastors, worship leaders, artists, students, and laypeople regarding what the arts might do in the midst of their congregations.
 

Genres: Nonfiction

310 pages, Paperback

Published December 17, 2016

Reviews

[Antoinette Van Beck · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has given me an incredibly broadened view of the church and how the arts interact with its functioning, specifically local, as the text continues to point. my previous understanding of universal resonance and applicability has shifted immensely. It was a long, slow read for me, but that time allowed me to see many of the features DeBoer spoke of as I spent time among believers and had discourse about various topics, all the while having instances where I would want to share something I learned, or had begun to consider, from this book. I would strongly recommend this read. Probably best for those with some art and theology understanding, but there are enough visuals and descriptions and sources to get you educated if you really wanted!

[Josh Head · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good conversations in this book. I was exhausted while reading it, but that’s probably more on my tired-dad-during-covid state than on the writing in this book.

[David Mosher · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is definitely one of a kind in my collection, my only book on art and Christianity. Written by an art professor at Westmont College, Lisa Deboer, it is a comparative study of the visual arts in the Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant churches. I have never thought about this topic before, but the passion for the topic by Deboer draws you in. I was certainly most intrigued by the approach to art and iconography by the Orthodox Church and as I was reading, became increasingly frustrated with the approach or lack there of to the arts in the Protestant church (of which I am a part of).

Thinking about my own church and how little we embrace the arts, specifically visual arts as a form of worship (don't confuse that with idols) it became painfully obvious that we, Protestants, have gone too far by trying to separate ourselves from the Orthodox and Catholic Church, specifically related to this topic. The doctrinal separation is appropriate, but the lack of engagement in visual arts in our church is not.

While I know very little about art, I do know that I feel something from art and I have an appreciation for art, especially as it relates to embracing art as a church. Art should never be viewed as that which is only engaged in the "secular" world or even have the view that it should never be embraced within the church itself. Art is one of many gifts our Lord has bestowed upon us, it is part of the church.

I found this one line of questioning from the book to be incredibly profound. "Are we truly a people at worship? Or are we merely a Christian public, a collection of individuals next to each other in the same place at the same time, engaged in parallel but individual devotional activity?" I had to pause and contemplate after reading that. What made it that much more profound is the following Sunday at church. Looking around the sanctuary, I realized Lisa was right, we are really not a unified body in worship, we are a collection of individuals next to each other in the same place at the same time.

I would love to see my church engage in the arts and have it as part of our liturgical worship going forward. Baby steps in the right direction is important. Let’s embrace art, specifically as a church - as Christ’s body.