Visual Arts

Lent Resource Guide

This list of Lenten art, music, devotions, liturgies, books, and sermons will help you plan worship for Lent and includes resources for Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, and Good Friday.

February 20, 2023 | 2 min read
Five Tips on Using Digital Tech to Engage Virtual and In-Person Worshipers

Whether you call it virtual worship or online worship, some people will continue to join worship remotely even as others joyfully return to church buildings. Here are five tips for using digital technology as a “both/and” option for hybrid worship services.

June 16, 2022 | 8 min read

A Pastor and Photographer on Creating "God Moments" in Worship

When the pandemic prevented in-person worship, First Church of Windsor, Connecticut, learned how to create liturgical art installations and videos that moved hearts and minds even during virtual and hybrid worship.

June 13, 2022 | 7 min read
Toronto Designers on Visual Cues to God's Time

First Christian Reformed Church of Toronto, Ontario, planned a worship grant connecting color and the liturgical year. They invited the congregation into the biblical story by collaborating on a permanent artwork. Then the pandemic prevented them from entering the church building. The landscape architect and the architect who led the grant say that this pivot turned out to be a good thing.

April 19, 2022 | 9 min read
Shively T. J. Smith on Visualizing Christian Faith through Howard Thurman's Metaphors

Rather than starting with words and theories of interpretation, scholar Shively T. J. Smith uses Howard Thurman's metaphorical imagery to help congregations visually process how they understand scripture and live out their Christian faith.

January 19, 2022 | 7 min read

Ellen Gadberry on Congregations as Communal Visual Choirs

Many worshipers do not see themselves as creative or gifted in the arts. Yet low-risk opportunities to encounter visual art in worship and participate in making liturgical art can strengthen worshipers’ identities as children of the Creator.

November 3, 2021 | 7 min read
Visio Divina: Sacred Seeing to Encounter God

Just as lectio divina invites people to meditate on scripture, visio divina helps people pray with art. Visio divina, which translates as “divine seeing,” uses silence and images to help worshipers reflect and respond to God in ways other than listening to a sermon or singing praise songs.

November 3, 2021 | 10 min read
Fleming Rutledge on Preaching the Cross of Christ

In this episode, Fleming Rutledge talks about her 2015 book "The Crucifixion: Understanding the Death of Jesus Christ," a life-long work which encourages preachers to proclaim the full gospel message: God is at work, helping us listen for Christ's living voice, enabling us to believe and hope in the midst of pain and suffering.

November 4, 2020 | 36 min listen

William A. Dyrness on Visual Imagery in Worship

These video excerpts come from a conversation between William A. Dyrness and John D. Witvliet at the annual Calvin Institute of Christian Worship—CICW—grants colloquium in June 2019.

August 26, 2019 | 3 min video
William A. Dyrness on Visual Imagery in Worship

These video excerpts come from a conversation between William A. Dyrness and John D. Witvliet at the annual Calvin Institute of Christian Worship—CICW—grants colloquium in June 2019.

August 26, 2019 | 3 min video