Faithfully Artful, Artfully Faithful

I grew up in the Methodist church, but I also grew up on the stage. At the age of three, I re-enacted the entire Goldilocks and the Three Little Bears story at a living storybook exhibit. A few years later my mother put me in a children’s community theatre class. I continued with Davenport Junior Theatre until I graduated from high school, and proceeded to become a Theatre Arts major at the University of Iowa.

When I took (the required course) History of Theatre, I was fascinated by the connections that the church had to theatre. The ancient Romans had a very different idea of theatre than we have today. Sure, they had plays with men standing onstage and telling stories. But in these performances, unlike their Greek counterparts, they had absolutely no problem with shedding blood. The Greek victims would be killed offstage, with a messenger coming onstage to tell the audience what had happened. The Romans would stop the action of the production, bring in a slave or prisoner, and kill them in front of everyone. The Romans also loved their gladiatorial games and filling arenas with water to recreate naval battles.

During the early ages of Christianity, Christians were finding themselves the victims of Roman blood lust. It is no surprise that as soon as Christianity became the state religion, Christians acted quickly in abolishing theatre. They associated these forms of entertainment with their own persecution. And so theatre remained sleeping for hundreds of years.

Illiteracy was one of the things to bring theatre back into the Western world. Parishioners could not read, and their only connection to the Scripture was hearing it read to them at church. Priests were realizing that performing these Bible stories for the congregations would help them remember the stories. On Easter Sunday, priests would do a short skit of “Quem Quaeritis,” or “Whom do you seek?” They were telling the story of the women finding the empty tomb. The skits grew and developed, soon with multiple priests reenacting the story. The stories grew larger and more elaborate and had to be moved outside to the church courtyard.

It was only a matter of time until these plays became events of which the whole town would be a part. They were used as a tool to instruct people how to follow God and stay away from evil. Theatre was reborn and eventually became a secular practice. Once again, the church would condemn theatre, and declare that it was no better than prostitution.

Obviously, I have a higher opinion of theatre.

I think those priests performing the Quem Quaeritis had the right idea. Theatre is an excellent story-telling tool. The advantages of drama ministries go far beyond the annual Christmas pageant. In high school, I was part of a youth-led drama performance group. We would do short skits during the youth worship service. We were telling stories that could spark conversation. Most were funny, some were serious, and some hit too close to home for those who saw them.

Alan Moore, in V for Vendetta, said, “Artists use lies to tell the truth. Yes, I created a lie. But because you believed it, you found something true about yourself.”

I would argue that part of religion is about finding the truth. It may be the truth of the universe, the truth of life, or the truth in ourselves. I would also argue that this is the focus of many artists. Painters, writers, dancers, actors, photographers, and millions of other artists are all trying to show the truth to others.

Ministries benefit by embracing art. They benefit by using it as a tool to tell stories or to simply show the beauty of God. I feel that part of my call to ministry is to bring art into the churches I will serve.

I have a passion for partnered dancing, which holds beautiful metaphors for following God’s lead. I have passion for photography, which exposes us to the beauty of the everyday. I have a passion for arts and crafts, which shows us that patience and love can create amazing things. I have a passion for theatre, which tells us truths about ourselves.

One of the things that I love about Garrett-Evangelical is that I am encouraged to think outside of the box. I am encouraged to find new and amazing ways to praise God and teach others. I am excited that during my time here the things that I learn will inform my understanding of art. And I know that art will always continue to inform my own faith.

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Heather Streicher is a first-year student in the Master of Divinity Program at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary.