The particular denomination (actually more of a movement) that our church belongs to is called Vineyard Christian Fellowship. Our VineArts team was asked to create a piece during worship at the Vineyard’s national conference for training and equipping pastors this summer.
So beginning in January, six of us in VineArts prayed together, sketched together, ate meals together, and waited on the Lord for whatever images he wanted to give us.
The national conference occurred last week with 3500 pastors and leaders attending. Our artists traveled there to create the images we were given live at the front of the sanctuary (Road trip!).
I’d like to share with you what we made there.
During the week of the conference, members of our art team created individual paintings as separate pieces and small collaborations during various times of worship. We had planned each image ahead of time, much like a worship band plans the set and practices their songs ahead of time.
Then on the last night, our team assembled all the various parts together as a unified whole to make one image.
It truly was a holy moment to witness all the components being fitted together as one.
Here are the symbols we made and their meanings:
The first night of painting we scraped and pulled away scales, rags, and debris to reveal underneath an eye and an ear that we’d already sculpted using clay-colored bas relief, in order to open our vision and our hearing to The Lord on the first night of the conference. On this night, we saw an amazing physical healing surrounding this piece of art that I will tell you about in another post.
We painted the wine and the bread to represent the community we have in Christ and with each other. The chains violently breaking apart represent being set free from any kind of bondage through Christ.
The worldwide Church is commissioned to be the hands and feet of Jesus, shown as stained glass windows at the very foundation of the piece.
The hands are shown lifting each other and turned upward in mutual support, the founding fathers and older saints at the bottom lifting the younger generations while the newest and youngest Christians join in at the top.
The different sizes and types of shoes represent all cultures and walks of life. How beautiful on the mountain are the feet of those who promise peace, the shoes of the Good News! This was the very spot that missionaries chose to gather in prayer at the conference to pray for anyone who wanted to learn a foreign language.
The new Jerusalem is represented along the top of the image, wrapped around as it descends from the heavens.
Putting this image together reveals the Christian Celtic cross from the fifth century, a modern interpretation of an ancient symbol. The overall shape also suggests the shape of a key hole of entry into God’s Kingdom.
We believe this artwork is meant for all Vineyard churches.
May it bless you and be a reminder of the mission God has for His Church everywhere.
Love, the VineArts Ministry at Vineyard Boise
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