CANAAN

Are you creative? In any way? Do you want to meet with, work with, fellowship with other creatives in the area? Would you like to see your creativity make a difference in your church? And to your community?

CANAAN stands for Christian Arts N Artists Around NorthSomerset. As a charity under the aegis of Woodspring Christian Trust it contributes to its mission of artistic, spiritual and cultural renewal. It’s a group for creative people who are also Christian believers, and is for anyone involved in music, drama, singing, writing, handicrafts, fine art, editing, dance, photography, performance, who sculpts, carves, designs, draws or makes, or does anything in any way creative.

CANAAN aims to:

Bring the Arts back into Church – they’ve been neglected for far too long! We believe Church should engage us not only in mind and spirit, appealing solely to understanding and emotion, but should be using all our faculties including touch and movement as well as sight and sound. Worship can be enriched by watching dance, film, or drama, by hearing the spoken word as well as Scripture, through seeing paintings, sculptures, or pictures, or experiencing anything that expresses a response to our Creator. Church may occasionally see the arts as a means of evangelism, but: Art is not a form of outreach, it is a form of expression. It definitely can be a form of worship and devotion, but it is not outreach. A church that embraces and celebrates and embeds creativity in its being and practice … that is more into the arts will do better with its outreach. (From a Greenbelt interview)
Provide somewhere to share and support each other as Creatives, to learn together, grow in faith (and perhaps expertise as well!) and make plans. Too often Church has sidelined artists, seeing their work just as a hobby or a means of income, and not necessarily a useful part of the church’s ministry. As a consequence, many creative people do not find many like-minded individuals within their own church set-up and can feel at best misunderstood and even, as has happened, as ‘odd’, even heretical! CANAAN exists to welcome such people so they can express themselves freely and be accepted as ‘normal’!
Impact our culture and society through our work, perhaps by joint public ventures, or by being involved in community projects. Fellowshipping and talking together, we can find how to bring the Gospel message to our community in new ways, either as part of church events or by joining in with existing happenings. Perhaps in time we could initiate our own.
Welcome visitors who may just be visiting Weston or who are working here, who might be at a loss for fellowship with like-minded people. This would probably be welcomed by Christian artists working in theatres or stadia in the larger area, far from home and their own churches, and perhaps lonely in a secular society. We could aim to be sign-posted by the event organisers.

More thoughts on The Arts

All artistic expression and endeavour is God-given, and only the arts come close to capturing the mystery of The Other that haunts us. Richard Holloway, former Bishop of Edinburgh, said:
"… all great art … breaks through the frustration of language and unites us with that which language only usually signifies."
The following is part of an interview with someone involved with Greenbelt:
"I choose to believe that God is the supreme artist, the source of all imagination. To dream and will a universe of such potential into existence and to conjure the incarnation requires the mind, heart and soul of an artist. All acts of the imagination, then, for me, reflect on the creator I choose to serve. Surely then we must reflect His creativity in the life and ministry of our churches, in any way we can."