From the President

The J. Edward and Ruth Cox Lantz Professor of Christian Communication at Yale Divinity School, Thomas Troeger, retired in May after a nearly 40-year teaching career. In one of his most recent articles published in Reflections: A Magazine of Theological and Ethical Inquiry, he writes:

"Preachers can employ the beauty of creative art in their sermons to remind congregations that God gave us the gift of creativity to use in ways that reflect rather than distort the image of our Creator. The creation and performance of poetry, music, and other arts are a means of continually renewing our awareness of being made in the image of God. When the church forgets this, it risks what Claudel called 'the tragedy of a starved imagination,' and consequently diminishes the vitality of its spiritual life.'"

Troeger offers two further reflections worth hearing:

"No wonder, then, that the starved imagination of the church and the resultant drought in the soul have driven many people from the community of faith."

"In a world filled with terrors, the heart longs for a vision of divine beauty, and when the church fails to attend to beauty, the life of faith often becomes grim and onerous."

I do not know about you, but I am all for bringing beauty back into our theological vocabulary and practice. Not the commercialized beauty of 'being young, fit, rich, and glamorous.' But instead, the beauty that points to wonder and amazement, and nurtures transformation and new life.

Whenever you starve life of beauty, injustice and oppression have their day. The cords of a new dimension waiting to be birthed remain silent and the melody of a bright and hopeful tomorrow is never sung. Whenever you starve life of beauty, dirges replace praises and lamentations become the order of the day.

We in the church must remember that God is creating a new day. Our preachers and church leaders are called to be participants with God in its creation. We must together open our imaginations to the wonder of what might happen when our 'starved imagination' and 'drought in the soul' give way to abundant possibilities of new life in Christ.  

If you will, imagine a church swaying and dancing into God's tomorrow. Not waiting and praying for God's tomorrow to come, but swaying and dancing into God's tomorrow - today! This is a church that is attending to the pursuit of beauty.

Listen to the words of Thomas Troeger once again: "An unimaginative and aesthetically starved faith not only diminishes God, it also diminishes us." We have had enough of diminishment and starved imagination in the church and in the faith. Let's turn it around to the glory of God!

Imaginatively and abundantly yours,