ministering to and with artists

Lori Youngman and I met at Briercrest. She is an artist, ordained minister, educator, business woman, and prayer warrior.

Lori is one of this year’s presenters at Breakforth in Edmonton. Her topic: Prophetic Painting. She called me to bounce some ideas around. We spent a lot of time catching up, but we also talked about artists and the church.

It’s interesting how people in the church still have a lot of wariness around artists, especially when there’s any mention of it being “prophetic.” In fact, the word Lori used is “fear.” Even Lori’s own husband, when he met her and learned about her art in church asked, “Isn’t that a graven image?” She said that with Emergent worship styles, there’s no fear when people see it. So she’s wrestling with how to talk about something that’s so much a part of her.

We noted that for so many people, only the Bible is allowed to “speak” in church. I added that evangelical churches are “word” centred, and that we have such a narrow definition of word.

Lori asked me a question that I will pose to you, gentle reader: What do you think is the timely message on this subject* to (a) ministry leaders & pastors, and (b) artists themselves?