Impromptu painters set the scene for ongoing creative expression at Spring Hill United Church of Christ.
By JEAN JOHNSON
Published May 31, 2003
SPRING HILL - Last Sunday, two adults and one mature 8-year-old were asked to create paintings during the worship service at Spring Hill United Church of Christ.
They were told they could base their work on the music, prayers, sermon or any other part of the service, after which they would be asked to explain their work.
The church was conducting the first in a series of Sunday worship services that will integrate the arts into the morning's spiritual offering.
The Rev. Dwight Wolter, billing his church as "a church of the arts," says "worship is a creative, spiritual expression of our deepest feelings, beliefs and needs.
"Artistic expression often fulfills the role of getting people in touch with the awe and wonder of creation."
To further explain his belief, Wolter used the book of Genesis as the theme of his sermon on Sunday. He quoted scripture about how God created the heavens and earth, darkness and light, humankind and every living thing.
Wolter offered other forms of creative expression, including Jesus instructing his disciples to "love one another as I have loved you," how the greatest love is to give up your life for your friend, and God's command to be fruitful and multiply.
When church member and artist Louise Voscinar was asked to participate in the morning's event, she had to abruptly change her original plans when she got to church and realized that Wolter would be speaking about creation.
She fashioned one large and two small paintings. The large canvas was done during the sermon and, with dark portions and lighter sections, was intended to appear to be the galaxy, showing the planets with shooting stars. Voscinar, a former musician and music teacher who studied art as an avocation, said: "It looks like Genesis in the beginning when God created heaven and earth."
One of the smaller ones, said the 76-year-old Masaryktown resident, "is a landscape with yellow, which signifies joy, very simple and loose. And the other one I did at the beginning (of the service) when the choir was opening the service and singing America the Beautiful."
In that painting, there is lots of sky and in the foreground a group of white crosses on the ground and a sprinkling of red flowers. Voscinar said she tried to connect the red, white and blue coloring to the observance of Memorial Day.
Carol Maas taught art for about 25 years and has been a member of United Church of Christ for about four years.
Maas found Wolter's "church of the arts" idea exciting and interesting "because it was more adventurous . . . to include art during the service," she said. "I think everyone has a need for creativity."
The bell choir at the beginning of the service set the tone for Maas, who used pastels.
"I was familiar with the sermon and John, Chapter 15, and knew it had to be joyous because Christ chose to die for us," she said.
Her painting had three symbols: a cross, symbolizing Christ; a poppy, which is another image in the Bible passage where Jesus talked about laying down your life for a friend; and a dove.
"I kept hearing that whole passage in the sermon and the children's sermon and the music where Jesus insists that we love one another, and to me that means peace," said Maas, 70, who is considering teaching art to children at the church.
Maas said she would consider participating in one of the services again as an artist.
"I felt very good about it and felt the congregation appreciated what was done," she said. "When I paint, I put music on, but I had more meaningful music this time. This had more of a message, and I was trying to work with that."
Casey Wolter, the 8-year-old, will start third grade this fall at Chocachatti Elementary School, the county's magnet school for the arts.
Casey, the son of the Rev. Wolter, has sung with the Nature Coast Festival Singers since he was 5 and who has performed in plays at school and at church. He particularly likes painting landscapes and alien animals.
"It gives me a chance to show my creativity," he said.
Casey's painting on Sunday was a landscape that included a dove and a wooden cross. There were trees on one side and a lake on the other. He said he based his painting on when his father said "let there be light," and he used the rays of the sun to signify that light. The scene also included flowers and birds.
The church is planning a series of services that will include creative expression.
"The arts serve to elevate and enhance worship the same way music enhances lyrics," Wolter said. "Our mission is to explore and expand the relationship between worship and art and, in the process, become a church of the arts."
Future art services
- Sunday: Liturgical dance
- June 15: a hand bell soloist
- June 22: the women's barbershop group the Sweet Adelines
- July 27: a folk choir with participants from three churches
- Other services will present instrumental performances by children, poetry, photography, drama and other forms of artistic expression.
- Sunday services are at 10 a.m., with a nursery and Sunday school available. The public is welcome. Refreshments are available after the service. For information, call 683-4870.
