"What we need to recover (or perhaps discover for the first time) is a full biblical understanding of the arts - not for art's sake - but for God's sake."

This is a really good, really short introduction into thinking about art from a biblical perspective.  The author begins by acknowledging that there are many reasons why some churches have a negative view of the arts, but ends up concluding that as Christians we can participate in the world of the arts for the glory of God, holding high values of truth, goodness, and beauty.  One of the best things about this book is that it takes complicated issues and summarizes them into a very digestable and conclusive statement.  This is a Christian view of art according to page 53: "The artist is called and gifted by God - who loves all kids of art; who maintains high aesthetic standards for goodness, truth and beauty; and whose glory is art's highest goal."

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In this video Betsey Steele Halstead walks through basic elements of visual design and how they work in the context of gathered worship.  This is a great resource for thinking through how to work with the visual arts and design in an existing church building.

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