What's the point?

Pastor Anne Mallaby at the Chapel on Station Gallery, at Box Hill Baptist Church, with view to adjacent sanctuary

I’m currently working at Box Hill Baptist Church in Melbourne, Australia.  Their ministry includes an art gallery in their church space.  For my first day at the church, I helped install a new exhibition in the gallery.  It was  a great way to get to spend some time with the pastors of the church and to become acquainted with things.  In the evening, there was a grand opening for the exhibit, which will remain on display at the church for the next 2 weeks ("fortnight" in Aussie terms).  The art was stunning, and the visitors were warm and friendly.

As Benson McGlone (colleague, Duke M.Div) and I were at the exhibition, we pondered the question, “what’s the ‘point’ of the art gallery?”  Many churches in our experience are focused on evangelism and “outreach,” usually in the form of events that bring people in the doors and get “butts in the pews.”  At this gallery event, some people were not acquainted with this church or interested in Jesus.  These churches might see this as a prime opportunity for outreach, for a gospel presentation, for forcing folks into (somewhat awkward) conversations about Jesus.

Furthermore, Benson and I were drawn to Australia because Christianity simply doesn’t have much cultural capital here; many folks have little experience with Christianity, or bad experiences with the church, and many churches are small, elderly, and shrinking.  What does "evangelism" look like in this context?  In the face of such difficulties, shouldn’t the church be bold, outspoken, even aggressive with the gospel message, to draw folks in?  If not, then what’s the “point” of church, we wondered?

Pastor Anne, functioning as gallery curator and hosting a Q&A session with the artist

At the exhibition event, we (tactfully) posed these questions to Co-Pastor Anne Mallaby, my supervisor.  Her response presented a fresh new perspective: “the point of this gallery, and this exhibition, is to present a safe space for people to wonder.  People experience real beauty here, in the art.  I hope folks begin to wonder and ask questions about real beauty and creativity, in this gallery, which is also a church.  If they ask questions about God, I will discuss it, but I’m not here to force it.  It’s about relationships.”  We are here to wonder alongside one another, Anne explained, and the Holy Spirit will take things from there.

When we encounter the beautiful and the creative, we encounter God (God is, after all, creative by nature).  By the Holy Spirit’s guidance, and some ministerial sensitivity, conversations about beauty just might lead to back to the true source of beauty: God.  This often happens with daily visitors who drop in at the gallery and end up chatting about life with the church volunteers on call.  Sometimes conversations lead to God, and then they touch on the important stuff of life: spirituality, pain, brokenness, love, joy, victory.  This is ministry.  This is outreach.  This is us, joining God, in creativity.

Perhaps Pastor Anne is redefining evangelism in a radical way.  Perhaps those at Box Hill are creating a space for others to encounter Christ  in such a way that the “news” is decidedly “good” again.  Perhaps this is truly wonder-ful.

Peace and wonder,
Tyler Smoot

smoot.tyler@gmail.com

6/2/2013