A couple of years ago my church hosted a traveling exhibition of some lithographs by Marc Chagall & intaglio prints by Ben Zion. For many of us who enjoy art this was an exciting event in the life of our church: and I enjoyed being a part of it. There was a lot of preparation involved especially if you consider that we were only able to show the art for one weekend. Friday was the gala opening with close to 200 people attending. But because the church I attend is a large church there were many more viewing the art before and after our two services on Sunday morning. I heard from many in our congregation of how much they enjoyed viewing the works and marveling over how we were able to host such an exhibit. I need to share at this point that none of this would have been possible without Ed Knippers, an artist in his own right, and Christians In the Visual Arts (CIVA) making these works available: we are thankful that they have.There is something about the works of Chagall that I need to share. His lithographs were visual representations found in the Old Testament and some of the people depicted were naked or partially naked. As I have said the comments received were positive with the exception of two (that I know of). One was upset that the works shown were not by Christians: Chagall & Zion were both orthodox Jews. And the other one was clearly upset by the nudity. But when we discussed the issue further they stated that it “would have been no problem if these works were viewed in a museum somewhere.” This has sparked some thinking about where Art meets Church and I would like to hear from you on some of these questions rattling about in my brain. I have provided a sample of the art from the exhibition for you to consider: if you click on the picture you will see a somewhat larger version.

So . . .

• Should only art by Christians be displayed at church?
• When can Art containing nudity be displayed in the church?
• Why is Art that is ok in the museum not ok in the church?
• Are answers to the above questions absolutes or would they vary depending on the situation?