Dear Praying Friends,

As an Envision Team we read Sho Baraka's book, "He Saw That It Was Good." In it, he referenced some of his own struggles as a musician performing in Christian venues and the challenges that brought to his song-writing. There were things he wanted to express and life experiences he wanted to write about, but because he knew that he would receive push-back from the Christian communities he was performing in, he either did not write about them or wrote about them in a way that was less authentic but more palatable. He called this "The Evangelical Edit."

While I certainly do not think it is wrong to craft a message that is appropriate tot he audience receiving it, it is discouraging to an artist to feel that their work has to constantly be dis-integrated to be acceptable. They can feel that the life they are experiencing as a person who is a Christian is less valuable than having a "safe" way to express their Christianity.

We want our artists - both those who know Christ and those who don't - to have a safe place to express their work. Sometimes, this comes in little things - like the video installation our intern Christian Ranicke is hosting tomorrow evening. He is telling his story - and their is a desire for people to put names to the characters in his film. (Is that this person? Is that that person? Is that Jesus?). These are natural questions for people to ask, but as an artist, Christian withholds some of that information. He says - there is both certainty and uncertainty in the piece. Some of the uncertainty is deliberate to leave room for me to continue to discover things about myself in the work. This absence of pointed message is uncomfortable - in my experience this is true especially in evangelical circles in which we want the applications at the end of a sermon to be clear and exact. What does it mean to walk away from a piece where we need to figure out what the meaning is?

Another way we are participating in creating a more welcoming atmosphere for artists is through a collaborative "Open Mic" night that Zach and Anna Osbrink have been running with our partners at The Limelight Collective. Artists perform songs they have written for an audience of people who appreciate music. Some of the performers are Christians. Some of their songs are more faith forward than others. But they are performing the songs or reading poems that they have written or that have significant meaning to them.

This week our resident Rachel is launching a pilot of another new program called "Art O'Clock", a place where authors, artists, poets, etc. can come and share their work - whether it is complete or in progress. Each artist will have 10 minutes - 5 minutes to share and 5 minutes for the audience to interact. The floor is open - we want to give people a place to share how they are expressing the inner workings of their soul in a creative way. If that does not look "church safe", that's ok. No evangelical edit - let's hear what God is doing in your life.

Could you pray for these different programs?

Here is a question for you: If you did not have to worry about someone at church misunderstanding your story (or not feeling it was "Christian" enough), what part of your story would you like to tell? How would you like to tell it?

And some personal requests:

1. My summer team schedule for 2024 is filling up already - but that is involving a lot of calls, emails, and planning. Pray for capacity!
2. Josh has a month of school away coming up. Pray for him!
3. One of our residents has been really struggling to get a visa appointment. Can you pray for one to come through quickly?

Thanks for praying!

mike