It is human nature to share our life events. Some spend hours chatting about the day’s events with each other, while others post their minute-by-minute happenings within groups or broadcast to the world on social media. We talk about our children, our challenges, our successes, our needs and hopes, but we don’t always recognize God’s presence in these important life subjects. The vision for this exhibit is to provide an opportunity for people to share their interpretations of how and where they see and experience the presence of God in their lives, relationships and surroundings, without limit to traditional mediums.

In Scripture we see evidence of the written history of personal daily events, as well as events that changed the history of a nation, its friends and foes. We see the offer of freedom and hope for a bright future, all in the context of man’s relationship with God — God stories, if you will.

The exhibition, Telling God Stories in the 21st Century, captures a wide breadth of traditional and new interpretations of Biblical stories, going beyond to capture personal encounters with God and God moments — like those ‘ah ha’ or ‘ah’ moments when you catch a glimpse of God through the beauty and detail of a Butterfly on a Coneflower, as captured with a 21st century digital medium by Gary Gorby, or see the grandeur of the evening skies in Gary Dicer’s Soul’s Vision, a fresh experience and interpretation of references to the beauty of the ‘lilies of the field’ in Matthew and Luke.

The works selected for this exhibition allow us to see, hear and expand our sensory experience via 21st century media, such as Nocturne by the Rev Doug Earle, a new interpretation derived from days and moments spent in meditation that produced images and music in a multimedia experience of God’s work through Advent and Epiphany.

As well, the exhibit brings us a glimpse into the stories being told from a 21st century perspective — the stories we share, the ones that change our lives, the ones that bind us together and give us hope, and the ones that allow us to know and experience God in our everyday lives — capturing experiences with seemingly simple things, as in Alisa Clark’s Banister, where the image of a hand on the banister of a family home is flooded with history and captures a moment with God before the inevitable sale of the real estate.

All of the art chosen for this ECVA exhibit is exceptional in quality, technique and expression. The number of entries was beyond expectation, making it difficult to choose the 65 presented here. It is our hope that you will take time to experience each of the artworks included, read the artists’ statements and share in experiencing God through the stories of today.

Deborah Cantwell