ECVA Newsletter

Visio Divina Philadelphia

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Church of the Holy Spirit, Harleysville, a diocesan start-up suburban mission church, has found that Friday evening workshops on Studio Art and Spirituality are attracting new parishioners. The modern church building is an ideal space for displaying art.

The Philadelphia Cathedral under Dean Richard Giles, is best known for having completely renovated the original church into a dramatic modern space for liturgy and diocesan events. (See Giles’ books Re-pitching the Tent on church architecture and Uncommon Worship on liturgy.) The cathedral is also pioneering the use of rotating visual arts displays in the nave, where the artwork becomes an integral and ever changing part of the liturgical environment. With the cathedral’s Artist-in-Residence program, studio space is given to a visiting artist in return for producing a permanent piece of functional art for the cathedral.


Philadelphia Cathedral - Lent		Nave of Philadelphia Cathedral

Philadelphia Cathedral, with painting Door of Light by Joseph Eades		Philadelphia Cathedral, Baptismal Font with hanging sculpture Invitation by Elizabeth Doering

In the months ahead, Visio Divina Philadelphia is planning to document the use of visual arts in parish programming at several additional parishes in the Diocese of Philadelphia. We are planning to bring our stories and images to share at the ECVA booth at General Convention 2006. And coming next year, we plan to expand the program to another diocese, and start the whole process over.

The Rev. Robert L. Tate
Rector Church of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Philadelphia; Convener of the Philadelphia Chapter of ECVA; and a member of the ECVA Board.
Email: rtate@stmartinec.org

St. Martin-in-the-Fields
Church of Chestnut Hill
8000 St. Martin's Lane
Philadelphia, PA 19118
Web site: www.stmartinec.org

St. Stephen’s Church
19 South Tenth Street
Philadelphia, PA 19107
Web site: www.ststephensphl.org

The Church of the Advocate
1801 Diamond Street
Philadelphia, PA 19121
Web site: www.churchoftheadvocate.org

Church of the Holy Spirit
2871 Barndt Rd.
Harleysville, PA 19438
Web site: www.churchoftheholyspiritpa.org

Philadelphia Cathedral
3723 Chestnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Web site: www.philadelphiacathedral.org

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	About ECVA
	The mission of The Episcopal Church and Visual Arts (ECVA) is to encourage artists, individuals, congregations, and scholars to engage the visual arts in the spiritual life of the church. ECVA values the significance of visual imagery in spiritual formation and the development of faith, and creates programs to support those who are engaged in using the visual arts in spiritual life. To learn more about ECVA, please visit www.ecva.org.		If you know someone who might enjoy our newsletter, please forward this issue to them so they can learn what is happening at ECVA. To subscribe, visit www.ecva.org/newsletter.htm and enter your email address.