Advent Series: Embodying Faith, Week 3
Week 3: Christianity & The Arts
How do we define “sacred music” or “Christian art”? What is our relationship to so-called “secular” music and art as Christians? How do the arts help facilitate a more embodied Christian faith? Ideas from the previous two weeks about the relationship between faith, commerce, religion, spirituality, and a felt sense of God’s presence will all play into this exploration of different music and art styles and their relationship to Christian embodiment.
Kristen Leigh Mitchell earned her M.Div. from Union Theological Seminary at Columbia University in NYC, where she spent four years researching the relationship between religion, spirituality, psychology, theology, and the arts. Her master’s thesis offered a cultural and historical analysis of how Western churches came to define the relationship between the “sacred” and the “secular.” She has published articles on early Christian music, liturgy, medieval church history, theology and film, artistic vocation, and Biblical interpretation. Kristen spent several years working as resident librarian and later Assistant Director for The Servant Leadership School, a spiritual formation program based in NC that teaches embodied faith through contemplative spiritual practices in the context of ecumenical Christian community. She also just so happens to be Joe’s wife!
You can learn more about Kristen’s writing and other work by visiting her website: www.kristenleighmitchell.com
