The Integrity Of Form And Faith In Liturgical Art

Art for worship must evidence not only aesthetic integrity but also fidelity to Christian truths. Specifically, liturgical art should reflect the theology and character of the worship that is enacted in the local congregation. The following article explains these claims and describes two examples of how they have been put into practice. Cameras were flashing in the cathedral. I was standing next to a stone effigy of some monarch who lay on the lid of his tomb and stared confidently upward beyond a vaulted ceiling to a vaulted heaven that had been there when he died. All around the royal sepulchre tourists were poking their fingers in guidebooks. Several leaned their heads back to survey a deep blue stained glass window whose intricacies of lead patterned cherubim about a haloed Christ. Gazing frozen from the walls were medieval burghers posing as saints. One of them was pointing his finger in his own guidebook and looking as if he had discovered something much more worthy of attentio…