In 2005, I read an article in The New Yorker, by Malcolm Gladwell (author of The Tipping Point and Blink). The article was called “The Cellular Church” and was about Rick Warren, head of one of the most successful mega-churches in the US. The way these churches maintain a “sense of community” as they grow very large, says Gladwell, is by creating “a network of lots of little church cells – exclusive, tightly knit groups of six or seven who meet in one another’s homes during the week to worship and pray.”

The church has thousands of volunteers who are charged with getting to know each member that walks in the door and getting that new member plugged into a small group, formed around shared hobbies and interests – knitting, quilting, mountain biking. These cells effectively function as social networks, fueling deep friendships between church members. What’s clear from the article is that people who are in small groups are more likely to show up at church on Sunday, stay a member of the Church longer, and give more money. These mega-churches are succeeding because they understand that for most people, it is the social connections they form as an aspect of going to church that in large part drive them to attend and donate. Without the small group, Warren explains in the article, going to Church with 5,000 people could feel pretty impersonal. Perhaps a bit like going to a concert hall with 1,800 people?

In the 2006 New Zealand Arts Survey, the number one reason for decreased participation, given by 56% of survey responders, is “Less Time/Other Commitments.” One might assume, perhaps, that the top reason for increased participation would be “More Time/Fewer Commitments.” It’s not. 29% of survey respondents said they were attending more frequently because they had someone to go with, and 20% said they were attending more frequently because they were “more interested” in the arts. The survey noted that when participants in the “low attendance segment,” in particular, were asked why they are attending more often now than they were three years ago, this segment (more than the others) identified the need to be encouraged by their social network to attend.

Saying “no time” reminds me of the oft-used, let-me-down-easy breakup line: “It’s not you, it’s me.”

Like these churches, arts organizations need to foster small-group, socially-driven arts participation.

Quoted from: Address to Australia Council Arts Marketing Summit by Diane Ragsdale

Art and About asked Sydney WHAT IF… ?

They have now displayed Sydney’s answers on banners around the City…. Why not use them as stimulus for conversations with your friends, especially banners like this one… Could get you into a great conversation.

She wrote:

Art is extremely personal. I like to think of art as a visual diary. Whether the artist intends it or not, when you see their art in the best possible way, you get to see another dimension of them that you may have not known before. I was surprised to catch myself learning new things about each of the artist involved in this project. In a way, I was experiencing the benefits of doing Art in Community…Through the gift of art, we related to one another in a different way.

This is one of the reasons we (Church by the Bridge) hosts I Heart Kirribilli Art Exhibition and Prize. We want to know our neighbours in Kirribilli. We want to know what our neighbours think about the suburb they live in. More importantly we want to SEE what the visual diary of Kirribilli. What the community loves, experiences and knows about Kirribilli.

This year we are inviting Artists to create “AN INTRODUCTION” to Kirribilli. If you had to explain or introduce to a stranger on the street, the suburb of Kirribilli (her people, character, profile, charm), what would you say?

We are pleased to introduce two new categories this year: Graphic Design & Poetry/Prose. (unfortunately this will mean sketch/drawing and fashion will not be prize categories in 2011)

Check the website for more info (Dates, Terms & Conditions plus the online Entry Form etc)

For more about Art in Community from Jenny – click here.

One of the concerns was the difficulty of obtaining studio and/or gallery space. Partly due to expense, location (many of the ‘places’ are concentrate in the city and displace artists from their communities), and even if you did have such a space no audience (Sydney: GO! VIEW! ART!)

Some of the solutions bandied about were: property owners loan your property/retail space to artists on temporary basis (artists promise they won’t become squatters and never leave); have local artists showcasing in their local communities, and pitching to their local community. Success doesn’t mean 2000 people coming to view your exhibition or piece. Aim to reach people on your street, your neighbours! The panelists in the debate even suggested that more churches need to be transformed into art space.

I thought this was a) a snide comment of the panels opinion that churches are a dying, they are wasted space, only being used on a Sunday and could serve local communities better than just preaching a sermon on Sundays! and b) a great encouragement to the endeavors our church and others like York St Anglican Church are doing with art!

York St recently had a festival in their church. Here is a snapshot comment from Jenny Ihn on using church space as an art space.

Unlike contemporary white gallery spaces, we did not have a space that primarily existed ‘for’ the Art. We had, if you like, a ‘historic space loaded with memories of the past’.

Read more of Jenny’s reflections here

Related articles

• Our Churches Are The Proof Of The Gospel (via Brister & Dever) (mgpcpastor.wordpress.com)
• Artists reveal their private spaces at M Gallery invitational show (charlestoncitypaper.com)

Is this how you look out on you congregations and the world around you? “When he [Jesus] saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”

Listener “Wooden Heart” from Nathan Corrona on Vimeo.

WOODEN HEART (sea of mist called skaidan)
We’re all born to broken people on their most honest day of living
and since that first breath… We’ll need grace that we’ve never given
I’ve been haunted by standard red devils and white ghosts
and it’s not only when these eyes are closed
these lies are ropes that I tie down in my stomach,
but they hold this ship together tossed like leaves in this weather
and my dreams are sails that I point towards my true north,
stretched thin over my rib bones, and pray that it gets better
but it won’t won’t, at least I don’t believe it will…
so I’ve built a wooden heart inside this iron ship,
to sail these blood red seas and find your coasts.
don’t let these waves wash away your hopes
this war-ship is sinking, and I still believe in anchors
pulling fist fulls of rotten wood from my heart, I still believe in saviors
but I know that we are all made out of shipwrecks, every single board
washed and bound like crooked teeth on these rocky shores
so come on and let’s wash each other with tears of joy and tears of grief
and fold our lives like crashing waves and run up on this beach
come on and sew us together, tattered rags stained forever
we only have what we rememberI am the barely living son of a woman and man who barely made it
but we’re making it taped together on borrowed crutches and new starts
we all have the same holes in our hearts…
everything falls apart at the exact same time
that it all comes together perfectly for the next step
but my fear is this prison… that I keep locked below the main deck
I keep a key under my pillow, it’s quiet and it’s hidden
and my hopes are weapons that I’m still learning how to use right
but they’re heavy and I’m awkward…always running out of fight
so I’ve carved a wooden heart, put it in this sinking ship
hoping it would help me float for just a few more weeks
because I am made out of shipwrecks, every twisted beam
lost and found like you and me scattered out on the sea
so come on let’s wash each other with tears of joy and tears of grief
and fold our lives like crashing waves and run up on this beach
come on and sew us together, just some tattered rags stained forever
we only have what we rememberMy throat it still tastes like house fire and salt water
I wear this tide like loose skin, rock me to sea
if we hold on tight we’ll hold each other together
and not just be some fools rushing to die in our sleep
all these machines will rust I promise, but we’ll still be electric
shocking each other back to life
Your hand in mine, my fingers in your veins connected
our bones grown together inside
our hands entwined, your fingers in my veins braided
our spines grown stronger in time
because are church is made out of shipwrecks
from every hull these rocks have claimed
but we pick ourselves up, and try and grow better through the change
so come on yall and let’s wash each other with tears of joy and tears of grief
and fold our lives like crashing waves and run up on this beach
come on and sew us together, were just tattered rags stained forever
we only have what we remember

credits from Wooden Heart Poems, released 06 July 2010