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Avril Speaks 8/19/13 ET522 The Ethics of Storytelling: The Arts in AME, Baptist/Reformed, and Emergent Contexts Are there moral boundaries for creating good art? At some point in their career, any artist who is a Christian will most likely have to make some decisions about the nature of art they will produce. Does my work need to be explicitly Christian? Can I write, produce, or act in a project that has strong profanity? How far should I go with nudity? These are all questions that many artists have asked themselves at one point or another. Similarly, there are differing views about the extent to which the arts should be embraced among Christian circles, both inside and outside the walls of the church. Thinking through some of the questions involved with creating stories can be beneficial in carrying out one's vocation. Art has the capacity to be both a ministry tool at times, a service to the community at others, and when done with the utmost integrity, excellence and honesty, it can also be a source of beauty and entertainment. However, navigating that territory of what is acceptable can be a daunting task. For the purpose of this paper, art and storytelling will be narrowed to the contexts of film and performance (i.e. theater/drama). As music, poetry, and other art forms experience their own challenges within the church, it is the storytelling of film and theater that I have reflected on most within my religious tradition. Does This Need to Be an Ethic? As an artist myself and an instructor of up-and-coming artists, the issue of ethics is always a factor, whether spoken or unspoken. For artists of faith, the tension between wanting to follow the way of Jesus and be an example of a good Christian on the one hand, yet wanting to find steady employment and make good art on the other, there are always questions of boundaries. Added to these questions is the reality that much of the existing work that is labeled

Christian art is often considered sub-par and of poor quality. In some cases, artists who are ingrained in an industry structure (i.e. Hollywood, Broadway, etc.), may compromise some of their values in order to make a living. These compromises often exist more in the minds of Christian audiences than they do in the mind of the artists themselves, which can be just as problematic on both counts. On the same token, there are Christians who are attempting to redefine the parameters of possibilities for Christian art, to which there is a need for process in discernment while still honoring craft. For storytellers who are seeking to truly have an impact in the world, thinking about an arts ethic can help one establish their moral boundaries. An arts ethic is also needed for the Christian community at large to help them understand artistic integrity in various forms. My arts ethic has been shaped largely by my involvement in the AME church since childhood. This church tradition provided me with a foundation and a lens through which to view the arts and its role within the local church. Similarly, my ethic has been challenged in many ways by my involvement during my late 20s and 30s in the Baptist/Reformed tradition. Both of these traditions have been formative for me in various ways and have developed my understanding of the role that the arts play within the life of the church. AME Ethics Growing up in the AME church, the arts never posed a problem for me as I went to a church that was quite liberal in its embrace of artistic expression. Yet, in order to understand the arts sensibility behind the AME church, it is important to consider the circumstances surrounding the churchs unique origins. This seedling of a movement began in 1787 when a group of black parishioners, including black ministers Richard Allen and Absalom Jones of St. Georges Methodist Church in

Philadelphia, PA were forced to get up from the altar during prayer time. Rather than take their place at the back of the church, they decided to leave the church. Although there is controversy surrounding the details of their mass exodus (some scholars believe that the move was premeditated and carefully orchestrated by Richard Allen, others argue that the white ushers were simply trying to move the black congregants to the newly built gallery), the initial pioneers of this soon-to-be independent black congregation were demanding justice on Sunday mornings. These black church goers began having their own church services as a means of solidarity and empowerment. Eventually, they purchased their own property and began to establish their own identity within the community. Yet, even after the white members of St. George tried to sell their property from under these black congregants, Richard Allen was finally ordained as the first black bishop in the United States in 1816, and thus the African Methodist Episcopal church was officially born. This history is what defines the AME church in many ways. Richard Allen, a former slave who bought his freedom after becoming a Christian at a Methodist revival, made it a point to model the original Bethel Church after John Wesleys version of Methodism. As a matter of fact, the first AME Discipline is an exact replica of the Methodist Discipline, reiterating the original Methodist tenet that slaveholding was prohibited (ironically, the Methodist Episcopal Discipline followed by St. George Church had omitted the admonition against slavery from its Discipline). These roots are what historically made the AME church lean toward an emphasis on holiness and church polity. Yet, as the AME church continued to grow, it became a symbol of independence and autonomy for the black community. According to Richard Newman, author of Freedoms Prophet, With roughly fourteen hundred congregants by 1816, Bethel Church was a bastion of

black power. And threatened blacks here no less than in the enslaved South deployed militant resistance to protect black freedom (Newman 170). Allens idea for the church was that it would be the center point of African American life. Since there were so little opportunities available to blacks, the church sought to be the primary gathering place for the black community for all things political, social and economic, even if it was at the expense of definable theology, for as Newman states, Allen realized that Bethels independence rested less on prophecy and myth and more on massive community resistance (Newman 162). This is not to say that the theology of the AME church was weak, as a matter of fact it was quite the opposite. Early writings of the AME church focused on the authority of scripture, the Trinity, and the spiritual disciplines of prayer. However, its main tenet has always been, and still is, justice and liberation based on love for God and love for neighbor -- an idea that is reflected in its motto God our Father, Christ our Redeemer, the Holy Spirit our Comforter, Humankind our Family. It was this love for neighborhood, community, and the desire to be the center of community which provided a basis for its embrace of the arts. For many participants, the church was expected to not only be a place for spiritual growth, but for social interaction as well. The belief was that through social interaction, the church would have influence among the community, and therefore win souls. As one AME church member, Pearl Green-Pachaco wrote in the AME Church Review journal in 1927: Our churches are open on Sunday and possibly one or two evenings during the week, the remainder of the week the church group must seek entertainment elsewhere. This should not be. Our churches should serve the entire community every day in the week and every week in the year...More people would come into our churches if we had a social service department. It is more easy to interest people in their spiritual needs after satisfying the physical ones (Angell, Pinn 320). While driving members to experience burnout may not be the ideal solution, Green-

Pachacos words give credence to the idea that the church should be a gathering place for the community. This was the case with several black churches, particularly those in the 18th and 19th century. In his book The Black Churches of Brooklyn, Clarence Taylor describes how black churches in the New York borough used culture as a respite from the discrimination blacks were facing in society. He states that, From the first half of the nineteenth century, black Brooklynites began to establish religious institutions that would address their needs in an urban society. Parishoners were exposed to classical music and architecture, literature, elocution, fine art, and scholarly sermons stressing intellectualism, self-improvement, and how to cope in the larger white society...Brooklyns black churches continually sought approaches to alleviate blacks from the yoke of white oppression. Culture was one important arena used by the churches. (Taylor 3). The church that I attended embraced music, dance and especially theater as a means to garner support from the community and also to attract new members. Taking pride in its own historical heritage, our church would often pull from historical black theater for its repertoire. Plays such as For Colored Girls Who Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf, The Wiz, and The Amen Corner, although at times controversial, were often the dramatic pieces in consideration because these were works of art that displayed the plight of the community and attracted audiences to the church. Baptist/Reformed Ethics In contrast, my experience within the Baptist and Reformed church has been varied, to say the least. I actually became a Christian in a Baptist church where the arts were celebrated in a certain context. Christian art was acceptable, so any piece of film, literature or music that glorified God was considered permissible both within the walls of the church and without. Other types of art that could not so easily be classified as redemptive, were a bit more cautioned against. Yet, it was my experience in the Southern Baptists/Reformed tradition that influenced me and my theology the most. Its doctrines on sin, atonement, sphere sovereignty, and lifestyle

evangelism have had positive effects on my growth as a Christian. However, this tradition has not been as integrative with the arts, which has been a point of tension and dilemma for me as an artist. As a point of comparison with the AME tradition, much of Reformed theology was birthed out of a response to the superstition of the Middle Ages and the indulgences and atrocities occurring within the Catholic church. People during the medieval era were worshiping images instead of God, and as a result, there developed a distrust of the arts, and a tendency to see it as a distraction from the true word of God. Although there were differences in Reformation theologians such as Luther and Calvins approach to the arts, they both held a similar belief that the image was less effective, less persuasive than Gods word. According to Paul Corby Finney, author of Seeing Beyond the Word: Visual Arts and the Calvinist Tradition, The fact is that the Reformed tradition has been unusual in the sharpness and severity of its suspicion for the arts, a suspicion expressed in an unusual variety of strategies to limit their use in Christianity. (Finney 8). For the reformers, art and the image were subservient to the word. Finney states that Calvins distrust of the arts stemmed not so much from the art form itself, but from a belief in what their existence insinuated: that the arts are not interesting to those concerned for the truth as God known in Gods Word, and that in themselves they are legitimate only within strictly defined limits. (Finney 12). However, as scholars such as William Dyrness argue, Calvins philosophy regarding the image were not always as negative as it sounds. He states, What is this doctrine that Calvin intends to be put in the place of all the various images of the medieval Church? It is the true preaching of the Word of God that is faithful to Scriptural teaching...In an important sense, when

Christ is rightly preached, we see truth in a way that is not possible by looking at images (Dyrness 68). Dyrness suggests that the Reformed suspicion of image helped developed their auditory appreciation. He states, For apart from actual hearing (in the actual performance of worship), one could never receive the truth of the preached word, with or without a believing heart. So in fact the ear is privileged over the eye (Dyrness 69). In contemporary culture, one art form that is widely accepted among the Reformed tradition is hip-hop music. Several artists such as LeCrae, Trip Lee, have been embraced by those of Reformed theology. Given the history of the Reformed tradition, it could be argued that the reason for this acceptance is because they are rapping the word, the emphasis is still on the written word, which appeals to an auditory sensibility. Also, many of the rappers are seminary trained, so they are basically rapping theology, which reiterates the emphasis on obvious scripture. Unfortunately, in practice, this does not leave much room for filmmakers or dramatists who are communicating stories and reality through image and performance art. Some of the silence on the arts within the Reformed tradition may be due to its theology of common grace. While the AME churchs goal has been to draw people to the church building for all of their needs, Neo-Calvinist theologians such as Abraham Kuyper embraced a theology in which cultural development could take place even in public, secular spaces where Christ is not glorified. While this idea works in theory, it can still become problematic in practice for an artist when some art forms (such as Christian hip hop) are acknowledged or encouraged within the church space and others (such as film) are looked upon with more suspicion. Strength in Tension? It is easy to point out the strengths and weaknesses of both traditions; however, finding an ethic that will combine both approaches would take some unorthodox thinking within each

sphere. The Emerging church has made efforts to envision an ethic that tears down the wall between sacred and secular, and embraces the depth that artistic expression brings to spirituality. In the book, Emerging Churches, Eddie Gibbs states that, The church continues to communicate a verbal, linear, and abstract message to a culture whose primary language consists of sound, visual images, and experience, in addition to words. Meaningful activity assumes the convergence of sound, sight, and touch through activities, rituals, and stories. (Gibbs, Bolger 227-279). The emergent church has sought to bridge this gap by incorporating art into the worship sphere, but to not stop there. Rather, they see a more blurred line between serving God and serving the community. This ideology resonates with anyone who might be an artist or who might engage with artistic expression. In many ways, the emerging church seems to be a response to a traditional Reformed theology that was responding to the culture of its time. The emergent churchs incorporation of the arts and their desire to engage with their community in some ways seem similar to the intentions of the AME church; however, most people would probably not see it this way. In reality, is there a difference between playing techno music or U2 during a worship service and performing For Colored Girls within a church auditorium? The difference can be found in the approach as well as the environment, for even though the AME church may be open to the arts, it still has a historical theology of holiness that is embedded in its Discipline, something which the emergent church does not need to concern itself. So, Then, What Is an Arts Ethic? This brings us back to the idea of an arts ethic and examining ways that these traditions can help inform it. An arts ethic within a Christian context must naturally begin with creation and the book of Genesis. The book of Genesis describes a physical world that is created by God,

and is therefore good. Leland Ryken, author of The Christian Imagination: Essays on Literature and the Arts, states that, All of the arts feed upon the physical world around us, including, of course, the social world of people (Ryken 56). Ryken describes how every art form incorporates some aspect of the physical world that God created. Storytellers and dramatists highlight the human psyche as individuals and within community. Poets highlight inner human emotions. Musicians highlight the ways in which emotions are influenced by sound. For a filmmaker, not only are humans emotions touched, but they are given a visual experience that deepens those emotions and makes them personal. Genesis also describes Gods greatest creation, humankind, and highlights the fact that Gods image is borne in human beings. In his book, Calvinism, Abraham Kuyper describes the ways in which the idea of humankind being image-bearers impacts art: As image-bearer of God, man possesses the possibility both to create something beautiful, and to delight in it...The world of sounds, the world of forms, the world of tints, and the world of poetic ideas, can have no other source than God; and it is our privilege as bearers of His image, to have a perception of this beautiful world, artistically to reproduce, and humanly to enjoy it (Kuyper 142, 156-57). It is the privilege of the artist to display Gods beauty in the world. But what about art that does not show beauty, but rather shows the dark, evil realities of this world? Can God have a place in that, too? Surely, the Bible does not shy away from evil within its pages. Stories of murder, incest, lust, adultery, can be found both in the Old and New Testament. Frank Gaebelein states, A novel may be structurally unified, yet fall short of integrity if the characters or dialogue are unconvincing. Integrity refers to the overall truthfulness of a work of art. When we say that a person has integrity, we mean his entire personality is morally sound. So it is with integrity in art. In the arts, integrity demands that anything contrived merely for the sake of effect and not organically related to the purpose of the work must be ruled out (Ryken 102). For the Christian artist, authenticity and integrity must be of the utmost importance when

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communicating human emotion. Christian artists have the ability to tell the whole story, not just the bad but also the eternal good, whether explicit or not. In order to show the light of God, artists cannot be afraid of the truth found within the darkness. Thomas Howard states that it is entirely the treatment that decides the worth (and hence the goodness or badness) of a piece of art. There can be good art about bad things, and bad art about good things (Ryken 115). Yet, as Howard continues, there are some topics that should be handled with care: In its frenetic disavowal of sexual reticence, the twentieth century has torn the veil and blundered into the Holy of Holies, as it were--and you cant do that with impunity. It is in the nature of the case that the Ark be secluded: you cant use it for a sawhorses. It is in the nature of the case that the shewbread be reserved--David didnt eat it for lunch every day. And by the same token, it is in the nature f the case that human sexuality be shrouded. It is not a public matter (Ryken 116). While there is much truth in this statement, Christian storytellers must be able to discern the fine line between maintaining the truth of a situation in a story and crossing the line into the Holy of Holies. In contrast, the ethics of the entertainment world are often business related. Their biggest concern is whatever is best for the bottom line, while Christian ethics must consider the good of the community and neighbor. This gets tricky when thinking about religious norms and holiness. Is seeing your neighbor pose nude in a movie good for the community? On the same token, is it serving your neighbor well to not tell the truth about what happened to a particular character? This is when the artist must ask discern what is the good in a particular piece of work and decide whether or not a particular story can be told any other way. In this sense, the balance of a Reformed suspicion and an AME concern for justice and service to the community would do well to join together. Opportunities, But Still Challenges The AME church may accept art, but there is still an issue of separating the created from

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the creator, the art from the artist. The reality (and irony) is that the AME church does still operate by the holiness code of its church Discipline. That said, I do wonder if the embrace would be the same if a member of the congregation made an explicit film, even if it was made with integrity. This is where exploring the emergent ethic could provide some guidance. The freedom to ask questions and to challenge ones own tradition would be helpful for an artist, especially when thinking through how a particular piece of work will impact the community. The question of moral boundaries still stands. Just because a church may have an open policy on its artistic expression, does not necessarily mean that it is in fact all good. I believe that this is where ministers of art, so to speak, can be useful in the academy, in the church, and within the industry, to help discern the difference between art as a social agent of change as in the AME church, and art that is gratuitous or that Christians should be suspicious of, much like those of the Reformed tradition. Works Cited Angell, Stephen, Anthony Pinn, Ed. Social Service and the Church: Mrs. Pearl Green-Pachaco. Social Protest Thought in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, 1862-1939. Knoxville: The University of Tennessee Press, 2000. Dyrness, William A. Reformed Theology and Visual Culture: The Protestant Imagination from Calvin to Edwards. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004. Finney, Paul Corby. Seeing Beyond the Word. Grand Rapids: Eeardmans, 1999. Gaebelein, Frank E. What is Truth in Art? The Christian Imagination: Essays on Literature and the Arts. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1981. Gibbs, Eddie; Bolger, Ryan K. (2005-12-01). Emerging Churches: Creating Christian Community in Postmodern Cultures (Kindle Locations 277-279). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. Howard, Thomas. On Evil in Art. The Christian Imagination: Essays on Literature and the Arts. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1981. Kuyper, Abraham. Lectures on Calvinism. Cosimo, Inc., 2009. Ebook.

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Newman, Richard. Freedoms Prophet: Bishop Richard Allen, the AME Church, and the Black Founding Fathers. New York: New York University Press, 2008. Ryken, Leland. In the Beginning, God Created. The Christian Imagination: Essays on Literature and the Arts. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1981. Taylor, Clarence. The Black Churches of Brooklyn. New York: Columbia University Press, 1994.