Resources for Creatives
and their Leaders
Welcome to the WITW resource page!
These pages are a labor of love and it is our desire that all who serve at the intersection of art and Christian mission will find valuable resources here regardless of your particular role. The resources are categorized by type rather than topic because of the immense overlap in application across artistic practices. However, there is one section designated for administration which includes resources for healthy organizational relationships or all kinds as well as one section dedicated to personal well-being/soul care. Some of the documents were created by WITW, others were culled from the in-house files of ministries who have generously permitted us to either post and/or provide links to their documents. Thanks to all of the individuals and organizations who shared internal documents and/or the most cherished go-to resources found in their own personal libraries. Please let us know what you find most useful in these pages and by all means suggest new materials and/or send accompanying blurbs to help others better understand the unique value of a particular resource.
Books
Living with a Creative Mind | Dr. Jeff Crabtree, Dr. Julie Crabtree
Culture Care: Reconnecting with Beauty for Our Common Life | Makoto Fujimura
Creating Local Arts Together: A Manual to Help Communities Reach Their Kingdom Goals | Brian Schrag, James Krabill general editor
Worship and Mission for the Global Church: An Ethnodoxology Handbook | James R. Krabill, general editor Frank Fortunate, Robin P. Harris, Brian Schrag Editors
Make Arts for a Better Life: A guide for working with communities | Brian Schrag & Kathleen J. Van Burn
- Offers an in-depth guide to researching arts within communities
- Provides a step by step process through which to develop, create, and evaluate arts programs that meet locally-defined needs
- Written and formatted to reach a wide audience that includes both public-sector workers and academics
- Oxford University Press
- ISBN: 9780190878283
Lots more to come in the weeks ahead!| Author | ISBN
Recommended Blogs
Click the signup link on any page of this website!
https://a-e-m.org
Training Resources
U-Seminary (ACT in partnership with many others)
Foundations Course - AEM
Arts in Global Engagement – ETHM 611 – Liberty University
Students will learn how to become artistic catalysts and so facilitate local community engagement and effective outreach through music and the arts, including: 1) strategies for development of professional and intercultural relationships; 2) systems of pre-engagement and assessment of current issues; 3) contextualization of music in local worldwide contexts; 4) promoting the creation of indigenous songs; 5) promoting the distribution of such songs through appropriate media. 3 credits graduate level Learn More >https://catalog.liberty.edu/graduate/courses/courses-graduate/ethm/
Art is Trauma Healing – ATH 5383 – Dallas International University
his course teaches a holistic, interactive approach to engaging Scripture and relevant arts in the healing process for people who suffer from the mental, emotional, and spiritual effects of trauma. The course combines biblical truths with basic mental health principles expressed in ways that can be easily applied in many contexts. Students learn to address both beliefs and emotions damaged by trauma in their own lives and in the lives of others through participatory learning methods as well as through engaging with their fellow students in a small group context. In particular, this course will emphasize the importance of expressive arts in trauma healing. Students will understand and be able to articulate and demonstrate the role, the value, and the effectiveness of using relevant arts in trauma healing from a historical and contemporary perspective. Students will be able to promote emotional and spiritual healing in traumatized communities through the use of local expressive arts existing in those communities.
Crafted as a “blended” course, a required two-week period of on-campus participatory classes is preceded and followed by online reading and writing assignments.
The course is offered during Spring with a two-week intensive in the UK or during May Extended with a two-week intensive on campus in Dallas.
Arts for a Better Future – AA2391/WA5381 – Dallas International University
n this undergrad course, students will learn to help a community recognize, value, and plan to use its own arts to meet local needs and goals. The course provides a compact overview of the Creating Local Arts Together (CLAT) model of community engagement. The CLAT process consists of seven flexible steps grounded in ethnographic and appreciative inquiry approaches: meet a community and its arts; specify goals; select communication genre and content; analyze the genre; spark creativity; improve new works and creative systems; and integrate and celebrate for continuity. Students will work with the model through three pedagogical cycles. This course is also available at the graduate level by registering for WA5381.
Many more resources to come!
Art Networks
Artists in Christian Testimony – ACT
Art and Entertainment Ministries – AEM
Inspiro Arts Alliance - OM
Global Ethnodoxology Network – GEN
Global Consultation on Arts and Music in Mission – GCAMM
Lausanne Arts Alliance
Crescendo - Cru
Soul Care
We love Rob Reimer’s straight-forward and condensed way of communicating about fundamental spiritual and emotional issues. This book is a synopsis of sorts of much of his teaching. We highly recommend it!
Documents
Watch here for documents to help establish better understanding and communication between arts workers and those in their organization to whom they report. These will range from job descriptions to intellectual property rights to healthy practices to possible debrief questions.