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Download the Art of the Possible YES NO MAYBE Contents Introduction Session 1: What does God look like? Session 2: Where is the justice? Session 3: Change-makers Session 4: Church and state Session 5: Parliament Session 6: Politics of the here and now Conclusion Key Prayer Reflection Discussion Activity Visit www.jointpublicissues.org.uk for more information. Introduction Does politics have a role in the Church or is it a may decide to skip over certain sections – eg the distraction from our mission? Is politics about discussion questions at the end of each session – compromise – what is possible – when our Christian if it looks like over-running. faith is about truth? Each session begins and ends with a prayer – you At a time when a lot of people say they are turned off may wish to use the prayers provided or have time by politics, many in our churches are still concerned for silent or shared reflection. about what is going on in our world. What does politics mean for our faith – and what should our People learn in different ways, so each session faith mean for our politics? contains a variety of learning activities, eg doing, listening, thinking visually, discussing, studying the The Art of the Possible is a resource produced by Bible, and reflecting. Depending on the balance the Joint Public Issues Team of the Baptist Union of of your group, some ways may work better than Great Britain, the Church of Scotland, the Methodist others… Church and the United Reformed Church to help people to explore these questions. About the group facilitator How to use The Art of the Each session will require preparation from you, the leader. Possible The leader’s notes offer guidance on the structure, This resource contains leader’s notes and handouts input and activities for each session. Do not feel you for six ‘Art of the Possible’ group sessions. need to stick rigidly to this – you know your group and what will work. The six sessions cover different aspects of Christianity and politics, including our images of People can hold strong views about politics which God, why politics is about more than voting, whether they may express with great conviction. You may want Christians should break the law, and why Christians to agree some simple ground rules with your group should do politics. before you start. For example: Depending on your group you could cover the whole We will listen to each other – no one will interrupt series, pick a ‘taster session’, or tailor a session to or speak over someone else. the particular needs of your community. A judgemental or hostile tone is not acceptable. Handouts are in PDF format, and leader’s notes are in two formats – PDF, and Word in case you want to Disagreement and searching questions are add to the notes by editing them on your computer. acceptable however, when expressed attentively and with respect. You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view and print PDF files. Most computers have this installed by Personal information shared within the group default. If necessary you can download it free here. is confidential to that group and should not be passed on. Each session is structured to last 90 minutes – people rarely concentrate for longer than this! You Session 1: WhatWhat does God does look like? God look like? The way we imagine God is crucial in shaping our beliefs, our actions, and how we live out our faith in the world. This session explores different images of God, looking particularly at what we learn of God from the life of Jesus. Key messages Welcome and prayer (5 mins) How we picture God shapes and guides how we relate to the world. As this is the first session make sure that Different images of God reflect the different everyone knows each other, and that everyone ways in which the Church has engaged with understands something of the overall purpose society over the centuries. and content of the six sessions as explained in Jesus points us towards a life of faith that is the introduction. It is also helpful to make sure politically engaged. that everyone agrees with the ground rules, again contained in the introduction. Preparation You will need: Our God of many faces and names, flipchart and pens we praise you for the different ways in Bibles, or copies of Mark 1:16 – 3:6 (or you which you come to us. could use smartphones) Your presence is never far from us. pictures of God – you might find copies of We find you in Scripture, pictures in books or by searching the Internet. glimpse you in the world around us, (Try searching google images or the websites and encounter you through the of art galleries such as www.nationalgallery. community of your people. org.uk.) Most of all, we see you in Jesus, pictures of Jesus – again you will find pictures who reveals the mysterious depths of in books and on the internet. (The Christ we your love which embraces all people share is a pack available from www.mph.org. everywhere. uk and contains a large range of pictures.) May we never be content with narrow copies of the Session 1 handout: Biographies definitions and limited understandings, of people and movements but seek always open hearts and minds copies of the Session 1 handout: Seeing that allow you to come to us in new and Jesus in Scripture (optional) surprising ways. Amen. hymn books Introduction (10 minutes) seeing pictures as a way of teaching the faith as well as enhancing the beauty of its buildings. What different words and images does Perhaps we need to reckon with the fact that art the Bible use to paint a picture of God? is dangerous! The way we see shapes our way of As a group, make a list on a flipchart of thinking. The way we picture God shapes what What does Godas many as you lookcan think of. we believe about God.like? Obvious examples might include King, Lord, Show a small selection of pictures of shepherd, Father, Mother, creator, liberator, God. provider, light, ruler, judge. Ask the group to reflect on what they Less obvious examples might include dark cloud see. What do they like or dislike about (Exodus 20), faithful lover (Hosea 2-3), vineyard the pictures? How might they go about owner (Mark 12), party host (Luke 14). depicting God? Most importantly, what do the pictures tell us about the artist’s Which images do you find most helpful? understanding of God? Encourage Which do you find least helpful? Why? people to share their thoughts with each other. We have to remember, of course, that God is always beyond human concepts and Much art in the western tradition pictures God descriptions. God defies our definitions. Yet as an authority figure. God is often very evidently despite the inevitable limits of our visual and male! He might well be sitting on a throne. He verbal language, they are all we have to work is over and above everything, controlling and with! So it is not surprising that the Bible seeks dominating, exercising power, and perhaps also to use many different images to try to help us somewhat remote from the world. It would be grasp just a little of who God is and what God surprising if this understanding of God does not is like, even though they will always remain appear in at least some of the pictures that the inadequate. group looks at. But it is worth reflecting on what kind of images Show a selection of pictures of Jesus. of God tend to dominate in the Bible and in our prayers or in our hymns and songs. What Again, ask the group to reflect on what pictures of God are most often used? Do they they see. What do they like or dislike provide us with a holistic vision of God? Does it about the pictures? Do any of them tell matter how we picture God? us something rather different about the God we see in Christ? Encourage Pictures of God (20 minutes) people to share their thoughts with each other. Art has been treated with much suspicion in the Jewish, Muslim and Christian faith traditions. Jesus can be pictured in many different ways. There has been the fear of idolatry as well as a Sometimes he is seen by artists as the great general suspicion of any attempt to picture God. and glorious king, reigning in glory, flanked by Within the history of the Church, this has led to angels and archangels. But we are also given the growth of movements that actively resisted very different insights. We see pictures of Jesus the use of art in places of worship, destroying crucified, suffering pain and anguish. We see whatever they could find. Yet at the same time, him placed within different cultural contexts, the Church has done much to encourage the arts, perhaps looking Anglo-Saxon, or Indian, or Palestinian. Above all, we are helped to see Seeing Jesus in Scripture Jesus as human, one with us, and deeply involved with this world. (25 minutes) The Bible can be read in many different ways. The way we see God is fundamental to the ways The passages we read can be interpreted in we then choose to live out our faith. If we see What doesdifferent ways. But perhaps too often we failGod to look like? God as no more than an authority figure, distant see the political implications of Jesus’ actions, and unengaged with the affairs of the world, and the ways in which he continually challenged then it is likely that our churches will be places the status quo.
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