Blessed Unrest 
We often wonder what God is calling us to do in a particular moment or passage of life. Could we ask ourselves, in such moments, “What is my blessed unrest here?”
Debra RienstraJanuary 27, 2024
Another Semester of Being Useless
Those of us who teach in humanities fields at university face the threshold of every new semester with the sinking feeling that we have dedicated our lives to something “the culture” no longer values. We’re useless, if not downright nefarious.
Debra RienstraJanuary 13, 2024
Can Artists Help in the Climate Fight?
Art has the power to weasel behind our defenses, awaken us emotionally, disturb the smooth surfaces of our certainties.
Debra RienstraJuly 3, 2021
Episode 4 Sacred Vessels: Jo-Ann Van Reeuwyk on the Arts, the Holy Spirit, and Sanctuary Spaces
Studio artist and art educator Jo-Ann Van Reeuwyk reflects on art and risk-taking as well as creating safe places for risk through sacred spaces pedagogy. She also explains her fondness for vessels and pokey things. Listen Now For more background Here is Jo-Ann's faculty page…
Debra RienstraOctober 4, 2019
O Rejoice in All Your Works
The red planet and seed pods: an odd juxtaposition. But as I padded quietly through the gallery, it seemed to me that what the two exhibits have in common is the way they, like those two scripture passages, invite us into altered perspective.
Debra RienstraSeptember 15, 2018
Ecumenism, Art, and Hope
One finds good news where one can these days, and here comes some good news for the church: the work of ecumenism thrives in the field of theological aesthetics. Granted, we’ve had to float into a rarefied atmosphere to recover this news, but what’s going…
Debra RienstraOctober 7, 2017
A World Still Stirred
While prints made from woodcuts and engravings may not offer the immediate thrill of gigantic oil paintings, they do display curious combinations of grotesquerie and piety and, to the patient observer, a fascinating glimpse into the Reformation moment.
Debra RienstraSeptember 9, 2017
Art and Healing Trauma: The Church Should Lead the Way
We often do not know how to give grief and lament the space and time they require. However, painting, sculpture, music, dance and other forms can express unutterable emotion, create space for reflection, and provide healing. Art can help us do the “Holy Saturday” work…
Debra RienstraJanuary 27, 2017
Forget the “Conventional Wisdom” about the Arts and Humanities: Look at the Data
While Bérubé is concerned with questions of broad public good and the use of public funds in higher education, the Christian community, I would contend, has even better reasons to steward robust study of arts and humanities. Christians are plagued by economic anxiety and influenced…
Debra RienstraSeptember 30, 2016
Mystery in the Minster
Ron and I happened upon a remarkable endeavor while visiting York last month, and I’m so glad we spotted the posters, plunked down our pounds sterling, and settled ourselves into tight seats on scaffolded risers for a three-and-a-half hour spectacle: the York Minster Mystery Plays.
Debra RienstraJuly 8, 2016
