The next installment of the Makers Series explores how the written, visual, and musical arts help us name the distressingly incomplete parts of ourselves and the world, but also give us tools to engage in ordinary works of restoration. Doors open and refreshments available in the Fellowship Hall at 6:30 PM; program and conversation begins at 7:00 and runs until 9:30.
We are all undone.
Our next Makers Series will feature visual artist Sarah Irvin, writer and teacher Paul Miller, and producer/composer Isaac Wardell. Each of them has been creating work that tells stories about the profoundly unfinished physical, social, and spiritual places in which they have found themselves, and each also invites us to consider the way God enters into the world (and us) exactly when it (and we) seem most out of control, least satisfactory and complete, and thoroughly “undone.”
Sarah Irvin has long been active in the RVA arts scene as a curator and writer, as well as being a practicing artist who specializes in conceptual and installation projects. Her most recent work, though, has emerged from the experiences and constraints of becoming and being a mother.
Paul Miller is a renowned Philadelphia-based teacher and guide on connecting to the person of Jesus through prayer, teaching and offering workshops around the country. He’ll be leading a seminar on the Praying Life at Third Church the morning after the Makers Series.
Isaac Wardell leads worship at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Charlottesville, but has influence far beyond our region through Bifrost Arts (a network of Christians thinking and working towards richer integration of the arts and Christian faith) and through the hymns and worship songs he produces, including a new album based on the book of Lamentations.
By focusing on the way that repeated, habitual actions like nursing a baby, writing down our prayers, or singing the same song of longing again and again and again can be as beautiful as (and even more meaningful than) singular, “perfect”performances or objects, these Makers will help us think more creatively about the way ordinary and repetitive parts of our lives can form us positively, not just wear us down. But each of our Makers also gives voice to our collective outcry that so much of the world seems wrong and out of joint—that what happens over and over again does not seem like blessing, but rather toil or injustice, evidence that creation is not yet fully redeemed. What has been left undone can, in turn, leave us undone, too.
Please join us in the Fellowship Hall of Third Church from 7:00-9:30 pm on November 18th for an evening of creativity, conversation, and community: the Makers Series
What is the Makers Series?
The signature program of makeRVA (Third’s collaborative outreach to and through Richmond’s arts communities), each edition of the Makers Series brings together three “makers”—a writer, a visual artist, and a musician—to discuss their history and practice as artists and believers, touching on a unifying theme. In a coffee house setting with refreshments available throughout, each guest presents for 20 minutes, followed by a moderated conversation between the three and the audience, seeking to find commonalities between each maker’s experiences and to draw out insights about faith, culture, and creativity.
Want to go deeper?
We're offering two ways to explore the work of our Makers and themes of this weekend in more depth, before and after the Makers Series, itself:
Worship Leaders Workshop
During the day on Friday 11/18, we're hosting a round-table focused on writing and playing music designed to encourage congregational participation. If you lead or are responsible for the shape and content of worship at your church, come share insights and learn from each other as Isaac Wardell shares from his experience guiding the Bifrost Arts community/label and leading local-church liturgy as, literally, "the work of the people." Contact Kim Taulbee for details and registration.
A Praying Life Seminar
If you need help connecting with God in prayer, or want to experience a more consistent sense of the presence of God in ordinary life, please come to a day-long conference with Paul Miller on Saturday 11/19. Paul will set the foundation for what a life marked by prayer looks like, as well as give practical steps to living every day in communion with the Father. Click HERE for details and to register for this rich time of discipleship.
more about our makers
Sarah Irvin
Sarah Irvin earned a BFA in painting and drawing from the Univeristy of Georgia in 2008. Since relocating to Richmond, though, she has worked in many areas of the local art world, in addition to exhibiting widelyon the east coast and in Texas. She's been a gallerist at Page Bond, curated and written about Capital One's corporate art collection, and, earlier this year, completed her MFA from George Mason University. In the midst of that degree program, Sarah and her husband had their first child, who even in utero become the focal point of Sarah's exploration of creation via attention to the repetitive, ordinary, yet important processes of life. You can get a preview of her multi-faceted, project-based work at her website.
Paul Miller
Paul Miller spent his childhood in California and Oregon, moving east when his father, Dr. Jack Miller, began teaching at Westminster Seminary. After graduating from college, Paul taught in inner-city Christian schools in Philadelphia for ten years. With a group of parents, he started Spruce Hill Christian School (K-8), an inner city, multi-racial school where he was principal and teacher. In 1983, he helped his father found World Harvest Mission, serving as Associate Director from 1983 until 1996. He completed a M.Div.at Biblical Seminary and founded seeJesus, a mission that helps Christians and non-Christians alike “see Jesus” through inductive Bible studies. Along the way, Paul has written several discipleship courses, and will be leading a one-day seminar at Third on Saturday 11/19, based on his book A Praying Life. Paul is married to Jill, who is known for her sense of humor and faith. They have six children and nine grandchildren, and live in the Philadelphia area.
Isaac Wardell
Isaac Wardell has been involved in church music and worship since very early childhood, singing in church pageants and performing sacred music with the Memphis Boys Choir. He began leading worship on a regular basis in high school, and went on to study music at Covenant College. Before becoming Director of Worship Arts at Trinity Presbyterian in Charlottesville in 2009, Isaac worked as director of music at churches in Tennessee, Georgia, and New York. Isaac also works as the director of Bifrost Arts, writing and producing retuned hymns and other worship music, and speaking on music in liturgy. He and his wife, Megan, have three daughters and a son.