Visual Arts & Drama - Wednesday, 26 January 2022 -Australia Day
DECORATION
For this occasion the church could be decorated with Australian native flowers and foliage. Flowers could be the colours of the flag: red, white and blue; or the Australian colours of green and gold.
Drawings, paintings and photos of Australian scenes or subjects could be displayed on the walls, on banners or posters, or on an overhead screen at appropriate times during the service, eg during prayers, confession, songs, readings or sermon. These could be ‘theme’ or ‘mood’ pictures showing God’s creation or blessings or aspects that need praying for or our confession (eg scenes of poverty).
SYMBOLS
An Australian Christian symbol similar to Luther’s rose could be made and displayed (the larger the better): a black cross on a red Australia shape, on a bed of wattle blooms and leaves, on a sky-blue background, surrounded by a gold ring representing God’s eternity. This could be made of solid objects, eg wooden cross on clay or cloth Australia on real or artificial flowers and leaves. An explanation of the symbolism could be given in the talk with children or sermon or written or oral announcements (but don’t over-explain!).
Altar Colour: Green
You can access excellent examples of church art relevant to each season of the Church year on the Visual Arts website. The image on these Advent pages is from a painting by LCA artist Helen Sherriff.PPT Slides (Widescreen): / Epiphany (Green) Set 1 / Epiphany (Green) Set 2 / Epiphany (Green) Set 3
PPT Slides (Standard): / Epiphany (Green) Set 1 / Epiphany (Green) Set 2 / Epiphany (Green) Set 3
Simply download your preferred slides and copy the liturgy and songs into each slide.
Recommended Sources for Images
His Word in Pictures
Heartlight.org
Unsplash.com
Refreshed Art Designs
freebibleimages.org
Agnus Day
Illustrated Ministries - offering free Bible colouring pages during coronavirus outbreak
Drama
Dramatising the Readings
The readings can be read by more than one person to make the dramatic meaning of the text clearer.
The gospel could be read by three readers: the narrator (could be the pastor), one of the questioners, and Jesus. The gospel could also be mimed as it is read.