By Mitch Holt, Copy Editor
Art, worship, culture and faith have been a major part of ACU’s Annual Bible Lectureship during the past four years to appeal to the emerging generation, but this year’s focus on such topics will take a slightly bigger role in the event, said Mark Love, director of ministry events and Lectureship director.
Lectureship planners have provided more culture- and art-based forums, classes and events to appeal to more students, and they are optimistic about the change in Lectureship because a more accurate picture of ACU’s student culture will be shown to visitors, said Dr. Mark Love, director of ministry events, in the Sept. 1 issue of the Optimist.
Praise and Prayer is one focus for this year’s Lectureship.
Each morning at 8 a.m., Lectureship attendees are invited to Jacob’s Dream, the university’s new sculpture and five-year art project created by Jack Maxwell, chair of the Department of Art and Design, for a time of prayer and devotion. Along with daily prayer time, a time of old-time singing will take place each day of Lectureship in the Chapel on the Hill at 3 p.m.
“Come to the Quiet” is also part of the praise and prayer focus of Lectureship and will take place in the Williams Performing Arts Center lobby at 8:45 Sunday night. Campus visitors and students are invited for a “season of song, prayer and contemplation,” according to the Lectureship program.
According to the program, missionary work requires both deeper notions of the gospel and fresh readings in the culture, and to go along with this statement, Lectureship will heavily focus on Gospel and Culture at this year’s event.
“The emphasis on culture has been here from the time I came,” Love said. “I think it just took a while for people to find it. This kind of cultural engagement is always essential for the church, especially the dramatic shifts we currently see taking place in North American culture.”
Gospel and Culture will be confronted in classes, forums and Late Night coffee houses, starting at 8:45 p.m.
This is the second year for Gospel and Culture Coffee House and topics such as “Jesus and The Da Vinci Code,” “The Music and Message of Johnny Cash,” “The Gospel and the Blues” and “Believe the Good News” will be explored.
An assortment of art exhibits will be available for viewing at Lectureship this year as part of the Art and Faith section of the event.
An art show that explores the message and history of the cross will take place at 8:45 p.m. in the Shore Art Gallery Sunday. Also featured as an exploration of art and faith is the Department of Music’s presentation of “An Evening of Divas and Crooners: Classic Songs from Jazz and Broadway.” ACU faculty and the university’s jazz band will perform in this presentation.
Each day at 5:30 p.m., student and traveling bands will play at the Hardwood Café, located on the patio outside the Campus Center, also part of Art and Faith.
Love said recent campus architectural additions help add an artistic element to this year’s Lectureship.
“Art is certainly important to spiritual formation,” Love said. “It should be a part of the life of an institution interested in both formation of students and churches.”
Justice and Mercy, another section of events at Lectureship, will feature the first-time Lectureship Habitat for Humanity project, a special showing of Invisible Children and a filmmaking workshop with the editors of the film. Lectureship attendees, faculty and students will participate in building a house for an underprivileged family in Abilene for the first time in the event’s history.
For more information about the schedule of events, see the Lectureship program, visit www.acu.edu/events/lectureship.
