Robertson Wesley United Church, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

About the Church

Robertson-Wesley United Church is an urban congregation located at the western end of the downtown core in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.  Since 2009, Robertson-Wesley has been an openly affirming church of the United Church of Canada. With weekly Sunday services held at 10:30am, the average attendance during peak months is 210 worshipers. There is also a monthly Sunday evening service called Soul OUTing, which is geared towards the LGBT community. Their highly recognized music program is a prominent feature of worship, encompassing an adult choir, 2 hand bell choirs, and Choral Morphosis, a choir for adults with disabilities.

The Spiritual Arts Collective

In the United Church one of our statements of faith says, “We believe in God who has created and is creating, who works in us and others by the Spirit.” The collective process builds deep relationships and would be an accessible way for people to express themselves and see God’s spirit at work. As a resource team, we want to provide an empowering and safe place for participants to share their spiritual journey through art, drama, dance, music, writing, community initiatives or political commentaries. Through this collective people become part of this ongoing creation and the work of the spirit.
How this spiritual collective will work:
We will begin the two-month spiritual collective process (in September) by gathering people of all ages from the community and the churches for a daylong exploration. During this time of exploration people will identify their gifts and passions in the arts. Through discussion, research and the sharing of stories, the group will discern what they are being called to create together as an expression of what they have discovered. The group will then determine how and where they will share their creation. Perhaps at Sunday morning worship, a community event, or an alternative worship or a stand-alone creation in a public space? At the end of the 2 months, the group will have completed and shared their creation. Then a new group will be gathered to start the process again in November, January, and March.
In addition to the gathering of people every two months, we would like to establish an Artist-in-Residence program for four artists from a variety of disciplines. We have a rare opportunity to reach out to local artists and help provide them with a creative space where they can establish their vocation at no financial cost. The artists would each take a turn at being a resource to the spiritual collective, working with that group for a period of 2 months. The objective of the residency is to inspire artists with a faith based community, in the hopes of creating more spiritually enhanced art for everyone to enjoy. Our hope is that the artist will also help the congregations of Robertson-Wesley and Christ Church in reflecting back to the people a sense of their identity and purpose through art.

Address:

10209 - 123 Street NW
Edmonton, Alberta, T5N 1N3
Canada
http://www.rwuc.org

Team Members: 

Karen Bridges, Minister of Congregation and Community Development
Tammy-Jo Mortensen, Director of Music
Casey Edmunds, Performing Artist