Last weekend I was involved in “ReCreate” – A fantastic first for the Anglican Diocese of Newcastle – bringing together families from across the diocese to engage in workshops, worship and outdoor activities.

I ran two workshops on the theme of “Creative Arts for Families”. My colleague Robyn was already running a couple of Messy Church workshops, so I pitched mine as a slightly more sophisticated use of Art within a church context – sophisticated yet simple.

All I took with me was a big sheet of paper (A2) and a pack of 15 Caran D’ache Neocolour 1 wax pastels – artist quality wax crayons basically.

I ran an “Art Conversation” – a technique I learnt as part of my Art Therapy training. It’s a great exercise – a very versatile too. Participants take it in turns to use one colour crayon to “speak” on the paper. The attendees at the two workshops were sceptical, most claiming to be “not creative” but surprised themselves with the energy that they could apply to the paper. The result is a conversation that is both community building, creative and fun!

Not only did the participants engage in deep conversations about spirituality (the theme for the conversation was “Child of God” – but we quickly went off topic as the colours and shapes started to appear on the page), they were also made aware of their role within this conversing community.

It became inspiring for the groups as we were reminded that as creative spiritual human beings we are tasked with bringing to life a world that we can’t yet see…..