Creative Corridors Coalition: Aesthetics in our Community

I love my "job!"  I have the honor of being paid to represent Calvary Baptist Church in our community (Forsyth and Davie County).  I have the honor of learning about the strengths of our community and understanding the deficits or "opportunities of involvement" as I should say.  I have the honor of meeting many people from various backgrounds; this is refreshing to an extrovert.  I have the honor of making our church aware of the realities of our city and how we can be involved in the flourishing of our city.  I love it.  I absolutely love it.

This afternoon I was refreshed by a meeting I attended.  It may seem like an unconventional meeting for someone on church staff.  Maybe not.  The meeting I attended was the first of several community meetings for the Creative Corridors Coalition.  The Creative Corridors Coalition (CCC) is a nonprofit organization created to provide a voice and a process for residents of Winston Salem and Forsyth County to influence the design and implementation of roadway infrastructure projects in and around the downtown area.  It is the collaboration of a number of various and influential organizations who want to use the inevitable renovations of various corridors (Businuess 40, MLK Drive, etc.) as a means to create artistic expressions that represent the spirit of Winston-Salem.  The desire is to incorporate the artistic flavor that permeates our city into architectural designs.  After all, we are "The City of the Arts." 

Pretty spiritual meeting, huh?!

As a believer, I consider aesthetics to be of great importance.  In the created world we inhabit, we have the opportunity to reflect our nature as image bearers of the The Creator.  We can create.  Listen to my friend and co-worker, Matt Capps, as he communicates the Christian's relationship to beauty through an excerpt of an article entitled "Theosthetics: Thoughts From The Intersection of Aesthetics and Worship."  Matt writes, "Being created in the image of God specifically gives us as human beings the capacity to acknowledge and appreciate beauty. I doubt that we will hear an account of a golden retriever climbing to the highest point in the land in order to take in the beauty of God’s vast creation. Humans are the only beings to whom God gave this capacity. But along with this capacity comes a great responsibility. Just as believers have defended the Christian notions of truth and goodness, we should also labor to show the one true God as the source of all that is beautiful. This universal concept of Beauty must be grounded in that which is absolutely beautiful, God himself. In moving beyond mere apprehension, we must acknowledge that being created in God’s image also entails another important mandate involving creative ability." 

In the Spirit of the Lord spoken through the prophet, Jeremiah, my desire is to seek the "shalom" of Winston-Salem; to seek it's prosperity (Jeremiah 29).  I want my city to thrive including in the arts.  I want Winston-Salem to overflow with aesthetic beauty as an expression of God's presence and common grace to all Winston-Salem neighbors.  Consequently, I want to place myself in any area where I might have influence towards this end.  I want to express it not only in my home, on my property, within my church, and community, but also in the larger city.  I reckon the Creative Corridors Coalition is a great place to pursue the beauty of our larger city. 

I couldn't help but think as I sat in the initial meeting today, "I hope there are a lot of Christians in this room.  I hope that Christians are at the forefront of this effort - if not by nature of the organization, then in the mass of our numbers from the motivation of hearts desiring to reflect the beauty of God in our city.

If you're a Winston-Salem neighbor, you can join the coalition too!  click here.