Renew Arts + Apologetics conference explores the role of art in the Church

Craig Macartney
Spur Ottawa Writer

Art. One of the most powerful tools of self-expression: it illustrates the values we hold dear, resonates with the heartbeat of each culture, and moves through the passion of generations. Art is unpredictable. It defies boundaries and denies norms.

Some see its power to corrupt, and violently recoil; others see how art inspires, channelling it to build the Kingdom. Here, in that tension, can the Church dance in such a way to display the Creator’s glory?

“In my personal journey, that’s been a struggle,” says Alexandra Yakovleva. “I’ve seen a lot of the dark sides of arts. Art has the capacity to shape how people think. So there is a lot of freedom for individuals to start twisting truth. When I became a Christian, it was very difficult to know how to glorify God with my skills.”

Yakovleva grew up secular and attended a specialized arts school, in Toronto. After coming to faith she found the Church sometimes apathetic, sometimes hostile to the arts.

“From what we understand, this is the very first arts and apologetics conference in Canada.”

“There were definitely times when I was an adolescent where my belief was that I needed to deny myself and go to the ends of the world to do missions, and that that meant no art.”

Yakovleva’s struggle echoes all too familiar with other artists. That challenge sparked a year-long process of launching the RENEW Arts + Apologetics conference. The conference, May 24 and 25, at St. Peter and St. Paul’s Anglican Church, brings together a diverse group of speakers with backgrounds as apologists, pastors, and performers to explore God’s desire for the arts.

“From what we understand, this is the very first arts and apologetics conference in Canada,” she says. “We are meant to celebrate what God has created, not as a means of putting people on a pedestal, but as a means of getting our eyes back on God and realizing, wow, He is a fantastic Creator.”

This year’s focus is on music. Sessions will mix performance, teaching, and discussion. One of the artists involved is Veshone, a Christian rapper from Toronto. Veshone grew up in Church and had a talent for rap and hip hop. However, with the genre so associated with drugs and exploiting women, his church leadership struggled to guide and support him.

“There is this very acute tension an artist has between establishing their own identity as an artist and also knowing how to use that to point to God.”

“It was hard for me to find my place. I had to go to God and say, ‘God, why didn’t you make me a singer?’ What the Lord told me was that rapping is preaching. Then I understood what my calling is in regards to rap. There is a message behind it and God wants to get the message out.”

Veshone says he realized that, no matter how it has been used, God is the one who created rap and every art form. God gives each person unique gifts and talents to use for His glory.

“To push the artistic side of God out of the picture is to take away some of who God is. If we take that away, we take away some glory from what God is doing. When we accept it and use it for how God intended, it draws people toward who Jesus is.”

Yakovleva emphasizes that through the conference they want to help artists gain a view of art beyond what the world teaches. They also want to help pastors and leaders explore how to encourage and equip artists in their faith journey.

“There is this very acute tension an artist has between establishing their own identity as an artist and also knowing how to use that to point to God, instead of pointing to self. We are hoping to give [leaders] practical tools to guide individuals who are pursuing the arts as a means of making much of God.

“This is part of how God wants to manifest Himself to the world. If that means being excellent in the arts, artists need to pursue that diligently to effectively display attributes of God that might not otherwise be seen.”