The setting was timeless, the conversations imaginative, the music heavenly.
On Sept. 30-Oct. 1, 2022, 150 or so people gathered at Glen Eyrie Castle in Colorado Springs for the Anselm Society's 6th Annual Imagination Redeemed Conference. This year we focused on the question: What to Do with the Time Given to You.
You might wonder, what does time have to do with a Renaissance of the Christian Imagination, the mission of the Anselm Society? Why gather artists, patrons and other creatives and thinkers to ponder aeon (eternal time); kairos (opportune time), and chronos (measured time)?
Plenary Speakers
In the castle’s aptly named Great Hall, Paul Buckley started the Conference Friday evening with a plenary talk on “Sacred Time.” He noted that God did not create the universe with one command—as He well could have. God's creative process suggested a process of time-passing (“. . . And the evening and the morning were the first day. . . ” “And the evening and the morning were the second day. . . ”). Paul, a teacher at the Theopolis Institute in Alabama, then walked—and sang—us through the entire book of the Psalms, showing how its cyclical structure follows the birth-death-resurrection pattern we are called to model as we transform the world from dark to light.
On Saturday morning, classicist and educator Heidi White wove our imaginations along ancient paths to discover “The Art of Christian Memory.” Christians must embrace both rational and imaginative (“logos” and “mythos”) approaches to shaping individual lives as well as the greater society. Heidi, a member of the Anselm Society Board of Directors, retold the tales of four ancient women weavers to illustrate the wrong and right way of making art—intertwining experience, beauty, and memory to tell truth and make meaning.
For the afternoon plenary talk, singer-songwriter and essayist Matthew Clark tackled “Extraordinary Time: Living the Moment Like It’s Part of Eternity.” Matthew taught us that time is a gift from God for gestating our relationship with Him. To use another analogy, we are both players and participants in His divine play. God has established the destination of each creature, but we are free to choose the path as He walks beside us.
Breakout Sessions
Three late-morning breakout sessions next took on aeon, kairos, and chronos.
Bible scholar Glenn Paauw talked about scripture as “A Story Full of Time.” Longtime Anselm participants Sarah Stonestreet, Clay Clarkson, and Heidi White discussed “Offering Our Past to Our Children.” And Paul Buckley tackled “Lament: Living Like God Can Redeem the Past.”
Two sets of three breakout sessions enriched Saturday afternoon.
In the first, Colorado Springs pastor Ken Robertson spoke on “Apocalyptic Labor: Why Your Work Now Will Matter Then.” We are creatively building a new earth day by day. Matthew Clark and Ella Mine, both singer-songwriters, and musical director Amber Salladin discussed “Putting Hope in Our Music,” how musicians and composers can portray the hope of Christ in their music without glossing over the hardship of this earthly life. And in a session entitled “The Great Time War,” Anselm Director Brian Brown, podcast host Matt Mellema, and Anselm friend Michelle Drake scrolled through favorite movies and TV shows for insights on how to bring the past, present, and future into harmony.
The last breakout sessions included Christianity Today’s chief creative officer Erik Petrik partnering with Conor Sweetman, editor of Ekstasis, to provide a workshop on “Becoming a People of Welcome.” Cultivating founder and editor Lancia Smith addressed the “Tyranny of the Future: Anxiety and the Search for Freedom.” And Douglas McKelvey, song lyricist, scriptwriter, and author of Every Moment Holy, vols. 1 and 2, explored “Cultivating a 100-Year Vision,” in which we were encouraged to write our own liturgical prayer. The time that's given to us may not include seeing the end of our efforts. All we can do is do our best to bless others, and leave the fruit to the Creator.
Time for Art
Nicole Beck, Kristin, Oil on Panel.
Creating art of any kind requires the artist to believe that the time it takes is worth it. The very first creative act is a reinforcement of the value of creation: God the Master Artist conceived of the universe and then brought His grand idea into matter and form over time.
This principle informed the focus of this year's Art Galley which accompanied the Imagination Redeemed Conference. Curated by Gallery Director Christa Issler, the theme was “Sight + Recite: Artists, Stories & Time.” It featured 16 works of visual art chosen out of numerous submissions. The featured Artist was portrait painter Nicole Beck. (Hear Nicole here on Anselm Society’s Believe to See podcast.)
Visit an online version of the 2022 Imagination Redeemed Art Gallery here to connect with the artists and consider purchasing their work.
Concluding Worship
Every year the Imagination Redeemed Conference culminates in An Offering of Beauty, an elegant and stirring service of readings, songs, dance, art, and prayers. This year was no different.
The program was divided into three sections: an Invitation to Memory, an Invitation to Hope, and an Invitation to Calling.
Fr. Matt Burnett of Holy Trinity Anglican Church served as the officiant. Amber Salladin conducted fellow musicians Hannah Anderson (cello), Fiona Brubaker (viola), Matthew Clark (guitar, voice), RebekahEmery (violin), Terri Moon (violin), and Megan Prahl (harp). She also led the “pop-up” Imagination Redeemed Choir in a rendition of “O Love” by Elaine Hagenberg. Professional dancer Jesse Whitaker of Open Sky Colorado performed a solo and works from the Conference Art Gallery were displayed.
Continue the Conversation
The recorded sessions from the 2022 Imagination Redeemed Conference will soon be available for purchase online, along with bonus material still to be announced. Watch for an announcement in the near future.
In the meanwhile, enjoy "Story Anchors," a post-Conference reflection from Anselm Society regular, Gianna Soderstrom.
Whether or not you were able to attend the Imagination Redeemed Conference, we invite you to consider going a bit deeper with the Anselm Society. Here are some ways to not only encounter our community and become a part of it but to also contribute to it.
Join the Anselm Core Facebook group
Keep learning. Engage with our podcasts.
Volunteer your time or talent.
If a vocational artist on any genre, apply for the Arts Guild.
Dig deeper into our Why We Create series
Visit the series homepage here to get started, or browse related content below.
