I love words. Language can soar so far and reach so high to touch the stars and bring us down to earth again in a moment. Words work; marvellously!

So I love to preach and I relish stories. I delight in scripture. I practice hard to let words work their craft in worship. And in this I think I honour my Reformed inheritance, for words that bring God’s Word to life in preaching, prayer and praise have been the foundation of our tradition’s worship.

But there is more going on here.

For this love of language speaks of the need to communicate. God communicates with us: incarnate in Jesus of Nazareth; spoken of and speaking in every page of the Bible; touching and teaching as the Spirit gives the words of scripture life to us. Our words, at their best, communicate God’s love and passion to the world. Our words, at their best, voice our faithfulness and longing to God. We are made to communicate.

So, if communicating is at the heart of worship, might we use more than words? What of the visual arts?

The Reformers, deeply suspicious that pictures and sculptures could distract attention from God, said “No.” The risk of crowding out God by filling churches with idols was too great. So whilst an artist like Rembrandt could create hundreds of miracles in paint and pen that brought biblical stories to life in Calvinist Holland, his art hung upon the walls of homes and never in churches.

That was then. Now I find a different answer. The risk of idolatry has not vanished. The possibility that art can be a distraction in our worship remains. But, used wisely and used well, I think art can communicate with stunning power the reality of God and the depths of faith. I don’t want to cast away our words. But I want to communicate God’s love and let each and every one of us in worship speak to God. I want to set worship free to touch the world without the world having to come into our buildings. And I have found that art can do these things and compliment our words. Art works by being evocative and provocative. It can invite us to feel something. And in the feeling I think we can sometimes find God. Art can bring a space for worship to life. A picture can loiter with intent on a street corner or in a corridor, allowing contemplation long after the last “Amen” of worship.

So, here’s a picture. A baby sleeps. And this baby could simply find a home in the space in which worship happens. It could simply be there as a part of our praise, a sign of the wonderful fragility of the life which God blesses us with.

But this picture could do more. If we had the right permission, and didn’t break copyright, we could copy the picture and let everyone coming to worship hold it. Imagine a service for Christmas with this picture in our hands. How might the art help us to communicate within a service that explored the Incarnation, or our own vulnerability, or being held within the grace of God?

Postcards are a great way of getting a good reproduction of countless artworks into congregational hands. You can let the pictures speak in the context of meditative stillness or as music plays. They can be the starting point for prayers. You can invite people to break open a biblical passage by talking about how they respond to how an artist has portrayed it. I’ve found that talking about the art gives permission for people to share profoundly with one another. You can preach on the pictures as a way of bringing the texts to life.

Art can be projected in worship. Slides, the overhead projector and data projectors with computers can all transform a service if used well. A few simple and memorable images can linger long after all the words have been forgotten. Imagine letting the photographers of the congregation loose on a theme like baptism! What treasure God might communicate in the pictures they took. Then get the photos on display in the local library and let the worship run free!

And art can be created within worship. Imagine stations in the worship space with clay and paper, paint and charcoal and the congregation flowing from one to another, lingering to play and to express and to ponder. For some of us it might be a nightmare scenario. So don’t do it. Give people permission not to do things as much as invitations to have a go. But for some of us it could be the most truly worshipful thing we’ve done in many long years. Worship like this could be fine on Sunday morning, but it could also cascade out into the mid-week Bible study and the coffee morning. The limits of possibility are only our imaginations.

I love words. But maybe words aren’t the only way to worship.

If you want one great book to carry on this line of thought, I recommend The Arts in Your Church: A Practical Guide, by Fiona Bond (Carlisle: Piquant, 2001).