Welcome back! Today, I thought I would have a change of pace and recommend some of the best online resources for Christian artists that I have found. These are sites I have personally found helpful, along with a few more recent discoveries. I hadn’t seen all of them collected in one place, so I wanted to help people discover them easily. Here they are, in no particular order.
1. The Breath and the Clay/Makers and Mystics Podcast
https://www.thebreathandtheclay.com/
https://www.makersandmystics.com/
I discovered this group via their podcast, which primarily discusses issues relevant to artists of faith. These include community building, profiles of artists from the past, the urge for transcendence in art, etc. They host The Breath and the Clay conference every year to help artists build community with each other and improve their craft. I would love to attend one of these conferences in the future if I am able. I have found their content very helpful as I form thoughts about arts and the Christian church. Let’s go on to our next resource, which is one of my personal favorites of this list.
2. Ryanne Molinari
This next selection is written by one of my good friends, actually. Ryanne was one of the first people I met who I could discuss my thoughts about Christian-based artwork with. She is a professional pianist who discusses many different subjects surrounding Christian worship music and art. She’s also working on a book for Crossway publishers discussing what high-quality worship music should look like in church services relating to the Fruits of the Spirit. Now for the next resource on my list, which is…
3. Reawaken Hymns
https://www.reawakenhymns.com/
This is a website for a Christian artist who arranges hymns for modern-style worship. I discovered this one because Ryanne was a guest on one of the episodes. I have felt that many people get intimidated by the complexity of hymns from the past if they didn’t grow up hearing them in church. This is a great way to introduce people to the deep theology found in hymns that is lacking in a lot of modern worship music.
4. Leading Worship Well
https://www.leadingworshipwell.com/
This website/Youtube channel is devoted to giving worship leaders practical tips to improve their craft on stage. Worship leading can be a difficult profession, and many worship leaders feel they are caught between a rock and a hard place. High demands are placed on them from both the congregation and pastors to make the music accessible to the whole congregation while still being edifying to their faith. They are also given very limited resources to put their musical ideas into practice. This website shares advice on everything from talking between worship songs, using Bible verses effectively in worship, and how to keep musicians from leaving your worship band. The next resource on my list speaks to an issue I have noticed with arts in both the secular and Christian world, which is marketing your art effectively.
5. Brightbell Creative
https://www.brightbellcreative.com/
This website is from the same host as The Breath and the Clay, and is a marketing firm for Christian artists. Many artists of faith struggle to gain a large following for their work in a market saturated with other artists of faith. Artists also feel that they have to sacrifice their integrity as an artist in order to market their work. This marketing firm is designed around helping Christian artists market their work without “selling out” to the lowest common denominator. Let’s move on to my next resource, which is a more recent discovery of mine.
6. Soul|Makers/Convergence
https://www.soulmakers.org/bemakedo
This is a similar site to The Breath and the Clay that focuses on creating a movement of Christian artists who put great spiritual depth into their artworks. Christian artists often feel restricted by the expectations of other Christians who feel that art should be focused on preaching. This robs artists of full creative freedom to portray all aspects of their life, comfortable and uncomfortable. This website helps artists understand their calling and purpose as artists, as well as connecting them to other artists. The next selection is another one of my favorites from this list, which is…
7. Renew the Arts
This podcast/blog is centered around how to improve the relationship between the church and artists. I also discovered them because of Ryanne being featured on one of the episodes. They discuss topics ranging from worship music, deconstruction and art, and many other subjects. The podcast has helped shape my opinions on how Christians should respond to art and culture. It was also the gateway to me discovering many of the other resources I mentioned earlier. The podcast doesn’t release episodes often, but each episode contains a wealth of information that is helpful for Christian artists. I have one last resource to mention that I recently discovered before I close out for the day.
8. Worship Minstry Training
This site is another resource intended to help worship leaders improve the quality of their craft. It provides many free resources that worship leaders can use (along with online courses) to make their worship more impactful.
Conclusion
Those are all the different resources I have uncovered over the last few years of my journey as an artist of faith. I have found many of them to be very helpful in that journey, and hope that you all feel the same. Let me know what you think of them, and if you have any more resources you can recommend. That’s all I have for today. See you next time!
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