A church in Loughborough is making its artistic mark on the community thanks to a grant from the diocese’s Intercultural Worshiping Communities Seed Fund.
All Saints with Holy Trinity, who became an Intercultural Worshipping Community (IWC) in 2019, are excited to have embarked upon their ‘We’re All Saints’ project and commissioned bespoke artwork for the church which will lead to collaborative projects with local schools and community groups.
As the title suggests, the paintings will portray four ‘saints’ from across the globe to reflect and welcome the church’s diverse congregation, parish, and town of Loughborough.
The art will act as an invitation to discipleship and an acknowledgement that, according to the New Testament, we are all saints.
The paintings will also be a springboard for a creative arts and RE project in local schools which will be led by RE advisor, Lat Blaylock.
The project will culminate in a summer exhibition, featuring the Loughborough Saints paintings and the schools’ art, as well as food and music from around the world.
Kate Burns, All Saints Church member and project manager, said: “We are delighted to have commissioned Birmingham artist, Eddy Aigbe, to paint the four Saints for Loughborough, which will be rich with symbolism reflecting the story, values and context of All Saints.”
The schools’ RE work has already begun, and will link in to the Leicestershire prescribed RE curriculum, looking at inspirational people from all faiths and none.
Kate added: “Our hope for the church-based discipleship aspect of the project can be summed up in the words of Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians, Chapter 3 verses 17-19.
“That you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have the strength to comprehend along with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”
Alastair Michaelwaite, diocesan IWC project manager, said: “It’s great to see how creatively Seed Funding grants are being used in our communities - especially where they combine events that engage across whole congregations, as well as creating a legacy that can be used beyond the life of the project.”
An Intercultural Worshipping Community (IWC) is a church community where people from different cultural and ethnic heritage deliberately interact with one another in order to deepen their understanding and experience of God and of each other. They learn and grow together to build communities which are transformed, shaped, and moulded from each other’s experiences.
Intercultural Communities is one of our five diocesan strategic priorities, in which we seek to embody the humility of Jesus Christ who spent time with those on the margins of society. 21st Century Britain is now home to people of many different cultures - Leicester more so than many other parts of the country - therefore we are actively seeking ways to welcome, learn from and be changed by people of all cultures.
We have received funding from the national church for this work in order that our churches might become ‘more diverse’. Find out more here.