Thoughts, Prayers, and Visual Art

Confinement, by Tari Watson

The Reverend Tim Jones at St. James Episcopal Church in Hendersonville recently got to combine one of his passions — poetry — with his call to serve. In late September, Jones and fellow parishioners and project coordinators installed a collection of individual visual-art tiles in the church’s courtyard that express themes of fear and hope amid the COVID-19 pandemic. “Participants also wrote their thoughts and impressions, and we are combining those into one poem,” explains Jones. Taken together, the 40 tiles, illustrated by children and adults of the church, comprise Circumference of a Pandemic, a “Co-Create” initiative that’s meant to give the impression of stained glass. The exhibit is slated to be up for a month, after which it will travel to other locations. 

“I want to make the activity of creating accessible for people from all kinds of age groups and life situations, including the people I serve every day at the Rescue Mission, who are often so focused on daily survival that they don’t get to experience the wellbeing that comes from creating,” Jones tells Bold Life. “I hope this first project did some of that, and made people hungry for finding more ways to create together. I also hope it will inspire and encourage others to do the same. 

“I have already been contacted by other churches, and organizations that are not religious, wanting to know how to replicate it. That makes me very happy.”

— Ed.

St. James Episcopal Church, 766 North Main St., Hendersonville, 828-693-7458, stjamesepiscopal.com. 

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