Murals from Montreat
Dr. Ed Moore, Organist/Music Director
Each June the Presbyterian Association of Musicians (PAM) gather in Montreat, NC for our annual Worship and Music Conference. The conference is offered twice in two identical back-to-back weeks. This year I attended the second week. Each year, along with lots of great music and worship, there is an artist in residence that leads classes throughout the week and the art presented in worship.
This year’s artist was Steve Prince. Part of his contributions to the conference were large murals that were displayed throughout Anderson Auditorium, where the daily worship services were held. I found these murals to be very compelling and enjoyed meeting Steve and hearing about how these murals came to be. At the end of the second week, the murals were auctioned off, with proceeds benefiting the PAM Annual Fund. I bid on a pair of the murals (see Day 4 description below) and won the auction, with the hope that I could share them with the ELPC community.
Throughout the week at Montreat as I looked at these murals, I could picture them hanging in our sanctuary. I shared pictures of the murals and the story behind them our Worship, Music, and the Arts Committee (WMA) after I returned from Montreat and discussed having them displayed in the sanctuary this fall.
Steve Prince graciously sent a narrative for the entire set of murals, putting the two I acquired in context with the others and the entire week at Montreat. His descriptions, as well as pictures of all the murals as they were displayed in Montreat, are below. The denomination also produced a video of Steve talking about his artwork for the conference:
Murals Installed in ELPC Sanctuary
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Special thanks to Tim Englehardt for his assistance in hanging the murals in the sanctuary.
I know it was the Blood
Steve Prince, Art Evangelist
https://steveprincestudio.com/
The banners created for the Presbyterian Association of Musicians Worship and Music Conference at Montreat, NC are part of a series titled I know it was the Blood. Each day I erected a new component that amplified the conference theme, Thirst No More.
Day 1 – The congregation witnessed two 12’ woodcut figures of a pregnant woman and a man holding a “man-fish.” The man represents the call that Christ charged his disciples to be fishers of men, whereas the woman is a life carrier and a water bearer symbolized by the fruit of her womb and the amniotic fluid in her belly. They stand at the altar, answering to the call.
(clicking on the photos will open them in a new tab)
Day 2 – I hung two 13’ banners with two people walking away from the altar but looking back as if someone was calling them to return.
Day 3 – I hung two banners that revealed a couple carrying the weight of mental burdens of foreclosure, Black Lives Matter, Hurricane Katrina, lynching, the missile crisis, human trafficking, 9/11, school massacres, and the opioid epidemic.
Day 4 – The banners represent the fall of mankind to their knees, crying for God’s help. God reminds us of the scripture and the everlasting water the Bible contains that will feed our spirit eternally. He reminds us that His sacrifice is the key that unlocks our salvation.
Day 5 – The couple walk toward the cross/altar in a posture of acceptance of His call, with a contrite heart.
Day 6 – They lift their hands in praise, and the burden is lifted and they proclaim hallelujah! On the altar the risen Christ appears, and the evidence of His sacrifice symbolized by the keyholes in His hands and feet erases any doubt we may have. Hanging from His arms and the hem of His garment are the stories of the community symbolically placing their burdens upon the altar, with a prayer of restoration. On Christ’s body His words are amplified, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” – Matthew 11: 28
Song:
I Know It Was The Blood
I know it was the blood,
I know it was the blood,
I know it was the blood for me.
One day when I was lost
He died on the cross.
I know it was the blood for me.
