Wonder walls
Seen & Unseen is a new online Christian magazine that seeks to bridge the divide between the “seen” of our everyday lives—economics, politics, society, law, the arts, the planet and its future—and the “unseen” realities of the Kingdom of God and spiritual realm. Its name is taken from a line in the Nicene Creed,
We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is,
seen and unseen.
… which is in turn taken from a line in the New Testament (2 Corinthians 4:18)
The brainchild of Graham Tomlin, former Bishop of Kensington and currently Director of the Centre for Cultural Witness, Seen & Unseen seeks to tackle the things that we can see in the light of the things that we cannot see. Tomlin writes, “Our task on this website is not to answer simplistic questions with simplistic answers, but to ask ourselves and others: what do politics, economics, the arts, technology, biology, leisure, geography, housing - in other words everything - look like in the light of the coming of Jesus into the world.”
The magazine brings commentators from all walks of life, expert and lay, to ask the question: what difference does Christianity make on individuals, communities, and nations? What is the impact of our faith on history and culture, and how can we bring a Christian perspective to bear on the big themes and questions of our culture, and the news stories of today?
Last month, our very own new Bishop of Bolton, Matthew Porter, wrote a guest article for Seen and Unseen. In it Bishop Matthew describes his first impressions of Manchester and its contrasts—the creative and artistic energy of the city, but also its poorer and less optimistic side.
But his overwhelming first impression of the city is one of activity, hard work, and creative buzz. As a way of delving deeper into this and getting to know the city, he recently visited Aviva Studios, and the article recounts what he found. Aviva is based in the old Granada TV studios and provides a space for creative entrepreneurs—artists, dancers, musicians, storytellers—to work, interact and perform.
The highlight for our Bishop was an exhibition called “Inside Out”, a display of two hundred black and white photographic portraits of ordinary Mancunians laid out on a concrete floor. In a serendipitous turn of events, Bishop Matthew found himself looking at a particularly arresting portrait of a woman at the exact time that she turned up to see it. He writes, “I was thrilled: the person behind one face out of two hundred that had caught my attention, happened to turn up at the exact moment I was there! It made me feel strangely connected to the installation and with the people of Manchester they represented. Such is the connective power of art!”
Our Bishop left the exhibition reflecting on the nature and power of creativity, and its place in our faith. Historically, it has been churches and Christians that have driven the creative arts and today, he writes, while many churches do continue to struggle to attract members, he feels there is more innovation and creativity among many church leaders than he has seen in a long time. His prayer for our city and the whole of the north is that our creative efforts would “stir our souls, and cause us to wonder at the Most Creative One, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Read the article here.