‘Building Altars’ Through the Arts

In mid-October, The Salvation Army’s Southern Territorial Arts Ministries (TAM) team came together in New York City for a weekend of reflection, training, and creative revitalization. The ensemble, made up of 15 members on this weekend, began its four-day ministry journey on Thursday, October 16 with a staged reading at The Salvation Army Times Square Corps.

Three TAM members — Caitlin Jackson, Katelyn Ljungholm, and Captain Jason Quinn — auditioned and participated alongside professional actors from the New York City area in a reading of “Measure for Measure,” by William Shakespeare. This was organized by Chris Monroe, artistic director of Theater 315 at the Times Square Corps, and was an opportunity for TAM to both support their own and take part in a rare experience.

“It was so interesting to see how the corps uses this niche way to engage with their artistic community,” says Bethany Farrell, territorial creative arts director and TAM leader. “Not only was it a fun evening to be a part of, but it also sparked a lot of conversations about how we can creatively attract and minister to artists in our own communities.”

The next day brought a chance for TAM to engage in an activity referred to by Farrell as “building altars” with a focus on what God has done and will do in the future.

“We spent all of Friday morning together in prayer and reflection, which was a highlight of the whole weekend,” Farrell says. “We read together from Joshua 4, when the Israelites built a monument of twelve stones as a tangible reminder of God’s provision and care. We have seen God do incredible things in our own lives and through the ministry of TAM, and we want to be intentional about speaking them out loud and sharing them to testify to God’s goodness.”

“We individually wrote down moments in time when God showed up, when He did miraculous things, when He was very present in what we were doing,” Farrell continues. “We shared our post-it note reflections and built a visual representation of all these times that God made himself known to us. This devotional time was powerful in itself, but reflecting back gave clarity as we look forward to the future, as well.”

After spending the rest of Friday in rehearsal and seeking inspiration in the city, TAM joined RePlay, an Eastern Territorial group focused on playback theatre, to observe their performance at the Manhattan Adult Rehabilitation Center. The group describes playback theatre as “creating a ritual space where any story — however ordinary, extraordinary, funny, or cherished — might be told and transformed into moving art.”

Farrell shared excitement in being able to “add the skill of playback theatre to our ministry toolbelt.”

“Playback theater allows us to enter a space and honor the people and the stories in it,” she says. “Not only is it fun and entertaining, it also has the potential to be powerful and impactful testimony art, highlighting what God has done in people’s lives.”

Following the chance to observe a moving performance on Friday night, Saturday brought an opportunity for the two territorial arts teams to work together and train in playback theater forms and technique, led by Kathryn Higgins, territorial arts ministries director for the Eastern Territory. “It was so much fun to come together with our brothers and sisters in the East, doing something we all love and stretching ourselves in the process,” Farrell says.

TAM concluded their weekend ministry by participating in a celebratory Sunday at the Times Square Corps. The team offered a call to worship with a presentation of Psalm 139 that married the recitation of God’s holy Word with movement and music. The TAM team returned to their homes that afternoon with this psalm on their hearts, a reminder of God’s loving presence that has been with them from the very beginning and will continue alongside them to the very end.

“Artists are often called on to serve, create, share, give, and pour out our gifts,” Farrell says. “It is an honor and a privilege that we get to do this, and TAM loves every opportunity that we have to share the gospel through art. But it’s important that we also take time to pour into our artists, that we give them space to learn new skills, to absorb other forms of creativity and expression, to rest in beauty. My prayer is that every member of the team felt that sense of restoration and that they went home from this weekend feeling refreshed, refilled, and ready to continue sharing their gifts with others.”