I love museums. I realize that may sound either snooty or nerdy depending on who I’m speaking to, but it’s true. And as much as I love my home town, one of the things I really miss about living in a large city is the opportunity to visit various traveling exhibits. Tyler has always made a goal of cultivating its own arts and cultural community. In the last few years it seems to me that these efforts are starting to show fruit. Between the various events put on by the colleges and those sponsored by various civic groups, Tyler does a pretty good job of offering educational opportunities to the community at large. One example is the new exhibit currently on display at the Tyler Museum of Art entitled: “Object of Devotion: Medieval English Alabaster Sculpture.”
On display are sixty alabaster panel sculptures, on loan from the Victoria and Albert Museumin London. The pieces date to the fifteenth and sixteenth century, and depict various religious scenes. They were originally produced by English artists and served various functions in English churches. In addition to the exhibit itself, a free lecture will be held on Thursday, September fifteenth, at five thirty pm, entitled “Christians Then & Now: Medieval Religious Art and Today’s Church.” The lecture will be presented by Father Matt Boulter, of Christ Episcopal Church in Tyler.
The exhibit will run from September through October, and this is the only stop it will be making, either in our state, or the American southwest. Hopefully Tylerites will avail themselves of the opportunity to experience some significant religious art. Admission is free for museum members and children ages 12 and under. Adult tickets are seven dollars, and student and senior tickets five dollars. To attend Father Matt’s lecture it is necessary to RSVP. Simply call the museum, office at (903) 595-1001. For more information on the exhibit itself, visit the Tyler Museum of Art webpage at http://www.tylermuseum.org/ObjectOfDevotion.aspx .
We here in Tyler are in the middle of Vacation Bible School (VBS), season right now. Churches all over Tyler are either just beginning, or just finishing their summer activities for area children. Summer programs for the kiddos have become culturally ingrained not on only in East Texas but around the country. I remember attending VBS programs as a child, sometimes at churches other than my own. Of course VBS is essentially a week long Sunday school class that runs from about nine in the morning until noon, (depending on the program). Such programs are popular with parents who are always on the lookout for summer activities for their kids. Church programs are great because they’re safe, secure, and the curriculum is of course formative for the student’s faith. They also have the side benefit of allowing parents a few hours of peace and productivity.
The thirtieth of January, Sunday morning, Christ Episcopal Church officially launched its Epiphany Envisioning Service (EES). A couple of weeks back I wrote an article looking forward to the new service but having attended, I thought I’d offer a hindsight view of the event.
Our society has become more and more transient. Fewer people today actually live or stay in the town in which they were born or grew up. In my parent’s generation, men worked for a single company their entire lives in the hopes of retiring and “getting the gold watch.” Today no one seems to work for the same company for much more than five to ten years before deciding it’s time to advance their career elsewhere. The internet, smart phones, lap top computers, ipads and innumerable other technologies have added to our increased mobility. We are a society more on the go than ever before. This mobility (which is both good and bad I think) has even impacted our religious life. It used to be that parishioners were generally life- long members of a particular church. Members were baptized, married and had their children baptized in the same communities. Historically church records have recorded the stories of families for generations. Unfortunately this too is changing. Today people change churches like they do jobs. The effect is often that newer younger churches offer a watered down message in favor of increased music or greater media content. Unfortunately, age old traditions, and important doctrines are often lost to younger Christians. Overall the church (meaning the church universal encompassing all denominations) has done a poor job teaching younger Christians the faith.