“We are by nature, by definition, creative beings…We are people who collect stories,” said Pastor Russ Ramsey. This began Covenant College’s 2022 Kingdom Life Conference, which took place from Jan. 31 - Feb. 2.
image by Nate Stewart
Over these three days, Covenant students learned about their role as creative beings and storytellers through Pastor Ramsey’s chapel talk on story in the Bible, as well as his lectures on the artwork of Vincent Van Gogh and Michelangelo. Pastor Ramsey spoke on how imagination is necessary to a Christian’s understanding of Scripture. He also talked about why Christians should care about art and what art can teach people about their relationship with God and others.
As part of the Kingdom Life Conference events, Pastor Ramsey spoke in chapel on Monday, Jan. 31, about story and imagination in the Bible, and gave an afternoon lecture on Van Gogh’s The Red Vineyard. On Tuesday, students were treated to a Q&A session with Pastor Ramsey hosted by Chaplain Grant Lowe and Stephanie Fromenti. There were also opportunities to attend lunch or dinner with him that day. And, on Wednesday morning, Pastor Ramsey concluded the conference with a chapel talk on Michelangelo’s David.
Pastor Ramsey is a graduate of Covenant Theological Seminary and Senior Pastor of First Presbyterian Church, Cool Springs (PCA) in Nashville, Tennessee. When he’s not busy with his family or church, Pastor Ramsey studies and writes about art. He is one of the founders of the Rabbit Room, and he has a new book releasing in March of this year called Rembrandt is in the Wind.
Pastor Ramsey is passionate about making art accessible to all people because he believes art is a deeply human experience. During the conference, he encouraged students to be more active consumers of art. His main goal is to “take some of the intimidation away,” he said. “Art doesn’t require a lot of time.” Engaging with art can be as simple as taking a trip to the museum and reading the plaques by the artwork.
Pastor Ramsey kept his talks grounded in his belief that we are creative beings. From reading Scripture to viewing art, we should have engaged imaginations. The Bible itself is an invitation to imagine, to read the text “as human beings not as mere data collectors,” Ramsey said. He encouraged students to see the Bible as deeply human to better understand God’s purposes in human history. “The Bible is a text filled with imagery and sequence and detail and real-world analogies,” he said.
His exhortation to read Scripture by paying attention to detail was appreciated by students.
“I really love the idea that the Bible was written in thrift, meaning that there were not enough resources for the biblical authors to elaborate on a mass of details. This means that when a detail is mentioned it is mentioned intentionally. This encourages me to interrogate the text of Scripture in my personal devotion which I have consistently found to be a fruitful exercise,” said Casen Bailey ’24.
In addition, Pastor Ramsey spent time discussing how story and imagination influences the way we view art. When lecturing on Van Gogh’s The Red Vineyard and Michelangelo’s David, Pastor Ramsey spoke on how their artwork represents broken artists in a broken world that is longing for eternal glory and the renewal of all things. To tell their stories, he read excerpts from his upcoming book.
Pastor Ramsey looked at art from a biblical perspective. When asking students why humans cherish artistic and beautiful things, his answer was that humanity is always searching for more. “We are in search for a deeper glory we know we were made for…All to join we who are perishing to something eternal,” he said. Lydia Dorman ’24 enjoyed this aspect of his lectures. “I’ve always been captivated by stories, art, and nature, and I think Pastor Ramsey tied it all in with human nature really well and our longing for God,” she said.
The conference ended with an exhortation to the student body. Just like an artist creates imperfect artwork within the bound of certain limits, Pastor Ramsey reminded students of their own imperfection and their own limits. Taylor Rodgers ’25 enjoyed this part of his lecture. “All of us experience our own set of limitations in life…However, by working with the limitations we are offered, Pastor Ramsey suggests that we can become part of the body of Christ. This body is suggested to itself be a type of sculpture, a beautiful piece of art,” Rodgers said.
Through the 2022 Kingdom Life Conference, Pastor Ramsey pointed the Covenant community to the wonder of imagination and story in the Christian life. He taught that art shows how humanity is broken, but it also points to hope and glory. “Beauty, but it's decaying, but we have hope beyond this,” is how Dorman described his message. From the paintings of Van Gogh to the sculptures of Michelangelo, Pastor Ramsey reminded students that “art points to the eternal,” and the pages of Scripture are alive with “wondrous details.”