Derek Webb & Sandra McCracken At Hope College All Day, March 2

Announcement of visiting artists, Derek Webb and Sandra McCracken

March 2, 2012

Please join us as we welcome husband and wife Derek Webb and Sandra McCracken to Hope College. Derek and Sandra will appear in our:

10:30 AM worship service, Dimnent Chapel

3:00 PM Seminar/Discussion, Hemenway Auditorium, Martha Miller Center

8:00 PM performance, DeWitt Theater $5 student/$10 public. Doors open at 7:30pm. With special guest: Just Married of Grand Rapids.

 SEMINAR/DISCUSSION DESCRIPTION

"The Christian Artist Vocation: Worshipper or Activist? A Conversation With Husband & Wife, Derek Webb & Sandra McCracken"

An important question that might occur to a young Christian seeking to discern her calling as an artist is, “should my creative gifts be directed toward explicit Christian spirituality and worship (heaven) or toward a Christian perspective of how we shall live (earth)?”

Are these tensions between a heavenly or earthly focus arbitrary?

Are some artists explicitly called to emphasize on one rather than the other?

Should all artists stretch to incorporate both within the scope of their life’s work?
How have each of these two artists wrestled with these questions individually?

How have these artists wrestled with these questions as a married couple?

How have these artists wrestled with these questions as artistic collaborators?

Derek Webb has had a prolific career as a Christian artist whose music does not necessarily always address what might seem on the surface to be explicitly Christian topics. His solo work has been considered controversial in the way he has addressed topics of poverty, war, gender identity and government.

Sandra McCraken has also had a substantial music career starting as part of Indelible Grace, the worship ministry of Reformed University Fellowship at Belmont University. She has also released eight solo records along with two EPs with Derek.

While Sandra’s recordings as a singer/songwriter cover many topics, she has freely engaged corporate worship music as a genre. Conversely, Derek’s only explicitly worshipful offering of music is Feedback, nine instrumental songs responding to the Lord’s Prayer.