What if artists collaborated with church leaders? What if they could gain from each other's expertise... the creative's ear for the world and the theologian's exploration of Gods word? What if the open-endedness of art, with its process of creating and listening to God, did not seem so threatening to the average church leader? Wouldn't this be a richer and fuller expression of the kingdom of God in our day?

Confluence refers to the point where multiple rivers flow together. We are gathering artists of all media to listen to God together by creating, composing, and collaborating over three days where God may be heard collectively. 

The Issue

The World has tuned its ear to the language of media. In the past few decades the world has become a media culture that thinks and communicates through the arts. Keeping pace with these changes has been difficult in the church where change can be threatening. But unless the church speaks the language of media and the arts, it has little to say. And when it does speak, it tends to use the arts in a preachy or doctrinally prescriptive way.

The track record for artists flourishing within church circles has been poor. The artist sees what is coming before others or is impassioned by injustice and with prophetic voice may try to express it. They often have been marginalized and misunderstood. The church’s leaders, on the other hand, may have been burned from ever ‘handing the mic’ over to one of the free-spirited creative types. Theologians and leaders are reticent about art that is open-ended and does not connect to truth as understood within the church. The theologian wonders, “Who among the artists and creatives are willing to uphold the truth that Jesus taught us?” The artist wonders, “Can I actually do any art that will be useful to the church and also connect with a postmodern world?”