The Makery is a special multi-use space at All Saints that has been newly renovated with a vision for it to be a creative space where we make – make art, make connections, make meaning, make memories – and it’s all about the Maker.
It’s a shared space that the youth use on a Sunday morning, and other ministries use it when they need to. We also hold contemplative prayer mornings each month, often using the arts or creative process to help us hear and engage with God.
I myself am an artist and art teacher whose favourite medium has been clay since the age of 11!
When I finished school, having studied art and ceramics all the way through, I went to university in the UK, training as an art teacher and wanting to enthuse others with my passion for creating. I felt God leading me back to where I had visited in my gap year, a Christian international school in India, where I taught art, ceramics and dance for six years. I loved teaching there, sharing my love for God and creativity with the students who were keen to learn. 7,000 feet up in the Himalayas, the tramping was great, and we used riverbed clay in the classroom. These were hugely formative years for me creatively, spiritually and professionally.
I then moved back to the UK and met my husband, Tim. While in London, I taught ceramics at a girls' high school, opened my own studio, gave classes and exhibited my work in galleries there. A few years and two children later, God led us to New Zealand, where we have been since 2010. I was so blessed to have a studio in Waikanae where I gave workshops and encouraged both children and adults to be creative in a variety of mediums. It was a great way to reach into the community.
It was in the last couple of years in Waikanae, during times teaching in the studio, that I noticed how, as a group of people were gathered doing things with their hands, creating something beautiful, their conversation went so deep. They unintentionally were creating sacred spaces. This happened again and again. I had been asked by a couple of close friends if I’d ever thought of training as a spiritual director and, until that point, had just dismissed it. But I felt God nudge me again in this area, and I thought perhaps this training would help me to facilitate these conversations better in the future. So last year, I finished the amazingly enriching course through SGM, training as a spiritual director, and now I bring that learning into the creative space, too.
So often we are all in our heads, analysing and processing – which are great skills, but can inhibit us from more of what God has for us as fully embodied human beings. I’ve read that “the arts help us to disciple our senses” and know this to be true for myself.
All Saints wants to be a church that is for “the good of the city” (Jer 29:4-7), and one way The Makery can help explore this is through displaying God's creativity in a variety of ways. I also use The Makery to give after-school art classes and evening clay workshops, and for these, I rent the space from the church.
Last Sunday was the official opening and blessing of The Makery, along with the opening of the Advent Creative Showcase, to which the All Saints congregation were invited to contribute. We had an amazing response to this invitation. The inspiration needed to fit the theme “Anchored in Hope”, and the piece of work had to be 12”x12”.
More than 20 creative expressions of this are on display in The Makery for the whole of Advent. So come and take a look! Opening times for Advent Creative Showcase:
We’re experimenting with ways that God wants to facilitate encounters and build connections. We’ve been having conversations with local schools and agencies about how we can partner together. There are other possibilities in the pipeline too, and we’re openly listening for what God might want to use it for, so watch this space!
Check out other articles in the
series below.
More articles in the
series are to come.
We have invited these writers to share their experiences, ideas and opinions in the hope that these will provoke thought, challenge you to go deeper and inspire you to put your faith into action. These articles should not be taken as the official view of the Nelson Diocese on any particular matter.
The Makery is a special multi-use space at All Saints that has been newly renovated with a vision for it to be a creative space where we make – make art, make connections, make meaning, make memories – and it’s all about the Maker.
It’s a shared space that the youth use on a Sunday morning, and other ministries use it when they need to. We also hold contemplative prayer mornings each month, often using the arts or creative process to help us hear and engage with God.
I myself am an artist and art teacher whose favourite medium has been clay since the age of 11!
When I finished school, having studied art and ceramics all the way through, I went to university in the UK, training as an art teacher and wanting to enthuse others with my passion for creating. I felt God leading me back to where I had visited in my gap year, a Christian international school in India, where I taught art, ceramics and dance for six years. I loved teaching there, sharing my love for God and creativity with the students who were keen to learn. 7,000 feet up in the Himalayas, the tramping was great, and we used riverbed clay in the classroom. These were hugely formative years for me creatively, spiritually and professionally.
I then moved back to the UK and met my husband, Tim. While in London, I taught ceramics at a girls' high school, opened my own studio, gave classes and exhibited my work in galleries there. A few years and two children later, God led us to New Zealand, where we have been since 2010. I was so blessed to have a studio in Waikanae where I gave workshops and encouraged both children and adults to be creative in a variety of mediums. It was a great way to reach into the community.
It was in the last couple of years in Waikanae, during times teaching in the studio, that I noticed how, as a group of people were gathered doing things with their hands, creating something beautiful, their conversation went so deep. They unintentionally were creating sacred spaces. This happened again and again. I had been asked by a couple of close friends if I’d ever thought of training as a spiritual director and, until that point, had just dismissed it. But I felt God nudge me again in this area, and I thought perhaps this training would help me to facilitate these conversations better in the future. So last year, I finished the amazingly enriching course through SGM, training as a spiritual director, and now I bring that learning into the creative space, too.
So often we are all in our heads, analysing and processing – which are great skills, but can inhibit us from more of what God has for us as fully embodied human beings. I’ve read that “the arts help us to disciple our senses” and know this to be true for myself.
All Saints wants to be a church that is for “the good of the city” (Jer 29:4-7), and one way The Makery can help explore this is through displaying God's creativity in a variety of ways. I also use The Makery to give after-school art classes and evening clay workshops, and for these, I rent the space from the church.
Last Sunday was the official opening and blessing of The Makery, along with the opening of the Advent Creative Showcase, to which the All Saints congregation were invited to contribute. We had an amazing response to this invitation. The inspiration needed to fit the theme “Anchored in Hope”, and the piece of work had to be 12”x12”.
More than 20 creative expressions of this are on display in The Makery for the whole of Advent. So come and take a look! Opening times for Advent Creative Showcase:
We’re experimenting with ways that God wants to facilitate encounters and build connections. We’ve been having conversations with local schools and agencies about how we can partner together. There are other possibilities in the pipeline too, and we’re openly listening for what God might want to use it for, so watch this space!
Check out other articles in the
series below.
More articles in the
series are to come.
