Boston pastor, jazz musician to demonstrate church revitalization through music and drama Oct. 4

RICHMOND, Va. (September 24, 2018) – Are worship and the arts viable methods for building community? How can music and drama support the efforts of community engagement?

On October 4, 2018, at Union Presbyterian Seminary, 3401 Brook Road, Richmond, Virginia, 23227, learn the story of a small Massachusetts congregation that used community organizing, theater programs, and relationship building to revitalize a ministry and enliven an urban neighborhood.

Fourth Presbyterian Church of South Boston was near closing when it embraced a commitment to serve its surrounding low-to-moderate neighborhood with community organizing and a variety of ministries, including a community music and art program. One piece of that program grew into a popular children’s musical theater program for the neighborhood, which then fed the congregation’s growing use of music, drama and even musical theater in its worship and congregational life.

Leading these workshops is the Rev. Burns Stanfield, who has served as the church’s pastor for the last 27 years, and led its afterschool offerings in music, art and children’s theater. He is also a musician and an instructor at Harvard Divinity School and Andover Newton Seminary. Stanfield is the current president of the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization, and IAF-affiliated organization working on health care, affordable housing and criminal justice reform.

The Carl Howie Center for Science, Art, and Theology sponsors presentations through which church leaders recognize and engage the insights and implications of the interplay of science, art, and theology for theological expression and the practice of ministry.

This year’s event, “It’s Showtime! Art, Organizing, and Building Community One Musical at a Time: The Revitalization of Fourth Presbyterian Church, South Boston,” features two separate opportunities to explore the practice of community organizing through music and drama:

12:30 p.m. – Pre-seminar complimentary lunch, Holderness Dining Room (registration only required for lunch)
1:30 – 4:30 p.m. – Interactive Seminar & Conversation, Paisley Hall  – Stanfield will showcase tools and exercises combining music, story-telling, and drama for ministry and community-building
7:30 – 9:00 p.m. – Workshop & Presentation of Musical Theater, Lake Chapel  – A reception in the Early Center will follow the evening workshop.

The Howie Center events are free and open to the public. Produced by the seminary’s Leadership Institute, they are designed to bring community members together through the intersection of science, art, and theology. The center generously provides funding for lectures, seminars, and displays at Union Presbyterian Seminary once or twice a year, featuring artists, scientists, and/or theologians in conversation about a particular topic.

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Contact:
Mike Frontiero
Director of Communications
Union Presbyterian Seminary
mfrontiero@upsem.edu

High-resolution images:
Teen theater at Fourth Presbyterian Church
Children’s theater at Fourth Presbyterian Church

Low-resolution image:
Rev. Burns Stanfield

Social:
Updates will be posted on Facebook.
The event will be streamed via Facebook Live beginning at 7:30 p.m. To watch, visit Union Presbyterian Seminary’s Facebook page.