Thy Love Inspires March 6

THY LOVE INSPIRES MARCH 6

Gray skies and skeletal crepe myrtle trees broken by a surprising pop-up show of the first jonquils, hyacinths, and camellias. Boots and scarves for weeks, then flip-flops and sunscreen for a day.

Alabama in February.

In every season, hints of hope, what is to come,
“Wrong will be right, when Aslan comes in sight,
At the sound of his roar, sorrows will be no more,
When he bares his teeth, winter meets its death,
And when he shakes his mane, we shall have spring again.”
C. S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

InSpero seeks to brings these hints of hope to our city and churches by bringing moments of beauty to what feels like an “always winter” world. We do this through inspiring creative community to come together and bring good gifts to our city.

Two such events are Thy Love Inspires on March 6 and Magic City Storytellers on May 12.

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For more information, go to Thy Love Inspires website.

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“A few years ago while searching online, I found a Duke Divinity School catalogue of unpublished Charles Wesley texts that had recently been assembled. I grew up in the Methodist church and was familiar with Charles Wesley (he and his brother John founded Methodism), however it wasn’t until I started going to Presbyterian churches that I started appreciating the gifts he brought to the church at large. Charles Wesley was second only to Isaac Watts in the number of hymns selected for corporate worship.

I literally found thousands of completed texts and poems in this catalogue that had never formally been set to music. Texts that dealt with broad theological points of faith as well as with the finer details of life (births, illnesses, deaths). It occurred to me that Charles Wesley wasn’t so impactful because he was so prolific. He was so prolific because he was so inspired.  

There are enough good corporate worship songs to last us for eternity. There isn’t a need to keep writing. However, I believe that though the larger story of God’s mercy and grace are constant and steady, each of our roles in that story are nuanced and emotionally charged. There is certainly something beautiful and reassuring about joining in the same songs with saints of the past 250 years (or even the last five years for a contemporary song). But there is something equally as beautiful about seeing ourselves and interjecting our stories into the words and melodies of traditional hymns, historical texts, Psalms, and even words never before written.“

Thy Love Inspires exists to encourage musical creativity within the church. These events are intended to be an outlet for this continued inspiration and a way for others to corporately share in the offerings of the artists.

Corey is joined by Nathan Gumeinhart, Chandler Parker, Connie and Stokes Skellie, Ashley Spurling, Jesse Suttle, Josh Vigneulle, Adam Wright with a special guest, Will Mason This event is free to the public with a love offering to help cover costs.

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Magic City Storytellers May 12

Mark your calendar for Magic City Storytellers where Inspero host local writers, poets and songwriters at a special evening at the Clubhouse on Highland on Thursday, May 12. More information to come.

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Easter People

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For those of you seeking a way to reflect through the Lent Season, we invite you to the Easter People Facebook page or easter_people on Instagram to see images of art from regional artists and read a brief reflection to prepare for Easter.

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