St Clare’s at the Cathedral have launched a new resource for churches, “Face to Face with Jesus” featuring 40 postcards portraying images of Jesus Christ from through the ages and around the world.
Since the earliest days of the church, Christians have depicted Jesus in art. From AD 300 the familiar image of a bearded man with long hair began to emerge, which is still prominent even in much contemporary art. Images often reflect the ethnicity of the culture they were created in as well as the artistic style of the era. Every aspect of Jesus’ life, death, resurrection and kingship have been depicted.
The Revd Charlotte Gale, who has created this resource writes:
“These postcards are a tiny snapshot of a countless multitude. There are pictures of Jesus from a wide range of times, places and styles, depicting his incarnation, passion, and resurrected life. They include two new artworks created by members of the St Clare’s community. They are designed to encourage people to think and to pray, in worship, discussions, or private devotions. They can easily be added to with other images. Most of all, they will, we hope, enable people to draw closer to the Jesus we are called to follow.”
“Face to Face with Jesus” is available now for £25 from stclaresatthecathedral.org. It is accompanied by a blog containing ideas for using the resource, and a PowerPoint presentation containing all the images. All profits go towards funding St Clare’s, a pioneer church community, based at Coventry Cathedral.
St Clare’s was launched in 2017 by Revds Charlotte Gale and Naomi Nixon as a new worshipping community in the heart of the city, with a vision to be “a home to the spiritually seeking, to those who have wandered away from God, to those who never knew him and to those who have lost their faith in the church.”
They took over the run-down old gift shop at the Cathedral and decided to open a new shop, to be a place of encounter and mission, as well as being the main source of funding for the community.
Revd Charlotte says:
“We knew that if the community was going to be financially sustainable long term, we needed to be tent makers, finding creative ways to make money to pay for the ministry. Our goal was to find a way of doing this that also supported and resourced other churches”.
As well as innovative and imaginative worship resources, St Clare’s Shop also sells church supplies, ethically sourced gifts, and clerical wear. During lockdown, they took the opportunity to expand and grow their online shop, and now have customers all over the UK.
Find out more on the St Clare's website.