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A NIGHT OF HOPE is a powerful and restorative event led by Blake Flattley, Tanner Olson, and Heidi Goehmann, designed to meet people where they are—with honesty, creativity, and hope…
In this interview, we sit down with songwriter Matt Doering. We talk about how creativity changes as your family grows, rituals and routines, and his latest project, Developing.
The morning begins with a whisper of light,
a slow, steady sunrise,
spilling gold across the sky.
The Paris Olympics took place in the summer of 2024. Paris, the city of love and romance and bodily freedom, played host to some of the most fit bodies in the world competing for precious metals. We love the Olympics because they…
Author and spoken word poet Tanner Olson and singer/songwriter Blake Flattley, have created something truly unique: Evenings of Music & Poetry — intimate gatherings that go far beyond…
I was reading David Zahl’s latest, The Big Relief: The Urgency of Grace for a Worn-Out World, and along the way, I started thinking about what the relief he describes would look like in a local congregation. I resonated with the idea that “The church has been the place I go when there’s no place left to go” for relief…
At CommunionArts, we’ve just concluded our meditative journey on Daily Lectio through Paul’s prayers for the church, and today we begin walking with Jesus through the Sermon on the Mount. Over the next three weeks, Daily Lectio will guide us through Matthew 5–7.
We hear a lot about the prophet Elijah in the church, very little about his successor, Elisha. I find that curious because Elisha’s impact on the narrative of God was enormous. When the prophetic mantle is first being passed, Elisha asks…
I love it when people work together to create something completely unique or hilarious, or joyful, or truly heartbreaking. And the most lifegiving thing is just having a community of people you can be with and know you’re not alone. The most affirming thing is to see someone say or do something about songwriting and think, “Oh, that’s not just me?”…
Sometimes I think my best art is my journal writing just between me and God. There is no pressure to be liked. There is no fear of being wrong. There is no insecurity about someone else’s art being better than mine. There is no worry that someone might think I’m cheesy or lame or too cynical or too cheerful. I just say what I’m thinking and feeling, and he hears…
How could it be?
That you would do this for me?
Even me?
For centuries, Christians have used the stations of the cross to meditate on Christ’s journey to His crucifixion. During this Holy Week, we invite you to meditate on the stations of the cross using the artwork of Tim Bauer.
You’ve always done things differently, and they’ve never failed.
Like the time you turned water into wine.
Or like when you rubbed mud on the blind man’s eyes so he could see.
Or when you healed the paralyzed man because his friends truly believed. And like the time You entered Jerusalem riding on the back of a colt,
Marked with what we will become,
Wearing the weight of where we've been—
The words we've spoken,
The seasons we’ve endured,
The roads we’ve traveled. …
While we are just reaching the end of February, January may feel months away. And, if you are someone who sets goals at the beginning of each year, you may be coming to terms with the fact that you are already behind on your reading goals. Well, we’re not here to judge, but we would like to help, so we came up with this list of five short(ish) books that might just help you get back on track.
Daily Lectio is a daily resource created by CommunionArts to help you slow down and meditate on Scripture. Each day's meditation will guide you through praying a portion of Scripture in the style of Lectio Divina, an ancient spiritual way of reading Scripture.
When I look at the church and the body I belong to in Grayslake, IL, I am so thankful. We are blessed with many kind, hardworking, compassionate brothers and sisters who know the Bible and love Jesus. Then, when I step back and ponder the big “C” worldwide Church, I am…
“Mom, can we leave now?” my four-year-old whispered (Thank God!) to me as the Sunday sermon began. “No, not yet,” I whispered back. “Ugh, waiting is sooo haaaaard,” she responded. This is a response she has been dolling out a lot lately—when I can’t stop…
Before you know it this life will come to an end.
Today will slip away with the questions and pain as your eyes close and memories fade.
You’ll go as you arrived…
When I started CommunionArts in 2016, I had no idea what would grow from this seed of an idea. It began as a place to offer resources…
Holy Spirit,
You have descended time and time again
both to confuse and elevate language.
In this episode, Blake sits down with songwriter, Ryan Flanigan. They discuss his development as a songwriter and worship leader, what he's learned from the communities that he has served, and the release of the latest Liturgical Folk album, Matins & Vespers.
In this episode, Blake sits down with author and speaker, Jessica Thompson. They discuss how the encouragement of others, has helped her to keep writing, the ways in which individuals bring their many gifts together to serve the larger community, and how writing has shaped the way she thinks.
In this episode, Blake sits down with pianist and music director, Alex Navarro. They discuss the influence the church had on him as a young musician, the importance of developing relationships with others in the band, and how the cities he's lived in have shaped the way he approaches his work now.
In this episode, Blake sits down with podcast producer, Caleb Keith. They discuss his path into podcasting, the importance of listening, and his desire to serve his neighbor through his work.
El Río de los Brazos de Dios, the river that runs through Waco, TX, was named for its “arms” (brazos) by which God nourishes the land…