Anglican Schools Commission
Framing Our
Pictures of God
The Revd Dr Eleanor O’Donnell Director of Anglican Identity, Anglican Schools Commission
Certainly, in our Anglican Schools, but also in our congregations, agencies, and denominational gatherings, those of us who lead and teach find ourselves in the creative business of making portraits of God, framing them, and setting them up as icons for our communities to engage with. With this portrait making comes significant responsibility, for the quality of the likeness we frame and display can either delight the viewer into closer consideration, or disappoint them into turning away.
At the ASC Anglican Identity Day last month, when some 1300 of our WA staff gathered at HBF Stadium, I floated this idea in the context of the Eucharist in the season of Easter.
I explained that, as a teenage convert to Christianity, I look back to the first clearly delineated and framed picture of God presented to me at Eastertide with incredulity. For the portrait beloved of my then church community was one of those paint-by-numbers kits based in the teachings of the protestant reformer John Calvin. It showed in unblended blocks of dark paint an angry God punishing the sin of the world through the excruciating death of an innocent substitute – who happened to be God’s own son. Moreover, the portrait was so large and stark that it made the next picture in the series, the one of resurrection, inconsequential.
The incredulity I feel looking back is for two reasons, the first self-focused and the second church focused. For myself, I’m amazed that I had the resilience and capacity in my early teens to see beyond the one amateur portrait on display to the possibility of a series of masterpieces in a professional gallery. For the church, I still wonder what the leaders and teachers of that Anglican community were thinking when they put what should have been a minor preparatory sketch front and centre – especially in the faith formation of children and young people.
My purpose in telling of my experience to the staff of ASC schools was to make a plea for much greater care and skill to be employed in our portrayal of God to our students and their families. I hoped that all teachers and support staff, all Principals and chaplains, and even Board members and governors would recognise that their individual artistry contributes to a collective mural of God that their school creates and frames – sometimes without knowing it. My suggestion on that day was that we intentionally draw our foundational imagery of the nature of God from our Easter readings from the Johannine literature.
The overarching picture of God found in the gospel and letters of John is grounded in love – metaphorical and actual love.
For many in Anglican schools, here and across the country, the portrait of God created and displayed by and for that community is the only one they’ll ever see. The same could be true in each of our congregations, in the work and ministry of our agencies, and in any denominational gathering you care to name. So, I have a question for every Anglican – but especially for those who teach or lead in our schools, parishes, agencies, or any other type of Anglican community. The question is, as a curator of the picture of God that has been framed by your community, how will you enhance and display it as a true icon of the God who is love? I ask this question in full knowledge of the importance of each response. Answering the question well matters enormously, for the quality of the answers we give can be the difference between members of our communities being delighted into closer consideration of the nature of God, or, conversely, being disappointed into turning away.