Creative in the Image of God

Book excerpt: The declining religious participation among young adults, or “Rise of the Nones,” has signaled alarms across American Christianity. A closer look into the faith lives of thirty young adults who are, or were at one time, connected with a church, however, shows an articulate and aesthetically embodied faith life that seeks out connection with others, expression of their identity, and an openness to encountering God. Young adults see themselves, and all people in this pluralistic world, as bearing the image of God. They see creativity, in their own lives and in the lives of others, as evidence of this identity. This book is not an appeal to put more art into congregations, but rather an invitation to attend to aesthetic, embodied ways of knowing that exist among all people.