Painting classes outreach tool for children, adult ministries

Except for Vacation Bible School crafts and coloring sheets, the church has not often been associated with places for learning to paint and draw. But now, children and adults are going to church in increasing numbers to become artists.
   
In its School of Fine Arts, First Baptist Church, Decatur, offers classes in many art aspects including dance, music, voice, drawing, watercolor and acrylics.
   
Director Ginny Matherly said the school has classes for both children and adults. More children take the music and dance classes, while adults tend to be more interested in the drawing and painting classes. “We run private lessons year round,” she said. The painting classes usually run for six weeks.
The school started out as a music outreach for 3-, 4- and 5-year-olds in 1997. Painting classes were added the next year.
   
In 2000, the church established the School of Fine Arts and named Matherly as director. They now have 17 teachers and an enrollment of 200.
   
Already involved in a number of outreach programs, First, Decatur, saw an opportunity to reach out in a different direction.
   
According to Matherly, the program was started because the church wanted an excellent program as an additional outreach to the community. “It’s important for our church to be involved in the community,” she noted.
   
It seems to be working. Ninety percent of the students are not members of the church.
   
“I feel like we are able to bring a lot of people from the community into the building,” Matherly said. “We make them comfortable, and have them look at this as not only someplace they can get lessons, but also a place they might want to go to church.”
   
Cottage Hill Baptist Church in Mobile also offers classes in oils, watercolors, sketching and ceramics, as well as quilting and other crafts. While its program is also an outreach program, it is aimed at people ages 50 and up on the west side of Mobile.
   
Becky Formwalt, assistant to the minister of senior adults, said Cottage Hill Place started in May 2003. “There is a senior center downtown, but no place for senior adults to go for fellowship on the west side of Mobile. We offered our facility to the senior center to use for activities.”
   
In their partnership, the church provides the facility, while the senior center provides teachers and helps set up the classes. The church advertises widely, with fliers in newspapers as well as in regular church publications.
   
About 25 to 50 percent of the participants are not members of the church.
   
Formwalt said, “This has been so well received. Older people realize they always wanted to do this and there is now an opportunity to try it without driving to the other side of town.
   
“We have had some people coming that really surprised me. We have some 80-year-old ladies and men who are painting beautifully,” Formwalt said. “One man was a CEO at his company before he retired, and he’s coming out here (painting) ceramics.
   
“I think his wife wanted to do it, and he just said, ‘You know, I’ve always thought I might want to do that.’”