As a church committed to peace, justice, and building God’s beloved community, we invite everyone in the neighborhood to consider how exercising our gifts can lift the spirit of our city to unimaginable heights, leading us to a place beyond what we have ever dreamed possible. 

 

Leo Tolstoy wrote, “Art should cause violence to be set aside and it is only art that can accomplish this.” Imagine with us a world without violence, one filled with the beauty of peace and the sound of children’s laughter, a place where mercy and justice kiss, where hunger and famine are no more, and where discrimination transforms into the celebration of diversity. 

 

We hope that our individual and collective efforts will blossom into a beloved community. Each flower on the mural represents our longing for peace and justice, for a world without war, and for art to overcome violence in every form. 

 

We are grateful to our mural artist, Christian Dallas, for leveraging his passion and skills to bring more beauty to our neighborhood. As Frederick Buechner once wrote, “The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.” Our prayer for this city is that each of us would find this ‘place,’ throw our pebble in the pond, and create a ripple effect that will last for generations to come. 

 

You can read more about Christian’s inspiration here.

Our mural has been featured on Soapbox Media and in Anabaptist World Magazine.