WHEN David Bowie died in 2016, and footage of him filled TV and social media, I recall one clip in which he told an interviewer that making music was, to him, about “getting to know our maker”.

He seemed to be saying that by creating and enjoying beautiful things – not just music, but film, poetry, art etc – we can somehow, mysteriously, get a better grasp of the original creator: God.

The late philosopher Roger Scruton would have agreed with him. In talking about the artworks that he finds most beautiful, he said that “beauty is a path that leads us home”.

By “home” he did not mean bricks and mortar. He meant the intimate company of our maker. Beautiful art has a way of pointing us towards God.

I agree with both of them. I've been a churchgoer all my life, and an art fan since I first picked up a crayon. And I tend to find that an art gallery can be as good a place as a church for “getting to know our maker”.

I think that when we find ourselves in front of a great piece of art, if we stay there a while, it can slow us down, open us up, and through some mysterious process, reveal to us something important about the world and our place within it. I’ve found this to be true of modern and medieval art, western and eastern art, spiritual and secular art.

With this in mind, in recent years I have been exploring how to bring together the best bits of visiting an art gallery, with the breadth of what Church and faith can offer us.

I’ve been writing, talking and offering tours of art galleries, in order to explore – in the company of other curious souls – questions like: What does Rembrandt show us about redemption? What does Caravaggio tell us about Christ? How does Da Vinci illuminate the divine?

There are many ways to think about questions like these, but the answers tend to tell us something not just about God, but about ourselves. They speak to who we are at our core, how we find meaning and purpose in life, and where we might go next.

At this time of year we talk about God becoming man – or “the Word made flesh” as John’s gospel puts it.

I’m also inclined to explore “the Word made paint” – the ways in which this most compelling of figures has been depicted by great artists.

If this sounds up your street, then I’d like to invite you to a talk I am giving at the congregational church on Sunday, December 14 at 6.30pm.

It’s called, “The Word Made Paint: The Story of Jesus in Six Artworks”.

It’s free. There’s no need to book. There's no need to be a regular churchgoer to attend. There's no need to be an art expert.

Just bring yourself, and that appetite for “getting to know our maker” that lies within all of us.

Jake Lloyd

Crediton Congregational Church