Feast

Festival of Word, Table & Image

Feast is a gathering in which we nurture our creative, caring, spiritual selves through our very presence. We will gather together at table to enjoy a beautifully prepared meal, feast through sermons and our voices in worship, and delight using our senses through liturgical art & the art gallery. Come, enjoy, and share the tastes of the day.

Come to the table. You are welcome there.

Click to Register Online

Festival Highlights:

2:30 p.m. Registration & Art Gallery

3:30 p.m. Festival Worship

5:30 p.m. Dinner

6:30 p.m. Engaging Worship through Art

7:30 p.m. Evensong & Communion

 

Worship leadership includes:

Lynda Weaver-Williams • Erin Spengeman
Elizabeth Melton Bartley • Denise Bennett
Jim Bennett • Radiant Light Ballet

Festival artist: suzanne l. vinson

Festival Leadership:

Lynda Weaver-Williams is Instructor of Religious Studies and Affiliate Faculty of Women's Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University.  She received an undergraduate degree in English and wrote her dissertation on Southern literature and Religious ethics. She also did specialized graduate study in the area of women and religion. Her current teaching interests include: Women and Religion (she has developed several courses around this topic), Women and the Bible, Women and Social Justice, and Global Women’s Spirituality. She also teaches Religion and Film, a class that explores meanings of such things as redemption, faith, the nature of good and evil, and the nature of the sacred within contemporary film.

Erin Spengeman is a community minister; she intentionally lives and works in the Woodland Heights community as a manager of a neighborhood coffee shop, and as the Associate Pastor of Westover Baptist Church. Erin hosts "Beer & Theology" in her home--a theology discussion group for those who want a safe place to ask hard theological questions. She enjoys laughing, preaching, traveling, hearing people's stories, sewing, birds, creative ways of being Church, and sour neon gummi worms.

Elizabeth Melton Bartley is a bivocational pastor, building up the house of God and built up by her own growing household. She blesses the world as a mom-sister-wife, artist, organizer, preacher, counselor, and in the diversity of callings through which God leads her. Her work tends toward the joyfully challenging and reverently witty. The recently (finally! Woo hoo!) ordained Rev. Bartley serves with the saints at Scottsville Baptist Church, Scottsville, VA, as the Minister of Discipleship.

Denise Bennett weaves story and music together with voice, harp and guitar. Whether telling to pre-schoolers or to elders, in an art gallery or a church, her traditional and original stories delight audiences everywhere. She has been a featured teller for the Williamsburg Storytelling Festival;Virginia Storytelling Alliance Gathering and the LAUGHS Festival in Loudoun County. She is a member of the Tell Tale Hearts Storytellers Theater in Richmond. With an BFA in Drama – Speech and a Master of Divinity Degree from Union Theological Seminary, Denise leads workshops in basic storytelling skills, Biblical storytelling and healing stories, and spirituality. She is also a published writer, poet and song writer.

Radiant Light Ballet is a professional, Christian dance company based in Richmond, Virginia who seeks to embody excellence in technique combined with the heart of worship.  The company members are trained dancers who use their gifts for the exaltation of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  Radiant Light, established in 2009, has traveled to Maryland, Washington D.C., and throughout Virginia. Their heart is to share with their community and everywhere God leads them that dance is an effective ministry for the advancement of the Gospel.

Jim Bennett has been a musician for as long as he can remember. He is Associate Director of Music and Arts at Shady Grove UMC in Glen Allen. Since 2000, Jim has had a massage therapy practice.

suzanne l. vinson’s creativity is lived through her roles as artist, bread maker, mother, wife, friend, gardener, writer, blogger, retreat leader, and ordained minister. Suzanne encourages all individuals to discover their giftedness through art and to embrace the healing process through creative expression. She leads art + spirit groups for any age. “From making mud-pies to carving block prints, creating allows me to be fully present to others, while still caring for myself. I hope to help others spark the Creative Spirit within as we worship together.” Suzanne will bring an experience of what she calls Creative Spirituality to this year's Festival.

Vicky Krabill will share her passion for good, wholesome food including fresh baked bread and flour-less chocolate cake, a favorite of last year's festival. She is a culinary artist who shares her time and talents through her love for food. The menu will be:

• Spinach and Leek Soup with Five-Spice Tofu
• Baby greens with Caper Vinaigrette
• Rice Noodles with Cashew-Coconut Sauce
• Sesame-Tamari Stir-fried Chicken Roasted
• Long Beans with Garlic
• Flourless Chocolate Cake

Register online today!