Facebook Art - Lord you have called me by name

Mosaic based on a batik 'Jesus on the Lotus Flower' by Dr P Solomon Raj, 1998 

Today I led a virtual service of Morning Prayer on our College Facebook page. You can watch the recording here and follow the order of service here. I am grateful to Ben Schoeman for the music in today’s service and to my partner Henry for reading and for acting as cameraman. Today the Church of England remembers Mary Ramabai, a Sanskrit scholar and translator of the scriptures and the first woman to be awarded the title ‘Pandita’ which means scholar or learned person. She is remembered for her opposition to child marriage and the caste system, for setting up schools and homes for women and orphans and for pioneering an Indian vision of the faith.

Our readings from scripture today continue their journey through the Book of Exodus and the Gospel of Luke. In Exodus we heard about the offerings of gold, crimson, incense and jewels made by the Israelites to build the tabernacle. In the Gospel reading we hear of the naming of John the Baptist.

In an attempt to draw together the themes from our readings and to celebrate the life of Pandita Mary Ramabai, I used the publicly visible profile pictures of those who have liked or followed the College Facebook page to make images of Christ based on works of artists from different cultures from around the world. A description of the process I used is here.

Mosaic based on 'The Bread From Heaven' a woodcut by Dr P. Solomon Raj

We sang ‘Lord Enthroned in Heavenly Splendour’ a hymn usually sung at services of Holy Communion, but one that I felt was an appropriate choice given the themes of our Old Testament reading. I created a prayer response that sought to link themes from both the Old and New Testament readings and, to try to generate a sense of community despite the ‘virtual’ nature of the service, used facebook’s analytics data to identify the names of those people who are most active on the College Facebook page and named them specifically during the prayers. I also left space for people watching to call out names of their own. 

Mosaic based on Memorial Window, 16th Street Baptist Church, Alabama by John Petts, 1963

Lord you have called me by name and made me your own.
All I am is yours.

We remember the names of those written on our hearts today:

Alan, Alison, Andrew, Becky, Ben, Beverley, Charlie, Cindy, Claire, Clive, Daphne, Diana

Our college community.

Our families, friends and neighbours.

Those we love.

Those we have lost.

The names of those who are sick.

Lord you have called me by name and made me your own.

All I am is yours.

Sometimes Lord all we can do is cry out your name. You always hear us.

Dolly, Emma, Francesca, Gordon, Hayley, Heather, Helga, Jayne, Jeremy, John, Karen, Katrina, Keith

Lord we lift up to you those who feel overworked.

Those unable to work.

All who are anxious and fearful about the future.

Lord you have called me by name and made me your own.

All I am is yours.

Lord, we offer ourselves and this day to your service.

Lisa, Luke, Mark, Natasha, Pat, Rachel, Rebecca, Rosemary, Sally, Sarah, Simon, Suzy, Vicki

We bring before you the names of those known only to us.

Lord you have called me by name and made me your own.

All I am is yours.

Mosaic based on the Deesis Mosaic, Hagia Sophia

I found the following blogs particularly helpful when researching suitable images to use:

Indigenous Jesus
Global Christian Worship
ArtWay