Events

Melissa Lochhead explores the relational dimension of holiness, specifically the critical role that marriage and family play in sanctification, through an academic paper and artistic project.

The paper examines the deficiencies in the relational lives of three prominent figures in the holiness movement.What impact did their relationships have on holiness teaching in the churches and denominations that have come out of the movement? The artistic project is primarily a memoir, reflecting on Melissa's current context involving a husband and small child, as well as her family of origin. How has God both revealed and worked His holiness most significantly through ordinary life within her family relationships? Her memoir is accompanied by a series of pencil portraits illustrating some of the main figures in the story and honouring them for their role in her journey towards a deeper sanctification.

Melissa became a mother just before beginning this Integrative Project In the Arts and Theology (IPIAT), and life with a new baby-becoming-toddler has significantly shaped her work. This IPIAT began as an academic exercise and quickly became very personal, a vital way of learning to see a difficult and busy season with real hope and significance. This project has helped Melissa redeem life lived among dust-bunnies and over-flowing laundry baskets on too little sleep - and with very little "quiet time." Though there is an unavoidable focus on marriage and new parenthood, it is Melissa's hope that many people will be able to find a point of entry and be enabled to reflect on their own lives as places where holiness happens every day.