MECstory
The Story of the Methodist Episcopal Church (5)
The Discipleship Ministry headquarters for the United Methodist Church of USA is located in Nashville, Tennessee. The international “Upper Room” ministry is also located within the headquarters building, which also includes a small chapel and a Christian art museum. Last time we introduced the chapel and the World Fellowship stained glass window. This time, we will visit the museum to see various Christian art pieces from all over the world.
Images of Christ around the world
This Christian Art Museum is not very big, but the collected items reflect its international, cross-cultural, and cross-denominational heart. This is also characteristic of the “Upper Room” ministry. On stepping in, you will see a head portrait of Jesus Christ (1941), by famous American artist Warner Sallman (1892-1968). It is the image of Christ that has made a deep impression on many Christians since young. Other works by Warner Sallman include Christ in Gethsamane (1940), The Lord is My Shepherd (1946), Christ Our Pilot (1950), Christ At Heart’s Door (1953), Christ and the Children etc.
To this day, many churches in both the East and the West display Warner Sallman’s head of Christ portrait (reportedly, there has been over 500 million in sales of pictures based on this portrait). Many Christians even wrongly believe that this is Jesus’ true face. Even though this is not Christ’s real image, the picture can sometimes help Christians with their meditation on Jesus Christ’s identity, characteristics, and acts. But we must be clear: For those who receive Jesus as Saviour, Jesus is already in our hearts.
From November to January, the museum also displayed a Christ Child exhibition. There were 160 items of stone carvings, statues, pottery, and wooden objects from over 40 countries, races, and cultures, and also over 180 related paintings. We are able to see from various perspectives how believers of different cultures understand and present the Christ Child.
Cute Ukrainian Easter Eggs
The museum also displays various collectors’ items, allowing visitors to understand the Bible story from the 11th to the 21st century. Among these items, the hand-painted Easter Eggs are the most impressive.
Unfortunately, the museum has closed this year at the end of January. Since 1953, this museum has been attracting and touching the hearts of many visitors, thus the ministry is investigating how to transform the museum into a space for spiritual formation. We hope for good news in the coming year.
Agape Garden
At the Discipleship Ministries headquarters building, besides the training department, the publishing department, the chapel, and the musuem, there is also an “Agape Garden”. Agape is a Greek word meaning Christ’s love. In the garden is a statue of Jesus at the well speaking to the Samaritan woman. There is also an octagonal fountain with two pelicans at the bottom. They symbolize the piety of Christians. Next to the fountain are verses from the Garden of Gethsemane and Christ’s resurrection. The garden also provides benches for people to rest and meditate.
The state of Tennessee has a population of over 6 million. Its capital city is Nashville with around 600 thousand people. The city is named for Francis Nash, a general who died during the American Revolutionary War. Nashville is the centre for health and medical care, music, publishing, and transportation. It is nicknamed the “Music City” and is the “holy land” of country music. The Methodist Episcopal Church of USA was founded in 1784 in Baltimore, Maryland. 53 years later in 1837, Eli P. Farmer was sent to Nashville to plant a church. A church built from logs was built in 1940, until 1948 when it was rebuilt, which is today’s Nashville Methodist Church. According to reports, today there are 139 Methodist churches in Nashville, with a membership of 117,983. Weekly service attendance is around 45,700.