Artist Julie Lonneman created the new images presented in All Creation Sings. Lonneman also created the artwork that introduces the Lent and the Three Days section of Evangelical Lutheran Worship (p. 245). The challenge to the artist for the image that introduces the liturgical section of All Creation Sings was to depict a diverse worshiping assembly without using faces or other physical characteristics so that the art would have an open-ended, timeless quality.
The icons for the two settings of Holy Communion use the same basic image for both, but with differences that reflect what is unique about each setting. Both icons feature a loaf of bread broken into pieces, a cup, and an open book on an altar-table. For Setting 11, the addition of the words “Glory / Gloria” signals that this is a bilingual setting. For Setting 12, the addition of a starlit nighttime background signals options for evening use, while the rising sun on the altar-table cloth signals “Sunday,” the day of resurrection. This art can be viewed in the preview of All Creation Sings, available online now.
A singing bowl and lighted candle in the icon for the Service of Word and Prayer suggest quiet contemplation and meditation. Singing bowls are in widespread use in churches and other settings where meditative worship or other activities are practiced; the resonant tone produced by striking the bowl with the wooden striker is often used to signal the beginning and ending of a period of silent reflection. This art can also be viewed in the preview.
The icon that introduces the Prayers, Thanksgivings, and Laments section reflects a number of themes including intercession, lament, thanksgiving, and adoration (the uplifted hands); the wideness of God’s mercy for the whole world (globe); care for the earth, home to humans and nonhuman creatures (globe); and care for one another, all of us who share life on this earth. This art is also in the preview.
The larger image that introduces the Assembly Song section was perhaps the most fun, most delightful, and most satisfying to watch develop. People and their musical instruments are just one strand of this image. They are joined in their music-making by the swimming fish gurgling their song, the flying birds making their melodies, and the leaping deer and rabbit offering their praise. All these living creatures are surrounded by the shining sun/moon, blowing wind, flowing water, and swaying trees—a joyous chorus of all creation’s praise to the Creator! This art is not in the preview.
The sheltering mother hen which introduces the Additional Resources section, not available in the preview, is a depiction of Jesus’ description in Matthew 23:37 as he laments over Jerusalem. You can find 99 more scriptural images for God in the pages that follow, as well as a wealth of indexes that gather details about the hymns and songs in All Creation Sings into a format useful to worshipers and worship planners.
