Dandelion Ministries at New Wineskins 2025
Photo courtesy of Dandelion Ministries
Because we are created in the image of God, the Creator, we too are creative beings. Creativity is part of our design, a reflection of His nature within us. We don't just connect with God intellectually—we long to engage with Him through all our senses. That’s why New Wineskins is integrating the arts into the Hope for the Nations conference, and Dandelion Ministries is excited to be part of this!
Art transcends boundaries. It speaks a universal language that connects hearts across nations, tribes, and tongues. Through visual art, music, movement, and creativity in all its forms, we can experience God more fully and connect more deeply with one another. Art is a gift from the Lord. It lives in the disconnect between our lives and God’s promises.
Dan Siedell explains this reality in Who is Afraid of Modern Art, “It seems that faith in the promises of God’s Word actually increases the disparity between the promise we hear – ‘I am with you always, even unto the end of the age’ (Matt. 28:20) - and the world that we see: the sickness, death, and injustice. The gospel actually opens up space for lamentation, for anger, for dismay, for crying out—why?”
Photo courtesy of Dandelion Ministries
In mission we are always trying to find common ground, connection points...ways we can relate to those around us. We are always inviting people to emote through creativity and then we listen. Communication is as much about listening as it is about saying something. When you ask someone about their painting or their song or their poem or anything they’ve made, they immediately open up and you have bridged into a more genuine and honest space that would take months or years to do otherwise.
This September, we are excited to lead a collaborative project for the whole New Wineskins Conference conveying the overall theme of “Hope for the Nations.” It will be a large-scale collage displaying the saving arm of the Lord. Conference attendees will be invited to fill in the space by writing and/or illustrating their prayers for the nations on the various sections.
The second project is an ongoing prayer that we have taken with us all over the Anglican Diocese in New England. With a particular focus on interceding for the persecuted church around the world, attendees will be invited to add their handprints and prayers to the painting: “Save me, us, them”...with a special reveal at the prayer service Friday night.
Photo courtesy of Dandelion Ministries
We are also excited to help create a space for prayer and meditation throughout the conference. We will surround the space with visual works large and small to aid the attendees in their time with the Lord.
Finally, we get the chance to hang out with kids! We will use paint to show how the hope of redemption and heaven that Jesus gives us does not disappoint us because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit. The kids will contribute to the conference collaborative project plus make their own art that will literally light up the darkness!
You have beauty to share; we can’t wait to create with you.
Sean, Kate, Skylar, and Rhyan. Photo courtesy of Dandelion Ministries
Sean and Kate met as high school students on a church missions trip to Mexico and have been together ever since. They have served many years as leaders in various churches and para-church ministries in Pittsburgh, New York City, and Charleston. Their call to ordained ministry arose out of a profound experience of being met in brokenness and pain by the radical grace of Jesus Christ. They graduated from Trinity School for Ministry. They were ordained as priests in the Anglican Diocese of Pittsburgh. While planting a church in Pittsburgh (2011-2016), they welcomed their two daughters, Rhyan and Skylar, into the world. Playing and creating are the favorite family past times. Whether it be making a mess while painting, drawing, or working on some kind of visual art project, or singing together while Sean plays the guitar, creating is the name of the game.