It was Oct. 28, too early for frozen precipitation in the Shenandoah Valley, which was yet to have a killing frost.<\/p>\n
Some persons departed for home after the evening program, as the forecast was snow continuing through midday Saturday \u2013 which it did, leaving about four inches of wet snow that brought down tree branches and created power outages.<\/p>\n
But, the unforeseen weather change seemed an appropriate backdrop for conference attendees, many of whom regularly face unexpected situations, even crises, in their communications work.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnabaptism in a Visual Age\u201d was the theme explored in the two-day meeting of some 65 writers, public relations practitioners, graphic artists, photographers or in other administrative roles, the majority in church-related agencies and organizations. \u00a0Eastern Mennonite University hosted the gathering.<\/p>\n Swartz, of Ted and Company TheaterWorks<\/a> based in Harrisonburg, reflected on his development as an actor, which started with sketches presented at a Franconia Mennonite Conference youth retreat in Pennsylvania in 1987 with an accomplice he had only met several days earlier, Lee Eshleman. That inauspicious beginning evolved into a 20-year creative partnership as \u201cTed & Lee,\u201d as the acting duo often combined askew humor and fresh insight in interpreting biblical narratives.<\/p>\n \u201cTheater is a marvelous metaphor for faith and perhaps the best metaphor for how relationships should happen . . . Much of what makes a human relationship real I learned while pretending to be other people,\u201d Swartz told the group. \u201cAn actor is on a search for meaning, feeling, a way to express the longing for a life greater than oneself.<\/p>\n \u201cA good actor is one who is actively present in the moment, to care more deeply, on more about that moment than anything else.\u201d<\/p>\n At the root of good acting, Swartz maintained, is \u201clistening \u2013 it\u2019s where you start. Are you really listening to the other actors onstage? If a play isn\u2019t effective, there\u2019s a good chance it\u2019s lack of listening between the actors.\u201d<\/p>\n The third prerequisite, he said, is \u201cempathy, the ability to put oneself in the shoes, the clothes, the pain of another person,\u201d Swartz said. \u201cWithout empathy, an actor cannot find the heart and soul of a character.<\/p>\n \u201cThe very act of crawling inside a character is the same act of embracing the other, seeing the eyes of the other, loving your enemy, \u201cSwartz declared. \u00a0\u201cThe very tenants of Anabaptist theology include taking the words of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount to be the root of a reconciling gospel.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen these three things happen onstage, it is just about the best feeling in the world,\u201d the actor-playwright said. \u201cIt is a moment of transcendence, a deeply spiritual and mystical connection . . . Religious people call it \u2018grace.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Swartz illustrated his points with sketches using his homeless character Zeus as well as a scene with EMU staffer Heidi Muller<\/a> from his favorite theatrical work from college days, \u201cThe Lion in Winter.\u201d He shared excerpts from his autobiographical work in progress, \u201cLaughter as Sacred Space: The Not-So-Typical Journey of a Mennonite Actor.\u201d The book, in three parts, is expected to be released the spring of 2012 by Herald Press.<\/p>\n Jerry Holsopp<\/a>le<\/a>, professor of digital and communication arts at EMU and an award-winning artist and videographer, gave the keynote address on the conference theme. Using numerous art pieces, photographs and advertisements to illustrate his talk, Holsopple asked, \u201cWhat visuals might best represent the Anabaptist-Mennonite way of communicating the biblical message?\u201d<\/p>\n He showed the \u201cMartyrs Mirror\u201d etching of Dutch Anabaptist Dirk Willems turning around and rescuing his pursuer who had fallen through the ice, only to be tortured and executed for his faith.<\/p>\n \u201cMennonites tend to be people of the Word who worship the invisible God,\u201d Holsopple said. \u201cSo can visuals help us in our journey in becoming more like Jesus?\u201d<\/p>\n He shared his experience of teaching and studying during the 2009-10 school year as a Fulbright scholar at LCC International University<\/a> in Lithuania, working with a Russian orthodox priest, Father Vladimir, in creating and painting religious icons.<\/p>\n \u201cWe all have icons in our lives,\u201d Holsopple said. \u201cIt\u2019s important not to wind up thinking that they have special powers and wind up worshipping them. \u201cOur task, as Christians and as Anabaptist communicators, is to witness to the incarnational \u2013 the church as a physical and spiritual reality \u2013 the transformational \u2013 entering into what is happening around us; and the communal \u2013 creating space for dialog and changing ways that we see the larger world, other people and even ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n The conference included break-out sessions on topics ranging from branding messages for \u201cthe quiet in the land\u201d (Christian Perritt), \u201cart for social change\u201d (Cyndi Gusler<\/a>), \u201cseeking shalom through a photographer\u2019s lens (Howard Zehr<\/a>) to \u201cAnabaptist online engagement\u201d (Brian Gumm).\u00a0 There were off-site visits to organizations with Anabaptist-Mennonite roots and guided affinity small group meetings on marketing, web and social media, graphic design and running a one-person shop.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/is\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2011\/11\/ted_swartz_book1-194x300.jpg\")
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