Shannon Steed Sigler, MA (Asbury Theological Seminary), MS (Boston University)
Thesis: ‘My Heart Was Free: Aesthetics, Freedom, and the Restoration of the Imago Dei in the Life of Charles Wesley’ (NTC)
The telos of salvation for Charles Wesley – the restoration of the image of God – is frequently cast as a unique spiritual freedom. It is a freedom borne of submission to the love of God, enabling a freedom for others, rather than from them. For a hymn writer or artist, this can be interpreted as a freedom to create that is fueled by the biblical narrative, and not limited it. In this way, we can explore the implications of Charles Wesley’s construal of freedom for aesthetics, which will be both theological (the way we think about the arts in an ecclesial context) and practical (both in artist practice, and how the arts are implemented in congregational life). Charles Wesley sought to understand his own salvation throughout his life, and the freedom birthed from the restoration of the image of God in the life of humanity. This thesis will examine the hymnody of Charles Wesley with its particularly saturated biblical content in order to develop a Wesleyan theological aesthetic through this specific lens of soteriology.
Other interests include leading retreats for artists, painting, gardening, and spending time with my son.
Supervisors: Dr Stephen Wright and Dr Julie Lunn
Selected publications:
Ackerman, Jennifer and Shannon Sigler, eds. Ecclesia and Imagination: The Arts and the Future of the Church, forthcoming from Wipf and Stock, 2023.
Sigler, Shannon. "Learning to Look Around: How Artists Help Us Find a Home," Fuller Magazine Issue 17: Placemaking, (2020): online only.
Sigler, Shannon. “Forming Artists, Strengthening Churches,” Fuller Magazine Issue 13: Worship and Art, (2019): 56.
Sigler, Shannon, ed. SEEN Journal XV:2, The Sustainable Life, (2015).
Sigler, Shannon, review of Sanctifying Art: Inviting Conversation Between Artists, Theologians, and the Church by Deborah Sokolove, Imaginatio et Ratio: A Journal of Theology and the Arts, Spring 2014.
Sigler, Shannon. "Work, Play, Love," SEEN Journal XII:2, Like a Child, (2012).
Lecture: Incarnation and Hospitality: How Artists Can Create Spaces of Mutuality in the Church
Email: shannonsigler@fuller.edu