“Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.”
Thomas Merton
Art in its fullest sense – paintings, illustrations, sculpture, the written word, plays, music, dancing, and even architecture – has been used throughout the history of the Church and well before, to tell the stories of the Bible. From the Lindisfarne Gospels to the Sistine Chapel ceiling, from Medieval Miracle plays to Jesus Christ Superstar, from choirs singing Evensong to Bach’s great Passion masterpieces, the arts have been central to the life and wellbeing of the church.
Art and its creation and use in our churches need not be grand and great masterpieces. It can be the simple drawings and models made in our Sunday schools, the hassocks we kneel on, banners and wall hangings, instruments to help us make music.
THE WHALON FUND FOR THE CREATIVE ARTS has been created in honor of the Rt. Rev. Pierre Whalon, the Convocation’s first elected full-time Bishop, and a very talented musician.
The Fund is looking to support arts projects including but not limited to the creation of parish banners, an artist in residence at youth events and parish retreats, a new music composition, a special performance, an exhibition, instruments to be used in worship or Sunday school, or something creative that congregations or individuals would not be able to do or afford on their own. It must, however, be a project that comes from within a congregation and not from an outside body or person. The fund will not fund on-going projects, salaries, maintenance or repairs. The fund guidelines may be downloaded by clicking on the link below.
Apply for Funding
Parishes and missions in the Convocation are invited to submit grant proposals to support their work. Grants will be made for up to €500.
Supporting the Whalon Fund
The Convocation would like to add to the fund and information about how to donate can be found below.
As a fund of the DFMS, all donations are tax-deductible in the United States.
Mailing Address
Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer
The Episcopal Church
815 Second Avenue
New York, NY 10017
Wire Transfer (USD $)
Beneficiary Bank: US Bank
Beneficiary Bank Address: St. Paul, Minnesota
ABA Number: 123000848
SWIFT Code (International wires): USBKUS44IMT
Account Name: Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society
Account #: 153 910 784 211
Memo: Whalon Fund for the Creative Arts
Please send a notification to Margareth Crosnier de Bellaistre if using this method.
Pay by Check
Please make payable to the “Domestic & Foreign Missionary Society,” with a memo for the WFCA or Whalon Fund for the Creative Arts.
Bank Transfer (EUR €)
Beneficiary Bank: Standard Chartered Bank Frankfurt
Beneficiary Name: US Bank / DFMS
Beneficiary SWIFT: SCBLDEFXXXX
Beneficiary IBAN: DE04512305000500058202
The memo line should read WFCA
Please send a notification to our Finance Department and/or June Victor if using this method.
projects and results
Who we have funded
A New Banner for St. Michael's
Our new banner has been used for many worship services and special occasions (like at CECE Convention in Florence in October 2024), and we would like to express our gratitude to the entire WFCA Committee for supporting this endeavor. It has given our community a special sense of identity that we are able to transmit now visually, thanks to the banner. I am sure that we will enjoy it for many years to come, wherever we may worship.
Ngôma : le tambour Burundai (the Burundai drum)
St Esprit Episcopal Church, Mons, Belgium
C’est un instrument à percussion traditionnels occupant une place très centrale dans les mythe et dans la culture burundaise . C’est un objet issu d’une tradition royale , objet sacré et reservé aux événement exceptionnels. A ce jour, selon l’abbé Adrien Ntabona, Anthropologue, Dieu passait par le tambour pour protéter l’ensembe du pays ! Il est dès lors un symbole de l’unité d’un royaume soudé, pour nous cet instrument apporte non seullement la joie, mais c’est un instrument liturgieque important pour la communauté Epsiscopal-Anglicane Mons Saint-Esprit.
Entre temps , cet objet remplace la batterie qui est l’ensemble d’instruments de percussion disposé pour être joué par une seule personne à l’aide de baguettes et de pédales. Karl, mon fils à bien étudié à l’accadémie des musique , cette instrument , nous espérons que dans l’avenir , la communauté Episcopale-Anglicane, Mons Saint Esprit , achetera la batterie car est un instrument de mesure pour les chants.
toutes bénédictions
Balthazar + Mons-Worship leader
(English)
It is a traditional percussion instrument occupying a very central place in the myths and in the Burundian culture. It is an object resulting from a royal tradition, a sacred object and reserved for exceptional events. To this day, according to Father Adrien Ntabona, Anthropologist, God went through the drum to protect the whole country! It is therefore a symbol of the unity of a united kingdom, for us this instrument not only brings joy, but it is an important liturgical instrument for the Epsiscopal-Anglican Mons Saint-Esprit community. In the meantime, this object replaces the drums which are the set of percussion instruments arranged to be played by a single person using sticks and pedals.
Karl, my son has studied well at the academy of music, this instrument, we hope that in the future, the Episcopal-Anglican community, Mons Saint Esprit, will buy the drums because it is a measuring instrument for singing.
all blessings
Balthazar + Mons-Worship leader
A big "Luftpost Thank You"
St. Augustine of Canterbury, Wiesbaden, Germany
WFCA Committee Members
deborah cole
Chair, Member of St. Augustine of Canterbury (Wiesbaden, Germany)
the reverend mary haddad
Canonically Resident Clergy (Paris, France)
Felicity Handford
Member of All Saints (Waterloo, Belgium)
Larry Litman
Member of St. Paul’s Within the Walls (Rome, Italy)