OUR NEW MISSION
Spirit in the House is a 501c3 nonprofit organization that was founded in 2008 to support interfaith dialogue and transformation through the arts. It is supported by the Shepherd of the Hill Church of Chaska, Minnesota. The organization elected a new board in 2016, and the organization has recently refined its mission:
“Spirit in the House believes the arts enrich us and connect us all in spirit. We use the power of the arts to further awareness of social, ecological, and spiritual challenges we all face.”
The new Spirit in the House has as its first project the development of The Sower Gallery at Shepherd of the Hill Church in Chaska, MN. The gallery is an Arts Ministry that uses the arts as an outreach to artists and the community, nurturing the God-within creativity that is in all of us. With a logo that comes from VanGogh’s landscape painting of the sower scattering seeds in the field, the gallery is “fertile ground for the arts.”
HISTORY
Spirit in the House was incorporated as a non-profit organization in 2008. The Executive Director at that time, Dean J. Seal, described his vision for the organization as being part of “a model by which Interfaith Dialogue can be encouraged and implemented throughout the world. The arts are a fast and accessible way for us to learn about faiths and traditions that are different from our own and it is a central challenge of our time to expedite that learning process in order to create understanding, grow respect for the wisdom of faith traditions, and prevent war based on mutual misunderstanding”.
Dean was ordained as a minister in the Presbyterian Church in 2008. His degree is in Theology and the Arts. With the support of Spirit in the House, he started the project Forgiveness 360, in which he brought together individuals and groups and developed a series of powerful and moving videos about conversations on forgiveness. These have been shown periodically on Public Television since their creation.
The mission of the organization at that time written by the past Spirit in the House Board in 2013:
“We all need healing and forgiveness. Through multi-media storytelling on the human condition—including theater, music, film, dance, and video—Forgiveness 360 seeks reconciliation throughout the world by drawing from literary, scientific, and spiritual disciplines.”
The organization’s new board, elected in 2016, seeks to expand on this foundation through a series of programs that harness the power of Arts Ministry for social, ecological, and spiritual evolution. Pastor Dean J. Seal was instrumental in the new Arts Ministry’s inception, and now serves on the Board of the new Spirit in the House.
OUR BOARD MEMBERS
Susan Lince Executive Director
John Hopkins Board President
Gary Severson Board Vice-President
Ashtyn Silva Board Secretary/Treasurer
Lynn Niskanen
Rev. Dean J Seal
SUPPORTED BY
Shepherd of the Hill Church of Chaska
COMMUNITY ART PARTNERS
