In the heart of New York City, Julia J. DeLashmutt and The Rev. Dr. Michael W. DeLashmutt have discovered an unexpected place for evangelism: around a pottery table, with hands covered in clay.
Their project, Crafting Belief: Ceramics and the Art of Spiritual Formation, began with a vision for a ceramics studio at General Theological Seminary in Chelsea—a welcoming space where creativity, Christian spirituality, and community could come together. Julia and Michael imagined pottery not simply as an artistic practice, but as a way of creating opportunities for people to encounter God and one another through making.
The idea grew from their own experience. Julia and Michael first learned ceramics together while in college and returned to the practice during the COVID-19 pandemic. Working with clay became a source of spiritual renewal and reflection. They began recognizing within the creative process themes deeply connected to Christian faith: creation, transformation, grace, brokenness, restoration, and the willingness to begin again.
Supported by a grant from the Episcopal Evangelism Society, that original vision grew into Potter and the Priest Studios, transforming an underused space at General Seminary into a functioning ceramics studio and an emerging ministry of creative evangelism, spiritual formation, and community building. Tables and other furnishings from the Seminary were repurposed, creating a place for teaching, contemplation, hospitality, and community.
At the heart of the ministry is Fabricandi Divina, a contemplative practice developed by the DeLashmutts that brings together working with clay, Scripture, prayer, and theological reflection. As participants’ hands become occupied with forming clay, conversations about life and faith often emerge naturally. People slow down, create together, and become more attentive to the movement of God in their lives.
The approach quickly found an audience. Early Fabricandi Divina retreats brought together parishioners from St. Peter’s Chelsea, students and staff from General Seminary, and later clergy and ministry leaders. Participants described the experience as grounding, healing, and spiritually enriching.
The ministry soon began moving beyond the walls of the studio. At St. George’s Episcopal Church in Flushing, Queens, participants of varying artistic abilities and spiritual backgrounds gathered around pottery tables to create, reflect on Scripture, and share stories of faith. A retreat for the Pastors, Priests & Guides network invited ministry leaders to experience the practice themselves and consider how creativity might enrich evangelism, discipleship, and pastoral care in their own communities.
The studio has also become a laboratory for new forms of liturgy. Empty Vessels: A Liturgy for Hunger and Hope used handcrafted ceramic vessels to invite reflection on food insecurity, human need, and God’s abundance. Another liturgy, Vessels of Light, invited General Seminary students to create hand-built luminaries within an experience of prayer and theological reflection.
Through these experiences, Julia and Michael have observed something simple but profound: working with clay changes the way people relate to one another. Around the pottery table, strangers become companions. The creative process provides room for conversations about faith, grief, joy, hope, and the ways God continues to shape human lives.
That discovery reflects the evangelistic vision at the heart of the project. Potter and the Priest does not begin with pressure or expectation. Instead, it creates a hospitable space in which relationships can form and spiritual conversations can emerge naturally. Creativity becomes an invitation—an embodied way of exploring questions of faith and experiencing Christian community.
The work continues to grow. Julia and Michael hope to expand partnerships with parishes, offer additional retreats for clergy, develop training so that others can lead Fabricandi Divina, and create new liturgical resources connecting creativity with the mission of the Church.
What began as a pottery studio has become something more: a ministry at the intersection of art, theology, hospitality, and evangelism.
At Potter and the Priest, clay becomes more than material to be shaped. It becomes an invitation to slow down, make something alongside another person, and discover anew the God who creates, restores, and continues shaping each of us.
