A Mosaic of Believers

In the early 2000s, Erwin McManus authored several bestselling books, saturated the Christian conference speaking circuit, and grew a distinct church in Los Angeles, CA called Mosaic. He became known as a leading voice among Christian creatives and religious innovators during that time. In 2008, at the height of his popularity, Erwin McManus retrieved back into the shadows and stopped writing books, attended fewer speaking engagements, and held far less public interaction. Six years later, McManus decided to reemerge with the release of a new book, “The Artisan Soul: Crafting Your Life into a Work of Art.” In this book, his message is simple: people were created to be creative. This became a controversial idea in the church, since those who were not conventionally creative felt like they were “just there,”. Therefore, it is important to recognize how this idea applies to those who aren’t naturally artistic, and why McManus retreated from public life to begin with. In an interview, McManus explained that his brief period of absence from the Xian scene was due to many variables and factors. One of these was that he wanted to affect the world outside of the church and be a voice to an unbelieving world. McManus describe, “we so often focus on Sunday and hope we are changing the world. I felt compelled to tell great art and tell great stories and allow beauty to point to truth,” (2014).