Interview with Jermaine Van Buren Jr.
This is the first in what will become an ongoing series of interviews with members of Redeemer church about their creative practices and interests. The week we have the privilege of hearing from Jermaine Van Buren Jr., a writer and poet who recently joined Redeemer.
Tell us a little bit about yourself:
“I am a candidate for a Master’s of Divinity at Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, MS. I am from Hattiesburg, MS. I work on campus and I am a ministry assistant at Redeemer Church. I joined the church in December of 2020.”
Tell us about your creative process:
“I started singing when I was old enough to talk, and I started writing poetry in middle school. My first muses were corruption, the city of Rome, and my mother. Some defining moments would include God using Pendulum Performing Arts (a poetry group in Troy University) to bring me into right relationship with Him in Christ, several performances at Troy University where the Lord was especially palpable in the place, and when I started to find my voice in poetry in college (which I would describe as narrative, percussive, and melodic). I also got to sing for Rickey Smiley. So that was fun.”
Who is a role model for you and who inspires you?
“At the moment Erykah Badu, Leslie Odom Jr., Tobe Nwigwe, and Shai Linne inspire me. One of my role models is Maurice Henderson.”
What are you passionate about?
“I am passionate about exalting God beautifully in my poetry, in my vocal performance, in my studies, in my shepherding, and in my personal life.”
What do you think it means to be made in the image of God?
“Being made in the image of God has many different definitions. I will say that the image of God is a unique reflection of embodiment, intellect, and passion.”
How do you define creativity?
“Creativity is the act of imitating the Creator in fashioning from raw materials something beautiful. The difference between the Created Thing (us) and The Creator (Yahweh) is that we only form anything from raw materials already created. The Creator is the only one who can create from nothing those raw materials from which we play with.”
How does your faith inform the things you make?
“The faith is the bedrock, the engine, the coal, the fire of everything I make. Anything formed apart from my faith, I cannot, with good conscience, perform or produce for public consumption.”
What are you working on now?
“Right now, I am working on a couple of pieces with Allen Osorio, inspired by sermons from Redeemer Church.”
Count it All is a collaborative piece released in March by the Kenny Leon Theatre Company in Atlanta GA. Jermaine Van Buren Jr. collaborated with his colleague, Miche Smith (True Colors Theatre Company Dihvinely Konnecked Commissions Fellow). It is a dance film about the juxtaposition of joy and pain felt in the body of black humans during the pandemic and the murders of several black men and women throughout 2020. Miche Smith conducted interviews with collaborators and Jermaine took pieces of that dialogue and headlines from 2020 and fashioned it into a piece of poetry that Miche vocalizes throughout the piece.