Meet Nathaniel Tinner
NATHANIEL TINNER is a writer, speaker, and singer based in New Orleans, LA (NOLA). [website | twitter]
You can watch Nathaniel’s presentation on Black Catholicism, social justice, and his personal testimony for the California Chinese Catholic Living Camp (CACCLC) 2020 virtual retreat below:
CATHOLIC ARTIST CONNECTION: Where are you from originally, and what brought you to NOLA?
NATHANIEL TINNER: I’m from Evansville, IN and my dad moved here to NOLA while I was in college in Los Angeles; I landed here after graduation and have been between here and Cali ever since.
Do you call yourself a Catholic artist? What do you see as your personal mission as a Catholic working in the arts?
I do not typically call myself an artist, as I see myself as primarily an analytical writer. That isn’t typically seen as an art, and my more purely artistic venture (singing) is moreso my side gig—although I’ve been doing it longer and in more contexts.
Presently I see both of my art forms as methods of supporting the institution of Black Catholicism. It is in need of support and enrichment from its own, and writing as well as music happen to be two art forms that have been (and remain) crucial to the development of the institution. Insofar as I am able, I take it to be my duty to serve the Church in that way.
Where have you found support in the Church for your vocation as an artist?
I am a recent convert (officially received in December 2019), and the feedback to my work as a writer and singer has been phenomenal. I had been out of the writing habit for some time before discovering Catholicism; once I found and embraced it, my artistic juices starting flowing like water. I had to get a million things off of my chest, and they came out the way my mind had been trained to release things: on the page and on the mic. Multiple new friends—almost all of whom I’ve never met in person—offered to host my writing, chief among them Mike Lewis, who runs a Catholic blog called Where Peter Is. This led to a writing opportunity with Word On Fire, and my work on both outlets has led to various podcast interviews, a book interview, an appearance in an upcoming documentary from Stella Maris Films, and a speaking gig at the 2020 California Chinese Catholic Living Camp.
Where have you found support among your fellow artists for your Catholic faith?
The response from other Catholic writers has been awesome. I have heard over and over again that Black Catholic writers are few and far between in the public spotlight, especially in certain media outlets. Speakers are more common, but not necessarily with a focus on Black Catholicism as their topic of focus.
Lesser-known still are Black Catholic musicians. So people have been receptive of my message as well as my experience, which has been cool to see. There’s a lot of Black Catholic history and art out there that is unknown to the average Catholic.
How can the Church be more welcoming to artists?
By having an open mind! The world of Catholicism is one full of (if not sustained by) art—the world’s art, not any one culture's—and every member of the Church should be cognizant of that. Many times this knowledge is sitting right under our noses, or even within our grasp without us realizing it. So much of our surroundings is shaped by Catholic art, and we internalize it whether we’re believers, pious, atheists, or lapsed. Everyone, from the Pope to the pauper, should embrace that fact and use it as a tool for unity and human flourishing.
How can the artistic world be more welcoming to artists of faith?
By seeking beauty wherever it resides. Often this means taken off our own blinders and seeing objective beauty in places and things we ourselves do not necessarily enjoy or appreciate. This also can mean seeing the overwhelming beauty in things that we do appreciate on an aesthetic level, but that are attached to other things (like religion) that we may not identify with. Finally, the art world (and the whole world) can gain so much by learning to to see beauty in the ugliness of a world that is not as it should be. A world where religions—namely, their religionists—do not always show themselves worthy of praise or appreciation. A world that makes us cry like art sometimes does. Religious art helps tell that story in a timeless sort of way.
Where in your city do you regularly find spiritual fulfillment?
I attend Blessed Sacrament/St. Joan of Arc parish, and I recommend any and all Black Catholic parishes in my city—of which there are many. This is not to the exclusion of the value of other parishes, but Black Catholicism is a unique thing in the Catholic world and for various reasons must be seen in order to be believed. A people of uncommon faithfulness have persevered through an uncommon struggle and continue to sing (and I mean *SING*) God’s praises through it all. I will never forget Christmas Day Mass at St. Peter Claver in America’s oldest Black neighborhood [Tremé, NOLA], with a massive gospel choir singing the Gloria like I’d never heard it before, the servers bowing and incensing the altar while the congregation stood, clapped, and joined the angels in praise. There’s truly nothing like it.
Also, everyone should know the story of the Knights of Peter Claver & Ladies Auxiliary, the Catholic national fraternal organization founded for African-Americans during an era when the Knights of Columbus did not allow us entry. Black Catholic organizations from this period abound (including religious orders such as the Josephites, Sisters of the Holy Family, and Oblate Sisters of Providence), and deserve everyone’s attention. I am applying for the Josephites myself, and study for my Masters at Xavier University of Louisiana, the one and only Catholic HBCU (which houses my program, the Institute for Black Catholic Studies).
Everyone should also check out the National Black Catholic Congress, National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus, National Black Sisters’ Conference, National Black Catholic Seminarians Association, and the National Association of Black Catholic Deacons.
How do you afford housing as an artist?
I currently live with a Catholic lay intentional community connected to a local parish, and I recommend this to anyone for whom it is an option. Living in community with other Catholics is both an economic and spiritual boon, and as St. Paul once said, “Against such things there is no law.”
While not exactly the same thing, Catholic Worker communities still exist throughout the country and are great places for artists to serve and live in community at least partially outside of the somewhat artist-unfriendly capitalist superstructure.
What other practical resources would you recommend to a Catholic artist living in NOLA?
Not just for folks living in my city, but a friend of mine runs a writers’ group that meets once a month to review and critique each others’ work and I know that is a crucial help for so many artists in the writing field. Folks interested can send me an email to get connected.
