Messiah Dance Works is a Christian Community Arts and Social Service organization.

Its purpose is:

                                                               i.            To expose urban community to the arts

                                                             ii.            To restore the arts to the Church as forms of worship

                                                            iii.            To use the arts to address issues plaguing society today and offer hope

                                                           iv.            To foster creativity, build positive self-esteem, and develop a constructive nature in those we reach

                                                             v.            To impact the community through programming that exacts positive social change

                                                           vi.            To use the American urban arts community to positively impact  the global community

Our organization engages in the following activities to further the purposes and fulfill the mission we have established:

1)       Arts Education

2)       Arts Production

3)       Arts Research & Development

4)       Arts Missions

5)       Community Outreach

Reverend Duane Wilkins founded Messiah Dance Works as an act of faith, in 1989, and shared the vision with Stacy R. Williams.  Incorporated as a Non-Profit in 2002, Messiah sought to become a greater presence in the urban community.

In 2005, the Institute for the Study of the Arts in Ceremony and Ritual was formed.  It is an entity of Messiah Dance Works.  Its purpose is:

To develop standards for the practice of Arts in Church ceremony

     (Certificate programs, degrees, etc.)

To encourage the study of the history of the Arts in Worship

To establish an annual Religious Arts Conference