Junior Sarah Dickerson dangles 15 feet from the ground held only by a piece of fabric and her own strength. She does it not for competition or recognition, but to send a message.

As both a Christian and an aerial acrobat, Dickerson and her classmates use aerial silks to teach their community about God.

“Whenever we go on stage, we are not performing it for ourselves, but rather to tell a story to the audience, to display different aspects of God that can deeply touch them in a way that is not just reading about God in a textbook or to form a tangible, visual, interesting and engaging way to learn about who God is and how he can affect other people’s lives,” Dickerson said.

She first started performing aerial acrobatics after seeing a video of YouTuber Sofie Dossi on the silks. Eight years later, Dickerson is still performing at Reclaiming Arts: a Christian performing arts center that aims to “reclaim the visual arts for the glory of God instead of the glory of the world.

“In a lot of secular arts nowadays, it’s sexualized, or it’s just so it looks cool, but here we actually have a purpose, and that purpose is to glorify God with our actions.”

Through Reclaiming Arts, Dickerson has also found community.

“That community definitely reflects a community that tries to honor God and praise and worship him,” Dickerson said.

For Dickerson, aerial acrobatics has helped her focus on God.

“It’s kept me physically fit as well as given me a lot of lifelong friends, and it’s taught me that putting God in the center of my life is more than just going to church; it’s doing it in all aspects of your life, including sports,” Dickerson said.

This summer, Dickerson will host an intro to silks class, guiding others to do the same.

“What I do is all for God and not just for performing; it’s beyond just performing,” Dickerson said.