Sacred Art in the Home and the Heart: Jolyon and Charlotte Grant’s Experience

Jolyon and Charlotte Grant’s Heritage Edition of The Saint John’s Bible has ignited the spiritual imaginations of scholars, lawyers, tradesworkers, and more from the welcoming sanctuary of their home.

Phoenix, Arizona – If buildings are witnesses, a home sees more than most. It sees struggle, triumph, and comfort. It also sees friends, family, and craftspeople. It sees prized possessions and disposable items, moments sacred and fleeting.

In the home of Charlotte and Jolyon Grant, a couple based in Phoenix, Arizona, a Heritage Edition of The Saint John’s Bible lies open to the Genealogy of Jesus illumination – where friends, acquaintances, grandchildren, trades professionals and more walk through en route to grab something from the kitchen, settle in for a meeting, or prepare to fix a leaky sink.

According to the Grants, each person to walk through the living room has taken pause when their eyes meet the Heritage Edition.

“Anybody and everybody who has come through our door has been struck by its beauty,” said Mrs. Grant. “The plumber, the window washer, colleagues and friends – it’s just remarkable. Everyone is captivated.”

In recognition of this great gift, the Grants have also hosted groups that wouldn’t usually flow through the house to experience The Saint John’s Bible Heritage Edition. The Calligraphic Society of Arizona is just one example.

For the Grants, the pleasure isn’t just in watching others experience this work of art that has personally touched their lives so deeply. It’s in the connection that happens because of it.

“This work is something of such beauty,” said Mr. Grant. “It has been 500 years since anyone attempted such a feat. It’s extraordinary.”

The Human Touch

Though the Grants acquired a Heritage Edition only a few years ago, Mr. Grant’s history with the work dates back to 1981, at the first International Calligraphy Conference held in Collegeville, Minnesota, where the artist behind The Saint John’s Bible, Donald Jackson, first visited Saint John’s University.

The Conference was developed by the Colleagues of Calligraphy in response to the advent of computer fonts. Worldwide, calligraphers worried: would computers be the death of calligraphy? To determine the future of the craft, they assembled.

A calligrapher himself, Mr. Grant not only witnessed Jackson’s keynote address at the Conference but also took classes from Jackson that whole week. His appreciation for the renowned calligrapher grew as the week went on – as did his appreciation for calligraphy, a craft which had already stirred his soul.

But, by the end of the Conference, a fire was lit in these hundreds of calligraphers from around the world, and their commitment to their craft was deepened profoundly. This gathering of artists continues to this day.

“It was a real revival for calligraphy,” said Jolyon Grant. “By the end of the conference, we were all thinking, ‘Who wants a computer-written thought? Anything done by hand has a beauty of its own. In the rhythm and the shapes that reoccur in the alphabets, you can sense the trace of humanity. It’s very special.”

Fast forward to 40 years later. Mr. and Mrs. Grant are living in Phoenix, Arizona, and a calligrapher friend of Mr. Grant’s invited them to a presentation on the Heritage Edition of The Saint John’s Bible that lives at the Franciscan Renewal Center in Scottsdale, Arizona. At the presentation, the Grants were profoundly moved.

The beauty of the illuminations, the fact that it was Donald Jackson’s brainchild, the remarkable feat of hand-scribing all of the hundreds of thousands of words in the Bible, and the inspiring presentation of Scripture spoke to the Grants on a spiritual level.

After the presentation, Mr. Grant didn’t waste a second before calling Rev. Dr. John F. Ross, Executive Director of the Heritage Program and blurting out, “I want to own a Heritage Edition.”

“That’s how we got started, and we just fell in love with John,” said Mr. Grant. “That call started a wonderful relationship. Right away, he invited us to Collegeville to see the Heritage Edition and the original manuscript together. Not too long ago, we went with him to Brigham Young University (BYU) in Provo, Utah to see the Heritage Edition there. Anyone who knows John knows how remarkable he is.”

A Call to Calligraphy

For Mr. Grant, owning a Heritage Edition had additional significance as a marker of his love for the art of calligraphy. He first started in the art form while he was a practicing lawyer. After a long day of high-intensity court cases, placing quill to paper was a way to reconnect with his spiritual life and practice calm and artistry.

“I’d come home at night after a long day of trial, emotionally and physically exhausted, and I’d pick up a quill pen and write with it,” said Mr. Grant. “I could just feel the stress run down my arm, right into my wrist, to the hand, and right out on the paper. It was a unique experience and a meditative ​spiritual, emotional, and artistic endeavor that I just loved.”

Naturally, Mr. Grant’s artistic and professional talents eventually converged. When Justice Sandra Day O’Connor was promoted to the Supreme Court, Mr. Grant was honored to design and hand-scribe a proclamation, written by Mary Lou Hapner, to celebrate Justice O’Connor’s appointment as the first woman Justice in the U.S. Supreme Court. According to Hapner, Justice O’Connor absolutely loved it and took it with her to Washington D.C. Now, copies of the proclamation live in the Arizona Historical Society Museum, the Arizona State Capitol Museum, the Sandra Day O’Connor Law School at Arizona State University, and the Heard Museum in Phoenix.

The Journey Ahead

Their involvement in the Heritage Edition has taken the Grants across the world and back. The couple was present at the blessing of the volumes at Durham Cathedral in Durham, England, and St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle. Locally, they arranged a presentation on The Saint John’s Bible at their local LDS Ward, and have visited Bindtech Roswell Book Binding to see the place where all Heritage Editions are bound.

The Grants look forward to many more years of celebration and connection over the Heritage Edition in their home, and even hope to give the extraordinary gift of an edition of The Saint John’s Bible to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah — a profound act of generosity and ecumenical spirit.

The Saint John’s Bible Heritage Program: Ignite the Spiritual Imagination

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