London, 2026
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Twelfth Night - East Of Eden.
Sunday, 11 January 2026
The Father’s call and the Spirit’s empowering
Here's the sermon that I shared this morning at St Andrew’s Wickford:
Jesus’ baptism marks the point at which he was commissioned for his public ministry (Matthew 3. 13-18). Through his baptism, he is publicly affirmed by John the Baptist, who says that Jesus is the one for whom he has been waiting, and by God himself, as the dove of the Spirit descended on him and the Father said, This is my own dear Son, with whom I am pleased.” Following his baptism, he goes into the desert, where he is tested by the Devil, before returning to begin his ministry by quoting Isaiah as his public manifesto in the synagogue at Nazareth.
In the contemporary paraphrase of the Bible called ‘The Message’ we read of Jesus saying to John the Baptist, who questioned the need for Jesus’ baptism, “Do it. God’s work, putting things right all these centuries, is coming together right now in this baptism.” In his baptism, Jesus was equipped by the Spirit to carry out the work of putting all things right and he was affirmed in the rightness of this work when the Father said, “This is my Son, chosen and marked by my love, delight of my life.” Following his baptism, Jesus knew he was in a partnership with God working to put the world to rights.
Let’s explore those two aspects of Jesus’ baptism – the Father’s call and the Spirit’s empowering – in a little more detail this morning.
The Father’s call is about the question, ‘Who am I?’ The answer to that question was given to Jesus as soon as he came up out of the waters of baptism. As he did so, he saw heaven opening, the Spirit coming down on him like a dove, and he heard a voice from heaven saying, “You are my own dear Son. I am pleased with you.” As he was baptised, he was immediately affirmed as God’s Son.
It is easy for us to think that that only applies to Jesus. That it was a special word spoken by God the Father especially to him and, on one level, no doubt it was. But the Bible makes it quite clear that Jesus laid down his life to make us one with God so that, as Christians, we are Jesus’ brothers and sisters, members of the same family – God’s family – and co-heirs with Jesus of everything that he has. Listen to what St Paul says about this in Romans 8:
“Those who are led by God's Spirit are God's children. For the Spirit that God has given you does not make you slaves and cause you to be afraid; instead, the Spirit makes you God's children, and by the Spirit's power we cry out to God, Father! my Father! God's Spirit joins himself to our spirits to declare that we are God's children. Since we are his children, we will possess the blessings he keeps for his people, and we will also possess with Christ what God has kept for him …”
Take a moment, to let those words sink into your hearts and minds. You are a child of God, you are a brother or sister of Jesus, you are loved, you are valued, you are blessed. This is the Father’s call to us, as it was to Jesus. It is transformative to know that we are loved and accepted by our Father God.
The Spirit’s empowering is to do with the question, ‘Why am I here?’ and that question too is answered in this reading. After he is baptised, Jesus has a time of preparation in the desert and then begins to preach the Good News from God. He had a God-given task to complete, a reason for his existence and a meaning for his life. The same is true for us. Listen to St Paul again, this time from 1 Corinthians 12:
“There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit gives them. There are different ways of serving, but the same Lord is served. There are different abilities to perform service, but the same God gives ability to all for their particular service. The Spirit's presence is shown in some way in each person for the good of all.”
For each one of us, the Spirit’s presence is shown in us in some way for the good of all. Take a moment, to let those words sink into your hearts and minds. You have been given the abilities you need for your particular service. The Spirit's presence is shown in some way in you for the good of all. Your life has meaning and purpose because God has work that only you can do.
These two aspects of his baptism were vital for Jesus because he then experienced significant testing in the wilderness when he was tempted by the Devil. He was able to go through that experience and emerge victorious because he had been affirmed and equipped by God through his baptism. Re-emerging from the desert to begin God’s work, he could then explain what he was about to do in words taken from the prophecies of Isaiah:
"The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour."
These words describe what God’s work involves, the work of putting the world to rights.
As those who follow Jesus, we are the body of Christ – the hands, eyes, mouth, ears, feet and hands of Jesus in our world. Therefore, we have the task to undertake. We are called to the same job of work and need the same resource. Whatever our role in life, we are called to work together with God in our shared task of putting the world to rights. Each of us can consider how our day-to-day lives could contribute to this task – for example, through care for family and friends, through visiting those who are unwell or elderly, through consistent prayer for people and places in need, through generosity in our giving to those in need, and so on.
To do this we need to know that we are loved and accepted by our Heavenly Father and also to be equipped and led by the Holy Spirit. Led by the Spirit, our work can involve creativity, care and collaboration; biblical signs that work is undertaken in partnership with God. Jesus says to us what he said to John, “Do it. God’s work, putting things right all these centuries, is coming together right now in this baptism.” May it be so for each one of us. Amen.
Jesus’ baptism marks the point at which he was commissioned for his public ministry (Matthew 3. 13-18). Through his baptism, he is publicly affirmed by John the Baptist, who says that Jesus is the one for whom he has been waiting, and by God himself, as the dove of the Spirit descended on him and the Father said, This is my own dear Son, with whom I am pleased.” Following his baptism, he goes into the desert, where he is tested by the Devil, before returning to begin his ministry by quoting Isaiah as his public manifesto in the synagogue at Nazareth.
In the contemporary paraphrase of the Bible called ‘The Message’ we read of Jesus saying to John the Baptist, who questioned the need for Jesus’ baptism, “Do it. God’s work, putting things right all these centuries, is coming together right now in this baptism.” In his baptism, Jesus was equipped by the Spirit to carry out the work of putting all things right and he was affirmed in the rightness of this work when the Father said, “This is my Son, chosen and marked by my love, delight of my life.” Following his baptism, Jesus knew he was in a partnership with God working to put the world to rights.
Let’s explore those two aspects of Jesus’ baptism – the Father’s call and the Spirit’s empowering – in a little more detail this morning.
The Father’s call is about the question, ‘Who am I?’ The answer to that question was given to Jesus as soon as he came up out of the waters of baptism. As he did so, he saw heaven opening, the Spirit coming down on him like a dove, and he heard a voice from heaven saying, “You are my own dear Son. I am pleased with you.” As he was baptised, he was immediately affirmed as God’s Son.
It is easy for us to think that that only applies to Jesus. That it was a special word spoken by God the Father especially to him and, on one level, no doubt it was. But the Bible makes it quite clear that Jesus laid down his life to make us one with God so that, as Christians, we are Jesus’ brothers and sisters, members of the same family – God’s family – and co-heirs with Jesus of everything that he has. Listen to what St Paul says about this in Romans 8:
“Those who are led by God's Spirit are God's children. For the Spirit that God has given you does not make you slaves and cause you to be afraid; instead, the Spirit makes you God's children, and by the Spirit's power we cry out to God, Father! my Father! God's Spirit joins himself to our spirits to declare that we are God's children. Since we are his children, we will possess the blessings he keeps for his people, and we will also possess with Christ what God has kept for him …”
Take a moment, to let those words sink into your hearts and minds. You are a child of God, you are a brother or sister of Jesus, you are loved, you are valued, you are blessed. This is the Father’s call to us, as it was to Jesus. It is transformative to know that we are loved and accepted by our Father God.
The Spirit’s empowering is to do with the question, ‘Why am I here?’ and that question too is answered in this reading. After he is baptised, Jesus has a time of preparation in the desert and then begins to preach the Good News from God. He had a God-given task to complete, a reason for his existence and a meaning for his life. The same is true for us. Listen to St Paul again, this time from 1 Corinthians 12:
“There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit gives them. There are different ways of serving, but the same Lord is served. There are different abilities to perform service, but the same God gives ability to all for their particular service. The Spirit's presence is shown in some way in each person for the good of all.”
For each one of us, the Spirit’s presence is shown in us in some way for the good of all. Take a moment, to let those words sink into your hearts and minds. You have been given the abilities you need for your particular service. The Spirit's presence is shown in some way in you for the good of all. Your life has meaning and purpose because God has work that only you can do.
These two aspects of his baptism were vital for Jesus because he then experienced significant testing in the wilderness when he was tempted by the Devil. He was able to go through that experience and emerge victorious because he had been affirmed and equipped by God through his baptism. Re-emerging from the desert to begin God’s work, he could then explain what he was about to do in words taken from the prophecies of Isaiah:
"The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour."
These words describe what God’s work involves, the work of putting the world to rights.
As those who follow Jesus, we are the body of Christ – the hands, eyes, mouth, ears, feet and hands of Jesus in our world. Therefore, we have the task to undertake. We are called to the same job of work and need the same resource. Whatever our role in life, we are called to work together with God in our shared task of putting the world to rights. Each of us can consider how our day-to-day lives could contribute to this task – for example, through care for family and friends, through visiting those who are unwell or elderly, through consistent prayer for people and places in need, through generosity in our giving to those in need, and so on.
To do this we need to know that we are loved and accepted by our Heavenly Father and also to be equipped and led by the Holy Spirit. Led by the Spirit, our work can involve creativity, care and collaboration; biblical signs that work is undertaken in partnership with God. Jesus says to us what he said to John, “Do it. God’s work, putting things right all these centuries, is coming together right now in this baptism.” May it be so for each one of us. Amen.
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Duvall - Gimme Some Light.
Friday, 9 January 2026
Unveiled: Fear not, for I am with you: An exhibition of religious paintings by David Sowerby
The latest exhibition at St Andrew's Wickford opened tonight with an exhibition viewing evening that included a chance to meet the artist, David Sowerby.
Our thanks to David, both for his marvellous exhibition and his talk this evening about creativity. Those of us present enjoyed a lovely exhibition viewing evening seeing great paintings and drawing inspiration from David's reflections.
Fear not, for I am with you: An exhibition of religious paintings by David Sowerby
9 January – 3 April 2026
St Andrew’s Church, 11 London Road, Wickford SS12 0AN
St Andrew’s is usually open: Sat 9am-12.30pm; Sun 9.30am-12 noon; Mon 2-3.45pm; Tue 1-4.30pm; Wed 10am-12 noon; Fri 10am-1pm. https://wickfordandrunwellparish.org.uk/whats-on.html
David Sowerby
Born 24th October 1954
Studied Foundation at Middlesbrough Art College
BA (hons) Art and Design at The Central School of Art (London)
I worked as a freelance illustrator and teacher throughout my life and eventually retired as a Principal Lecturer at The University of the Arts London.
I now support a range of charities, both local and national, via my mutual interest and fascination with art and creativity.
An earlier exhibition was just prior to the first lockdown which was held at The Transition, Chelmsford, with proceeds going towards The British Heart Foundation raised just over £6,000.
I continue to support local and national charities, contributing a large percentage of any sales to such charitable organisations and causes.
My work can be viewed on my Facebook pages, search for David Sowerby with more available to view at Sowerbycreations (Facebook again).
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Jonathan Jackson - Breaking Loose The Chains.
Revd Sally Muggeridge R.I.P.
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Her pastoral heart combined with her business experience and insights was absolutely the right combination for ministry at Walbrook. Her understanding of the pressures of life in the City helped her provide the support others needed. As she said in an FT profile, “My role is now one of pastoral care of stressed City workers. So many seek chats, prayers, a quick discussion [about] a worry about family life and work. A prayer needed, a smile, a service — I can help with examples and encouragement.”'
Her time with us, as well as creating new links and initiatives with the business community, also broke down barriers as she was the first woman to preside at the Eucharist in St Stephen Walbrook. It was a privilege to be at the ‘At Home’ for WATCH during which she celebrated her first Eucharist and became the first woman to celebrate the Eucharist in that church. Her legacy also includes all she did to work on the legacy of Malcolm Muggeridge and I also remember our conversations about him and his impact with real pleasure. I will always remember her time with us and all she brought to ministry with deep gratitude.
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Choral Classics with the Choral Scholars of St Martin-in-the-Fields.
Thursday, 8 January 2026
Fear not, for I am with you: An exhibition of religious paintings by David Sowerby
The latest exhibition at St Andrew's Wickford opens tomorrow with an exhibition viewing evening from 7.00 pm and a chance to meet the artist, David Sowerby.
Fear not, for I am with you: An exhibition of religious paintings by David Sowerby
9 January – 3 April 2026
St Andrew’s Church, 11 London Road, Wickford SS12 0AN
View the exhibition and hear David speak about his work at ‘Unveiled’, the arts & performance evening at St Andrew’s Wickford, Friday 9 January, 7.00 pm.
St Andrew’s is usually open: Sat 9am-12.30pm; Sun 9.30am-12 noon; Mon 2-3.45pm; Tue 1-4.30pm; Wed 10am-12 noon; Fri 10am-1pm. https://wickfordandrunwellparish.org.uk/whats-on.html
David Sowerby
Born 24th October 1954
Studied Foundation at Middlesbrough Art College
BA (hons) Art and Design at The Central School of Art (London)
I worked as a freelance illustrator and teacher throughout my life and eventually retired as a Principal Lecturer at The University of the Arts London.
I now support a range of charities, both local and national, via my mutual interest and fascination with art and creativity.
An earlier exhibition was just prior to the first lockdown which was held at The Transition, Chelmsford, with proceeds going towards The British Heart Foundation raised just over £6,000.
I continue to support local and national charities, contributing a large percentage of any sales to such charitable organisations and causes.
My work can be viewed on my Facebook pages, search for David Sowerby with more available to view at Sowerbycreations (Facebook again).
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Talia featuring Brian May - Praise Your Name.
Sunday, 4 January 2026
Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now
Here's the sermon that I shared this morning at St Catherine’s Wickford:
Who had family to stay for Christmas? Shout out where they came from to establish who came the furthest. Who went away to visit friends or family this year? Again, shout out where, so we can find out who went furthest, and how they got there.
Think about this question. What is the most important part of a journey? The beginning, middle or end? Why we travel, where we travel or how we travel?
At Epiphany we focus on the journey made by the Magi in order to be able to kneel and worship the baby king Jesus (Matthew 2. 1 – 12). In the ancient world, Jupiter was the ‘king star’, and at the time of the birth of Jesus, Jupiter appeared in the night sky very close to Saturn, which represented Israel. If you were reading the sky you’d see ‘new king in Israel’.
That was the starting point for their journey but it didn’t give them exact directions. They didn’t know exactly where they were going on their journey. They knew they were going to find the new king in Israel but they had to trust as they travelled that they would be guided and led to find him. They clearly travelled a great distance and, obviously, didn’t have cars, trains or planes, so they would have probably travelled on camels. But the distance and effort didn’t stop them because meeting the child was so important.
When they arrived, they gave extravagantly to welcome Jesus with gifts, time, effort, the risk of danger, and humility. But their gifts pale next to Jesus coming to earth to show God’s love for us; Jesus came from heaven, eternity and majesty to earth, time and humanity. He went on an even more incredible journey to show us God’s love. After they had found Jesus the journey of the Magi began again as they were guided by God to return home by another route and, as T. S. Eliot makes clear at the end of his great poem about their journey, their lives were forever changed by the experience.
So, their starting point was important but it didn’t tell them how to find their way and when they did finally arrive, their arrival actually meant the beginning of a new journey. All of which means that how we travel may be as important as why or where we travel. In one of my previous Parishes, we used to have a Text for the Year, which on one occasion was about how we travel and was taken from Matthew 6. 34:
“Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.”
Simon Small writes in ‘From the Bottom of the Pond’ that: “Our minds find paying full attention to now very difficult. This is because our minds live in time. Our thoughts are preoccupied with past and future, and the present moment is missed.”
But, he says, “Contemplative prayer is the art of paying attention to what is”: “To pay profound attention to reality is prayer, because to enter the depths of this moment is to encounter God. There is always only now. It is the only place that God can be found.”
This is very much what Jesus seems to be saying in Matthew 6. 34 and also in his teaching on worry and anxiety found in Matthew 6. 24 – 34.
When we are preoccupied with what might happen in the future, we are not living fully in the present and may well misunderstand or misinterpret what is actually going on. Jesus encourages us to live fully in the present because, as Simon Small says, that is where we encounter God.
When we genuinely encounter God in the here and now, we know that his love and forgiveness surround us and that his Spirit fills us. As Jesus prayed in John 17, he is in us and we are in him. When we know this in our hearts in the here and now, we can relax because whatever happens to us, we are accepted, forgiven, loved and gifted by the God who created all things and who will bring all things to their rightful end. We are held in the palm of his hands and, as Julian of Norwich put it, “all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well”.
Even in the difficult times, we can still know that this is true because, as Matthew 6. 34 puts it, God will help us deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.
Jesus is saying that the more we live in the present and the more we encounter God’s love in the here and now, the less we will be anxious or worried. Prayer is able to help us do both things and therefore helps us to reduce our sense of anxiety or worry. Not because we have listed all our worries to God and believe that he will solve them all for us, but instead because, through prayer, we have encountered more of God’s love and, as a result, trust that he will be with us whatever comes our way.
This is important because so much of our sense of dissatisfaction with our lives and the complaining we do about other people stems from our own worries and anxieties rather than what may or may not have happened or what others may or may not have done. Instead of focusing on other people and what we think they should or should not do or have done, we need to begin with ourselves and our relationship with God by giving our entire attention to what God is doing right now, and not getting worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. Then God is able to help us deal with whatever comes up, whether hard things or blessings, when the time comes.
We don’t know what 2026 will bring, although we do know that we will be celebrating the 150th Anniversary of this building. We can never confidently and absolutely predict the future and, of course, the future will be different for each of us. But, as Brian Davison reminds us, “if the prospect of what lies ahead seems dark or threatening, remember the words with which King George VI reflected on the closing year in his 1939 Christmas broadcast. “I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year: ‘Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.’ And he replied: ‘Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God. That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way.” (Minnie Louise Haskins).
Like the Magi, we can only travel in hope that we will be guided by God. So, “Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.” May it be so for each one of us.
Who had family to stay for Christmas? Shout out where they came from to establish who came the furthest. Who went away to visit friends or family this year? Again, shout out where, so we can find out who went furthest, and how they got there.
Think about this question. What is the most important part of a journey? The beginning, middle or end? Why we travel, where we travel or how we travel?
At Epiphany we focus on the journey made by the Magi in order to be able to kneel and worship the baby king Jesus (Matthew 2. 1 – 12). In the ancient world, Jupiter was the ‘king star’, and at the time of the birth of Jesus, Jupiter appeared in the night sky very close to Saturn, which represented Israel. If you were reading the sky you’d see ‘new king in Israel’.
That was the starting point for their journey but it didn’t give them exact directions. They didn’t know exactly where they were going on their journey. They knew they were going to find the new king in Israel but they had to trust as they travelled that they would be guided and led to find him. They clearly travelled a great distance and, obviously, didn’t have cars, trains or planes, so they would have probably travelled on camels. But the distance and effort didn’t stop them because meeting the child was so important.
When they arrived, they gave extravagantly to welcome Jesus with gifts, time, effort, the risk of danger, and humility. But their gifts pale next to Jesus coming to earth to show God’s love for us; Jesus came from heaven, eternity and majesty to earth, time and humanity. He went on an even more incredible journey to show us God’s love. After they had found Jesus the journey of the Magi began again as they were guided by God to return home by another route and, as T. S. Eliot makes clear at the end of his great poem about their journey, their lives were forever changed by the experience.
So, their starting point was important but it didn’t tell them how to find their way and when they did finally arrive, their arrival actually meant the beginning of a new journey. All of which means that how we travel may be as important as why or where we travel. In one of my previous Parishes, we used to have a Text for the Year, which on one occasion was about how we travel and was taken from Matthew 6. 34:
“Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.”
Simon Small writes in ‘From the Bottom of the Pond’ that: “Our minds find paying full attention to now very difficult. This is because our minds live in time. Our thoughts are preoccupied with past and future, and the present moment is missed.”
But, he says, “Contemplative prayer is the art of paying attention to what is”: “To pay profound attention to reality is prayer, because to enter the depths of this moment is to encounter God. There is always only now. It is the only place that God can be found.”
This is very much what Jesus seems to be saying in Matthew 6. 34 and also in his teaching on worry and anxiety found in Matthew 6. 24 – 34.
When we are preoccupied with what might happen in the future, we are not living fully in the present and may well misunderstand or misinterpret what is actually going on. Jesus encourages us to live fully in the present because, as Simon Small says, that is where we encounter God.
When we genuinely encounter God in the here and now, we know that his love and forgiveness surround us and that his Spirit fills us. As Jesus prayed in John 17, he is in us and we are in him. When we know this in our hearts in the here and now, we can relax because whatever happens to us, we are accepted, forgiven, loved and gifted by the God who created all things and who will bring all things to their rightful end. We are held in the palm of his hands and, as Julian of Norwich put it, “all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well”.
Even in the difficult times, we can still know that this is true because, as Matthew 6. 34 puts it, God will help us deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.
Jesus is saying that the more we live in the present and the more we encounter God’s love in the here and now, the less we will be anxious or worried. Prayer is able to help us do both things and therefore helps us to reduce our sense of anxiety or worry. Not because we have listed all our worries to God and believe that he will solve them all for us, but instead because, through prayer, we have encountered more of God’s love and, as a result, trust that he will be with us whatever comes our way.
This is important because so much of our sense of dissatisfaction with our lives and the complaining we do about other people stems from our own worries and anxieties rather than what may or may not have happened or what others may or may not have done. Instead of focusing on other people and what we think they should or should not do or have done, we need to begin with ourselves and our relationship with God by giving our entire attention to what God is doing right now, and not getting worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. Then God is able to help us deal with whatever comes up, whether hard things or blessings, when the time comes.
We don’t know what 2026 will bring, although we do know that we will be celebrating the 150th Anniversary of this building. We can never confidently and absolutely predict the future and, of course, the future will be different for each of us. But, as Brian Davison reminds us, “if the prospect of what lies ahead seems dark or threatening, remember the words with which King George VI reflected on the closing year in his 1939 Christmas broadcast. “I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year: ‘Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.’ And he replied: ‘Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God. That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way.” (Minnie Louise Haskins).
Like the Magi, we can only travel in hope that we will be guided by God. So, “Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.” May it be so for each one of us.
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NEEDTOBREATHE - I Am Yours.
Saturday, 3 January 2026
Coda - Rupert Loydell: Guest posts and interview
I recently posted a series of guest posts by and an interview with Rupert Loydell which has added to the material about Jesus Rock, CCM and spirituality in rock music published here previously. The first post in this series was a listing of previous posts on these themes - click here. The second post was an interview with musician Nick Battle, click here. The third post was the interview with Rupert Loydell - click here. The fourth post was a new interview by Rupert with Nick Battle - click here. While the final post in the series was an interview by Rupert with Steve Scott - click here.
One of main reasons for the interview with Steve was a Kickstarter project for two unrealeased albums. Charles Normal, who oversees Solid Rock Records, explained the background to the project as follows:
Jeremy Enigk: Enigk is described by Wikipedia as: 'an American singer-songwriter, vocalist and guitarist/multi-instrumentalist. He is known as a solo artist, a film score composer, and as the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist and keyboardist of the Seattle-based bands Sunny Day Real Estate and The Fire Theft.' Natalie Jacobs notes that: 'Once known as the anguished voice of emo pioneers Sunny Day Real Estate, Jeremy Enigk has done a lot of growing up in public. At 21 years of age, Enigk sacrificed Sunny Day—a band on the verge of a commercial breakthrough—in favor of Christianity, announcing his religious convictions in a 1994 e-mail to friends. Enigk later rejoined his bandmates in various configurations (both in the Fire Theft and a reunited Sunny Day ...), and he issued an ornate, orchestral-pop solo album, Return Of The Frog Queen, in 1996.' The Masquerade argues that the latter album 'was an indisputable innovation in the world of ‘90s indie rock, rewriting a litany of unwritten rules about sound, subject matter, and solo identity for lead singers of successful bands.' Enigk has said of his approach: 'You’ve got to speak it from the heart, if you truly have this relationship or feeling, you know—tell the truth. A lot of the lyrics are always just the same praising. There’s nothing wrong with praising, but I have no problem wrestling with God. Or wrestling with the idea of God. I think it’s good to doubt. I think it’s good to look at the other side of that, as opposed to doing the formula, just doing it to make yourself look like you love God. And that’s really only to impress your fellow Christians, you know?'
Steve Scott is a British mixed-media artist, writer, lecturer, and performer. Upon completing art school in the mid-1970s, Steve moved to the United States at the request of a small record label and began recording songs. He now has ten albums of original work released on several small independent labels. The work ranges from rock music to more experimental poetry and spoken word, performed over electronic loop based compositions.
I worked with Steve, through commission4mission, to organize some of the different `Run with the Fire’ art exhibitions and events held in and around London, during the Olympic summer of 2012. You can learn more about `Run With The Fire’ by clicking here, here, and here. My own dialogues with Steve can be read here, here, here, here, and here.
'In 1977 British Poet / Songwriter Steve Scott signed a recording contract with Solid Rock Records and began recording two albums for the company. He assembled a top-notch band of well-known musicians and performers in the Christian music scene: Larry Norman, Randy Stonehill, Mark Heard, Tom Howard, Alex McDougall (Daniel Amos), and Jon "Wonderfingers" Linn. Both albums (Moving Pictures and Closeups) were completed, but before they could be mixed, mastered, and released, Solid Rock's distribution company Word Records got cold feet because of Scott's lyrics which touched sporadically on “crises of faith” and other legitimate questions that the faithful can occasionally have. There were moments of soul-searching buried in the albums' tracks, questions that the stalwart distribution company didn't want addressed.
The albums never got released so they sat in the Solid Rock archives for 47 years until they began to be reconsidered as the tour de force they were all along.'
The albums never got released so they sat in the Solid Rock archives for 47 years until they began to be reconsidered as the tour de force they were all along.'
The Kickstarter project was a success so the CDs will be pressed in January, and the vinyl records will be available from March. This is great news as, as Alan Thornbury has written, 'The eclecticism evidenced (reggae, delta blues, punk, ballad), the raw power of the studio band, and Scott's cognitively complex refections on the life of a follower of Jesus make the appearance of this record at long last something of a tiny miracle.' Thornbury also notes that: 'There were no easy certainties here, unlike most CCM at the time. Faith sits uncomfortably with doubt on several tracks.'
The difficult history of these two albums and the difficulties that Steve Scott faced in trying to get his music released is indicative of the twists and turns experienced by many creative musicians of faith whose music is too Christian for mainstream labels and insufficiently evangelistic or praise-based for the CCM labels. The following are stories of others who have faced similar challenges in different ways:
Josh Caterer: Caterer is described by Chicago Music Wiki as: 'The creative mastermind behind the [Smoking] Popes, Josh composed the majority of their repertoire of distinctive, pop-influenced punk-rock songs, many of which have an intensely melancholy air underneath their driving beat. Lyrics of his early songs evoke feelings of fear, failure, intense despair, purposelessness, and romantic love as a redeeming agent. His later songs are marked by a more positive outlook, and many center upon the uplifting nature of religious faith and upon the importance of examining one's spiritual path.' Caterer broke up 'the Smoking Popes, on the cusp of national stardom and chucked his rock records to find what he wanted in a newfound Christian faith.' Seven years later — 'having searched and researched his soul, started a separate Christian band called Duvall and become a father of two' — he revived the Popes, saying: 'At the time, the best way to respond to my decision to follow Christ was to quit the band. I did it with a sense of permanence. But my understanding of the faith has grown to the point where I can see how to encompass the Popes. On the one hand, I can do it without compromising my faith; on the other, I can do it without using the Popes as a platform for expressing my faith.' He has been a worship leader at several churches and his solo albums include The Light of Christ (2012) and One Step Closer to Home (2014). A recent song, “Allegiance”, was written 'really quickly, two days after the election' as Caterer explains,'I was filled with overwhelming emotions: rage and disgust, and I just had to get it out'. 'I feel like probably my own personal motivation for feeling like I need to say that has to do with the fact that people know I’m a Christian, so a lot of folks probably assume that I’m also a Republican and that I probably voted for Trump. The thought makes me sick that there would be anybody out there mistakenly assuming that I voted for this monstrosity.' As a means of providing his own personal light in the darkness, Caterer did what he knows best. 'I know that it’s possible to feel hopeless and like there’s nothing I can do, but I know there is one thing I can do: I can write a song.'
Brian Fallon: Joseph Hudak writes that: 'Fallon has carved out a career by trying to make sense of the world. With Gaslight Anthem, he sang about the mysteries of life (and cars and girls) with more than a few religious allusions tossed in. In “The ’59 Sound,” one of the band’s signatures, Fallon nods to the “Everlasting Arms” of Deuteronomy; in “I Believe Jesus Brought Us Together,” with his group the Horrible Crowes, he calls out Jesus by name; and in “Vincent,” off ... solo LP Local Honey, he writes of baptisms and the forgiveness of sin. In the hymns of Night Divine, Fallon’s Christian roots are even more overt. His version of the late-1800s hymn “Leaning on the Everlasting Arms” is hushed and reverent, while his take on “Virgin Mary Had One Son” blends elements of both Odetta’s performance and Joan Baez’s. On “O Holy Night,” a notoriously difficult song to perform, he goes all in with strained notes and a cracking voice. Intentional or not, it’s a perfect representation of human frailty and mortal limitations.' Fallon has said: 'I’m an old-school Jesus/God, very traditional guy because I was brought up Christian. But I don’t agree with a lot of Christian people and I don’t think they agree with me.'
Gene Eugene: The Christian Underground Encyclopedia entry for Eugene begins: 'Gene “Eugene” Andrusco (April 6, 1961–March 20, 2000) was a Canadian born actor, record producer, engineer, composer and musician. Andrusco was best known as the leader of the funk/rock band Adam Again, a member of The Swirling Eddies (credited as Prickly Disco) and as a founding member of the roots music super-group Lost Dogs.' As 'the owner of The Green Room recording studios in Huntington Beach, California. Gene recorded and produced hundreds of albums at The Green Room including albums by the Aunt Bettys, The Choir, Daniel Amos, Michael Knott, The Waiting, Crystal Lewis, Plankeye, Starflyer 59, and others. In 1987, Eugene, Ojo Taylor and another investor formed Brainstorm Artists International (B.A.I.), which became an important label in the development of the West Coast alternative music scene.' Michael Farmer suggests that: 'Larry Norman, let’s say, invented Christian rock and was largely responsible for the way it sounded in the 1970s. Terry Taylor (of Daniel Amos and the Swirling Eddies) turned it into a genuine art form and had a hand in most of the important Christian alternative rock records of the 1980s. The man more responsible than any other for the sound of 1990s Christian alternative rock, on the other hand, is Gene Eugene.' Farmer writes that Adam Again 'were as soulful and funky as Christian rock has ever been legally allowed to be' and that 'Eugene’s powerful, sorrowful voice [was] at the center.' Eugene stated that Adam Again's music was 'very spiritual and really honest' unlike the 'sloganism and pandering' 'that’s what sells': 'Music is first for this band. The music brings the lyrics out. Images come to me as I hear the music. I’m in a writing thing this year and last where I kind of write without thinking. It’s sort of a “stream” thing. It’s really the most spiritual way for me to write. Sometimes I’ll just write then later on I’ll figure out what it means. Sometimes I won’t ever figure out what it means.'
My co-authored book ‘The Secret Chord’ is an impassioned study of the role of music in cultural life written through the prism of Christian belief. Order a copy from here.
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Steve Scott - Not A Pretty Picture.
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