Patronal Festival (2)

On display at St John's Seven Kings this Sunday were the winning entries in our Images of Hope Art Competition for the Year of the Bible 2011. Bishop David, the Bishop of Barking, presented the Art Competition prizes - bibles given by the Bible Society - during our Patronal Festival service to the winners; Nancy Palumbo, Katrina Rugundu and Hannah Sayers. This competition, based on materials from the Bible Society, invited children and young people to illustrate a Bible story of hope and brings communities together as they think about hope and its meaning. Katrina illustrated Noah and the Ark, while Nancy and Hannah both illustrated Moses parting the Red Sea.

The Patronal Festival Service also included a prayer of dedication for our congregation, bringing our Stewardship month to a conclusion, Dr Winston Solomon was licensed as an Authorised Local Preacher, and we sang the St John's Centenary hymn, which was composed by church member, Lester Amann. Bishop David said that each person who follows Christ can be a preacher of the Gospel sharing the message that Jesus is the light of the world.

At the end of the Patronal Festival service, Bishop David dedicated newly commissioned mosaics which have been installed at St John's Seven Kings this week and which complete the work we have done, with the support and funding of the Area 5 and 7 committees, London over the Border, and Living Street's Fitter for Walking project, to create a community garden at the church. The mosaics will feature in both the local Church art trail

and the art trail for the Barking Episcopal Area. Both mosaics were created by artists from commission4mission.

Graffiti Love, installed on the east wall of the church, has been created by Viki Isherwood-Metzler, who learnt the art of mosaic in Ravenna, Italy and worked until 2001 as a mosaic maker in Zurich, Switzerland from where she comes. Since 2002 she has lived and worked in London and undertakes all kinds of commissioned mosaic work in marble, glass, ceramics, terracotta and pebble stones. Graffiti Love is made with smalti glass and the image comes from a series of mosaics utilising words with graffiti stylings.

The Trinity sculpture, in the remembrance area of the community garden, was designed by the community garden planning group and incorporates a mosaic by Sergiy Shkanov. Shkanov is a professional artist working in the fields of stained glass, murals, mosaics, painting, graphic arts, and book illustration. He is a tutor of Fine Arts, has participated in group shows across Europe since 1987, and holds numerous personal exhibitions in the United Kingdom. He undertakes art commissions for private and corporate clients. The Trinity sculpture includes three granite shapes representing the three persons of the Trinity set within the circles and triangles of Shkanov's mosaic which represents lines of exchange and connection within and between the godhead.

In the evening choir members from more than eight local churches joined with the St John's choir for a special choral celebration of anthems, hymns and readings entitled Sing Glory! The programme for the evening included Stanford's settings of the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis among other anthems together with a selection of rousing hymns.

We have been blessed throughout our Patronal Festival by the artistic and musical gifts that God gives to his people. Bishop David encouraged each of us to be someone who shares the light of Christ with others and we have seen that happening in practice during our Patronal Festival through the Art Competition paintings, our new mosaics, the choir members who sang so well, Lester Amann's Centenary hymn, Bishop David's preaching and prayers together with his affirmation of the preaching ministry of Dr Winston Solomon.

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Sir Charles Villiers Stanford - The Magnificat in B flat.