Living God's Future Now - September 2020

'Living God’s Future Now’ is HeartEdge's mini online festival of theology, ideas and practice.

We’ve developed this in response to the pandemic and our changing world. The church is changing too, and - as we improvise and experiment - we can learn and support each other.

This is 'Living God’s Future Now’ - talks, workshops and discussion - hosted by HeartEdge. Created to equip, encourage and energise churches - from leaders to volunteers and enquirers - at the heart and on the edge.

The focal event in ‘Living God’s Future Now’ is a monthly conversation where Sam Wells explores what it means to improvise on God’s kingdom with a leading theologian or practitioner.

The online programme includes:

• Regular weekly workshops: Biblical Studies (Mondays), Sermon Preparation (Tuesdays) and Community of Practitioners (Wednesdays)
• One-off workshops on topics relevant to lockdown such as ‘Growing online communities’ and ‘Grief, Loss & Remembering’
• Monthly HeartEdge dialogue featuring Sam Wells in conversation with a noted theologian or practitioner

Find earlier Living God’s Future Now sessions at https://www.facebook.com/pg/theHeartEdge/videos/?ref=page_internal.


Weekly (September – December 2020)

• Mondays: Biblical Studies class, 19:30-21:00 (BST), Zoom meeting. Register in advance: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0rc-msqD8sEtE7n_X9u17Jl6R5CvzjjI5e.
• Tuesdays: Sermon Preparation Workshop, 16:30 (BST), livestreamed at https://www.facebook.com/theHeartEdge/.
• Wednesdays: Community of Practitioners workshop, 16:30 (BST), Zoom meeting. Email jonathan.evens@smitf.org to register.

September

Homelessness: Changing situation, changed responses - Tuesday 1 September, 14:00-15:30 (BST), zoom. This workshop seeks to provide information about the changed situation regarded homelessness and suggest ways that churches can most effectively support and engage. With Pam Orchard (The Connection), Fr Dominic Robinson (Farm Street Church), Ruth Bottoms (West London Mission), Shermara Fletcher (Centre for Theology & Community), and Jon Jon Hilton (London Jesus Centre). Register for a zoom invitation at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/homelessness-changing-situation-changed-responses-tickets-117627712655.

Fundraising as Community building: Thursday 3 September, 15:00-16:30 (BST). Zoom link - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/fundraising-as-community-development-tickets-114413377492. How talking about mission and income can strengthen your church community with Jo Beacroft-Mitchell (Generous Giving and Stewardship Team Leader for the Diocese of York), Stewart Graham (Director of Fundraising, The Archbishop of York Youth Trust) & Sarah Rogers (Watermark Associates). Part 2 of this conversation – Imagining the Future - is on Wednesday 9 September, 14:00 BST - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/fundraising-as-community-building-part-2-imagining-the-future-tickets-118301973387.

Telling Encounters - A path through the woods: Friday 4 September, 16:30-18:30 (BST), zoom meeting - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/telling-encounters-a-path-through-the-woods-tickets-117656695343. Advance workshop for the Telling Encounters: conference. This workshop will create musical or sound-based responses to telling encounters during the Covid-19 pandemic. These will become part of a rondo-style piece, modelled on Mussorgsky’s Pictures from an Exhibition, with a recurring refrain of travelling through the woods, Workshop leaders Neil Valentine, June Boyce-Tillman and Vicky Feldwick will show participants how to create provocations in sound/music.

Theology Group: Sunday 6 September, 18:00 (BST), zoom meeting - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/theology-group-tickets-117672420377. An opportunity to reflect theologically on issues of today and questions of forever with Sam Wells, who will be responding to questions from a member of the congregation of St Martin-in-the-Fields. That person will also chair the session and encourage your comments and questions.

'Reimagining music in church post Covid-19': Tuesday 8 September, 18:30-19:30 (BST), zoom meeting - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/reimagining-music-in-church-post-covid-19-tickets-117674233801. 1. Congregational focus.

Fundraising as Community building - Imagining the Future: Wednesday 9 September, 14:00-15:30 BST, zoom meeting - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/fundraising-as-community-building-part-2-imagining-the-future-tickets-118301973387. This workshop considers the new opportunities available to you for fundraising and community building. Join us as we look at how to talk about success and impact for the coming months and consider how we might extend our table to meet new partners and/or develop new projects. We'll consider the theological questions of how we set out our visions and plans in ways that encourage funders and find those who might be interested in working with us to strengthen the communities we work in. This will build on the conversations from the event on 4th September and, hopefully, provide you with some questions and thoughts as you continue to re-shape your community after lockdown.

‘Living God’s Future Now’ - HeartEdge monthly dialogue: Thursday 10 September, 18:00 (BST), Zoom meeting - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/living-gods-future-now-conversation-stanley-hauerwas-tickets-116902712159. Sam Wells in dialogue with Stanley Hauerwas on improvising the kingdom.

Shut In, Shut Out, Shut Up: Friday 11 September, 16:30-18:00 (BST), zoom meeting - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/shut-in-shut-out-shut-up-tickets-117678695145. Fiona MacMillan and guests explore the topic of disabled people, church and coronavirus. Fiona MacMillan is Chair of the Disability Advisory Group at St Martin-in-the-Fields and a Trustee of Inclusive Church.

In What Do We Trust? Autumn Lecture Series: Monday 14 September. Lecturer: Tom Holland. Tom Holland is an award-winning historian, biographer and broadcaster. His latest book Dominion is a rich and compelling history of Christendom which won The Sunday Times History Book of the Year in 2019. Register at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/in-what-do-we-trust-learning-from-history-autumn-lecture-series-2020-tickets-116985565977.

'Reimagining music in church post Covid-19': Tuesday 15 September, 18:30-19:30 (BST), zoom meeting - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/reimagining-music-in-church-post-covid-19-tickets-117674233801. 2. Composer focus.

Telling Encounters – Windows on the world: Thursday 17 September, 14:00-15:30 (BST), zoom meeting - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/telling-encounters-windows-on-the-world-tickets-117681714175. Advance workshop for the Telling Encounters: conference. This workshop will use photo, drawing, painting, poem or prose to describe what we see and the window we look through. It could be an actual window in our homes or our particular frame / perspective / experience e.g. as wheelchair user, voice hearer etc. Contributions will form part of an online exhibition at Telling Encounters: Stories of Disability, Faith, Church & God on Saturday 17 October.

Shut In, Shut Out, Shut Up: Friday 18 September, 16:30-18:00 (BST), zoom meeting - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/shut-in-shut-out-shut-up-part-2-tickets-117684283861. Fiona MacMillan and guests explore the topic of neurodiversity, faith and church. Fiona MacMillan is Chair of the Disability Advisory Group at St Martin-in-the-Fields and a Trustee of Inclusive Church.

Theology Reading Group: Sunday 20 September, 18:00 (BST), zoom meeting - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/theology-reading-group-silence-by-by-shusaku-endo-tickets-117686789355. ‘Silence’ by Shusaku Endo - discuss and share this critically claimed book with Sam Wells, the congregation of St Martin-the-Fields and other friends.

'Reimagining music in church post Covid-19': Tuesday 22 September, 18:30-19:30 (BST), zoom meeting - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/reimagining-music-in-church-post-covid-19-tickets-117674233801. 3. Voluntary Choir focus.

‘Living God’s Future Now’ - HeartEdge monthly dialogue Part 2: Thursday 24 September, 18:00 (BST), Zoom meeting - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/living-gods-future-now-conversation-stanley-hauerwas-guests-tickets-117690049105. Sam Wells in dialogue on improvising the kingdom with Stanley Hauerwas, Justin Coleman (UMC), and Debra Dean Murphy (West Virginia Wesleyan).

Shut In, Shut Out, Shut Up: Friday 25 September, 16:30-18:00 (BST), zoom meeting - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/shut-in-shut-out-shut-up-part-3-tickets-117695934709. Fiona MacMillan and guests explore the topic of disability and church. Fiona MacMillan is Chair of the Disability Advisory Group at St Martin-in-the-Fields and a Trustee of Inclusive Church.

'Reimagining music in church post Covid-19': Tuesday 29 September, 18:30-19:30 (BST), zoom meeting - . https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/reimagining-music-in-church-post-covid-19-tickets-117674233801. 4. Educational Choir focus.

October

Why be enterprising? Entrepreneurial impacts for churches: Thursday 1 October, 19:00 BST, zoom meeting - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/why-be-enterprising-entrepreneurial-impacts-for-churches-tickets-118522350541. How can church and commerce be realigned to generate finance while creatively extending mission? This workshop is about sharing experiences of enterprise through stories and tips from practitioners. With Jaime Edwards-Acton (Saint Stephen's Episcopal Church Hollywood), Richard Frazer (Greyfriars Kirk), Catherine Jones (Grassmarket Community Project), David Neita (Entrepreneur) and Stephen Norrish (Milton Keynes Christian Foundation).

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Lavine Hudson - A Little Sensitivity.

Windows on the world (293)

 

Colchester, 2020

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Brandon Flowers - I Can Change.

Thought for the Week: On holy ground

Here's my Thought for the Week at St Martin-in-the-Fields:

The logo created to advertise Telling Encounters, this year’s Disability conference, features the burning bush. This story of Moses turning aside to see a bush that is burning and God telling him to take off his sandals for the ground he is standing on is holy, is also one of the readings for our Eucharist this week.

In the story Moses takes off his sandals because he realises that the ground on which he is standing is holy. Sometimes we may need to take off our sandals in order to realise that the ground on which we stand is holy.

I’m reminded of a sculpture by David Robinson called ‘On Holy Ground’ in which a suited and booted businessman stands on a globe with his feet bare and his shoes in his hands. Shoes are designed for movement and travel. We take our shoes off when we come to rest, to stop, to linger. That is what the businessman in sculpture has done and it is in those moments when our busyness ceases that we may realise that all the ground on which we stand is holy.

Rob Bell writes: "Moses has been tending his sheep in this region for forty years. How many times has he passed by this spot? … Has the ground been holy the whole time and Moses is just becoming aware of it for the first time? Do you and I walk on holy ground all the time, but we are moving so fast and returning so many calls and writing so many emails and having such long lists to get done that we miss it?" (R. Bell, Velvet Elvis, Zondervan, 2005)

So, as we reflect on Telling Encounters this autumn, let us remember the words of the folk singer Woody Guthrie: ‘Every spot on earth I traipse around / Every spot I walk it’s holy ground … Take off, take off your shoes / This place you’re standing, it’s holy ground.’

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The Klezmatics - Holy Ground.

Church Times: The Stars Are Bright

My latest review for Church Times is of The Stars Are Bright at the Theatre Courtyard Green Rooms, Shoreditch:

'Opening just ten days after the lockdown on galleries was lifted, the staging of “The Stars are Bright” at the Theatre Green Rooms, Shoreditch, mirrors the story of these paintings, which were themselves locked down for 20 years. Black Lives Matter protests since George Floyd’s death have inspired international awareness of institutional racism during lockdown. “The Stars are Bright”, therefore, comes at a critical time to show the work of Black artists, past and present, including the story of these African artists and their work.'

These are vibrant paintings that have not been on display since 1953 – by schoolboys from the Cyrene Mission in what is now Zimbabwe. In the review I assess what it was that generated so much interest when the paintings were first exhibited in 1949. 

This exhibition and my review connects with St Mary's Cathedral Johannesburg, as the priest, Ned Paterson, who set up the Cyrene Mission was ordained in the Cathedral and also decorated parts of the Cathedral. Paterson was at the consecration service for the Cathedral in 1929, having completed his work there. In my sermon for the 90th anniversary of the Cathedral last year, I drew attention to the artwork and decoration of the Cathedral and suggested that this provided ideas for how mission could be undertaken today. 

Other of my pieces for Church Times can be found here. 

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Robert Randolph & the Family Band - If I Had My Way.

In What Do We Trust? Autumn Lecture series

In What Do We Trust? Autumn Lecture series
Tuesday 18 August - Monday 02 November 2020

In this time of national and international uncertainty, where we are so unsure of what the future holds, four renowned and inspirational speakers, writers and broadcasters explore the meaning of trust. What can we trust in the midst of a global crisis where so much of our way of life that we have taken for granted seems to be at stake.

Monday 14 September – In What Do We Trust? Learning from History Tom Holland

Monday 5 October – Trusting in Faith Rowan Williams

Monday 12 October – Trusting the Gods Neil MacGregor

Monday 2 November – Trusting in Scripture Paula Gooder

All the lectures are livestreamed from St Martin’s on our Facebook page (no ticket or Facebook account required). There are a limited number of places available to watch live inside St Martin’s, except for Trusting in Faith (which is livestream only). Following the lecture, there will be a time for Q&A from the audience with the speaker.

The Autumn Lecture Series is free to attend. If you would like to make a donation to support our Education Programme please make a donation online or text LECTURE to 70085 to donate £5 (texts cost £5 plus one standard rate message).

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Great Sacred Music - Witness.

Living God’s Future Now: Weeks commencing 23 & 30 August 2020

Living God’s Future Now: Weeks commencing 23 & 30 August 2020

'Living God’s Future Now’ is the HeartEdge mini online festival of theology, ideas and practice.

We’re developing this in response to the pandemic and our changing world. The church is changing too, and - as we improvise and experiment - we can learn and support each other.

This is 'Living God’s Future Now’ - talks, workshops and discussion - hosted by HeartEdge. Created to equip, encourage and energise churches - from leaders to volunteers and enquirers - at the heart and on the edge.

'Thank you for all you are supporting and enabling - I absolutely love everything that comes out of HeartEdge.' The Rt Revd Rachel Treweek, Bishop of Gloucester

Monday 24 August

• Biblical Studies class: 19:30-21:00 (BST), Zoom meeting - Register in advance for this meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0rc-msqD8sEtE7n_X9u17Jl6R5CvzjjI5e. Join Simon Woodman for a Biblical Studies class looking at the New Testament Epistles: a lecture followed by discussion, with handouts.

Tuesday 1 September

• Homelessness: Changing situation, changed responses: 14:00 – 15:30 (BST), Zoom meeting - register at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/homelessness-changing-situation-changed-responses-tickets-117627712655. Information and ideas for churches about the changed situation in regard to homelessness, with Ruth Bottoms (West London Mission), Shermara Fletcher (Centre for Theology & Community), Jon-Jon Hilton (London Jesus Centre), Pam Orchard (The Connection at St Martin-in-the-Fields) & Fr Dominic Robinson (Farm Street Church).

Thursday 3 September

• Fundraising as community building: 15:00-16.30 (BST), Zoom meeting - register at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/fundraising-as-community-building-tickets-114413377492). Jo Beacroft-Mitchell, Stewart Graham and Sarah Rogers will explore how talking about mission and income can strengthen our churches and communities.

Friday 4 September

• Telling Encounters: A path through the woods: 16:30 – 18:00 (BST), Zoom meeting – register at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/manage/events/117656695343/details. This workshop will create musical or sound-based responses to telling encounters during the Covid-19 pandemic. Workshop leaders Neil Valentine, June Boyce-Tillman and Vicky Feldwick will show participants how to create provocations in sound/music. This is an advance workshop for the Telling Encounters conference.

Future highlights include: Sam Wells in conversation with Stanley Hauerwas; Reimagining music in church post Covid-19; Shut In, Shut Out, Shut Up with Fiona MacMillan and guests; more Theology Groups; and the Autumn Lecture series.

See www.heartedge.org to join HeartEdge and for more information.

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St Martin's Voices - How Shall I Sing That Majesty.

Becoming the Body of Christ

Here's the sermon that I preached this morning at St Martin-in-the-Fields:

The challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic and the use of lockdowns to prevent its spread and impact have created a set of additional challenges and debates about doctrine and practice for the Church. This week our newsletter cover written by Susannah Woodd includes reflections on the opportunities and challenges of living as one church body, whether online or in person. This is at the heart of the challenges and debates within the Church, as they are about the extent to which virtual gatherings are either an opportunity for renewal or a fundamental change to central elements of being Church.

Some argue that Christianity is a material religion involving physical gatherings in particular buildings in order to physically eat bread and wine that has been consecrated in the time and place of that meeting. Where this is a key understanding people have sometimes protested at the closing of church buildings, undertaken a Eucharistic fast during lockdown, celebrated the reopening of their church buildings and pointed out that, because of the digital divide, there are many who cannot access virtual Church. Those who have seen lockdown as an opportunity for renewal have pointed out that many who, for a variety of reasons, cannot access physical services in physical buildings often can access virtual church. Some in this situation were already meeting in virtual churches before lockdown began but had been overlooked and ignored. Additionally, they have argued that because we cannot share physical bread and wine together in virtual churches, the wider purpose of our gathering – being formed into the Body of Christ in order to be the hands and feet of Christ in the world – has become more apparent to us.

The letter that St Paul sent to Christians in Rome was sent at a time that has some parallels to our own situation today. Those to whom he was writing would have experienced restrictions on their movements. The Jews among them had been expelled from Rome towards the end of Claudius’ reign as Emperor and would only recently have returned. Paul, although he wished to visit Rome, was unable to do so and could only share remotely by letter with the Christians there, most of whom he had not met. When he did get to Rome later, it was not because he had travelled there freely but because he had been arrested and sent for trial. He was also writing to people without church buildings, who were meeting and celebrating the Lord’s Supper in their homes.

Although Paul longed to meet with the Christians in Rome but was unable to do so, the technologies of his time did allow him to share with them and he used those technologies to do so. The early Church also realised that the benefit gained by hearing the stories of Jesus told by those who met him, could be expanded and shared if those stories were written down and shared. The experiences of hearing testimony in person and hearing letters or stories read were different and the way in which gathering of Christians were held changed as a result. Yet, we would not have known of Christ had those changes not been made. It’s potentially no different today, in relation to our use of new technologies.

The beginning of Romans 12 (verses 1—8 ) is the part of his letter where Paul writes about worship and what is interesting is that he doesn’t focus on their gatherings (what we might call services), instead he focuses on their service (by which he means their day-by-day living out of their faith). He does so by writing about bodies and minds, Christians and churches.

He begins with our bodies which are to be offered to God. This is about the ongoing, day-by-day offering of the whole of our lives to God. Eugene Peterson in ‘The Message’, his paraphrase of the Bible, describes this as ‘your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life.’ We are called to live for God in all these aspects of life, 24-7, Monday to Sunday.

Doing so, is what Paul calls our worship and our service. So, worship is not described here in terms of a once a week gathering in whatever platform that takes place – actual or virtual – nor is it described in terms of daily gatherings or services. Instead it is described in terms of what results from those gatherings. That is, the Christian faith lived out in practice within our day-to-day lives. Were we to read further in this chapter, we would see Paul describing what that life looks like in practice; blessing those who persecute you, rejoicing with those who rejoice, weeping with those who weep, living in harmony with one another, and much more.

Paul describes this in terms of the central act of gathering for worship in the Jewish faith at that time; sacrifice. He says that to live in this way is to be a sacrifice. In doing so he changes the understanding people had about sacrifice. Throughout Jewish history up until this point sacrifice had meant dying. Animals were slaughtered and blood shed as the means of giving thanks for blessing and to atone for wrongdoing. Paul, by contrast, talks about being a living sacrifice. He does so, because Jesus had already become the ultimate sacrifice; a sacrifice that does not need to be repeated. As a result, a different understanding of sacrifice was required. The Lord’s Supper – the remembering, celebrating and then taking of Christ’s body and blood into ourselves – is about forming those who gather into a body that takes Christ to others in the way that he came to us. That is to embody faith, hope and love by being with others and bearing their burdens by making their concerns ours.

Paul is saying that to be with others and to wash their feet, as Christ did, is now worship, service and sacrifice; all in one. He sees our gathering together as resourcing this in two ways. First, in order to offer our bodies in this way, our minds must be renewed, and our gatherings provide a context in which that renewal can begin. Second, we need to identify our gifting or contribution or place within the body of Christ. The part that we, as individual Christians, have to play in this moment can only be found and followed together, in the community of the Church.

As human beings we are as likely to: build walls that shut some out as bridges that bring people together; gather in tribes, races and nations in order to protect ourselves against others as to gather as rainbow peoples, inclusive and diverse; and create laws and regulations making some pure and other impure as to eradicate notions of purity and impurity. As a result, we need renewal of our thinking to more fully and more consistently model Jesus’ radical welcome of all by being with all. Our gatherings, where we retell and re-enact the stories of Jesus, are where this renewal of our minds and thinking can begin and where we can be both encouraged and challenged along the way.

Jesus embodied – lived out – radical welcome. It is not enough to talk about, discuss or debate, radical welcome; to be real, to be experienced, understood and received by others, it has to be lived. As Jesus is now with us virtually, through his Spirit, it is in our coming together as those who follow in his footsteps that he is embodied in our day and time, in the here and now. As Teresa of Avila said, it is we who are his hands and feet, his eyes and ears, within our world. Christ has no body now, unless we form that body.

His body though, is always corporate. None of us, by ourselves, can fully embody Christ and, therefore, Paul says that each of us needs to identify our role or gifting within the Body of Christ; the part that only we can play in a particular moment and time. This identification cannot be done in isolation but must come with an understanding of the ways in which the organisation of our gatherings may empower some and disempower others. In our community here, we have seen the way in which interacting virtually has enabled some of our number to share their gifts and take their place more fully because aspects of our physical gathering – like crowds or noise – that had previously restricted involvement or engagement were removed during lockdown.

The depth of our welcome and inclusion is measured by the extent of our understanding of those who are most on the edge. The way Paul described this in writing about the Body of Christ to the church in Corinth was, using Eugene Peterson’s paraphrase again: ‘God designed our bodies as a model for understanding our lives together as a church: every part dependent on every other part, the parts we mention and the parts we don’t, the parts we see and the parts we don’t. If one part hurts, every other part is involved in the hurt, and in the healing. If one part flourishes, every other part enters into the exuberance.’

So where does all this leave us in relation to our current debates about the relative virtues of actual and virtual church? The places and ways in which we gather – whether actual or virtual - enable some to be included, while excluding others. In both settings we need to be more aware of those who are excluded, than those that are included. As Paul wrote about the different parts of the Body, the members of the body that are least noticed are those who are indispensable, and those least mentioned are to be treated with greatest respect.

Our worship and service is not so much about our times of gathering together but about our actions when we are not together. Our debates about actual and virtual gatherings will become more focused and more useful, the more they focus on the ways these gatherings form and fashion us to be the Body of Christ when we are not together but are still one Body. Our ability to be the Body of Christ in our generation, and at such a time as this, will only be realised as we prioritise our embodying of Christ over the varying and various ways in which we gather as Christians. As Susannah wrote living as one church body means continuing to rejoice in hope, being patient in suffering, and persevering in prayer together.

And where does it leave us in relation to our gathering today? The question for us today is, what offering of ourselves will we bring? Something we are laying down or something we are taking up? I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds. Amen.

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David Ogden - Christ Has No Body But Yours.

Snape Maltings

 

One of the world’s leading centres of music, Snape Maltings brings together a creative campus buzzing with activity, outstanding concerts and events, and distinctive independent shops, cafés, galleries and walks, all set within a breathtaking expanse of reeds, water and sky on the Suffolk coast.

Snape Maltings has grown out of the Aldeburgh Festival, founded by Benjamin Britten in 1948, and Britten’s vision for Snape Maltings remains at the heart of its work – a place international in its reach while rooted in its local communities.

Ever since Snape Maltings Concert Hall was created in 1967 artists have exhibited and installed work throughout the site, notably pieces by Barbara Hepworth, Henry Moore, Tracey Emin, Gary Hume and Sarah Lucas.

The Maltings Gallery at Snape Maltings is a treasure box of wonderful finds from the paintings of the celebrated Maggi Hambling CBE – created in her studio just a few miles away – to new work from up-and-coming printmakers based in local villages.

Innovative Forms - The Lettering of John Skelton at The Lettering Arts Centre celebrates John Skelton's innovative approach to Alphabet and lettering design and explores the large variety of commissions he produced. John Stephen Skelton MBE (8 July 1923 – 26 November 1999) was a British sculptor and letter-cutter whose work embraced a range of disciplines including stone and wood carving, heraldry, calligraphy and metalwork.

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Benjamin Britten - A Hymn To The Virgin.

The Red House, Aldeburgh

The Red House is a place to explore Benjamin Britten’s music and visitors to site can find out more about his and Peter Pears’ lives together. The House, with its classic 1950s/60s interiors, is a mix of formal and cosy, with an eclectic range of books, art, and furniture. The large gardens are ideal for wandering around and enjoying the peace and quiet of this corner of Suffolk. The home Britten and Pears shared for nearly two decades has been carefully re-presented as it was, based on a room inventory and recollections from people who knew the house at that time.

The Library was built on the site of a disused barn to the west of The Red House in 1963. The architect Peter Collymore transformed the space into a room that would hold Britten and Pears’ large book and music collection and also function as a rehearsal space.

Today the Library is used for talks and recitals and an annual display from the Britten Pears art collection. In the Library currently are eight portraits of Pears: not only the source of inspiration to Britten, but the model for many renowned artists, including David Hockney, Francis Newton Souza and Mary Potter.

The 2020 exhibitions at The Red House explore the rich and fascinating theme of ‘inspiration’. In 1974, Britten wrote a letter to Pears expressing his gratitude for what Pears had given him over the decades: “What have I done to deserve such an artist and man to write for?”. Pears was not, however, only a ‘muse’, but a true collaborator. The gallery exhibition this year examines in detail the powerful effect Pears’ artistry had on Britten’s entire career: from the sheer amount of music he inspired in him, to their professional recital partnership, to even the notes on the page. Pears was the person for whom Britten composed the most; but Britten nearly always wrote for particular performers, many of whom spurred him on to explore new musical landscapes. This exhibition pays tribute to the remarkable talents of Mstislav Rostropovich, Julian Bream and Janet Baker among many others.

In the former kitchen of the Red House, now an intimate exhibition space, is a display of works by the German Expressionist artist Christian Rohlfs, all taken from Britten and Pears’ personal art collection. The works in the exhibition demonstrate two of the most significant turning points in a long and mainly successful career: his encounters with the radical Expressionist artists of Die Brücke in the early twentieth century; and the effects of his marriage in 1919 at the age of 70 to a much younger wife. This remarkable collection of works originated in Helene Rohlfs’ acquaintance with Peter Pears through a mutual friend, ‘Peg’ (Margaret) Hesse, who became President of the Aldeburgh Festival in 1959. An affectionate friendship grew up between Helene, Pears and Britten. Over the years prints, watercolours and sketches were given as donations and as personal gifts, building into the rich and varied collection held today.

Britten and Pears entertained guests, cultivated vegetables, and even played croquet and tennis in their much-cherished gardens. There were many important social occasions which took place here, such as the celebration of Britten’s life peerage in 1976. Today the garden has evolved into a wildlife-friendly environment that retains some of the original planting and reflects their taste in flowers and plants.

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Benjamin Britten - Libera Me.

Windows on the world (292)

 

Snape Maltings, 2020

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Beverly Glenn-Copeland - This Side Of Grace.

Windows on the world (291)

Bourton-on-the-Water, 2019

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Chagall Guevara - Escher's World.

The Imagination of God

'The Imagination of God' was an online Parish Day at St Martin-in-the-Fields today with Guest Speaker, writer and poet, Malcolm Guite.

Malcolm Guite is a much-loved English poet, singer-songwriter, Anglican priest, and academic. Born in Nigeria to British expatriate parents, Guite earned degrees from Cambridge and Durham universities. His research interests include the intersection of religion and the arts, and the examination of the works of Shakespeare, J. R. R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, Owen Barfield, and British poets such as Samuel Taylor Coleridge, John Donne and George Herbert. He is currently a Bye-Fellow and chaplain of Girton College, Cambridge and associate chaplain of St Edward King and Martyr in Cambridge. His poetry offers not only deep insight into our Christian faith but also humour and shows his own irrepressible imagination. We hope this day will be will be a day of inspiration for your own imagination and creativity.

  

The day began with Morning Song led by our Choral Scholars and continued with an introduction and talk 'The Imagination Bodies Forth' by the inspirational priest and poet Malcolm Guite. Following Q&A and small group reflections, Great Sacred Music was led by Sam Wells, Andrew Earis and St Martin’s Voices. Malcolm Guite then spoke on 'Finding your own form - how we can use our own imagination'. This was followed by sessions on using our imagination:

• In poetry: with poet Malcolm Guite
• In prose: with writers Sam Wells and Douglas Board
• In art: with artists Jonathan Evens, Andrew Carter, and Vicky Howard
• In music: with Director of Music, Andrew Earis

Evensong followed with the Choir of St Martin-in-the-Fields and the day ended with the beginning of an art project plus drinks in the courtyard.

For the Art Project participants are asked to construct a geometric star. All of the stars will vary in size and complexity adding to the overall mesmeric and spatial pattern. All the stars will form part of a large wall hanging based on Giotto’s fresco of stars on the ceiling of the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua. Stars are a symbol of truth, spirit and hope and are seen as something beautiful, good and positive. Stars can also be a symbol that embodies the notion of spiritual revelation in each of us. We hope that the finished piece will look beautiful and positive and a sign of hope for us all.

In the session on 'Using our Imagination in Art,’ Andrew Carter, Vicky Howard and myself, shared some of our favourite artworks and discussed why these were important to us. Andrew, Vicky and myself are all part of the artists’ and craftspersons’ group and Andrew has also led on the art project that we are began today.

Our hope was to explore areas such as:

• what it is that we are primarily responding to in those artworks;
• the ways they work visually;
• how ideas and emotions are explored visually;
• how a sense of the spiritual might have been engendered; and
• how the imagination of God appears in human creations.

Andrew’s choice was 'Annunciation’ by Duccio. Vicky spoke about a series of prints by Rembrandt, including 'Christ presented the the People' and 'The Three Crosses', while I discussed ‘Life Eternal’ by John Reilly:  

John Reilly’s “ambition has always been to paint a picture which perfectly weds form and content” in order “to express in visible form the oneness and unity of [the] invisible power binding all things into one whole.” I was fortunate enough to meet him at his home on the Isle of Wight, while there on a family holiday. I didn’t know of his work before going on that holiday but found cards and prints of his amazing work in some of the shops there and had to find out more. He was kind enough to invite me into his home and show me his work and works in progress.

He has said: "My paintings are not concerned with the surface appearance of people or things but try to express something of the fundamental spiritual reality behind this surface appearance. I try to express in visible form the oneness and unity of this invisible power, binding all things into one whole. I try to express something of the universal and timeless truths behind the stories of the Bible.”

So, for Reilly, the unseen reality manifests itself both through pattern - “the oneness and unity of this invisible power, binding all things into one whole” - and through story - “the universal and timeless truths behind the stories of the Bible”. He has also used the greater freedom of expression that modern movements in art have given to artists to develop a visual language of forms and colours which he hopes expresses “something of their deeper spiritual significance.” His work draws on cubism, fauvism and orphism in particular.

Reilly has made a profound use of the circle in his work in order to depict the wholeness that he finds in the world and the life that God has created. He frequently bases his works on a central circle (often, the sun) from which facets of colour emanate, like ripples on the surface of a stream. The painting’s imagery is then set within these facets, each figure or object being embedded in the overall patterning of the painting and related to the environmental whole that Reilly creates.

By these means fragments of form and colour (the facets of the painting’s patterning) and the images that they contain are united to circle harmoniously around and within God, the central life and intelligence which is the light of the world. Works such as ‘Life Eternal’ utilise these methods and meanings and both contain and convey huge energy and resolution as a result.

His technique of colour fragments emanating from a central source enables him to suggest that his archetypal images of creation and the landscape are both, filled with the emanating rays and linked by them into a unified circle. His paintings (including 'Life Eternal’) therefore suggest the way in which we are linked both by being the creation of God and by being indwelt by his spirit.

Sister Wendy Beckett compared aspects of twentieth century art to the Way of Affirmation in Western Christianity which approaches God through creatures and imagery. “In Christianity,” she says, “the divine is constantly in process of passing into the human”. This leads, she suggests, to “an unapologetic religious yes to sense-pleasure” shown in the way the painting of the last century is “no longer trying to create an illusion, or to have us looking away from itself … Heaven in a grain of sand; the Sacred in the immediacy of sensuous experience”. In her meditations on art she exemplifies this unapologetic religious yes to sense-pleasure and shares the work of artists that embody it in their work.

Artists like Norman Adams, who unites in his work many of the factors that we have briefly examined - a heightened experience of nature, bright passionate colour penetrating depths and crossing frontiers of understanding beyond ordinary experience, cultivation and order, and ideas drawn from deep down in the unconscious. Margaret Walters has noted how the religious subject matter of Norman Adams' paintings provide him with "a geometry, a structure of lines and circles that allows his complex colours, his masterly and distinctive use of watercolour, to work their magic". For Sister Wendy Beckett this ability of Adams' suggests that a mystical sense of oneness is making itself visible in his work. 

My favourite works of art, therefore, are those that are incarnational - in that they unite heaven and earth, the human and divine - and which also show us the Way of Affirmation.

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Etta Cameron - I Have A Dream.

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Malcolm Guite - Your Poetry is Jamming My Machine.

Firstsite and Chappel Galleries

 

Firstsite has an inclusive and evolving programme which immerses audiences in a wealth of visual art bringing this into the heart of the community. The gallery works with the community to explore and address current issues within politics, economics and culture, addressing and exploring urgent themes such as housing, migration, inequality, regeneration and healthcare. Their ambition is that these help shape who they are: a public site, open and accessible, diverse and inclusive and used by all. Every part of their artistic programme is shared and co-authored.

Today's programme included:

• Afro Futures_UK: Unravelling New Futures is an exhibition of digital and multimedia art, exploring how the intersection of the black experience, technology and historical narratives can inspire new ways of thinking critically about the future.
• Artist Mark Titchner has produced a new series of public artworks across Colchester, entitled ‘Some questions about Colchester’, which are placed in the windows of vacant shop units around the town centre. Brexit, social, civic and national identity, displacement and belonging are some of the themes explored in this exhibition.
• The Colchester and Ipswich Art Societies explore their mutual border, the River Stour, in an exhibition called Borders that celebrates the thriving creativity of the region, the joy of making and the enjoyment and well-being gained through experiencing art.
• The sight of the physical devastation to London’s east end, caused by Second World War bombing raids, is one of Phyllida Barlow’s earliest childhood memories. The destruction and repair of the urban environment has since become one of her principle inspirations. This presentation of her sculptures in the Welcome Area is symbolic of the dismantling of our contemporary society and the repair needed to our collective mental health in the face of the current pandemic.
• ‘Lockdown Garden’ features tranquil watercolour landscapes of the garden at Feeringbury Manor in Essex, created by the artist during the imposed lockdown. Whilst shielding, Sonia Coode-Adams took the opportunity to return to painting after a hiatus of many years, and through this series of artworks she celebrates the garden and explores the soothing influence of nature as the landscape transitions from spring to summer.
• Firstsite and the Arts Council Collection present ‘Tell me the story of all these things’, featuring artworks made by some of Britain’s best-known artists, including Tracey Emin, Sarah Lucas, Cornelia Parker and Gillian Wearing – each selected by radical women of Colchester. Civic leaders, community organisers, artists, designers, politicians, mothers and the Colchester business owners have worked with Firstsite to curate this exhibition which examines the role of emotion and soft power in our society and how this can be used positively to connect and empower us. Artworks have been specifically selected based on the emotions, stories and memories they provoked, and these are presented in the gallery to explore the group’s question, “How do we create a show about empowerment which is also empowering to experience?”

Set in the picturesque Colne Valley backing onto the River Colne, Chappel Galleries is an out of town gallery overlooking the romanesque 32 arch working railway Chappel Viaduct. Drawn from the 20th & 21st century, Chappel Galleries sells work by artists who are grounded in the skill of painting, drawing and making of sculpture. They like to retain their identity by selling the work of artists from the region, including those who, although not living here, have regional connections.

Their August Mixed Exhibition 2020 includes works by Claire Cansick, Michael Crowe, Mary Griffiths, Peter Rodulfo, Ronald Ronaldson, Paul Rumsey, David Stone, and Robin Warnes. They also have online exhibitions by resident artist Władysław Mirecki and 'Two Decades' of work by Paul Rumsey.

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Gillian Welch - Strange Isabella.