Read it here.
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The Neal Morse Band - The Great Adventure.
Monday, 28 September 2020
HeartEdge Mailer - September
HeartEdge monthly mailer KLAXON! Includes pigeon murals, usual smorgasbord of stories and resources, PLUS an extract from and 10% off discount for the new book by Barbara Brown-Taylor.
Whoever welcomes children, welcomes me
Here's the reflection that I shared during today's lunchtime Eucharist for St Martin-in-the-Fields:
Jesus said, let the little children come to me, do not hinder or harm them, whoever welcomes children welcomes me and the one who sent me, the kingdom of heaven belongs to children, and anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.
Nicola Ravenscroft is a sculptor who is part of our congregation. She has a sculpture installation featuring seven lifesize bronze children, one from every continent on Earth. She sees her calling as an artist being to do what Jesus taught to welcome children and receive like children. She writes: ‘I am visionary, sculptor, mother to many, and grandmother to even more. I breathe life into life. I see a resilient and beautiful future for our children and their Earth, I hear their conversation, and I feel the pulse of a new understanding.
What is it about children that Jesus wanted us to imitate? What is that Nicola hears as she listens to children? ‘Creative, inquisitive and trusting, children are Earth’s possibility thinkers. They seek out, and flourish in fellowship, in “oneness”, and being naturally open-hearted, and wide-eyed hungry for mystery, delight and wonder, they embrace diversity with what Rabbi Jonathan Sacks so elegantly describes as the “Dignity of Difference”.’ It is, she says, ‘this life-giving, transformative gift in our children’ that feeds the unquenchable fire in her artist-heart; which inspires and gives her hope.
In words taken from the novelist Joseph Conrad, her urgent prayer is that the children she has sculpted, ‘shall awaken in the hearts of the beholders, that feeling of unavoidable solidarity: of the solidarity in mysterious origin, in toil, in joy, in hope, in uncertain fate, which binds all men to each other, and all mankind to the visible world.’ Her sculpture installation ‘calls us to unite, and invites us collectively, and with visceral response, to consider the fragile future of planet Earth.’
In a poem called ‘Sweet Breath of Life’ she writes about the installation saying:
It represents a world,
our world in seven little earthling children,
made from spirit, love and stardust,
gentle ..
spilling out in hope,
vulnerable yet strong:
Earth’s messengers
calling us to hear their urgent birthright-cry,
poised ..
and leaning
on tomorrow’s cutting edge.
these children are my artist-voice:
they are the voice of Earth,
and yours.
They challenge us to look at life
with a fresh sense of possibility.
These children are themselves a tender pleading ..
they plead for you, for me, for us all to work together,
and so achieve in oneness what we can’t achieve alone:
Jesus said, let the little children come to me, do not hinder or harm them, whoever welcomes children welcomes me and the one who sent me, the kingdom of heaven belongs to children, and anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.
Nicola Ravenscroft is a sculptor who is part of our congregation. She has a sculpture installation featuring seven lifesize bronze children, one from every continent on Earth. She sees her calling as an artist being to do what Jesus taught to welcome children and receive like children. She writes: ‘I am visionary, sculptor, mother to many, and grandmother to even more. I breathe life into life. I see a resilient and beautiful future for our children and their Earth, I hear their conversation, and I feel the pulse of a new understanding.
What is it about children that Jesus wanted us to imitate? What is that Nicola hears as she listens to children? ‘Creative, inquisitive and trusting, children are Earth’s possibility thinkers. They seek out, and flourish in fellowship, in “oneness”, and being naturally open-hearted, and wide-eyed hungry for mystery, delight and wonder, they embrace diversity with what Rabbi Jonathan Sacks so elegantly describes as the “Dignity of Difference”.’ It is, she says, ‘this life-giving, transformative gift in our children’ that feeds the unquenchable fire in her artist-heart; which inspires and gives her hope.
In words taken from the novelist Joseph Conrad, her urgent prayer is that the children she has sculpted, ‘shall awaken in the hearts of the beholders, that feeling of unavoidable solidarity: of the solidarity in mysterious origin, in toil, in joy, in hope, in uncertain fate, which binds all men to each other, and all mankind to the visible world.’ Her sculpture installation ‘calls us to unite, and invites us collectively, and with visceral response, to consider the fragile future of planet Earth.’
In a poem called ‘Sweet Breath of Life’ she writes about the installation saying:
It represents a world,
our world in seven little earthling children,
made from spirit, love and stardust,
gentle ..
spilling out in hope,
vulnerable yet strong:
Earth’s messengers
calling us to hear their urgent birthright-cry,
poised ..
and leaning
on tomorrow’s cutting edge.
these children are my artist-voice:
they are the voice of Earth,
and yours.
They challenge us to look at life
with a fresh sense of possibility.
These children are themselves a tender pleading ..
they plead for you, for me, for us all to work together,
and so achieve in oneness what we can’t achieve alone:
they challenge us to wear that “dignity of difference”,
bravely,
and so to find solutions,
bravely,
and so to find solutions,
and they challenge us to do whatever it requires
to learn Earth’s subtle language,
and to speak her truth:
as it is thus,
as one, we shall secure that precious gift,
that sweetest breath of Earth ..
our children’s future.
This is what is there at the heart of children – an innocent trust in one another – which is quickly lost, but which we need to regain if we are to unite and find solidarity in mysterious origin. The prophet Isaiah spoke of the wolf living with the lamb, the leopard lying down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child leading them. Isaiah also said that to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. He will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Jesus is the little child who can lead us into peace as we welcome children and receive like children.
Nicola’s seven lifesize bronze children, one from every continent on Earth:
hesitate in time,
leaning forward, hopeful,
poised to dive,
eyes closed, dreaming into their future,
anticipating things unseen:
a little child shall lead
trusting feet, plump and bare,
remind us of our duty of care
to life, to love, to planet Earth
they stand together, peacefully, as friends,
vulnerable and strong,
silently singing out to us
their call to change.
Will we hear their call? Will we welcome them and what they have to say to us? Will we receive like children remembering our duty of care to life, to love, to planet Earth? Earth’s children are life’s heartbeat: they are her hope, her future .. they are breath of Earth herself. Amen.
to learn Earth’s subtle language,
and to speak her truth:
as it is thus,
as one, we shall secure that precious gift,
that sweetest breath of Earth ..
our children’s future.
This is what is there at the heart of children – an innocent trust in one another – which is quickly lost, but which we need to regain if we are to unite and find solidarity in mysterious origin. The prophet Isaiah spoke of the wolf living with the lamb, the leopard lying down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child leading them. Isaiah also said that to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. He will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Jesus is the little child who can lead us into peace as we welcome children and receive like children.
Nicola’s seven lifesize bronze children, one from every continent on Earth:
hesitate in time,
leaning forward, hopeful,
poised to dive,
eyes closed, dreaming into their future,
anticipating things unseen:
a little child shall lead
trusting feet, plump and bare,
remind us of our duty of care
to life, to love, to planet Earth
they stand together, peacefully, as friends,
vulnerable and strong,
silently singing out to us
their call to change.
Will we hear their call? Will we welcome them and what they have to say to us? Will we receive like children remembering our duty of care to life, to love, to planet Earth? Earth’s children are life’s heartbeat: they are her hope, her future .. they are breath of Earth herself. Amen.
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Whitney Houston - Greatest Love Of All.
Sunday, 27 September 2020
Windows on the world (297)
London, 2019
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Carleen Anderson - Piece Of Clay.
Living God's Future Now - October 2020
'Living God’s Future Now’ is the HeartEdge 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:
Weekly (October – December 2020)
HeartEdge is supporting the Festival of Preaching run by Canterbury Press and Church Times, on Tuesday 29 September which has a great line-up of contributors including: Mark Oakley, Anna Carter Florence, Pádraig Ó Tuama, Martyn Percy, Joanna Collicutt, Malcolm Guite, Augustine Tanner Ihm, and Rachel Mann. Sam Wells is giving the opening address and our regular HeartEdge Sermon Preparation workshop with Sam and Sally Hitchiner also features in the Festival's programme (watch the livestream at https://www.facebook.com/theHeartEdge/videos/?ref=page_internal). Find out more about the Festival at https://www.facebook.com/events/1137034323343336. There is a ticket discount available to all who have joined HeartEdge. For more information on the discount offer sign in to the website and go to our Resources section of the website (first joining HeartEdge, if you've not already done so).
In the third session of 'Reimagining music in church post Covid-19', Andrew Earis (Director of Music at St Martin-in-the-Fields), Tom Daggett (Organ Outreach Fellow at St Paul’s Cathedral, and Director of Choir Church at St George in the East) and Alisa Campbell (choral scholar at St Martin-in-the-Fields) will explore church music education during the COVID-19 pandemic, and what we might learn for the future. Tom Daggett is a former Organ Scholar of Lincoln College, Oxford. He has a wealth of experience in the field of education and outreach, principally from his association with the Centre for Theology and Community. He founded the Hackney Children’s Choir and has a deep vocation to help the disadvantaged, particularly through his own enthusiasm for and experience of music. This session is on 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.
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).
Let's Talk about Dying and Being With the Dying: Friday, 2 October 2020, 16:30 – 18:00 BST, zoom meeting - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/lets-talk-about-dying-and-being-with-the-dying-tickets-121558150701.https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/lets-talk-about-dying-and-being-with-the-dying-tickets-121558150701. A conversation with palliative care doctor and best-selling author Dr Kathyrn Mannix campaigning for better public understanding of dying.
In What Do We Trust? Autumn Lecture Series: Monday 5 October, 19:00 (BST), SMITF facebook page. Lecturer: Rowan Williams. Register at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/in-what-do-we-trust-learning-from-history-autumn-lecture-series-2020-tickets-116985565977.
‘Living God’s Future Now’ - HeartEdge monthly dialogue: Thursday 8 October, 18:00 (BST), Zoom meeting - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/living-gods-future-now-dialogue-barbara-brown-taylor-tickets-120412638443. Sam Wells in dialogue on improvising the kingdom with Barbara Brown Taylor.
Living Well with Grief: Friday 9 October, 16:30-18:00 (BST), zoom - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/living-well-with-grief-tickets-121841179247?aff=erelpanelorg. Carla A. Grosch-Miller is a practical theologian, minister and poet. For the last three years, she has been working with a team researching, teaching and writing about congregational trauma. Their academic book is titled Tragedies and Christian Congregations: The Practical Theology of Trauma (Routledge, 2019).
Inspired to Follow: Art and the Bible Story: Sunday 11 October, 14:00 (BST), Zoom meeting - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/inspired-to-follow-art-and-the-bible-story-tickets-122769198979. Session 1 based on National Gallery’s ‘Sin’ exhibition.
In What Do We Trust? Autumn Lecture Series: Monday 12 October, 19:00 (BST), SMITF facebook page. Lecturer: Neal McGregor. Register at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/in-what-do-we-trust-learning-from-history-autumn-lecture-series-2020-tickets-116985565977.
In the Shadow of Your Wings: Thursday 15 October, 16:30 (BST), zoom. An interactive online event presented by Deus Ex Musica which is a musical bible study on the Psalms. This is a unique ecumenical event that combines new musical interpretations of psalms with small-group discussion. Register at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/in-the-shadow-of-your-wings-tickets-120408213207.
Being Interrupted: Reimagining the Church's Mission from the Outside, In – Friday 16 October, 14:00-15.30 (BST), zoom - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/being-interrupted-tickets-122749871169. Al Barrett and guests explore an 'alternative economy' for the Church's life and mission, which begins with transformative encounters with neighbours and strangers at the edges of our churches, our neighbourhoods, and our imaginations.
Let's Talk about Death: Practical Steps for Churches - Friday 16 October, 16:30-18:00 (BST), zoom - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/lets-talk-about-death-practical-steps-for-churches-tickets-121849576363?aff=erelpanelorg. Li Mills, End of Life Doula UK; Revd Juliet Stephenson, Director of The Good Funeral Company, Liverpool; Lia Shimada, Death Café, St James Piccadilly; Death over Dinner Organisation, USA.
Telling Encounters: Stories of Disability, Faith, Church & God - Saturday 17 October, zoom and facebook. Explore stories and storytelling via talks, workshops, small groups - entirely online, partnering with HeartEdge and Inclusive Church. Includes (tbc): stories of ministry in restricted places; narrative theology; workshops on art, music, storytelling, godly play, public narrative - self, us, now; inclusive liturgy.
Inspired to Follow: Art and the Bible Story - Sunday 18 October, 14:00 (BST), Zoom meeting - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/inspired-to-follow-art-and-the-bible-story-tickets-122769198979. Session 2 based on National Gallery’s ‘Sin’ exhibition.
Death and Money: Thinking practically about Legacies in a Pandemic - Friday 23 October, 16:30-18:00 (BST), zoom - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/death-and-money-thinking-practically-about-legacies-in-a-pandemic-tickets-121852765903?aff=erelpanelorg. Dr Claire Routley has worked in fundraising for fifteen years Stewart Graham has a particular interest in the Spirituality of Fundraising Ruth Tormey, World Vision, has years of experience of working with legacies and churches at Christian Aid and around dioceses in UK.
Inspired to Follow: Art and the Bible Story: Sunday 25 October, 14:00 (BST), Zoom meeting - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/inspired-to-follow-art-and-the-bible-story-tickets-122769198979. Session 3 based on National Gallery’s ‘Sin’ exhibition.
Learning a Missional Practice: Dwelling in the Word - Wednesday 28th October, 14:00-15:30 (BST), zoom - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/learning-a-missional-practice-dwelling-in-the-word-tickets-119890761495. Dwelling in the Word is a simple, but profound way of reading the bible in community, based on Lectio Divina while being subtly quite different from that ancient practice. This session will introduce the practice, enable an experience of it and offer a time to reflect together on what happened. There will then be an opportunity to take the practice away and introduce it “at home” and later, as an option returning to meet together to see what might happen next. The session will be facilitated by Nigel Rooms with Frauke Eicker from the Church Mission Society.
See www.heartedge.org to join HeartEdge and for more information.
Are we missing something? Be in touch with your ideas for development.
Want to run an online workshop or series with HeartEdge? Don't keep it too yourself. Be in touch and let's plan.
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.
Weekly (October – December 2020)
- Mondays: Biblical Studies class, 19:30-21:00 (BST), Zoom meeting. Register in advance: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMrcOmgrTgsHt2ceY7LepLhQYqQxS1G1ix9.
- 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.
HeartEdge is supporting the Festival of Preaching run by Canterbury Press and Church Times, on Tuesday 29 September which has a great line-up of contributors including: Mark Oakley, Anna Carter Florence, Pádraig Ó Tuama, Martyn Percy, Joanna Collicutt, Malcolm Guite, Augustine Tanner Ihm, and Rachel Mann. Sam Wells is giving the opening address and our regular HeartEdge Sermon Preparation workshop with Sam and Sally Hitchiner also features in the Festival's programme (watch the livestream at https://www.facebook.com/theHeartEdge/videos/?ref=page_internal). Find out more about the Festival at https://www.facebook.com/events/1137034323343336. There is a ticket discount available to all who have joined HeartEdge. For more information on the discount offer sign in to the website and go to our Resources section of the website (first joining HeartEdge, if you've not already done so).
In the third session of 'Reimagining music in church post Covid-19', Andrew Earis (Director of Music at St Martin-in-the-Fields), Tom Daggett (Organ Outreach Fellow at St Paul’s Cathedral, and Director of Choir Church at St George in the East) and Alisa Campbell (choral scholar at St Martin-in-the-Fields) will explore church music education during the COVID-19 pandemic, and what we might learn for the future. Tom Daggett is a former Organ Scholar of Lincoln College, Oxford. He has a wealth of experience in the field of education and outreach, principally from his association with the Centre for Theology and Community. He founded the Hackney Children’s Choir and has a deep vocation to help the disadvantaged, particularly through his own enthusiasm for and experience of music. This session is on 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.
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).
Let's Talk about Dying and Being With the Dying: Friday, 2 October 2020, 16:30 – 18:00 BST, zoom meeting - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/lets-talk-about-dying-and-being-with-the-dying-tickets-121558150701.https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/lets-talk-about-dying-and-being-with-the-dying-tickets-121558150701. A conversation with palliative care doctor and best-selling author Dr Kathyrn Mannix campaigning for better public understanding of dying.
In What Do We Trust? Autumn Lecture Series: Monday 5 October, 19:00 (BST), SMITF facebook page. Lecturer: Rowan Williams. 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 6 October, 18:30-19:30 (BST), zoom meeting - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/reimagining-music-in-church-post-covid-19-tickets-117674233801. 4. Voluntary Choir focus.
‘Living God’s Future Now’ - HeartEdge monthly dialogue: Thursday 8 October, 18:00 (BST), Zoom meeting - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/living-gods-future-now-dialogue-barbara-brown-taylor-tickets-120412638443. Sam Wells in dialogue on improvising the kingdom with Barbara Brown Taylor.
Living Well with Grief: Friday 9 October, 16:30-18:00 (BST), zoom - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/living-well-with-grief-tickets-121841179247?aff=erelpanelorg. Carla A. Grosch-Miller is a practical theologian, minister and poet. For the last three years, she has been working with a team researching, teaching and writing about congregational trauma. Their academic book is titled Tragedies and Christian Congregations: The Practical Theology of Trauma (Routledge, 2019).
Inspired to Follow: Art and the Bible Story: Sunday 11 October, 14:00 (BST), Zoom meeting - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/inspired-to-follow-art-and-the-bible-story-tickets-122769198979. Session 1 based on National Gallery’s ‘Sin’ exhibition.
Theology Group: Sunday 11 October, 18:00 (BST), zoom meeting - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/theology-group-with-sam-and-eugene-tickets-121963717763. An opportunity to reflect theologically on issues of today and questions of forever with Sam Wells, who will be responding to questions from Eugene Ling, a member of the congregation of St Martin-in-the-Fields. Eugene will also chair the session and encourage your comments and questions.
In What Do We Trust? Autumn Lecture Series: Monday 12 October, 19:00 (BST), SMITF facebook page. Lecturer: Neal McGregor. Register at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/in-what-do-we-trust-learning-from-history-autumn-lecture-series-2020-tickets-116985565977.
In the Shadow of Your Wings: Thursday 15 October, 16:30 (BST), zoom. An interactive online event presented by Deus Ex Musica which is a musical bible study on the Psalms. This is a unique ecumenical event that combines new musical interpretations of psalms with small-group discussion. Register at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/in-the-shadow-of-your-wings-tickets-120408213207.
Being Interrupted: Reimagining the Church's Mission from the Outside, In – Friday 16 October, 14:00-15.30 (BST), zoom - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/being-interrupted-tickets-122749871169. Al Barrett and guests explore an 'alternative economy' for the Church's life and mission, which begins with transformative encounters with neighbours and strangers at the edges of our churches, our neighbourhoods, and our imaginations.
Let's Talk about Death: Practical Steps for Churches - Friday 16 October, 16:30-18:00 (BST), zoom - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/lets-talk-about-death-practical-steps-for-churches-tickets-121849576363?aff=erelpanelorg. Li Mills, End of Life Doula UK; Revd Juliet Stephenson, Director of The Good Funeral Company, Liverpool; Lia Shimada, Death Café, St James Piccadilly; Death over Dinner Organisation, USA.
Telling Encounters: Stories of Disability, Faith, Church & God - Saturday 17 October, zoom and facebook. Explore stories and storytelling via talks, workshops, small groups - entirely online, partnering with HeartEdge and Inclusive Church. Includes (tbc): stories of ministry in restricted places; narrative theology; workshops on art, music, storytelling, godly play, public narrative - self, us, now; inclusive liturgy.
Inspired to Follow: Art and the Bible Story - Sunday 18 October, 14:00 (BST), Zoom meeting - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/inspired-to-follow-art-and-the-bible-story-tickets-122769198979. Session 2 based on National Gallery’s ‘Sin’ exhibition.
Death and Money: Thinking practically about Legacies in a Pandemic - Friday 23 October, 16:30-18:00 (BST), zoom - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/death-and-money-thinking-practically-about-legacies-in-a-pandemic-tickets-121852765903?aff=erelpanelorg. Dr Claire Routley has worked in fundraising for fifteen years Stewart Graham has a particular interest in the Spirituality of Fundraising Ruth Tormey, World Vision, has years of experience of working with legacies and churches at Christian Aid and around dioceses in UK.
Inspired to Follow: Art and the Bible Story: Sunday 25 October, 14:00 (BST), Zoom meeting - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/inspired-to-follow-art-and-the-bible-story-tickets-122769198979. Session 3 based on National Gallery’s ‘Sin’ exhibition.
Learning a Missional Practice: Dwelling in the Word - Wednesday 28th October, 14:00-15:30 (BST), zoom - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/learning-a-missional-practice-dwelling-in-the-word-tickets-119890761495. Dwelling in the Word is a simple, but profound way of reading the bible in community, based on Lectio Divina while being subtly quite different from that ancient practice. This session will introduce the practice, enable an experience of it and offer a time to reflect together on what happened. There will then be an opportunity to take the practice away and introduce it “at home” and later, as an option returning to meet together to see what might happen next. The session will be facilitated by Nigel Rooms with Frauke Eicker from the Church Mission Society.
See www.heartedge.org to join HeartEdge and for more information.
Are we missing something? Be in touch with your ideas for development.
Want to run an online workshop or series with HeartEdge? Don't keep it too yourself. Be in touch and let's plan.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Corinne Bailey Rae - The Skies Will Break.
Renewal from the edge
St Mark's Pennington and St Thomas' Lymington are spending the next six weeks exploring HeartEdge themes including the 4 Cs. I joined them this Sunday to preach and introduce HeartEdge. Catherine Duce will preach for the final Sunday in the series. Their services can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKRF1l-cpB5-rn1o5tUNWUw.
Here is the sermon I shared:
Are you at the heart (at the centre) or on the edge? Is your church at the heart or on the edge?
Your answer to that question will depend on what you identify as the area under consideration and where you see the centre or heart being. So, if the question was, are Pennington and Lymington at the heart of Hampshire, you might give a different answer to being asked whether the churches of Lymington and Pennington are at the heart of their local communities. The question can also be posed personally in terms of your churches; are you at the heart of your church or on the margins? Again, in order to answer that question, you have to think first, where is or what is the heart of this church?
These are important questions for all churches to be asking and the answers that we give shape the mission and ministry of each church, in ways that can be positive or negative. The HeartEdge renewal movement provides a framework for exploring these questions, but it is one which may reverse or challenge some of the assumptions you may have when you begin to ask these questions.
Our Gospel reading today (Matthew 21:23-32) is based on the same questions and, within HeartEdge, we want to be faithful to the answers it gives. As the beginning of John’s Gospel puts it, the Word became flesh and lived among us, the true light, which enlightens everyone, was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God. That’s essentially what we see happening in today’s Gospel.
Here is the sermon I shared:
Are you at the heart (at the centre) or on the edge? Is your church at the heart or on the edge?
Your answer to that question will depend on what you identify as the area under consideration and where you see the centre or heart being. So, if the question was, are Pennington and Lymington at the heart of Hampshire, you might give a different answer to being asked whether the churches of Lymington and Pennington are at the heart of their local communities. The question can also be posed personally in terms of your churches; are you at the heart of your church or on the margins? Again, in order to answer that question, you have to think first, where is or what is the heart of this church?
These are important questions for all churches to be asking and the answers that we give shape the mission and ministry of each church, in ways that can be positive or negative. The HeartEdge renewal movement provides a framework for exploring these questions, but it is one which may reverse or challenge some of the assumptions you may have when you begin to ask these questions.
Our Gospel reading today (Matthew 21:23-32) is based on the same questions and, within HeartEdge, we want to be faithful to the answers it gives. As the beginning of John’s Gospel puts it, the Word became flesh and lived among us, the true light, which enlightens everyone, was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God. That’s essentially what we see happening in today’s Gospel.
The beginning of John's Gospel says that God came into the world but was rejected and not recognised. Yet, the stone that the builders rejected became the cornerstone. The one who was at the centre of the Universe – the creator God – chose to be on the edge by becoming one with his creation; not as one born with power and prestige, but as one on the edge – a servant, a slave – who was then unrecognised, rejected and killed.
God chose to be on the edge, with those on the edge, and to be recognised by those on the edge. That’s what today’s Gospel reading tells us; those at the centre of religious life in Jesus’ day - the chief priests and the elders of the people – didn’t recognise him. But those on the edge of religious life (including those excluded from it) – the tax collectors and prostitutes, did recognise him. As he said of John the Baptist: ‘John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him; and even after you saw it, you did not change your minds and believe him.’ The clear implication from Jesus is that exactly the same thing was happening in regard to his ministry too.
So, we ask the questions with which we began this sermon not because the centre is the place to be and the place into which everyone needs to be brought, but, instead, because God is actually with those on the edge and the renewal of the heart – the centre – will only come from those on the edge.
‘At the heart. On the edge.’ is the vision statement of St Martin-in-the-Fields. Sam Wells, our Vicar, has explained what it means for us. St Martin’s is at the heart of London and at the heart of the establishment. Theologically, St Martin’s exists to celebrate, enjoy, and embody God being with us – the heart of it all. This is not a narcissistic notion that we are the heart, but a conviction that God is the heart and we want to be with God. The word ‘heart’ refers to feeling, humanity, passion, emotion. It means the arts, the creativity and joy that move us beyond ourselves to a plane of hope, longing, and glory. It means companionship, from a meal shared in our café or a gift for a friend perhaps bought in our shop. At the heart means not standing on the sidelines telling the government what to do, but getting into the action, where honest mistakes are made but genuine good comes about, where new partners are found and social ideas take shape.
The edge, for us, refers to the edge of Trafalgar Square, looking over its splendour and commotion, pageant and protest. But theologically, as wehave been reflecting, the word ‘edge’ speaks of the conviction that God’s heart is on the edge of human society, with those who have been excluded or rejected or ignored. God is most evidently encountered among those in the margins and on the edge. St Martin’s isn’t about bringing those on the imagined ‘edge’ into the exalted ‘middle’; it’s about saying we want to be where God is, and God’s on the edge, so we want to be there too.
Being on the edge does mean facing the cost of being, at times, on the edge of the church. Some of the issues we care deeply about are not areas of consensus in the church. We aim to practise what we believe is a true gospel where we receive all the gifts God is giving us, especially the ones that the church has for so long despised or patronised. We believe that God is giving the church everything it needs for the renewal of its life in the people who find themselves to be on the edge. But the ‘edge’ also means a leading edge, perhaps a cutting edge with an outstanding music programme, a green footprint, and an eye for issues around disability. In particular it means a commercial enterprise that’s integrated into the life of the church community and, rather than simply being a source of funds, is at the forefront of the congregations interface with London’s civil economy.
The stone that the builders rejected didn’t find a place in the wall somewhere by being thoughtfully included like a last-minute addition to a family photo. The rejected stone became the cornerstone, the keystone – the stone that held up all the others, the crucial link, the vital connection. The rejected stone was Jesus, as our Gospel reading makes clear. In his crucifixion he was rejected by the builders – yet in his resurrection he became the cornerstone of forgiveness and eternal life. That’s what ministry and mission are all about – not condescendingly making welcome alienated strangers, but seeking out the rejected precisely because they are the energy and the life-force that will transform us all. Every minister, every missionary, every evangelist, every disciple should have these words over their desk, their windscreen, on their screensaver, in the photo section of their wallet, wherever they see it all the time – the stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.
If you’re looking for where the future church is coming from, look at what the church and society has so blithely rejected. The life of the church is about constantly recognising the sin of how much we have rejected, and celebrating the grace that God gives us back what we once rejected to become the cornerstone of our lives. That’s what prophetic ministry means. That’s what HeartEdge is all about.
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Paul Baloche - God, My Rock.
Friday, 25 September 2020
The treasure and the pearl for which Jesus seeks
Here's the reflection that I shared during today's lunchtime Eucharist for St Martin-in-the-Fields:
I wonder how it feels to be thought of as a treasure for which someone will give all that they have and are. I can respond to that wondering from my own personal experience as I was a child who invited Jesus into my heart but who, as a teenager, felt I was unworthy of his love. At that time if I had known them I would have identified with the confessions written by Lancelot Andrewes in which he admits to being the chief of sinners, an unclean worm, a dead dog, a putrid corpse saying I have sinned, I have done perversely, I have committed wickedness; Lord, I know the plague of my own heart.
Fortunately, a youth leader talked this through with me one evening and showed me Romans 5.8 - God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us. I came to realise that God loved me; loved me so much that he gave up his own life for me. I was the treasure and he was the one who sold everything in order to purchase me. I was the pearl of great value and he was the merchant who sold all he had to buy me (Matthew 3.44-46, 52).
Later, I had an experience of uncontrollable laughter for what seemed like hours on end as I became aware of the weight that had been lifted from me and the love that had filled me.
Most sermons we have heard preached on these parables will have told us that our salvation is the treasure and we are those who have to give up all we have to possess it. Those sermons pitch us back into guilty and uncertainty; have I done enough by giving up enough or have I compromised and forfeited salvation? Those sermons have it all upside down and back to front.
Jesus is the one who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death — even death on a cross. Jesus is the one who gives up all he has – even to the point of death - to seek and save us; the lost, the hidden. We are the treasure and the pearl for which he seeks because to him we are of great value; treasure, though we may not know it. In the Eucharistic Prayer shortly we will hear that the ever-present and ever-living God is with us, for we are precious, honoured and loved. We know this because Christ gave up all he had in order to be with us, even in death.
I wonder how it feels to be thought of as a treasure for which someone will give all that they have and are. For me, it felt as though a weight had been lifted from me, that love had filled giving a sense of joy – of uncontrollable laughter – welling up within and overflowing. I wonder how it feels for you.
I wonder how it feels to be thought of as a treasure for which someone will give all that they have and are. I can respond to that wondering from my own personal experience as I was a child who invited Jesus into my heart but who, as a teenager, felt I was unworthy of his love. At that time if I had known them I would have identified with the confessions written by Lancelot Andrewes in which he admits to being the chief of sinners, an unclean worm, a dead dog, a putrid corpse saying I have sinned, I have done perversely, I have committed wickedness; Lord, I know the plague of my own heart.
Fortunately, a youth leader talked this through with me one evening and showed me Romans 5.8 - God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us. I came to realise that God loved me; loved me so much that he gave up his own life for me. I was the treasure and he was the one who sold everything in order to purchase me. I was the pearl of great value and he was the merchant who sold all he had to buy me (Matthew 3.44-46, 52).
Later, I had an experience of uncontrollable laughter for what seemed like hours on end as I became aware of the weight that had been lifted from me and the love that had filled me.
Most sermons we have heard preached on these parables will have told us that our salvation is the treasure and we are those who have to give up all we have to possess it. Those sermons pitch us back into guilty and uncertainty; have I done enough by giving up enough or have I compromised and forfeited salvation? Those sermons have it all upside down and back to front.
Jesus is the one who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death — even death on a cross. Jesus is the one who gives up all he has – even to the point of death - to seek and save us; the lost, the hidden. We are the treasure and the pearl for which he seeks because to him we are of great value; treasure, though we may not know it. In the Eucharistic Prayer shortly we will hear that the ever-present and ever-living God is with us, for we are precious, honoured and loved. We know this because Christ gave up all he had in order to be with us, even in death.
I wonder how it feels to be thought of as a treasure for which someone will give all that they have and are. For me, it felt as though a weight had been lifted from me, that love had filled giving a sense of joy – of uncontrollable laughter – welling up within and overflowing. I wonder how it feels for you.
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Michael Kiwanuka - I'm Getting Ready.
Church Times: Christian Rohlfs review
My latest review for Church Times is of 'Christian Rohlfs' at The Red House, Aldeburgh:
'with the post-war rehabilitation of German artists, Rohlfs’s work was exhibited once again and gained new admirers, in part through the advocacy of his widow, Helene. It was her advocacy that led to this exhibition. In 1959, a friend of Helene’s, Margaret Hesse, became President of the Aldeburgh Festival, which had been founded by Benjamin Britten, Peter Pears, and Eric Crozier in 1948. Through her friend, Helene came to know and develop an affectionate friendship with Pears and Britten ...
those who love Expressionism would be well advised to visit this beautiful corner of Suffolk with all that it offers at Aldeburgh and Snape Maltings near by, though mostly to encounter Rohlfs’s radiant images of light-infused beauty and Christ-like compassion.'
Other of my pieces for Church Times can be found here.
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Fleet Foxes - Shore.
'with the post-war rehabilitation of German artists, Rohlfs’s work was exhibited once again and gained new admirers, in part through the advocacy of his widow, Helene. It was her advocacy that led to this exhibition. In 1959, a friend of Helene’s, Margaret Hesse, became President of the Aldeburgh Festival, which had been founded by Benjamin Britten, Peter Pears, and Eric Crozier in 1948. Through her friend, Helene came to know and develop an affectionate friendship with Pears and Britten ...
those who love Expressionism would be well advised to visit this beautiful corner of Suffolk with all that it offers at Aldeburgh and Snape Maltings near by, though mostly to encounter Rohlfs’s radiant images of light-infused beauty and Christ-like compassion.'
Other of my pieces for Church Times can be found here.
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Fleet Foxes - Shore.
Monday, 21 September 2020
Crossing boundaries to bring the possibility of change
Here's the reflection that I shared during today's lunchtime Eucharist for St Martin-in-the-Fields:
Imagine for a moment what it would have been like to be Matthew, the tax collector (Matthew 9. 9-13). You would sit day-by-day in a hot little booth waiting for travellers to pay the toll as they passed from one province to the next, just like people used to do at the Dartford Crossing.
Just like today people didn’t enjoy paying tolls in order to continue on their journey, and it wouldn’t have been much fun for you either. On top of that, those who come to the toll booth and those in the villager or town where you live were constantly angry with you. Angry, because you were collaborating with the hated authorities and angry, because you were making extra money for yourself by collecting too much. As a result, tax collectors like you are lumped together with ‘sinners’ and ‘outcasts’ in the places where you live and work. And this went on day by day, year by year for most of your life.
Then think what it would be like to have a young prophet with a spring in his step and God’s kingdom in his heart coming past one day and simply asking you to follow him. How would that feel? Well, we are told in the story itself because when it says that Matthew responded by getting up and following Jesus, a resurrection word is used that means he arose, not just physically but emotionally and spiritually as well. The act of getting up was for Matthew an entry into a completely new way of life. It was a coming alive all over again, a resurrection.
This is a story of resurrection. For Matthew, his work was a dead end. Jesus touched the life of Matthew in a way that transformed his existence and brought him back to life. And this story raises the same question for us this morning. Are there places in our lives where we are at a dead end?
Jesus brought the life of God into all that was dead about Matthew’s life. He was the catalyst for change. His arrival on the scene brought the opportunity for hope and faith and so we see Matthew getting up, leaving his work but not his friends, and following Jesus.
Jesus’ arrival and presence was the catalyst and opportunity for change and for the faith that life can be different, can be better than it is now. How will you respond to Jesus today? We are in the presence of Christ as we come together to worship, how will we respond? Will we ask for his help, reach out to touch his life, and get up to follow him this morning? He is here and his presence can be the catalyst for our change in our lives and communities. What change is it that we need to see?
Jesus becomes a catalyst for change because he crosses boundaries. Matthew was an outcast to his community because he was a hated collaborator with the Romans. People asked, ‘Why is Jesus eating with outcasts, with tax collectors and sinners?’, and the answer was that by crossing those boundaries he brought the opportunity for change. His work was not to protect himself from ‘outcasts’ but to bring the possibility of change into the lives of such people by crossing the barriers that kept other people out.
It was into this way of life – the crossing of boundaries in order to bring the possibility of change – that Matthew was called. Jesus called him to be a disciple. In other words, someone who sat at the teacher’s feet to hear his words and who followed the teacher everywhere to see his actions in order to learn what to say and do himself. As followers of Christ, we have the same calling; to see what Jesus does and get involved ourselves. As such we need to ask ourselves, ‘Who are the people considered as ‘outcasts’ in our workplaces, communities and nation?’ We need to know because, if we are to follow in Jesus’ footsteps, those are the very people with whom we should be meeting, eating, and seeking transformation. We need to ask ourselves, ‘What are the boundaries and barriers separating people from others?’ We need to know because those are the boundaries and barriers which we need to cross in order to bring the possibility of change?
And so, the story of Matthew’s call brings us both the possibility and the challenge of change. What are the dead-ends of our lives where we need to be brought back to life? What are the boundaries that we can cross to bring the possibility of change to those who our outcasts in our day and time?
Let us pray: Lord Jesus, you were despised and rejected by human beings, so we bring before you the needs of those who are despised and overlooked in our world, including ourselves. You value all and call us to put aside our sinful tendency to scapegoat and ignore others in order that we see what is unique and especially valuable both in those who are other than us and also in ourselves. Amen.
Imagine for a moment what it would have been like to be Matthew, the tax collector (Matthew 9. 9-13). You would sit day-by-day in a hot little booth waiting for travellers to pay the toll as they passed from one province to the next, just like people used to do at the Dartford Crossing.
Just like today people didn’t enjoy paying tolls in order to continue on their journey, and it wouldn’t have been much fun for you either. On top of that, those who come to the toll booth and those in the villager or town where you live were constantly angry with you. Angry, because you were collaborating with the hated authorities and angry, because you were making extra money for yourself by collecting too much. As a result, tax collectors like you are lumped together with ‘sinners’ and ‘outcasts’ in the places where you live and work. And this went on day by day, year by year for most of your life.
Then think what it would be like to have a young prophet with a spring in his step and God’s kingdom in his heart coming past one day and simply asking you to follow him. How would that feel? Well, we are told in the story itself because when it says that Matthew responded by getting up and following Jesus, a resurrection word is used that means he arose, not just physically but emotionally and spiritually as well. The act of getting up was for Matthew an entry into a completely new way of life. It was a coming alive all over again, a resurrection.
This is a story of resurrection. For Matthew, his work was a dead end. Jesus touched the life of Matthew in a way that transformed his existence and brought him back to life. And this story raises the same question for us this morning. Are there places in our lives where we are at a dead end?
Jesus brought the life of God into all that was dead about Matthew’s life. He was the catalyst for change. His arrival on the scene brought the opportunity for hope and faith and so we see Matthew getting up, leaving his work but not his friends, and following Jesus.
Jesus’ arrival and presence was the catalyst and opportunity for change and for the faith that life can be different, can be better than it is now. How will you respond to Jesus today? We are in the presence of Christ as we come together to worship, how will we respond? Will we ask for his help, reach out to touch his life, and get up to follow him this morning? He is here and his presence can be the catalyst for our change in our lives and communities. What change is it that we need to see?
Jesus becomes a catalyst for change because he crosses boundaries. Matthew was an outcast to his community because he was a hated collaborator with the Romans. People asked, ‘Why is Jesus eating with outcasts, with tax collectors and sinners?’, and the answer was that by crossing those boundaries he brought the opportunity for change. His work was not to protect himself from ‘outcasts’ but to bring the possibility of change into the lives of such people by crossing the barriers that kept other people out.
It was into this way of life – the crossing of boundaries in order to bring the possibility of change – that Matthew was called. Jesus called him to be a disciple. In other words, someone who sat at the teacher’s feet to hear his words and who followed the teacher everywhere to see his actions in order to learn what to say and do himself. As followers of Christ, we have the same calling; to see what Jesus does and get involved ourselves. As such we need to ask ourselves, ‘Who are the people considered as ‘outcasts’ in our workplaces, communities and nation?’ We need to know because, if we are to follow in Jesus’ footsteps, those are the very people with whom we should be meeting, eating, and seeking transformation. We need to ask ourselves, ‘What are the boundaries and barriers separating people from others?’ We need to know because those are the boundaries and barriers which we need to cross in order to bring the possibility of change?
And so, the story of Matthew’s call brings us both the possibility and the challenge of change. What are the dead-ends of our lives where we need to be brought back to life? What are the boundaries that we can cross to bring the possibility of change to those who our outcasts in our day and time?
Let us pray: Lord Jesus, you were despised and rejected by human beings, so we bring before you the needs of those who are despised and overlooked in our world, including ourselves. You value all and call us to put aside our sinful tendency to scapegoat and ignore others in order that we see what is unique and especially valuable both in those who are other than us and also in ourselves. Amen.
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Sunday, 20 September 2020
Living God's Future Now w/c 20 September 2020
'Living God’s Future Now’ is the HeartEdge 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.
Sunday 20 Sep
- Theology Reading Group: Sunday 20 September, 18:00 (BST), zoom meeting, register here. ‘Silence’ by Shusaku Endo - discuss and share this critically claimed book with Sam Wells, the congregation of St Martin-the-Fields and other friends.
Tuesday 22 Sep
Wednesday 23 Sep
- Community of Practitioners workshop, Wednesday 23 September, 16:30 (BST), Zoom meeting. Email Jonathan Evens to register.
- ‘Living God’s Future Now’ - HeartEdge monthly dialogue Part 2: Thursday 24 September, 18:00 (BST), Zoom meeting - register here. Sam Wells in dialogue on improvising the kingdom with Stanley Hauerwas, Justin Coleman (UMC), and Debra Dean Murphy (West Virginia Wesleyan). Watch their Sam and Stanley in their first talk here.
Friday 25 Sep
Monday saw the kick off the Autumn Lecture series - In What Do We Trust? with a lecture from 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. Have a look here.
See www.heartedge.org to join HeartEdge and for more information.
Over the next few months we are looking at everything from growing online congregations, rethinking enterprise and community action to doing diversity, deepening spirituality and responding to social need.
Are we missing something? Be in touch about your ideas for development and change.
Please note that invitations will be sent 24hrs, 12hrs, 1hr and 10 mins before an event, mostly to minimise the chance of misuse. Thank you.
- Shut In, Shut Out, Shut Up: Fridays in September, 16:30-18:00, zoom meeting, click here to register. In this HeartEdge series we'll share some of the experience from the Living Edge conferences, exploring issues and ideas across current practice and systemic barriers, outmoded belief and cutting edge thinking. In Week 3 Fiona MacMillan, Tim Goode and Zoe Heming explore the topic of disability and church.
Monday saw the kick off the Autumn Lecture series - In What Do We Trust? with a lecture from 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. Have a look here.
See www.heartedge.org to join HeartEdge and for more information.
Over the next few months we are looking at everything from growing online congregations, rethinking enterprise and community action to doing diversity, deepening spirituality and responding to social need.
Are we missing something? Be in touch about your ideas for development and change.
Please note that invitations will be sent 24hrs, 12hrs, 1hr and 10 mins before an event, mostly to minimise the chance of misuse. Thank you.
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St Martin's Voices - Greater Love.
Saturday, 19 September 2020
The Mystery of Art: Becoming an Artist in the Image of God
In The Mystery of Art: Becoming an Artist in the Image of God, Emmy Award-winning actor and musician Jonathan Jackson explores the profound implications of human creativity in the image of God, along with the process of becoming an artist (of any sort) dedicated to practicing his or her art from the context of a deep relationship with God. The true Christian artist is not necessarily one who treats religious themes, but one who creates through the power of the Holy Spirit to the glory of God.
Jackson has said that, ‘Discovering the Orthodox Faith changed the way I see the world...’ Another group of Orthodox rockers are Luxury, a band from small-town Georgia, who, on the cusp of success, suffer a devastating touring wreck with long-term consequences. In the intervening years, they continue to make records and three members of the band become Eastern Orthodox priests.
'With uncommon attention to the matter at hand—our matter, our lives apprehended as an ongoing encounter with the Mystery of persons in the image of God—Jonathan Jackson brings into harmony the wisdom of the Fathers and the insights of great artists, past and present. The result is a compelling articulation of how the very shaping of our lives is best understood as the most precious and most efficacious of arts.' Scott Cairns, Author of Compass of Affection and Idiot Psalms
Jonathan Jackson began his career in Hollywood over twenty years ago on the soap opera General Hospital. His heart-wrenching performances helped win him five Emmy Awards. Jonathan has also performed in many feature films, including The Deep End of the Ocean, Tuck Everlasting, and Insomnia. His work has taken him to many places around the world, including Ireland, Italy, Romania, and Canada. Jonathan is currently one of the stars of the ABC primetime drama, Nashville, a show centered on the inner workings of the Nashville music scene. Jonathan plays Avery Barkley, an up-and-coming singer/songwriter trying to find his way in Music City.
Along with acting, Jonathan is also the lead singer of the band Enation and the author of Book of Solace and Madness, which was published in 2012. Enation are an alternative 3 piece from Nashville, TN. Their sound is inspired by alternative, anthemic, post-punk, early new-wave artists who tend to define genres - only to defy them later.
Brothers Jonathan and Richard Lee Jackson began playing music together as kids. Originally from the Northwest, the brothers moved to Los Angeles in their early teenage years and began cutting their teeth on the Sunset Strip - playing iconic venues like The Whiskey A-Go-Go, The Roxy and The Viper Room before they were old enough to indulge in the free drinks offered to the other acts on the bill.
Jonathan is known as an enigmatic, introverted frontman. Sit with him for any length of time and you’ll realize he is a well-read, deep thinker. You’re more likely to catch references to Dostoyevsky, an obscure monk from Greece, or the Russian revolution of 1918 in his lyrics than the more superfluous themes in today's pop music. “We’re more interested in the deeper themes in life, the bigger questions, the stuff beneath the surface,” Jonathan says quietly.
Prior to joining up with the Jackson Brothers in Enation, bassist Jonathan Thatcher, was a member of the U.K. based rock band Delirious?, a band the brothers were into. “Jon Thatcher has been an artist we’ve respected for a long time.” Richard says.
What’s ahead may be looking back. Their new music is described with references to “alternative, post-punk, early new wave” with bands like Echo & The Bunnymen, Talk Talk, and Simple Minds grabbing Enation's attention and dominating their intra-band conversations.
Along with acting, Jonathan is also the lead singer of the band Enation and the author of Book of Solace and Madness, which was published in 2012. Enation are an alternative 3 piece from Nashville, TN. Their sound is inspired by alternative, anthemic, post-punk, early new-wave artists who tend to define genres - only to defy them later.
Brothers Jonathan and Richard Lee Jackson began playing music together as kids. Originally from the Northwest, the brothers moved to Los Angeles in their early teenage years and began cutting their teeth on the Sunset Strip - playing iconic venues like The Whiskey A-Go-Go, The Roxy and The Viper Room before they were old enough to indulge in the free drinks offered to the other acts on the bill.
Jonathan is known as an enigmatic, introverted frontman. Sit with him for any length of time and you’ll realize he is a well-read, deep thinker. You’re more likely to catch references to Dostoyevsky, an obscure monk from Greece, or the Russian revolution of 1918 in his lyrics than the more superfluous themes in today's pop music. “We’re more interested in the deeper themes in life, the bigger questions, the stuff beneath the surface,” Jonathan says quietly.
Prior to joining up with the Jackson Brothers in Enation, bassist Jonathan Thatcher, was a member of the U.K. based rock band Delirious?, a band the brothers were into. “Jon Thatcher has been an artist we’ve respected for a long time.” Richard says.
What’s ahead may be looking back. Their new music is described with references to “alternative, post-punk, early new wave” with bands like Echo & The Bunnymen, Talk Talk, and Simple Minds grabbing Enation's attention and dominating their intra-band conversations.
The wreck changed their fortunes as well (evidently) as their ambitions. With each successive record, there was a greater sense of self-reflection in Lee Bozeman’s lyrics, and the music followed that deepening maturity, all the while maintaining the fundamental dichotomy of soaring melodies on top of angular post-punk instrumentation.
The first record was essentially a document of their live shows, which were remarkable events in their intensity and the band’s posture of defiance directed even at their own audience. On successive records, though, Luxury learned to use the studio as an instrument. While, on the first record Bozeman asks “So, what do you expect from life?” he seems to have spent each of the following records seeking to answer that very question.
The first record was essentially a document of their live shows, which were remarkable events in their intensity and the band’s posture of defiance directed even at their own audience. On successive records, though, Luxury learned to use the studio as an instrument. While, on the first record Bozeman asks “So, what do you expect from life?” he seems to have spent each of the following records seeking to answer that very question.
Through interviews and archival footage, ‘Parallel Love: The Story of a Band Called Luxury’ tells the gripping and poignant story of Luxury and documents the making of a new record, now as priests.
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Enation - Revolution Of The Heart.
The APS Mdina Cathedral Contemporary Art Biennale and modern sacred art in Malta
The APS Mdina Cathedral Contemporary Art Biennale 2020 was a casualty of the Covid-19 pandemic. The third edition of the APS Mdina Biennale was to have dealt with the relationship between spirituality and the environment, focusing on the links with the protection of the planet, all species, human or otherwise, and the notion of spirituality within this seminal debate.
The Biennale’s Director, Dr Giuseppe Schembri Bonaci, has said that what he really wants to do ‘is create a bridge with the past and the present’. As a result the 2015 and 2017-18 Biennale’s showcased fascinating history of modern sacred art in Malta though the works of Josef Kalleya, Antoine Camilleri, Carmelo Mangion, Esprit Barthet, and Frank Portelli.
Christian Attard has noted that, ‘In an artistic climate dominated by an overbearing Church and a hard-wired insular resistance to new ideas, any form of modern artistic syntax was to take a painfully long time to develop in 20th-century Malta.’ Schembri Bonaci chose the figures of Karmenu Mangion and Joseph Kalleya as symbolic standard-bearers for modern art saying: ‘Karmenu Mangion and Josef Kalleya are two of the most important 'fathers' of Maltese modern art. Both have a strong spiritual connection and a strong modernist idiom and language.’
According to Attard, Kalleya created ‘works in clay of a deeply primeval religious intensity’ and his ‘experimental, expressionistic use of clay, makes him somewhat a sort of a spiritual father to Antoine Camilleri … whose work with clay would equally lead him to give form to profoundly personal themes.’ Dominic Cutajar says that Kalleya, together with Antonio Caruana, ran study sessions in a group called Studio Artistico Industriale Maltese d’Arte Sacra which were attended by most of the Maltese young artists of the time, including Vincent and Willie Apap, Emvin Cremona, Giuseppe Arcidiacono, Anton Inglott, Carmelo Borg Pisani, Esprit Barthet, Emmanuel Borg Gauci and Giorgio Preca.
Attard explains that the opening of the Malta School of Art in 1925, with Edward Caruana Dingli as its first director, would also ‘prove to be the perfect hothouse for the formation of a group of artists who were, very soon, to challenge the old order’: ‘Antoine Camilleri received his initial training there. Likewise did George Fenech … even if during his years the School was run by two of its former students: Vincent Apap (1909-2003) and Emvin Cremona (1919-1987).’ Carmelo Mangion never attended, but in his youth received private tuition from Caruana Dingli.
Schembri Bonaci says: ‘Karmenu Mangion is an incredible tour-de-force in Maltese art: violent expressionist with Fauvist colour; 'savage' but excellent drawing, challenging Cezanne and Rouault; his link between abstract art and Maltese megalithic architecture brings him in the forefront of European modern art. His spirituality permeates in all his works and his religious works are subtle and even subversive. Greatly underestimated, for obvious reasons. An excellent etcher and engraver. Despite his legendary modesty and humility he is a giant in art. No art study, no artist can escape his overpowering 'gaze'.’
Emvin Cremona created “chromatic sprees and feasts for the eye” with his Church commissions. However, Peter Serracino Inglott suggests that, while he ‘did not fail to display imagination and tact in artistic work ranging from abstractions in broken glass to postage stamps and street decorations, his numerous essays in church painting resulted in repeated compromises between his creative flair and popular taste, always bathed in an atmosphere of quasi pre-Raphaelite spirituality.’
Frank Portelli developed a form of cubism, first seen in the narrative painting La Vie, which he called ‘crystallised cubism.’ Kenneth Wain describes this as ‘a cubism of planes not volumes’; ‘prismatic effects which the artist sought to obtain through the subtle use of finely graded and translucent colour tones which produces a glazed effect.’ The evolution of this technique owed something to Portelli’s ‘long enduring fascination with the optical and light effects of stained glass’. Wain notes that each of Portelli’s projects show painstaking research including the ‘extremely original’ altar in 1984 for the parish church of Marsascala or ‘the interior design of virtually a whole church, as was the case with the sanctuary of St Theresa, in B’Kara.’
Cutajar agrees that a ‘clear modern sensibility throbs in the work of such artists as Josef Kalleya (1898-1998), George Preca (1909-1984), Anton Inglott (1915-1945), Emvin Cremona (1919-1986), Frank Portelli (b.1922), Antoine Camilleri (b.1922) and Esprit Barthet (b.1919).’ In fact, he says, ‘the Post-War years in Malta were marked by a truly modern renaissance of the arts. A group of forward-looking artists came together forming an influential pressure group known as the Modern Art Group. Together they forced the Maltese public to take seriously modern aesthetics and succeeded in playing a leading role in the renewal of Maltese art.’
Cutajar argues that Alfred Chircop (b.1933) became the most important Maltese pioneer and that his ‘catharsis is tied to the cosmic transcendentalism popularised in Catholic intellectual circles by Teilhard de Chardin.’ Cutajar says that ‘the harmonious fusion of form and colour’ of his non-figurative art has moved forward with ‘the enrichment of his inner vision’. ‘The correspondence of the intangible with the material is at the core of the latter's thinking, thus injecting the great idealistic message of Hope to the cosmic phenomenon of chaos and ultimate dissolution.’
In more recent years the Mdina Cathedral Contemporary Art Biennale has been the primary focus of contemporary sacred art ‘evolving from the first such event, 'Contemporary Sacred Art in Malta' of 1994, and the subsequent exhibitions entitled 'Contemporary Christian Art', which took place in 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002 and 2005, as well as other comparable earlier contemporary art exhibitions organised in Malta in the years leading up to 1994.’
‘The 1994 event ambitiously underlined the idea of museums as "depositories housing the results of cultural achievements attained by man's will-power extending itself in all directions that emerge from human intelligence". The 1996 Biennale concentrated on creating "a further development of the Sacred more closely linked with a definite characteristic of our cultural background". Constant Dialogue was the central theme of the 1998 event: "The widespread evaluation of the constant dialogue between the artist and the world around him". For obvious reasons the 2000 exhibition focussed on "the end of the present Millennium ... and the long stretch of innumerable decades and revolving centuries of Christian existence". 2002 and 2005 defined sacred, or spiritual, art as the summit of religious art and emphasised its connection with the artist's "noble ministry".’
Under Schembri Bonaci, the 2015 Biennale expanded upon the various parameters from earlier years. ‘It declared all art to be spiritual, in the sense that creative depiction, actions and events, through their intrinsic character, reflect the individual's relation with reality, and with his or her own existence. Hence such creative acts are necessarily spiritual, independent of their ostensible devoutness, independent of a faith or lack of faith, independent of their allegiance to any particular faith, or to none.’
‘In the second edition, 2017-18, the APS Mdina Biennale explored the multiple manifestations of Mediterranean identity as visualised by past and contemporary art. Artists created site-specific works that investigated the theme and the permanent collection of the Mdina Cathedral Museum.’
The 2020 edition concentrated on digital-video projections and installation art to explore how spirituality and its relationship to the environment can help humankind save its natural heritage, and the role of art and the artist in this debate.
Schembri Bonaci says that: ‘Every edition's theme connects with the theme of the previous one and a continuum is created via a category which unites all, which is spirituality.’ This is so despite his own anti-clerical leanings. ‘Whether I agree with its tenets or not,’ he says, ‘Christianity is very much part of the culture I grew up in, so it will inevitably inform my work.’ Spirituality, however, ‘is not narrowed down to a religious belief, whatever the belief.’ ‘It transcends and unites all, believers and non-believers, and the only unanimous unity is found in having a spiritual bond with our existence.’
The Biennale’s Director, Dr Giuseppe Schembri Bonaci, has said that what he really wants to do ‘is create a bridge with the past and the present’. As a result the 2015 and 2017-18 Biennale’s showcased fascinating history of modern sacred art in Malta though the works of Josef Kalleya, Antoine Camilleri, Carmelo Mangion, Esprit Barthet, and Frank Portelli.
Christian Attard has noted that, ‘In an artistic climate dominated by an overbearing Church and a hard-wired insular resistance to new ideas, any form of modern artistic syntax was to take a painfully long time to develop in 20th-century Malta.’ Schembri Bonaci chose the figures of Karmenu Mangion and Joseph Kalleya as symbolic standard-bearers for modern art saying: ‘Karmenu Mangion and Josef Kalleya are two of the most important 'fathers' of Maltese modern art. Both have a strong spiritual connection and a strong modernist idiom and language.’
According to Attard, Kalleya created ‘works in clay of a deeply primeval religious intensity’ and his ‘experimental, expressionistic use of clay, makes him somewhat a sort of a spiritual father to Antoine Camilleri … whose work with clay would equally lead him to give form to profoundly personal themes.’ Dominic Cutajar says that Kalleya, together with Antonio Caruana, ran study sessions in a group called Studio Artistico Industriale Maltese d’Arte Sacra which were attended by most of the Maltese young artists of the time, including Vincent and Willie Apap, Emvin Cremona, Giuseppe Arcidiacono, Anton Inglott, Carmelo Borg Pisani, Esprit Barthet, Emmanuel Borg Gauci and Giorgio Preca.
Attard explains that the opening of the Malta School of Art in 1925, with Edward Caruana Dingli as its first director, would also ‘prove to be the perfect hothouse for the formation of a group of artists who were, very soon, to challenge the old order’: ‘Antoine Camilleri received his initial training there. Likewise did George Fenech … even if during his years the School was run by two of its former students: Vincent Apap (1909-2003) and Emvin Cremona (1919-1987).’ Carmelo Mangion never attended, but in his youth received private tuition from Caruana Dingli.
Schembri Bonaci says: ‘Karmenu Mangion is an incredible tour-de-force in Maltese art: violent expressionist with Fauvist colour; 'savage' but excellent drawing, challenging Cezanne and Rouault; his link between abstract art and Maltese megalithic architecture brings him in the forefront of European modern art. His spirituality permeates in all his works and his religious works are subtle and even subversive. Greatly underestimated, for obvious reasons. An excellent etcher and engraver. Despite his legendary modesty and humility he is a giant in art. No art study, no artist can escape his overpowering 'gaze'.’
Emvin Cremona created “chromatic sprees and feasts for the eye” with his Church commissions. However, Peter Serracino Inglott suggests that, while he ‘did not fail to display imagination and tact in artistic work ranging from abstractions in broken glass to postage stamps and street decorations, his numerous essays in church painting resulted in repeated compromises between his creative flair and popular taste, always bathed in an atmosphere of quasi pre-Raphaelite spirituality.’
Frank Portelli developed a form of cubism, first seen in the narrative painting La Vie, which he called ‘crystallised cubism.’ Kenneth Wain describes this as ‘a cubism of planes not volumes’; ‘prismatic effects which the artist sought to obtain through the subtle use of finely graded and translucent colour tones which produces a glazed effect.’ The evolution of this technique owed something to Portelli’s ‘long enduring fascination with the optical and light effects of stained glass’. Wain notes that each of Portelli’s projects show painstaking research including the ‘extremely original’ altar in 1984 for the parish church of Marsascala or ‘the interior design of virtually a whole church, as was the case with the sanctuary of St Theresa, in B’Kara.’
Cutajar agrees that a ‘clear modern sensibility throbs in the work of such artists as Josef Kalleya (1898-1998), George Preca (1909-1984), Anton Inglott (1915-1945), Emvin Cremona (1919-1986), Frank Portelli (b.1922), Antoine Camilleri (b.1922) and Esprit Barthet (b.1919).’ In fact, he says, ‘the Post-War years in Malta were marked by a truly modern renaissance of the arts. A group of forward-looking artists came together forming an influential pressure group known as the Modern Art Group. Together they forced the Maltese public to take seriously modern aesthetics and succeeded in playing a leading role in the renewal of Maltese art.’
Cutajar argues that Alfred Chircop (b.1933) became the most important Maltese pioneer and that his ‘catharsis is tied to the cosmic transcendentalism popularised in Catholic intellectual circles by Teilhard de Chardin.’ Cutajar says that ‘the harmonious fusion of form and colour’ of his non-figurative art has moved forward with ‘the enrichment of his inner vision’. ‘The correspondence of the intangible with the material is at the core of the latter's thinking, thus injecting the great idealistic message of Hope to the cosmic phenomenon of chaos and ultimate dissolution.’
In more recent years the Mdina Cathedral Contemporary Art Biennale has been the primary focus of contemporary sacred art ‘evolving from the first such event, 'Contemporary Sacred Art in Malta' of 1994, and the subsequent exhibitions entitled 'Contemporary Christian Art', which took place in 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002 and 2005, as well as other comparable earlier contemporary art exhibitions organised in Malta in the years leading up to 1994.’
‘The 1994 event ambitiously underlined the idea of museums as "depositories housing the results of cultural achievements attained by man's will-power extending itself in all directions that emerge from human intelligence". The 1996 Biennale concentrated on creating "a further development of the Sacred more closely linked with a definite characteristic of our cultural background". Constant Dialogue was the central theme of the 1998 event: "The widespread evaluation of the constant dialogue between the artist and the world around him". For obvious reasons the 2000 exhibition focussed on "the end of the present Millennium ... and the long stretch of innumerable decades and revolving centuries of Christian existence". 2002 and 2005 defined sacred, or spiritual, art as the summit of religious art and emphasised its connection with the artist's "noble ministry".’
Under Schembri Bonaci, the 2015 Biennale expanded upon the various parameters from earlier years. ‘It declared all art to be spiritual, in the sense that creative depiction, actions and events, through their intrinsic character, reflect the individual's relation with reality, and with his or her own existence. Hence such creative acts are necessarily spiritual, independent of their ostensible devoutness, independent of a faith or lack of faith, independent of their allegiance to any particular faith, or to none.’
‘In the second edition, 2017-18, the APS Mdina Biennale explored the multiple manifestations of Mediterranean identity as visualised by past and contemporary art. Artists created site-specific works that investigated the theme and the permanent collection of the Mdina Cathedral Museum.’
The 2020 edition concentrated on digital-video projections and installation art to explore how spirituality and its relationship to the environment can help humankind save its natural heritage, and the role of art and the artist in this debate.
Schembri Bonaci says that: ‘Every edition's theme connects with the theme of the previous one and a continuum is created via a category which unites all, which is spirituality.’ This is so despite his own anti-clerical leanings. ‘Whether I agree with its tenets or not,’ he says, ‘Christianity is very much part of the culture I grew up in, so it will inevitably inform my work.’ Spirituality, however, ‘is not narrowed down to a religious belief, whatever the belief.’ ‘It transcends and unites all, believers and non-believers, and the only unanimous unity is found in having a spiritual bond with our existence.’
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Joseph Fenech - Gloria In Excelsis Deo.
Windows on the world (296)
Cambridge, 2019
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Sufjan Stevens - America.
The immigrant contribution to British visual art since 1900
The Insiders/Outsiders Festival, which celebrated refugees from Nazi-occupied Europe and their contribution to British culture, ran until the end of March 2020 with exhibitions, performances, film screenings, walks, lectures and other events taking place all over the country.
Since the programme began in March 2019, it has brought together contributions from some of the UK’s most prestigious cultural organisations, ranging from Glyndebourne and Tate Britain to Sotheby’s and Kelvingrove Art Gallery. While March 2020 marked the official end of the festival and the pandemic has disrupted plans for 2020 activities, there are still ways to engage.Insiders/Outsiders: Refugees from Nazi Europe and their Contribution to British Visual Culture, edited by Monica Bohm-Duchen, examines the extraordinarily rich and pervasive contribution of refugees from Nazi-dominated Europe to the visual culture, art education and art-world structures of the United Kingdom. In every field, émigrés arriving from Europe in the 1930s – supported by a small number of like-minded individuals already resident in the UK – introduced a professionalism, internationalism and bold avant-gardism to a British art world not known for these attributes. At a time when the issue of immigration is much debated, the book serves as a reminder of the importance of cultural cross-fertilization and of the deep, long-lasting and wide-ranging contribution that refugees make to British life.
Their Safe Haven: Hungarian artists in Britain from the 1930s, compiled and edited by Robert Waterhouse. Around 3,000 Hungarian émigrés found refuge in Britain before the Second World War, fleeing not only the clutches of the Third Reich but also the ills of twentieth century Hungary. A much smaller community than other Central European refugees, they nonetheless included numbers of talented artists, architects, film-makers and musicians. When the critic Charles Rosner was asked to assemble an exhibition of graphics to mark the Hungarian Club’s April 1943 move to new premises in West London, he gave special prominence to 14 artists who had made their homes in Britain. Robert Waterhouse’s book, patchworked together from interviews and archives in Budapest, Vienna, London and around the UK, incorporating lost images, unpublished diaries and out-of-print texts, reveals the lives and work of these mostly forgotten artists.
An exhibition showing work by Klara Biller, Val Biro, Lili Markus, George Mayer-Marton, Jean-Georges Simon, Charles Rosner, and George Buday was to have been shown at the Mercer Gallery Harrogate, but has been postponed.
A campaign is underway to save George Mayer-Marton's striking Crucifixion with a highly unusual combination of mosaic and painted fresco for Holy Rosary Church in Fitton Hill, Oldham. The Diocese of Salford decided to close the church three years ago and concern is growing that the mural is deteriorating and is increasingly in danger of decay, vandalism, theft and even destruction if the building is redeveloped. The eight-metre-high mosaic was installed in the church in the 1950s and is made of natural stone and glass tesserae, giving it a striking sheen, typical of Byzantine work. The original piece had frescoes depicting St John to Jesus’ left and the Virgin Mary to his right, but these were covered over with white emulsion in 1980. It is one of the most notable ecclesiastical works of art in the North West but is at risk because Salford diocese decreed Holy Rosary redundant as part of its restructuring plan. Save Britain’s Heritage has written to Historic England, the body responsible for listing buildings, urging it to protect the mural.
Ben Uri Gallery and Museum was founded in 1915 in Whitechapel in the Jewish East End of London.
All their programming initiatives and ingredients stem from the imaginative use of their distinctive and growing museum collection which uniquely represents the Jewish and immigrant contribution to British visual art since 1900. Over the past two years Ben Uri has been reinvented through the design of a pioneering virtual museum. From this new concept virtual museum they will fulfil their charity objects and generate valuable relationships through innovative sharing of their scholarship and research projects, collections, archives, 3D exhibitions, virtual catalogues, films, podcasts, schools and family learning, and their important, pioneering arts and health institute.
Part of that programme is an ongoing series of exhibitions produced by the ‘Ben Uri Research Unit for the Study of the Immigrant and Jewish Contribution to the Visual Arts in Britain Since 1900’ (BURU). BURU has, since 2016, undertaking investigations into Austrian, Czech, German and Polish nationals who migrated to Britain - narratives which were significantly impacted by the Second World War and the Nazi domination of Europe.
The current exhibition in this series, Midnight's Family: 70 years of Indian artists in Britain, is BURU’s first exhibition to explore a non-European émigré artistic community. This timely exhibition, which coincides with the date of Indian Independence (declared at midnight on 15 August 1947), addresses the representation of Indian immigrant artists (both first and second generation) working in Britain for more than 70 years. This online iteration provides a snapshot of Indian artists in Britain from varied backgrounds and across different time periods. Modernists, such as F.N. Souza and S.K. Bakre, lived in the UK only briefly, whilst others, such as the Singh Twins, are second generation Britishers who consider this country to be their home. Meanwhile, global figures such as Anish Kapoor, feel they are ‘just’ artists, for whom questions of national belonging are incidental. The exhibition includes a cross- generational range of practitioners, who work across diverse media and with differing approaches to the question of identity; of being an ‘Indian’ artist in Britain. The exhibition is co-curated by painter, Shanti Panchal with advice from Dr Zehra Jumabhoy, Courtauld Institute, London. It is part of South Asian Heritage Month 2020.
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U2 - A Sort Of Homecoming.
Since the programme began in March 2019, it has brought together contributions from some of the UK’s most prestigious cultural organisations, ranging from Glyndebourne and Tate Britain to Sotheby’s and Kelvingrove Art Gallery. While March 2020 marked the official end of the festival and the pandemic has disrupted plans for 2020 activities, there are still ways to engage.Insiders/Outsiders: Refugees from Nazi Europe and their Contribution to British Visual Culture, edited by Monica Bohm-Duchen, examines the extraordinarily rich and pervasive contribution of refugees from Nazi-dominated Europe to the visual culture, art education and art-world structures of the United Kingdom. In every field, émigrés arriving from Europe in the 1930s – supported by a small number of like-minded individuals already resident in the UK – introduced a professionalism, internationalism and bold avant-gardism to a British art world not known for these attributes. At a time when the issue of immigration is much debated, the book serves as a reminder of the importance of cultural cross-fertilization and of the deep, long-lasting and wide-ranging contribution that refugees make to British life.
Their Safe Haven: Hungarian artists in Britain from the 1930s, compiled and edited by Robert Waterhouse. Around 3,000 Hungarian émigrés found refuge in Britain before the Second World War, fleeing not only the clutches of the Third Reich but also the ills of twentieth century Hungary. A much smaller community than other Central European refugees, they nonetheless included numbers of talented artists, architects, film-makers and musicians. When the critic Charles Rosner was asked to assemble an exhibition of graphics to mark the Hungarian Club’s April 1943 move to new premises in West London, he gave special prominence to 14 artists who had made their homes in Britain. Robert Waterhouse’s book, patchworked together from interviews and archives in Budapest, Vienna, London and around the UK, incorporating lost images, unpublished diaries and out-of-print texts, reveals the lives and work of these mostly forgotten artists.
An exhibition showing work by Klara Biller, Val Biro, Lili Markus, George Mayer-Marton, Jean-Georges Simon, Charles Rosner, and George Buday was to have been shown at the Mercer Gallery Harrogate, but has been postponed.
A campaign is underway to save George Mayer-Marton's striking Crucifixion with a highly unusual combination of mosaic and painted fresco for Holy Rosary Church in Fitton Hill, Oldham. The Diocese of Salford decided to close the church three years ago and concern is growing that the mural is deteriorating and is increasingly in danger of decay, vandalism, theft and even destruction if the building is redeveloped. The eight-metre-high mosaic was installed in the church in the 1950s and is made of natural stone and glass tesserae, giving it a striking sheen, typical of Byzantine work. The original piece had frescoes depicting St John to Jesus’ left and the Virgin Mary to his right, but these were covered over with white emulsion in 1980. It is one of the most notable ecclesiastical works of art in the North West but is at risk because Salford diocese decreed Holy Rosary redundant as part of its restructuring plan. Save Britain’s Heritage has written to Historic England, the body responsible for listing buildings, urging it to protect the mural.
Ben Uri Gallery and Museum was founded in 1915 in Whitechapel in the Jewish East End of London.
All their programming initiatives and ingredients stem from the imaginative use of their distinctive and growing museum collection which uniquely represents the Jewish and immigrant contribution to British visual art since 1900. Over the past two years Ben Uri has been reinvented through the design of a pioneering virtual museum. From this new concept virtual museum they will fulfil their charity objects and generate valuable relationships through innovative sharing of their scholarship and research projects, collections, archives, 3D exhibitions, virtual catalogues, films, podcasts, schools and family learning, and their important, pioneering arts and health institute.
Part of that programme is an ongoing series of exhibitions produced by the ‘Ben Uri Research Unit for the Study of the Immigrant and Jewish Contribution to the Visual Arts in Britain Since 1900’ (BURU). BURU has, since 2016, undertaking investigations into Austrian, Czech, German and Polish nationals who migrated to Britain - narratives which were significantly impacted by the Second World War and the Nazi domination of Europe.
The current exhibition in this series, Midnight's Family: 70 years of Indian artists in Britain, is BURU’s first exhibition to explore a non-European émigré artistic community. This timely exhibition, which coincides with the date of Indian Independence (declared at midnight on 15 August 1947), addresses the representation of Indian immigrant artists (both first and second generation) working in Britain for more than 70 years. This online iteration provides a snapshot of Indian artists in Britain from varied backgrounds and across different time periods. Modernists, such as F.N. Souza and S.K. Bakre, lived in the UK only briefly, whilst others, such as the Singh Twins, are second generation Britishers who consider this country to be their home. Meanwhile, global figures such as Anish Kapoor, feel they are ‘just’ artists, for whom questions of national belonging are incidental. The exhibition includes a cross- generational range of practitioners, who work across diverse media and with differing approaches to the question of identity; of being an ‘Indian’ artist in Britain. The exhibition is co-curated by painter, Shanti Panchal with advice from Dr Zehra Jumabhoy, Courtauld Institute, London. It is part of South Asian Heritage Month 2020.
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U2 - A Sort Of Homecoming.
Friday, 18 September 2020
ArtWay: Peter Koenig interview
I have had an interview with Peter Koenig published by ArtWay. Peter has said that the goal of his life has been to make a richer Christian-Catholic art by painting the drama, romance and poetry of the sacred book. In this interview we explore the way in which he has approached this task:
'Abraham set out from Ur. He was following the call of God (and how much does that word contain!). We are not born with a language or knowledge of the past, we have to be taught it by word and action. That is what Christian education seeks to do ...
How do I view my journey of faith and art? What have I learnt from my journey and what has the making of these artworks taught me? Those are very introspective questions. Well, not every style of art is equally suited for the subject or every book of the Bible. I usually remind myself that all art is transient. Indeed, ‘all flesh is grass and like the wild flower it fades, the grass withers, the flowers fade but the Word of the Lord is forever!’'
Peter Koenig is a life-long member of the Society of Catholic Artists in London and was its president from 1973-1980. The 90-years-anniversary exhibition for the Society of Catholic Artists can be viewed here.
'Abraham set out from Ur. He was following the call of God (and how much does that word contain!). We are not born with a language or knowledge of the past, we have to be taught it by word and action. That is what Christian education seeks to do ...
How do I view my journey of faith and art? What have I learnt from my journey and what has the making of these artworks taught me? Those are very introspective questions. Well, not every style of art is equally suited for the subject or every book of the Bible. I usually remind myself that all art is transient. Indeed, ‘all flesh is grass and like the wild flower it fades, the grass withers, the flowers fade but the Word of the Lord is forever!’'
Peter Koenig is a life-long member of the Society of Catholic Artists in London and was its president from 1973-1980. The 90-years-anniversary exhibition for the Society of Catholic Artists can be viewed here.
Earlier in the year I also interviewed Sophie Hacker for ArtWay. That interview can be found here.
My visual meditations for ArtWay include work by María Inés Aguirre, Giampaolo Babetto, Marian Bohusz-Szyszko, Alexander de Cadenet, Christopher Clack, Marlene Dumas, Terry Ffyffe, Antoni Gaudi, Nicola Green, Maciej Hoffman, S. Billie Mandle, Giacomo Manzù, Michael Pendry, Maurice Novarina, Regan O'Callaghan, Ana Maria Pacheco, John Piper, Albert Servaes, Henry Shelton and Anna Sikorska.
My Church of the Month reports include: Aylesford Priory, Canterbury Cathedral, Chapel of St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face, Hem, Chelmsford Cathedral, Churches in Little Walsingham, Coventry Cathedral, Église de Saint-Paul à Grange-Canal, Eton College Chapel, Lumen, Metz Cathedral, Notre Dame du Léman, Notre-Dame de Toute Grâce, Plateau d’Assy,Romont, Sint Martinuskerk Latem, St Aidan of Lindisfarne, St Alban Romford, St. Andrew Bobola Polish RC Church, St. Margaret’s Church, Ditchling, and Ditchling Museum of Art + Craft, St Mary the Virgin, Downe, and St Paul Goodmayes, as well as earlier reports of visits to sites associated with Marian Bohusz-Szyszko, Marc Chagall, Jean Cocteau, Antoni Gaudi and Henri Matisse.
Other of my writings for ArtWay can be found here. My pieces for Church Times can be found here. Those for Artlyst are here and those for Art+Christianity are here.
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My visual meditations for ArtWay include work by María Inés Aguirre, Giampaolo Babetto, Marian Bohusz-Szyszko, Alexander de Cadenet, Christopher Clack, Marlene Dumas, Terry Ffyffe, Antoni Gaudi, Nicola Green, Maciej Hoffman, S. Billie Mandle, Giacomo Manzù, Michael Pendry, Maurice Novarina, Regan O'Callaghan, Ana Maria Pacheco, John Piper, Albert Servaes, Henry Shelton and Anna Sikorska.
My Church of the Month reports include: Aylesford Priory, Canterbury Cathedral, Chapel of St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face, Hem, Chelmsford Cathedral, Churches in Little Walsingham, Coventry Cathedral, Église de Saint-Paul à Grange-Canal, Eton College Chapel, Lumen, Metz Cathedral, Notre Dame du Léman, Notre-Dame de Toute Grâce, Plateau d’Assy,Romont, Sint Martinuskerk Latem, St Aidan of Lindisfarne, St Alban Romford, St. Andrew Bobola Polish RC Church, St. Margaret’s Church, Ditchling, and Ditchling Museum of Art + Craft, St Mary the Virgin, Downe, and St Paul Goodmayes, as well as earlier reports of visits to sites associated with Marian Bohusz-Szyszko, Marc Chagall, Jean Cocteau, Antoni Gaudi and Henri Matisse.
Other of my writings for ArtWay can be found here. My pieces for Church Times can be found here. Those for Artlyst are here and those for Art+Christianity are here.
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Tuesday, 15 September 2020
Moving forward unfettered by the mistakes we have made
I brought together some thoughts on forgiveness by Tom Wright and Desmond Tutu for the reflection that I shared at the lunchtime Eucharist for St Martin-in-the-Fields today:
'In his book, Surprised by Hope, N. T. Wright says, "Forgiveness is a way of life, God's way of life, God's way to life; and if you close your heart to forgiveness, why, then, do you close your heart to forgiveness. . . If you lock up the piano because you don't want to play to somebody else, how can God play to you?
"That is why we pray, 'Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.' That isn't a bargain we make with God. It's a fact of human life. Not to forgive is to shut down a faculty in the innermost person, which happens to be the same faculty that can receive God's forgiveness."'
Wright notes that 'Jesus has already taught his followers to pray for it (6.12), and has specified clearly that if you want forgiveness you've got to be prepared to give it (6.14-15). Now he returns to the theme. Peter's question and Jesus' answer say it all (verses 21-22). If you're still counting how many times you've forgiven someone, you're not really forgiving them at all, but simply postponing revenge. 'Seventy times seven' is a typical bit of Jesus' teasing. What he means, of course, is 'don't even think about counting, just do it'”'
'Forgiveness takes practice, honesty, open-mindedness and a willingness (even if it is a weary willingness) to try. It isn't easy. Perhaps you have already tried to forgive someone and just couldn't do it. Perhaps you have forgiven and the person did not show remorse or change his or her behaviour or own up to his or her offences – and you find yourself unforgiving all over again. It is perfectly normal to want to hurt back when you have been hurt. But hurting back rarely satisfies. We think it will, but it doesn't. If I slap you after you slap me, it does not lessen the sting I feel on my own face, nor does it diminish my sadness over the fact that you have struck me. Retaliation gives, at best, only momentary respite from our pain. The only way to experience healing and peace is to forgive. Until we can forgive, we remain locked in our pain and locked out of the possibility of experiencing healing and freedom, locked out of the possibility of being at peace.'
'To forgive is not just to be altruistic. It is the best form of self-interest. It is also a process that does not exclude hatred and anger. These emotions are all part of being human. You should never hate yourself for hating others who do terrible things: the depth of your love is shown by the extent of your anger.'
'However, when I talk of forgiveness I mean the belief that you can come out the other side a better person. A better person than the one being consumed by anger and hatred. Remaining in that state locks you in a state of victimhood, making you almost dependent on the perpetrator. If you can find it in yourself to forgive then you are no longer chained to the perpetrator. You can move on, and you can even help the perpetrator to become a better person too.'
'The simple truth is, we all make mistakes, and we all need forgiveness. There is no magic wand we can wave to go back in time and change what has happened or undo the harm that has been done, but we can do everything in our power to set right what has been made wrong. We can endeavour to make sure the harm never happens again.'
'There are times when all of us have been thoughtless, selfish or cruel. But no act is unforgivable; no person is beyond redemption. Yet, it is not easy to admit one's wrongdoing and ask for forgiveness. "I am sorry" are perhaps the three hardest words to say. We can come up with all manner of justifications to excuse what we have done. When we are willing to let down our defences and look honestly at our actions, we find there is a great freedom in asking for forgiveness and great strength in admitting the wrong. It is how we free ourselves from our past errors. It is how we are able to move forward into our future, unfettered by the mistakes we have made.'
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Sweetmouth - Forgiveness.
'In his book, Surprised by Hope, N. T. Wright says, "Forgiveness is a way of life, God's way of life, God's way to life; and if you close your heart to forgiveness, why, then, do you close your heart to forgiveness. . . If you lock up the piano because you don't want to play to somebody else, how can God play to you?
"That is why we pray, 'Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.' That isn't a bargain we make with God. It's a fact of human life. Not to forgive is to shut down a faculty in the innermost person, which happens to be the same faculty that can receive God's forgiveness."'
Wright notes that 'Jesus has already taught his followers to pray for it (6.12), and has specified clearly that if you want forgiveness you've got to be prepared to give it (6.14-15). Now he returns to the theme. Peter's question and Jesus' answer say it all (verses 21-22). If you're still counting how many times you've forgiven someone, you're not really forgiving them at all, but simply postponing revenge. 'Seventy times seven' is a typical bit of Jesus' teasing. What he means, of course, is 'don't even think about counting, just do it'”'
'Forgiveness takes practice, honesty, open-mindedness and a willingness (even if it is a weary willingness) to try. It isn't easy. Perhaps you have already tried to forgive someone and just couldn't do it. Perhaps you have forgiven and the person did not show remorse or change his or her behaviour or own up to his or her offences – and you find yourself unforgiving all over again. It is perfectly normal to want to hurt back when you have been hurt. But hurting back rarely satisfies. We think it will, but it doesn't. If I slap you after you slap me, it does not lessen the sting I feel on my own face, nor does it diminish my sadness over the fact that you have struck me. Retaliation gives, at best, only momentary respite from our pain. The only way to experience healing and peace is to forgive. Until we can forgive, we remain locked in our pain and locked out of the possibility of experiencing healing and freedom, locked out of the possibility of being at peace.'
'To forgive is not just to be altruistic. It is the best form of self-interest. It is also a process that does not exclude hatred and anger. These emotions are all part of being human. You should never hate yourself for hating others who do terrible things: the depth of your love is shown by the extent of your anger.'
'However, when I talk of forgiveness I mean the belief that you can come out the other side a better person. A better person than the one being consumed by anger and hatred. Remaining in that state locks you in a state of victimhood, making you almost dependent on the perpetrator. If you can find it in yourself to forgive then you are no longer chained to the perpetrator. You can move on, and you can even help the perpetrator to become a better person too.'
'The simple truth is, we all make mistakes, and we all need forgiveness. There is no magic wand we can wave to go back in time and change what has happened or undo the harm that has been done, but we can do everything in our power to set right what has been made wrong. We can endeavour to make sure the harm never happens again.'
'There are times when all of us have been thoughtless, selfish or cruel. But no act is unforgivable; no person is beyond redemption. Yet, it is not easy to admit one's wrongdoing and ask for forgiveness. "I am sorry" are perhaps the three hardest words to say. We can come up with all manner of justifications to excuse what we have done. When we are willing to let down our defences and look honestly at our actions, we find there is a great freedom in asking for forgiveness and great strength in admitting the wrong. It is how we free ourselves from our past errors. It is how we are able to move forward into our future, unfettered by the mistakes we have made.'
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sweetmouth - Forgiveness.
Monday, 14 September 2020
Celebrating 90 years: Society of Catholic Artists
The Society of Catholic Artists is 90 years old and is celebrating with an excellent and substantive online exhibition. As the SCA and commission4mission had members in common and supported each others' initiatives, this exhibition includes work by a number of former members of commission4mission.
The SOCIETY OF CATHOLIC ARTISTS is for those engaged as professional or amateurs in the various disciplines of the Visual Arts, and for all those who recognize the value of the artist as an evangelist assisting in the pastoral work of the church.
Their membership includes painters, stone, wood and metal sculptors, architects, stained glass artists, potters and iconographers.
The SCA was founded in 1929 as part of the centenary celebrations for Catholic emancipation in Britain and was originally known as the Guild of Catholic Artists and Craftsmen.
Membership is open not only to practising Catholic artists but also to all Catholics interested in the visual arts and to those who support the aims of the society.
They have always aimed at raising the standard of religious art and encouraging Christian fellowship amongst artists as well as being available to advise prospective patrons and to recommend suitable artists for commissions. Members have been responsible for major artistic work for cathedrals and churches throughout Britain.
A varied programme of meetings and outings is arranged each year together with exhibitions and workshops. In addition, members receive the society’s magazine, the ‘Bulletin’, to which they are encouraged to contribute.
The SOCIETY OF CATHOLIC ARTISTS is for those engaged as professional or amateurs in the various disciplines of the Visual Arts, and for all those who recognize the value of the artist as an evangelist assisting in the pastoral work of the church.
Their membership includes painters, stone, wood and metal sculptors, architects, stained glass artists, potters and iconographers.
The SCA was founded in 1929 as part of the centenary celebrations for Catholic emancipation in Britain and was originally known as the Guild of Catholic Artists and Craftsmen.
Membership is open not only to practising Catholic artists but also to all Catholics interested in the visual arts and to those who support the aims of the society.
They have always aimed at raising the standard of religious art and encouraging Christian fellowship amongst artists as well as being available to advise prospective patrons and to recommend suitable artists for commissions. Members have been responsible for major artistic work for cathedrals and churches throughout Britain.
A varied programme of meetings and outings is arranged each year together with exhibitions and workshops. In addition, members receive the society’s magazine, the ‘Bulletin’, to which they are encouraged to contribute.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
M Ward - For Beginners.
Windows on the world (295)
Colchester, 2020
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Enation - Revolution Of The Heart.
Friday, 11 September 2020
Artlyst: Of Church And The Visual Arts
My latest article for Artlyst is about artists for whom faith is front and centre in both their work and who they are as people, with this self-identification featuring prominently in exhibition promotion:
'One result of the somewhat fractious relationship between art and faith in the modern period has been the reality that artists have often not felt able to self-identify as believers and art which has a religious purpose or function has often not been exhibited. There have been exceptions, of course, including artists such as Maurice Denis, Georges Rouault and Alfred Manessier, as well as exhibitions like Perceptions of the Spirit in 20th Century American Art (1977) or Expressions of the Spirit in Contemporary Art (1982). The most overt owning of religious inspiration and practices has been among self-taught or outsider artists. This has also been where visual arts have come closest to artists with an evangelical faith for which proselytisation is a significant part of the faith framework.
The always-changing relationship between art and faith seems to be shifting again at present. I have written before about shifts in curatorial positions and the extent to which exhibitions exploring aspects of faith or tackling spiritual themes now seem to be the new normal, rather than the past exception. Exhibitions this year have also featured artists for whom faith is front and centre in both their work and who they are as people. This self-identification has featured in exhibition promotion and has not inhibited the awarding of one significant prize.'
My other Artlyst pieces are:
Interviews:
The Voices Of East Harlem - Simple Song Of Freedom.
'One result of the somewhat fractious relationship between art and faith in the modern period has been the reality that artists have often not felt able to self-identify as believers and art which has a religious purpose or function has often not been exhibited. There have been exceptions, of course, including artists such as Maurice Denis, Georges Rouault and Alfred Manessier, as well as exhibitions like Perceptions of the Spirit in 20th Century American Art (1977) or Expressions of the Spirit in Contemporary Art (1982). The most overt owning of religious inspiration and practices has been among self-taught or outsider artists. This has also been where visual arts have come closest to artists with an evangelical faith for which proselytisation is a significant part of the faith framework.
The always-changing relationship between art and faith seems to be shifting again at present. I have written before about shifts in curatorial positions and the extent to which exhibitions exploring aspects of faith or tackling spiritual themes now seem to be the new normal, rather than the past exception. Exhibitions this year have also featured artists for whom faith is front and centre in both their work and who they are as people. This self-identification has featured in exhibition promotion and has not inhibited the awarding of one significant prize.'
My other Artlyst pieces are:
Interviews:
- Elizabeth Kwant Interview With Revd Jonathan Evens
- Helaine Blumenfeld: Undulating Structures
- National Gallery Explores ‘Sin’ In New Exhibition – Interview Dr Joost Joustra Curator
- Betty Spackman: Posthumanism Debates
- Christopher Clack: Connecting The Material And Immaterial
- Peter Howson Artlyst Interview
- Marleen Hengelaar-Rookmaaker On The Legacy Of ArtWay
- Alastair Gordon A Testament To His Faith
- Katrina Moss Chaiya Art Awards Interview: Where is God in our 21st century world?
- Apocalypse Now: Michael Takeo Magruder Interviewed
- Jonathan Anderson: Religious Inspirations Behind Modernism
- Caravan – An Interview With Rev Paul Gordon Chandler On Arts Peacebuilding
- Art Awakening Humanity Alexander de Cadenet Interviewed
- Michael Pendry New Installation Lights Up St Martin In The Fields
- Mark Dean Projects Stations of the Cross Videos On Henry Moore Altar
- Has The Word Master Reached Its Sell-By Date?
- The People Behind Community Is Kindness Billboard Campaign
- André Daughtry: Art, Rebellion And Racial Justice
- Salisbury Cathedral 800 Years Of Art And Spirit
- Home Alone Together Twenty Five Artists
- Botanical Mind Online: Art, Mysticism and the Cosmic Tree
- Salvador Dalí The Enigma of Faith
- Art And Faith A Time For Seeing
- Andy Warhol: Catholicism His Work, Faith And Legacy
- Kiki Smith: Embodied Art
- Art and Christianity Awards A Positive New Millennium Legacy
- Arnulf Rainer: 90th Birthday Exhibition Celebrated At Albertina Museum
- A Belonging Project And Exiles Loss and Displacement
- Robert Polidori: Fra Angelico Opus Operantis
- Art, Faith, Church Patronage and Modernity
- Contemplating the Spiritual in Contemporary Art
- Mat Collishaw Challenges Faith Perspectives With Ushaw Installation
- Waterloo Festival Launches At St. John’s Waterloo
- John Bellany Alan Davie Spiritual Joy and Magic
- RIFT Unites 17 Art and Science MA Graduates At Central St Martins
- Visionary Cities: Michael Takeo Magruder – British Library
- Van Gogh’s Religious Journey Around London
- William Congdon Holy Sites And The Kettle’s Yard Connection
- Mark Dean Premieres Pastiche Mass At Banqueting Hall Chelsea College of Arts
- John Kirby: The Torment
- Underlying The Civilised Facade
- Curating Spiritual Sensibilities In Changing Times
- Homeless Highlighted: New Beau Exhibition At St Martin-in-the-Fields
- Ken Currie: Protest Defeat And Victory
- Bosco Sodi: A Moment Of Genesis
- Bill Viola And The Art Of Contemplation
- Art In Churches 2018: Spiritual Combinations Explored
- Sister Wendy Beckett – A Reminiscence
- Guido Guidi: Per Strada Flowers Gallery London
- Peter Howson: The play is over – Flowers Gallery
- Camille Henrot: Scientific History And Creation Story Mash Up
- Nicola Green Explores Recent And Contemporary Religious Leaders – St Martin-in-the-Fields
- Art And The Consequences Of War Explored In Two Exhibitions
- Helaine Blumenfeld Translating Her Vision
- Sam Ivin: Physically Scratched Portraits Of Asylum Seekers Exhibited
- Sacred Noise: Explores Religion, Faith And Divinity
- Bill Viola: Quiet Contemplative Video Installation St Cuthbert’s Church Edinburgh
- The ground-breaking work of Sister Corita Kent
- Picasso To Souza: The Crucifixion Imagery Rarely Exhibited
- Michael Takeo Magruder: De / coding the Apocalypse – Panacea Museum
- Giorgio Griffa: The Golden Ratio And Inexplicable Knowledge
- Arabella Dorman Unveils New Installation At St James Church Piccadilly
- Can Art Transform Society?
- Art Awakening Humanity Conference Report
- Central St Martins in the Fields Design Then And Now
- The Sacramental And Liturgical Nature Of Conceptual Art
- Polish Art In Britain Centenary Marked At London’s Ben Uri Gallery
- Refugee Artists Learning from The Lives Of Others
- The Religious Impulses Of Robert Rauschenberg
- The Christian Science Connection Within The British Modern Art Movement
- Artists Rebranding The Christmas Tree Tradition
- Art Impacted - A Radical Response To Radicalisation
- The Art of St Martin-in-the-Fields
- Was Caravaggio A Good Christian?
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