Between: April 2023

Sunday, 30 April 2023

Artlyst: Sean Scully - A Humility Towards Nature

My latest interview for Artlyst is with Sean Scully and includes mention of his current exhibition at Houghton Hall:

'Becoming more deeply connected to nature has only enhanced the sense of humility that is to be found in the title of his Houghton Hall exhibition – ‘Smaller Than The Sky’ – as “nature makes you humble and happy because you’re part of something bigger.” The key to a more paradisal relationship with nature is to remove the transactional or profit-based element, whether financial or salvific. The key, as with his friendship with Kelly Grovier and the writings of Donald Kuspit, is that we don’t act or create in order to get something back.'

See here for my article on Sean Scully's 'The 12 / Dark Windows'.

My other pieces for Artlyst are:

Interviews -

Monthly diary articles -

Articles/Reviews -

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To Kill A King - World Of Joy (A List Of Things To Do).

Sharing experience of life with epilepsy

Very proud of our daughter Emma for sharing her story with Epilepsy Action and Essex Echo. Read Emma's story by clicking here.

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Joy Oladokun - Trying.

Travelling Well Together

Here's my sermon from this morning's joint service at St Mary's Runwell:

There's a very old joke about a child in Sunday School. A Sunday-school teacher asks the class of young children, "What is little and gray, eats nuts, and has a big bushy tail?" After a moment one child replies, "I know the answer's probably supposed to be Jesus, but it sure sounds like a squirrel to me."

Talking recently with our youth discussion group about the Bible, we were saying essentially that, that Jesus is both the way in to the Bible and what the Bible is all about. It's all about Jesus, as the Sunday school child had grasped.

That's what we get here in these parables from Jesus (John 10. 1-10). Jesus is both the gate to the sheep fold and the shepherd who brings the sheep in and out. It's all about Jesus, whether it's about beginning the Christian life as we join the flock and enter the fold or living the Christian life, as we go in and out of the sheep fold with Jesus in order to find pasture.

These parables give us picture of a part of the Christian life; that part that is about being together as a flock, receiving sustenance during the day when we are away from the fold and protection during the night when we are in the fold.

It's all about Jesus because he is the one who leads us to sustenance and who protects us with his body from evil. It's all about Jesus because Jesus is the image of the invisible God, the way we can come to see what God is actually like and feed on him by becoming like him, as well as the one who, by laying down his own life, enables us to find forgiveness and freedom from sin.

The point, in these parables, is that we travel well together; that we remain together and that we travel in and out of the sheep fold together.

Bishop Guli, the Bishop of Chelmsford, spent time at the beginning of her ministry in the Diocese travelling around the Diocese listening to people in it. As a result of her listening exercise, we have a document called Travelling Well Together, a document that is being given out today and also on Sunday 21st May, the day of our APCM, as it, as its title indicates, suggests ways or values for travelling well together as churches, parishes, a diocese, and as the pilgrim people of God.

The values are: Awareness of grace – as God always provides the resources required for the mission of the church to continue; Valuing the small, the vulnerable and the marginal - our calling is not to strain after worldly success, influence and power but to be a faithful and gentle presence and trust that God will use our efforts in ways we may never fully understand; Focusing outward - always called to look to the needs of those beyond the Church; Sustaining healthy rhythms - invited to live life in all its fulness; Kindness, mutual respect, gentleness and humility - virtues which are often underestimated and undervalued; Generously collaborative – a willingness to work well with others in a spirit of open honesty and transparency; Faithful, creative, courageous and open to the unexpected and surprising – faithful to the traditions we have received, whilst at the same time being open to the guidance of the Holy Spirit who continues to lead us into all truth. These are values that are all about Jesus, as he provides the template as well as the means for coming together, staying together and travelling well together.

We need to be focused on Jesus and on shared values at this time as we approach the APCM and the point that I have been with you for a year. We can look back on a year of development, a year in which seeds have been sown, some of which have already sprouted.

Our connections to the communities of Wickford and Runwell have grown, our profile in the wider community has developed, new initiatives like Unveiled, Quiet Days and the Parent and Toddler Group have helped in bringing that about. Some new people have joined, our youth discussion group has begun and we are preparing to run enquirers courses and wellbeing groups.

So, there are encouragements, but we are also at a critical time, a time when, rather than staying together and travelling well together, we could begin to pull apart and allow our differences as people and churches to pull us apart. The reality is that there are differences as well as commonalities in the way that we are as churches in our team and if we focus on the differences - one does this, while the other does that, or one has this, while the other has that - then we will pull in different directions and will pull ourselves apart.

The answer to it is to look to Jesus, rather than at ourselves. In Jesus, we see how God is one, although three; how the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are each different persons with different roles, yet are constantly communicating with one another, constantly sharing love, and therefore constantly communicating and sharing love with us too.

The values that are shared in Travelling Well Together are the values of Jesus, which are the values of the Trinity, of God. They are what we need in order to be together as a flock, to travel in and out of the sheep fold together to find sustenance and to be protected.

To be in that place and to travel in that way is to look at Jesus, rather than ourselves, to follow in the footsteps of Jesus, rather than going our own way, and to feed on Jesus, rather than finding our own sustenance. It's all about Jesus, as the Sunday School child had come to realise. If we want to travel well together as a team and a parish, then we need to do the same, and reading and absorbing the values in this document will help us do that together. Amen.

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Cat Stevens - Peace Train.

Saturday, 29 April 2023

Windows on the world (423)

London, 2023

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Semler - Jesus From Texas.

International Times: The Mudcubs and the Wall

International Times, the Magazine of Resistance, have just published my short story entitled 'The mudcubs and the Wall'.

This story is the third of three about Nicola Ravenscroft's mudcub sculptures, which we exhibited at St Andrew's Wickford last Autumn. The first story in the series is 'The Mudcubs and the O Zone holes.' The second is 'The Mudcubs and the Clean-Up King'.

I have been writing a range of pieces (stories, poems and reflections) in response to Nicola's works. Click here for a poem published by Stride Magazine that was inspired by Nicola's series of 'in the language of angels' images, here for my Artlyst interview with Nicola, and here for an ArtWay Visual Meditation on her work.

My other short stories to have been published by International Times are 'The Black Rain', a story about the impact of violence in our media, The New Dark Ages, a story about principles and understandings that are gradually fading away from our modern societies, and The curious glasses, a story based on the butterfly effect.

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Joy Oladokun - Keeping The Light's On.

Friday, 28 April 2023

Art review: Eleven Twenty Three in St Bartholomew the Great

My latest review for C hurch T imes is on Eleven Twenty Three at St Bartholomew the Great, West Smithfield:

'This exhibition demonstrates the value of welcoming and supporting artists within congregations. Artist and curator Elena Unger has been confirmed at St Bartholomew the Great, is a member of the PCC, and, when she requested permission to paint regularly within the building, was afforded that opportunity. As a result of that decision, she has become artist-in-residence and the curator of two exhibitions in the space, the current exhibition being in collaboration with fellow artist Heidi Pearce.

Unger’s deep knowledge and understanding of the building, and the ministry that is facilitated in and through it, is combined here with Pearce’s commitment to encounters with the uncanny as a positive experience within spaces and shows. The result is an exhibition that is perfectly attuned to the space - not simply in terms of its materiality but also its purpose - whether the works shown harmonise with the space or pose questions of it.'

St Bartholomew the Great is on ‘The Art of Faith’ self-guided walk tour guide - https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/assets/Things-to-do/art-of-faith-walk.pdf. For more information see here - https://joninbetween.blogspot.com/2017/05/art-of-faith-city-walk.html.

Other of my pieces for Church Times can be found here. My writing for ArtWay can be found here. My pieces for Artlyst are here and those for Art+Christianity are here.

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To Kill A King - Spiritual Dark Age.

Wednesday, 26 April 2023

The healthy eating option for life

Here's the reflection I shared during this morning's Eucharist at St Andrew’s Wickford:

This morning I’d like you to imagine going home to a choice of two different meals. The first is a hamburger from a fast food outlet and the second some sandwiches made from freshly baked bread. Given the choice, which would you choose?

What we choose to eat has consequences for us. Bread, for example, forms a major part of the 'Balance of Good Health' healthy eating model for the UK. Bread, other cereals and potatoes should make-up approximately 33% of our diet and that’s because flour and bread provide us with more energy value, more protein, more iron, more nicotinic acid and more vitamin B1 than any other basic food.

On the other hand, the hamburger probably contains about 25% fat by weight, as the higher the fat content the juicier the burger. A standard frozen hamburger typically contains about 7.3g of fat and about 118 calories. When we combine foods with high fat and sugar content with very little exercise then, as a nation, we start to put on weight and that is why it is estimated that, in the UK, one in five men and a quarter of women are overweight, and that as many as 30,000 people die prematurely every year from obesity-related conditions. What we choose to eat has consequences for us.

Jesus says the same thing in our Gospel reading today (John 6: 30 - 40). He says that if we want to live and live well. In fact, if we want to live forever then we need to eat the ‘Bread of Life’. In other words, we need to choose the healthy eating option in our lives rather than the fast food option.

What is the healthy eating option in life? What is the ‘Bread of Life’? It is Jesus himself. “I am the bread of life,” he says, “he who comes to me will never be hungry.” “Whoever eats this bread,” Jesus says, “will live for ever.” This is where Jesus’ picture language can seem to get confusing because Jesus is a person and how can you eat a person? But this is why when Jesus uses picture language we must understand what he means by those pictures and not take what he says literally. Some of the people who opposed the Early Church did take sayings like this literally and accused Christians of being cannibals! But that is not what Jesus means at all.

How do we feed on Jesus? Here are three ways. First, in verse 47 Jesus tells us to believe in him. Believing means to put all our trust in Jesus and in what he has done and said. Just like bread is a staple food by believing in Jesus we make him the staple part of our lives.

Second, when Jesus was tempted by the devil to turn stones into bread he said we do not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from God’s mouth and here in verse 45 Jesus talks about being taught by God. God’s words are recorded in the Bible as are all that Jesus said and did. We feed on him by reading all we can about Jesus and then by putting it into practice in our lives.

Third, in verse 56 Jesus talks about Communion when he says, “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me, and I live in him.” Communion reminds us of all that Jesus has done for us in dying and rising again and as we eat the bread and drink the wine we are taking Jesus and all that his death and resurrection mean into ourselves.

When we feed on Jesus in these ways we are making the healthy choice for life, the choice that leads to life forever. In our lives when faced with the choice between the healthy eating option and the fast food option we don’t always choose what is best for us and we then suffer the consequences later in life.

What choice will you make for your life today? Will you choose to feed on Jesus, the ‘Bread of Life’ or will you reject Jesus and choose the ‘Fast Foods of Life? The choice is ours but the Bible clearly sets out for us what is the best choice for our lives.

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Guide Me, O Thou Great Redeemer.

Tuesday, 25 April 2023

Concert, exhibition & artist talk

The summer term exhibition and Unveiled programme at St Andrew's Wickford begins this week.

From Easter to the summer, there is a feast of The Arts coming to Wickford and Runwell, beginning with the summer programme for 'Unveiled' at St Andrew's Wickford and continuing with the 'One Beautiful World' Arts Festival, which has churches in Wickford and Runwell as its venues. Art, collections, dance, music, photography, poetry. Art trails, concerts, exhibitions, performance, readings, talks. Full details can be found at https://joninbetween.blogspot.com/2023/04/feast-of-arts-in-wickford-and-runwell.html and https://onebeautifulworldfestival.blogspot.com/.

This feast of arts events begins with:

One Beautiful World: An exhibition of space art by Jackie E. Burns
26 April – 23 July 2023
St Andrew’s Church , 11 London Road, Wickford SS12 0AN

Jackie E. Burns is a Fellow of the International Association of Astronomical Artists and seeks to foster the inquisitive joy of art and astronomy while inspiring people to the awe and beauty of space and astronomy.

Hear Jackie speak about her work at ‘Unveiled’ – the arts & performance evenings in St Andrew’s Wickford - Friday 28 April, 7.00 pm.

During the One Beautiful World Arts Festival this exhibition will be on show from 16-26 May.

and

FRIDAY, APRIL 28, 2023 AT 2 PM – 4 PM
One Voice Choir Community Performance
St Andrew's Church (11 London Road, Wickford SS12 0AN)

One Voice Choir community performance presented by The Grange Care Home. Please come along for an afternoon of songs performed by residents of The Grange care home. Free entry. All welcome. Cream Tea at the end of the performance.

This term's Unveiled programme begins on 28 April with Jackie Burns speaking about her space art. We continue with a talk on collecting by artist and curator George Morl (12 May), a concert by Simon Law (26 May), a talk on the Plotlands by Ken Porter (9 June), a talk on the Memorial Park by Kim Oakes (23 June), a talk on art in worship by Jonathan Evens (7 July), and an Open Mic Night on 27 July.

The One Beautiful World Arts Festival includes the following: Art Trail - 20 May; Concerts - Six Hands Together (12 May), Emma-Marie Kabanova (14 May), Yardarm Folk Orchestra (19 May), Festival Music Event (21 May), Simon Law (26 May); Dance - Steven Turner (13 May); Exhibitions - Tim Harrold (12-26 May), George Morl collection (12-14 May), Jackie Burns (16-26 May), Compass Photography (19-20 May), Wickford Christian Centre (25 & 26 May); and a Poetry Reading (20 May).

We also have the Allegro Choir in concert on the evening of Saturday 24 June (this will be a ticketed event - more information to follow) plus two Quiet Days on 31 May (Creation) and 1 July (poetry and prayer).

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David Bowie - Space Oddity.

Monday, 24 April 2023

The Blind Jesus (No-one belongs here more than you) exhibition

The Blind Jesus (No-one belongs here more than you) art exhibition which has been at St Andrew's Wickford will next be shown at St Paul's Church, New Southgate, from Friday 28 April to Thursday 4 May.

The Blind Jesus (No-one belongs here more than you) is an image in charcoal of the Last Supper by Revd Alan Stewart, which includes the central character of a visually impaired Jesus, surrounded by twelve people of differing ages, backgrounds and abilities. At the table, an empty chair invites the viewer to find themselves at the table.

The Blind Jesus (No-one belongs here more than you) has been commissioned by Celia Webster, Co-Founder of Wave (We’re All Valued Equally), as part of a project in which it seeds other images of the Last Supper that are truly for everyone. Schools, churches and community groups are being invited as part of this project to create their own images of welcome and belonging.

The exhibition includes additional images of welcome and belonging created by: WAVE (We are All Valued Equally); St Mary's Catholic Primary School in Muswell Hill; St Paul's CE Primary School in Barnet and Wickford Church of England School. The exhibition at St Paul's sees an additional piece - 'Me, Myself and I - God's Children' - by St Paul's Primary School N11 join the exhibition.

Photographs of the WAVE Church Last Supper were taken by Maria de Fatima Campos.

Pupils in year 1 and 2 at St Paul’s CofE School in Friern Barnet created their work with their amazing art teacher, Dimple Sthalekar. The work shows how we begin as roots and then grow. The leaves of the tree are multi-coloured and moveable to show how we can move into different spaces and communities. St Paul's is a hugely welcoming and inclusive school that welcomes children from all backgrounds and faiths and uses the medium of art to convey this.

St Mary's Catholic Primary School focused their piece on the empty chair included in Alan Stewart’s drawing. Pupils in Years 4 and 5 created ‘Take a Seat,’ a piece which uses the technique of mono-printing to create lots of empty chairs as an invitation for everyone to sit down and join the table. They began the project by talking about the empty chair and what it could mean. They also compared and contrasted it with the commissioned drawing to talk about difference and what forms that can take. Through the process, the children decided that the peace dove would make a good representation of god. The words around the dove invite us to take a seat, to unite us in love and community.

Alice Lucas, art teacher at Wickford Church of England School, helped everyone there make a special picture based on a rainbow and including images of pupils and staff to show that they all belong at the school.

The exhibition can be seen at St Paul's on Friday 28th, Saturday 29th, Sunday 30th April, and Thursday 4th May (see flyer above for times).

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Glen Hansard - Grace Beneath The Pines.

Sunday, 23 April 2023

An inspiration to many who have faced impossible odds

Here's the reflection that I shared at St Catherine's Wickford this evening:

St George was probably a soldier living in Palestine at the beginning of the fourth century. He was martyred at Lydda in about the year 304, the beginning of the Diocletian persecution, and became known throughout the East as 'The Great Martyr'. There were churches in England dedicated to St George before the Norman conquest. The story of his slaying the dragon is probably due to his being mistaken in iconography for St Michael, himself usually depicted wearing armour; or it may again be a mistaken identity representing Perseus's slaying of the sea monster, a myth also associated with the area of Lydda. George replaced Edward the Confessor as Patron Saint of England following the Crusades, when returning soldiers brought back with them a renewed cult of St George. Edward III made St George patron of the Order of the Garter, which seems finally to have confirmed his position.

In Hebrews 11 we are given a roll-call of heroes of the faith. It starts as we would expect: “They shut the mouths of lions, put out fierce fires, escaped being killed by the sword. They were weak, but became strong; they were mighty in battle and defeated the armies of foreigners. Through faith women received their dead relatives raised back to life.” But then it changes tack: “Others, refusing to accept freedom, died under torture in order to be raised to a better life. Some were mocked and whipped, and others were put in chains and taken off to prison. They were stoned, they were sawed in two, they were killed by the sword. They went around clothed in skins of sheep or goats—poor, persecuted, and mistreated. The world was not good enough for them! They wandered like refugees in the deserts and hills, living in caves and holes in the ground.”

“What a record all of these have won by their faith!” the writer of this letter ends by saying and what an encouragement to us when we don’t always see St George defeating the dragon. Martin Luther King Jr concluded his last sermon, delivered at the Bishop Charles Mason Temple in Memphis, Tennessee on the eve of his assassination, by saying: "I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people will get to the promised land. And I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord." That is the attitude and trust that we need when facing dragons.

Just like Martin Luther King saying those words on the eve of his assassination, so the writer to the Hebrews says, “They did not receive the things God had promised, but from a long way off they saw them and welcomed them.” Howard Zinn, who was involved in the Civil Rights Movement, wrote this: “Social movements may have many 'defeats' — failing to achieve objectives in the short run — but in the course of the struggle the strength of the old order begins to erode, the minds of people begin to change; the protesters are momentarily defeated but not crushed, and have been lifted, heartened, by their ability to fight back."

The stories of the saints, like that of St George, aren’t there to give us a fool-proof cast-iron methodology for overcoming dragons but they can give us the inspiration and encouragement to take to the field and play our part. The saints have been an inspiration to many who have faced impossible odds in personal lives, communities, and globally. So, we pray: God of hosts, who so kindled the flame of love in the heart of your servant George that he bore witness to the risen Lord by his life and by his death: give us the same faith and power of love that we who rejoice in his triumphs may come to share with him the fullness of the resurrection. Amen.

For more on Hebrews 11, see my VCS exhibition 'A Question of Faith'.

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C.O.B. - Sheba's Return/Lion Of Judah.

Windows on the world (422)

Southend-on-Sea, 2023

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Victoria Williams - My Ally.

An intentional desire to welcome others

Here's the sermon I shared at St Catherine's Wickford this morning:

I wonder if you attended the Olympic or Paralympic Games in 2012 and were greeted by the cheerful faces of the 70,000 red and purple-clad Games Makers and further 8,000 London Ambassadors who were a key feature of those Games. The majority of Games Makers gave up at least 10 days to volunteer and took on a wide range of activities including welcoming visitors, transporting athletes and working behind the scenes.

As a Church, we can learn from the wonderful welcome given out by the Games Makers. As Archbishop Stephen Cottrell wrote in his book ‘From the abundance of the heart’: "There is a fantasy about evangelism: people hear the gospel, repent, and look around for a church to join. Then there is the reality: people come into contact with the church, or have some inkling of the possibility of God, and enter into a relationship with the church, either through its activities, its worship, or just friendship with its members. In the loving community of these relationships, faith begins to grow. Or to put it more succinctly: belonging comes before believing. Therefore, right at the heart of any effective evangelistic ministry must be a warm and generous attitude to those who are currently outside the church community and a place of welcome and nurture within it."

Archbishop Stephen has also said that in recent years we have re-discovered that for most people becoming a Christian is like a journey. This changes the way we approach evangelism. For the most part it will mean accompanying people on that journey and this is why the story of Jesus on the Emmaus Road (Luke 24. 13 - 49) is instructive for us in thinking about evangelism.

When Jesus encounters the two disciples on the Emmaus Road on the evening of the first Easter Day, he meets them where they are but Luke tells us that "their eyes were kept from recognising him" (Luke 24. 16). He joins their conversation and walks with them while they are going in the wrong direction. He listens to them before he speaks. His first question is one of open vulnerability to their agenda: "What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?"(Luke 24.17). In response to their questions and accounts of what has happened he then breaks open the scriptures, explaining to them "the things about himself "(Luke 14. 27). Arriving at Emmaus he "walks ahead as if he is going on" (Luke 24. 28). But they invite him in, and as he breaks the bread their eyes are opened. They then rush back to Jerusalem. They can’t wait to share with others the good news they have received.

Luke’s account provides us with a rich and challenging story about evangelism which is hugely relevant for the situation we face today because: "our own culture here in Essex … is not so dis-similar to the ones the first apostles encountered outside the comfort zone of the Jewish faith: a smorgasbord of beliefs, a general interest in things spiritual, a lack of confidence in the meta-narratives that had previously been trusted so much. In this sort of world becoming a Christian will be like a journey, and much of our work will be helping people to make the journey; and much of that will be removing obstacles from the path."

God longs for reconciliation with the whole of the creation and with every person on earth; he is therefore an evangelist. His great love for the world and his purposes for the world have been revealed in Jesus Christ, and through his death and resurrection Jesus has already done everything that is necessary for us to enjoy eternal life with God. The ministry of evangelism is our sharing with others the good news of what God has already done in Christ and the transformation it can bring to the world and to our lives here on earth and in eternity. It can involve specific ministries (such as a place of nurture where people can find out about Christian faith), but is also shaped enormously by our witness as individual Christians as we walk with others in their individual daily lives.

"Becoming a Christian is not just learning about the Christian faith: it is about becoming a member of the Christian community, and it is about relationship with a God who is himself a community of persons. Therefore, right at the beginning of the journey, people need to experience what it means to be part of a pilgrim church. Before people can become pilgrims themselves, they need to feel happy to travel with us and be open to experiencing life from a Christian perspective."

"Nurturing a generous attitude of welcome to newcomers is something that needs to be worked at over many years … Welcome is not just what we do when someone comes through the door. It is an attitude which seeks to get inside the shoes of the other person so that they can be welcomed and accompanied at every point of their journey."

Archbishop Stephen likes "to use the term ‘Travellers’ to refer to people who are beginning to explore the Christian faith, because it describes those who are on the way. They may not yet be coming to church, but they are committed to taking the next step. For many people the best next step is a course of enquiry where they can enter into dialogue with the Christian faith in the company of other Christian people."

In May we are going to begin a new Enquirer’s course called Being With. Being With is about sharing stories about our lives and hearing the stories of others. These stories are the small things that mean a lot to us and they can also be the most challenging and life changing moments of our lives. There’s a space for every person’s life in this course. The course is based on the belief that to find the meaning of life we need each other. We need to spend time being present and attentive to others who may be different to us and to ourselves and the world around us. As we do this, we can discover a way to be attentive to God and discover that God is present to us.

So, we are talking here about three specific forms of welcome: the welcome someone receives when they first encounter the Church or an individual Christian; the welcome involved in travelling with someone else on their journey to God and beyond; plus the welcome which can be provided in a enquirer’s course like Being With.

Just like the Olympics and Paralympics, the Church needs welcomers. The traditional role of welcomer to services in the Church of England is that of the sidesperson. We can see from all that we have thought about so far today why that is such an important role. We might not all have a ministry as a sidesperson but we can all get alongside others on their journey towards God in the way Archbishop Stephen has described and as Jesus did with the two disciples on the Emmaus Road. How, I wonder, can you get inside the shoes of those you know so that they can be welcomed and accompanied at every point of their journey towards God?

Finally, could you encourage people to join our Being With course by making people feel comfortable and safe, putting them at ease so they can bring their questions and feel challenged but not pressured. These are all ways in which we can use our time and talents in God’s service and so be a transforming presence in our homes, community, workplaces and world.

Archbishop Stephen suggests we need to have become a church where evangelism is in our DNA and where we have learned ways of doing evangelism that work in the different and varied and fast changing contexts that make up our diocese. All these involve an intentional desire to welcome others and share with them the good things that we have received from Christ. To do that, like Jesus on the Emmaus Road, we need a warm and generous attitude to those who are currently outside the church community and a place of welcome and nurture within it.

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T Bone Burnett, Jay Bellerose, Keefus Ciancia - A Better Day.

Tuesday, 18 April 2023

Feast of The Arts in Wickford and Runwell

From Easter to the summer, we have a feast of The Arts in Wickford and Runwell:

One Beautiful World: An exhibition of space art by Jackie E. Burns
26 April – 23 July 2023
St Andrew’s Church, 11 London Road, Wickford SS12 0AN

Jackie E. Burns is a Fellow of the International Association of Astronomical Artists and seeks to foster the inquisitive joy of art and astronomy while inspiring people to the awe and beauty of space and astronomy.

Hear Jackie speak about her work at ‘Unveiled’ – the arts & performance evenings in St Andrew’s Wickford - Friday 28 April, 7.00 pm.

This exhibition is part of the One Beautiful World Arts Festival from 12 – 26 May 2023. See https://onebeautifulworldfestival.blogspot.com/ for more information.

FRIDAY, APRIL 28, 2023 AT 2 PM – 4 PM
One Voice Choir Community Performance
St Andrew's Church (11 London Road, Wickford SS12 0AN)
One Voice Choir community performance presented by The Grange Care Home. Please come along for an afternoon of songs performed by residents of The Grange care home. Free entry. All welcome. Cream Tea at the end of the performance.

Unveiled: A regular Friday night arts and performance event
at St Andrew’s Church, 7.00 – 9.00 pm
11 London Road, Wickford, Essex SS12 0AN

See below for our Summer programme and http://wickfordandrunwellparish.org.uk/whats-on.html for more information. Exhibitions, open mic nights, performances, talks and more!

Unveiled – a wide range of artist and performers from Essex and wider, including Open Mic nights (come and have a go!).
Unveiled – view our hidden painting by acclaimed artist David Folley, plus a range of other exhibitions.

Summer Programme 2023

28 April – One Beautiful World exhibition launch evening: Meet Jackie E. Burns and hear about her work as a Space Artist. Jackie is a Fellow of the International Association of Astronomical Artists whose members are dedicated to creating images of space - galaxies, stars, planets, moons – combining science and art to expand the human mind and soul.
12 May - Talk: New Town, New Collection: Join British artist and curator George Morl for a talk about their collection as displayed in the exhibition 'New Town, New Collection'. Reflecting on experiences as an artist and through their role as Programme Assistant at Firstsite in Colchester, Morl shares their joy of acquiring art, and motivations for building a collection to share for others.
26 May - Simon Law in concert. Simon has fronted the rock bands Fresh Claim, Sea Stone and Intransit, as well as being a founder of Plankton Records and becoming an Anglican Vicar.
9 June - Talk: Changing Face of Basildon. Ken Porter, author, historian and Chair of Basildon Heritage, will talk about the Plotlands in Essex.
23 June – Talk: A Walk in the Park. Kim Oakes, Chair of Friends of the Wickford Memorial Park gives a visual tour of the Wickford Memorial Park, a little history of the park and the past work and future projects of the Friends of the Wickford Memorial Park Volunteer Group formed in 2019, including the development of the Beauchamps Meadow and nature reserve. The presentation will take the route of the walking tours of the park, covering the whole park.
7 July – Talk: Art in Worship. An illustrated lecture by Jonathan Evens exploring approaches to and understanding of the relationship between art and faith. This lecture highlights different facets to this relationship from the 4th century to the present.
27 July – Open Mic Night organised with John Rogers. Everybody is welcome to come along and play, sing or just spectate. Hope to see you there for a great evening of live music and performance!

These events do not require tickets (just turn up on the night). There will be a retiring collection to cover artist and church costs. See http://wickfordandrunwellparish.org.uk/whats-on.html for fuller information.

One Beautiful World Arts Festival, 12 - 26 May 2023, Various venues in Wickford and Runwell

One Beautiful World is an Arts Festival exploring aspects of our one beautiful world from the creativity of human beings to the beauty of the natural world, while remembering the challenges that human activity poses to the planet. The Festival is a mix of art, dance, music, photography, poetry and spoken word. Churches are providing venues for the Festival events and the Festival has received funding from Essex County Council’s Locality Fund. For more information about the Festival see https://onebeautifulworldfestival.blogspot.com/.

Friday 12 – Friday 26 May, St Catherine’s Church: The Art of the Diorama exhibition by Tim Harrold and Way to the Coronation display by Wickford & Runwell Mothers Union
Tim Harrold is an artist who works with bric à brac, flotsam and jetsam, the discarded or misplaced along the journey of life. He finds lost objects and gives them new meaning through his three-dimensional assemblage style which brings together found and sourced elements into visual parables. The Mothers Union for Wickford and Runwell will show a display on the Way to the Coronation.

Friday 12 – Sunday 14 May, St Andrew’s Church: New Town, New Collection: Tales from George Morl’s private art collection

This exhibition brings together works acquired by artist and curator George Morl. Through founding a collection which reflects on the communal legacies of New Towns, Plotlands, and the possibility of human connections across the virtual world, it visions a future art collection centring support. 'New Town, New Collection' features works by contemporary artists such as Grayson Perry, Michael Landy, Elsa James, Madge Gill, Rosie Hastings & Hannah Quinlan, Uma Breakdown, as well as work by Morl.

Friday 12 May, 2.00 – 4.00 pm, St Andrew’s Church - Six Hands Together
An afternoon tea with entertainment from Six Hands Together at St Andrew’s Church and Centre. A retiring collection will be taken.

Friday 12 May 7.00 pm, St Andrew’s Church - Talk: New Town, New Collection
Join British artist and curator George Morl for a talk about their collection as displayed in the exhibition New Town, New Collection. Reflecting on experiences as an artist and through their role as Programme Assistant at Firstsite in Colchester, Morl shares their joy of acquiring art, and motivations for building a collection to share for others.

Saturday 13 May, 4.00 pm, Miracle House: One Beautiful World performance by Steven Turner (Next Step Creative)
Steven Turner has trained in a variety of dance styles, including contemporary, street, mime and moving with props. He founded Next Step Creative to promote collaboration between dance and other creative arts. Choreographing and teaching for Dance 21 (a dance company for children/young adults with Down’s syndrome), he has taught in Rotterdam and performed in UK and Europe.

Sunday 14 May, 3.00–5.00 pm, St Mary’s Runwell: Awake my soul
A unique event combining performances of new sacred music with discussion. Performed by acclaimed violinist Emma-Marie Kabanova, this interactive event features new psalm-inspired works written by an international collection of Jewish and Christian composers. Curated and produced by Deus Ex Musica.

Tuesday 16 - Friday 26 May, St Andrew’s Church - One Beautiful World Exhibition
An exhibition of Space Art by Jackie E. Burns, Fellow of the International Association of Astronomical Artists, fostering the inquisitive joy of art and astronomy and inspiring people to the awe and beauty of space and astronomy.

Friday 19 and Saturday 20 May, 10.00 am – 4.00 pm, Salvation Army: One Beautiful World photographic exhibition by Compass Photography Group
Photographs by Mike Fogg and Terry Joyce of the Essex based Compass Photography Group. Their approach is: “Beauty can be seen in all things, seeing and composing beauty is what separates a snapshot from a photograph.” Mike will give a free talk on ‘Composition in Photography’ on Saturday at 11.00 am.

Friday 19 May, 7.30 pm, Christ Church: One Beautiful World concert with Yardarm Folk Orchestra
The Yardarm Folk Orchestra plays British and international folk music throughout the region and celebrates Folk from around the world through its lively and spirited appearances appealing to audiences both young and old. They have played at over 650 community, charity and fundraising events including performing the London Palladium and Cliffs Pavilion.

Saturday 20 May: 9.30 am – 4.00 pm, Wickford and Runwell Art Trail
See artworks by Val Anthony, William Butterfield, Enid Chadwick, Antony Corbin, Christine Daniels, David Folley, David Garrard and Julia Glover at St Andrew’s, St Catherine’s and St Mary’s churches, plus the photographic exhibition at the Salvation Army, Jackie Burns’ Space Art at St Andrew’s, Tim Harrold’s assemblages at St Catherine’s and paintings by Pam Jones at St Mary’s. Art talks/tours at St Andrew’s (10.00 am), St Catherine’s (11.30 am), and St Mary’s (2.00 pm).

Saturday 20 and Sunday 21 May, St Mary’s Runwell: One Beautiful World exhibition by Pam Jones
An exhibition of paintings by Pam Jones at St Mary’s Runwell – 9.30 am – 4.00 pm Saturday 20 May and 9.00 – 10.30 am Sunday 21 May.

Saturday 20 May: 4.00 pm, St Catherine’s Church: One Beautiful World poetry reading with Tim Harrold and Jonathan Evens
Tim Harrold is a poet who creates images of profound challenge and change, of pause and process, of chrysalis and catalyst. His most recent publication is ‘Verses versus Viruses’. Jonathan Evens is a creative writer whose poems and stories have been published by Amethyst Review, International Times and Stride Magazine.

Sunday 21 May, 3.00 – 5.00 pm, RCCG Spring of Hope Church at the Nevendon Centre, Nevendon Rd, Wickford SS12 0QG: One Beautiful World music event
A music event featuring local musicians and RCCG Spring of Hope Church choir.

Thursday 25 and Friday 26 May, 11.00 am – 3.00 pm, Wickford Christian Centre: Art exhibition
A selection of art works by various artists within our church community. Feel free to pop by to take a look and enjoy complimentary refreshments during your visit.

Friday 26 May, 7.00 pm, St Andrew’s Church: Simon Law in concert
Singer-songwriter Simon Law has fronted the rock bands Fresh Claim, Sea Stone and Intransit. He is a founder of Plankton Records and an Anglican Vicar.

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Emma-Marie Kabanova - Sonata in A minor BuxWV 272.