Interview Update

My latest interview for Seen & Unseen is entitled 'Art, AI and apocalypse: Michael Takeo Magruder addresses our fears and questions'. I have also had an interview titled 'The soul of a colour' with Richard Kenton Webb published in the Art+Christianity Journal. 

As a result, I am updating this index of interviews. I have carried out a large number of other interviews for Artlyst, ArtWay, Church Times, International Times, Seen and Unseen and Art+Christianity. They provide a wide range of fascinating insights into the approaches and practices of artists, arts professionals, clerics, curators, performers, poets and writers.

They can be found at:

Artlyst

• Michael Petry Discusses In League With Devils with Revd Jonathan Evens
• Sean Scully A Humility Towards Nature
• Winslow Homer: American Passage An Interview With Biographer Bill Cross
• Grayson Perry Tapestries On Show At Salisbury Cathedral
• Sidney Nolan’s Africa: Interview With Andrew Turley
• Ilona Bossanyi: Tate’s Ervin Bossanyi Stained Glass Window Mothballed After 2011 Redevelopment
• Louis Carreon: Sampling Art History
• Modus Operandi - What Makes Successful Public Art: Vivien Lovell Interviewed
• Genesis Tramaine: A Queer Devotional Painter
• Lakwena Maciver: Review-Interview Hastings Contemporary
• Nicola Ravenscroft - Sculpture With A Peaceful Stillness
• Artist Hannah Rose Thomas – Tears of Gold – Interview
• Marcus Lyon: Human Atlas Explorations
• Elizabeth Kwant Interview
• 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

ArtWay

• TEARS OF GOLD: “The invisible light that radiates from the other” – Jonathan Evens interviews Hannah Rose Thomas
• Stations of the Cross in Hornsea: Jonathan Evens Interviews Artist Matthew Askey
• David Miller - "Form welcomes the formless home"
• Sophie Hacker - The Calling Window
• Peter Koenig interview
• Belinda Scarlett interview

Church Times

• Looking Up by Helaine Blumenfeld
• Proverbs of Micah Purnell, poster painter
• The Calling Window, by Sophie Hacker for Romsey Abbey
• Global Images of Christ: Challenging Perceptions at Chester Cathedral
• Betty Spackman: The art and the conversation

International Times

• Polyphony, poetry and publishing. An interview with Chris Emery
• Jago Cooper: Living art and urgent questions

Seen and Unseen

• Art, AI and apocalypse: Michael Takeo Magruder addresses our fears and questions
• Matthew Krishanu: painting childhood
• How to look at our world: Aaron Rosen interview
• The Devil's perspective: Jonathan Evens interviews author Nicholas Papadopulos
• Finding the human amid the wreckage of migration: Shezad Dawood’s multimedia Leviathan exhibition at Salisbury Cathedral
• Charm in tunes on the eastern edge: Musician and priest Rev Simpkins discusses how music is an expression of humanity and his faith

Art+Christianity

• Interview: Richard Kenton Webb by Jonathan Evens
• David Hawkins interviewed by Jonathan Evens

Also see my interviews with artist Henry Shelton here and here and David Hawkins, former Bishop of Barking, here, here and here.

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The Alpha Band - Interviews.

Forget self and carry your cross

Here's the sermon that I shared today at St Mary Magdalene, Great Burstead:

Chapter meetings are the regular meeting for all the clergy and readers in a Deanery. In a previous Deanery we had some sessions where we shared with each other our thoughts and feelings about ministry. At one meeting we shared our motivations for ministry and, at another, we talked about those things that we found threatening in ministry.

Talking about the things we find threatening is itself a slightly threatening thing to do. Think about your life and work for a moment and the things that you find threatening. You might find yourself talking about tensions in relationships, unethical work practices, increasing demands on your time, the possibility of redundancy, mounting debts, nuisance neighbours, racial tensions, or fear of crime, among many other possibilities. Sharing things that we find threatening can open up some very personal things and so we felt vulnerable at that Chapter meeting as we shared together.

But although we felt vulnerable during the meeting, as we shared things that were personal to us, we did not go away from the meeting continuing to feel vulnerable. Instead, as each person shared, we felt a closer identification with each other and were able to support each other by praying together before we left. In that meeting our willingness to be vulnerable moved us to a place of greater understanding and support for each other.

As we go about our daily lives there are many situations in which we can make us ourselves vulnerable. Each time we come to church we publicly confess our sins. If we genuinely do this and genuinely understand the significance of what we are saying and doing together, then we are all publicly acknowledging specific failures in our lives, relationships and witness during the past week. That is, or should be, a place of vulnerability. As we care for others, we experience vulnerability. In a serious illness, we can see a person that we love decline mentally and physically sometimes with little that we can do to prevent that. We are torn up inside but need to stay in that place of vulnerability in order to support that person in their illness. When we witness crime, do we call the Police or intervene? Doing either may also make us vulnerable. In our world, we are faced with significant issues of disadvantage and oppression. If we take a stand on these issues then, again, we can make ourselves vulnerable.

In our Gospel reading (Mark 8: 27 – end) Jesus said that those who follow him must forget self and carry their cross. Those who want to follow him have to lose their lives, he says. This is the ultimate vulnerability and it is what Jesus modelled for us by going to the cross with all the rejection and suffering that that particularly horrific form of death involved. But Jesus is quite clear and specific in what he says. That is what he had to do, anyone who tried to prevent that from happening was doing the Devil’s work (even if that person was Peter, the leader of Jesus’ disciples and the person who had just realised who Jesus actually was), and we are to follow in his footsteps. This is a call into vulnerability coming from a God who deliberately makes himself so weak that human beings can take him and kill him.

It is an incredible statement that contradicts our gut human instinct about the right way to live life. Scientists tell us that life is about the survival of the fittest and what follows from that is that living selfishly by protecting ourselves and our interests is the way to survive in life. That is our gut instinct as human beings about life. We see it in many words and phrases that are in common usage. We’ve all heard people talk about looking after No. 1 or how you’ve got to look out for yourself because if you don’t know one else will. Much of the way we organise society is about reducing our sense of vulnerability through extra security or by minimising pain. Faced with a crime situation many people will simply pass by rather than help and we often try to lead a quiet life rather than take a stand on issues in our community and world.

Jesus says that when we live like that, trying to save our own lives, that actually we lose them. When we live life by thinking of ourselves, protecting ourselves, building barriers between ourselves and others, then we have missed the whole point of life and cannot live a life of real engagement with God, other people and the world in which we live. In other words, when we live selfishly, we are dead to the world and all that is in it.

The alternative that Jesus maps out for us here is scary but it is the way, he says, to real life. “Whoever wants to save his own life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.”

Why is it that vulnerability will lead us into real life? The Chapter meetings I mentioned give us a clue. As we make ourselves vulnerable to others, we find what we share in common (we can’t find that out if we’re only thinking of ourselves) and we find ways in which we can help or support each other and ways in which we can work together for the good of all (we can’t find that out if we only want things for ourselves). Through the experience of vulnerability, we are born into a new world, a new way of life; a shared way of life.

This is an experience of resurrection which is what Jesus promised to those who are prepared to lose their selfish way of life for his sake. It is what Jesus himself knew he would experience: “The Son of Man must suffer much and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the teachers of the Law. He will be put to death, but three days later he will rise to life.” Paul wrote that Jesus’ death has destroyed the diving wall of hostility between Jew and Gentile making one people who are reconciled to God. That is resurrection. That is losing your life in order to find it. That is leaving selfishness through vulnerability in order to find solidarity.

We are called, as followers of Jesus, into this way of life. It is scary, there are no two ways about it. None of us feel comfortable with vulnerability – whether it is emotional, physical or spiritual vulnerability. But it is our willingness, Jesus says, to become vulnerable with others that leads into the experience of unity and solidarity that is a resurrection into the way that life was created to be. We are not created for selfishness we are created to love God and to love others and we only truly live when we do so. May it be so for each one of us. Amen.

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Adrian Snell - Son Of The World.

Windows on the world (483)

London, 2024

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Michael Kiwanuka - Lowdown (parts i and ii).

 

International Times: Beyond Language

My latest book review for International Times is on What Is and Might Be and then Otherwise by David Miller:

"This is principally a book of conversations and juxtapositions where the gaps and pauses and what is between are as significant as the links and lines and flow. Sight and sound are juxtaposed; what is said being as meaningful as what is seen in silence. Dreams, memories, images, stories, phone calls, conversations are all recounted, reimagined, remembered and re-membered in an attempt to commune with the dead and navigate grief."

For more on David Miller see here and here.

My earlier pieces for IT are an interview with the poet Chris Emery, an interview with Jago Cooper, Director of the the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, plus reviews of: Mavis Staples in concert at Union Chapel; T Bone Burnett's 'The Other Side' and Peter Case live in Leytonstone; Helaine Blumenfeld's Together exhibition, 'Giacometti in Paris' by Michael Peppiatt, the first Pissabed Prophet album - 'Zany in parts, moving in others, you’ll be hard pressed to find a more unusual, inspired & profound album this year. ‘Pissabed Prophet’ will thrill, intrigue, amuse & inspire' - and 'Religion and Contemporary Art: A Curious Accord', a book which derives from a 2017 symposium organised by the Association of Scholars of Christianity in the History of Art.

Several of my short stories have been published by IT including three about Nicola Ravenscroft's EarthAngel sculptures (then called mudcubs), which we exhibited at St Andrew's Wickford in 2022. The first story in the series is 'The Mudcubs and the O Zone holes'. The second is 'The Mudcubs and the Clean-Up King', and the third is 'The mudcubs and the Wall'.

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.

IT have also published a poem, The ABC of creativity, which covers attention, beginning and creation.

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David Miller & SPIRITWORK - Moments.

Seen and Unseen: Art, AI and apocalypse: Michael Takeo Magruder addresses our fears and questions

My latest interview for Seen & Unseen is entitled 'Art, AI and apocalypse: Michael Takeo Magruder addresses our fears and questions'. In the interview the digital artist talks about the possibilities and challenges of artificial intelligence:

'Like artists, perhaps theologians can use emerging (and disruptive) media to not only expand possibilities for their work, but more importantly, to refocus their efforts towards areas that these technologies cannot presently (and will likely never) address.'

For more on Michael Takeo Magruder see here, here, here and here.

My first article for Seen and Unseen was 'Life is more important than art' which reviews the themes of recent art exhibitions that tackle life’s big questions and the roles creators take.

My second article 'Corinne Bailey Rae’s energised and anguished creative journey' explores inspirations in Detroit, Leeds and Ethiopia for Corinne Bailey Rae’s latest album, Black Rainbows, which is an atlas of capacious faith.

My third article was an interview with musician and priest Rev Simpkins in which we discussed how music is an expression of humanity and his faith.

My fourth article was a guide to the Christmas season’s art, past and present. Traditionally at this time of year “great art comes tumbling through your letterbox” so, in this article, I explore the historic and contemporary art of Christmas.

My fifth article was 'Finding the human amid the wreckage of migration'. In this article I interviewed Shezad Dawood about his multimedia Leviathan exhibition at Salisbury Cathedral where personal objects recovered from ocean depths tell a story of modern and ancient migrations.

My sixth article was 'The visionary artists finding heaven down here' in which I explored a tradition of visionary artists whose works shed light on the material and spiritual worlds.

My seventh article was 'How the incomer’s eye sees identity' in which I explain how curating an exhibition for Ben Uri Online gave me the chance to highlight synergies between ancient texts and current issues.

My eighth article was 'Infernal rebellion and the questions it asks' in which I interview the author Nicholas Papadopulos about his book The Infernal Word: Notes from a Rebel Angel.

My ninth article was 'A day, night and dawn with Nick Cave’s lyrics' in which I review Adam Steiner’s Darker With The Dawn — Nick Cave’s Songs Of Love And Death and explore whether Steiner's rappel into Cave’s art helps us understand its purpose.

My 10th article was 'Theresa Lola's poetical hope' about the death-haunted yet lyrical, joyful and moving poet for a new generation.

My 11th article was 'How to look at our world: Aaron Rosen interview', exploring themes from Rosen's book 'What Would Jesus See: Ways of Looking at a Disorienting World'.

My 12th article was 'Blake, imagination and the insight of God', exploring a new exhibition - 'William Blake's Universe at the Fitzwilliam Museum - which focuses on seekers of spiritual regeneration and national revival.

My 13th article 'Matthew Krishanu: painting childhood' was an interview with Matthew Krishanu on his exhibition 'The Bough Breaks' at Camden Art Centre.

My 14th article was entitled 'Art makes life worth living' and explored why society, and churches, need the Arts.

My 15th article was entitled 'The collective effervescence of sport's congregation' and explored some of the ways in which sport and religion have been intimately entwined throughout history

My 16th article was entitled 'Paradise cottage: Milton reimagin’d' and reviewed the ways in which artist Richard Kenton Webb is conversing with the blind poet in his former home (Milton's Cottage, Chalfont St Giles).

My 17th article was entitled 'Controversial art: how can the critic love their neighbour?'. It makes suggestions of what to do when confronted with contentious culture.

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Maria McKee - I Should Have Looked Away.

Trials and Tribulations: Exhibition viewing evening

We had a very enjoyable opening night at St Andrew's Wickford this evening with a fascinating talk by John Paul Barrett about his work.

John Paul spoke about his career to date, how he became an artist, the spirituality that informs his work and his interest in Eastern European iconography. His work has a sculptured and textured look and he told us about the technique he uses to achieve that look. He also spoke about some of the artists that have inspired his expressionist style and why they are important to him. He ended by telling us about some the other themes and topics he addresses.

To view the exhibition, St Andrew’s is usually open: Sat 9am-12.30pm; Sun 9.30am-12 noon; Mon 2-3.45pm; Tue 1-4.30pm; Wed 10am-12 noon; Fri 10am-1pm. See https://wickfordandrunwellparish.org.uk/whats-on.html for more information.

The next Unveiled arts and performance event on a Friday evening is: Friday 27 September (7.30 pm) – Dave Crawford in concert. Popular local musician, Dave Crawford writes engaging/melodic songs in Americana/ Alt-Rock/Indie-Folk. He has performed at the Leigh Folk Festival, Pin Drop Sessions, & Music for Mind together with Kev Butler. This will be Dave’s second concert at Unveiled. We have also enjoyed his powerful vocals & guitar at our Open Mic Nights.

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Kev Butler and Dave Crawford - Revelations.

Art+Christianity: The soul of a colour - Interview with Richard Kenton Webb

My latest interview is with Richard Kenton Webb and has been published in the Art+Christianity Journal. The interview is titled 'The soul of a colour' and explores Richard's pilgrimage to explore and communicate the spiritual significance of colour.

Painting has been declared dead on many occasions and for many reasons over the past 150 years since Paul Delaroche declared ‘From today, painting is dead’ having seen a daguerreotype for the first time. Although painting has never been counted out and has always staged a come- back, artists like Webb have experienced real barriers in their professional and academic careers as a result of their commitment to painting. In Webb’s case this has reinforced his intent to ground the demonstration of his practice through both paint and philosophy. When combined with his spirituality, this places his work firmly in the tradition of British visionary art begun by Blake and Palmer, while the rigour, breadth and depth of his practice and its visual expression in his manifesto of painting mean that his work may well be the most fully realised and significant contemporary expression of that tradition. Recent series such as A Conversation with John Milton’s Paradise Lost and Passion set him alongside Blake in his ability to create an imaginative dialogue between text and image that plumbs the depths of inspiration, psyche, and spirit. His art and teaching combine to form an integrated whole providing a substantive platform on which future visionary art may be built.

For my other writings about Richard Kenton Webb see here and here. Webb is part of a loose grouping of artists known as the Brotherhood, a group of friends and fellow artists – Mark Cazalet, Thomas Denny, Nicholas Mynheer, and Roger Wagner – who create in the tradition begun by Blake and Palmer. They "support each other as we go our different ways, and ... share a deep faith". For more on this tradition and artists in the Brotherhood see here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.

In addition to the interview, this edition of the A+C Journal features:

• Vessel: an art trail in remote rural churches - Essay by Jacquiline Creswell
• Exhibition reviews: Anish Kapoor by Emma Roberts; Michael Petry, In League with Devils by Maryanne Saunders; Mysterious Ways: Art, faith and transcendence by Orla Byrne
• Event review: Ritual/Bodies by Charles Pickstone
• Book reviews: The Spiritual Adventure of Henri Matisse by Charles Miller - Inge Linder-Gaillard
• Art in Churches: Re-siting works of art by Laura Moffatt

Several of these I have also covered in my writing: see my review of Anish Kapoor at Liverpool Cathedral here, my recent interview with Michael Petry here, and my review of 'The Spiritual Adventure of Henri Matisse here. 

My other writing for Art+Christianity is here. My writing for ArtWay can be found here. My pieces for Church Times can be found here and those for Artlyst are here.

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Lleuwen Steffan - Ebeneser (Dyma Gariad Fel Y Moroedd) (Ton Potel)

Trials and Tribulations: Modern Interpretations of Iconography'

The latest exhibition at St Andrew’s Church in Wickford is 'Trials and Tribulations: Modern Interpretations of Iconography' by John Paul Barrett.

Barrett specialises in mixed media paintings, using acrylics and oil pastels on paintings that range from symbolism to landscapes and portraits. He creates texture, perspective, and sculptural effects by using acrylic paints mixed with an extra heavy medium gel applied with a palette knife and finished with a layer of oil pastel. His work is vivid, colourful and expressionistic.

This exhibition focuses on his modern interpretations of Eastern European religious iconography. Viewers will experience traditional religious imagery in a new light, and (re)connect with the spiritual aspect and values symbolised by pivotal Biblical events.

St Andrew’s is usually open: Sat 9am-12.30pm; Sun 9.30am-12 noon; Mon 2-3.45pm; Tue 1-4.30pm; Wed 10am-12 noon; Fri 10am-1pm. See https://wickfordandrunwellparish.org.uk/whats-on.html for more information.

All are welcome to a special exhibition viewing evening on Friday 13 September (7.00 pm) at St Andrew's when you can meet John-Paul Barrett, see his exhibition and hear him speak about his work.

Visitors can also see an archive display on Wickford's churches created by Basildon Heritage and a pair of assemblages from Tim Harrold. The Centurion assemblages use a mixture of found objects, paint, and printed and handwritten material sitting in old drawers from a German chest of drawers. The assemblages show the kingdom of God invading representatives of the empire of man: his universe is forever changed, his personal history eternally turned. Tim Harrold has shown his assemblages – which he describes as visual parables in dioramic form – in a number of exhibitions, including at St Catherine's Wickford. He is also a poet, writer, photographer, filmmaker and itinerant speaker.

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Lee Bozeman - Make Me A Blessing.

An intensely beautiful presentation of the King James Bible

34K views in 4 days and counting! The film about the King James Bible I have co-authored with James Payne, a curator, gallerist, and passionate art lover, is proving very popular. It covers the content and structure of the Bible as well as telling both the story of the King James Version's creation and some of its cultural influence.

Check it out and add your thoughts to comments that currently include:

• "It's mindblowing how much of the most important events in our history were influenced by the Bible. Thank you for another great video!"
• "Fantastic video, like always! I've always been smugly happy about being born and spending my childhood in a communist country, as it meant no religious education. But you are right, the influence on our society is immense, and it's so enlightening to better understand it! Thank you!"
• "Never would have expected a translation of the Bible to have such an impact on the English language, and the world. Thank you!"
• "Wow. An intensely beautiful presentation of this book. Being an atheist, i did not even know this book was translated in english in thoses days, i thought the translation was more recent."
• "As a Christian I am familiar with the Bible, but I was unaware of the history of the making of the King James Version. Very interesting!"
• "Very interesting video! So many idioms, I had no idea."
• "I was curious as to how you’d tackle the most consequential book in the world’s history and as always you’ve done a magnificent job with aplomb."
• "i'm an atheist & im ready to learn."

For more of my writings on the Bible see here:

• Exodus & Exile - an online exhibition exploring themes of identity and migration in the Bible;
• Visual Commentary on Scripture - two exhibitions for the VCS; one on Daniel 4, the other on Hebrews 11; and 
• Visual Meditations - visual meditations written for ArtWay.

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Rebecca St James - Sweet Song Of Salvation.

Turning our understanding of life upside down

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

At my first training weekend as a curate the then Bishop of Barking, David Hawkins, performed a handstand to demonstrate the way in which Jesus, through his teaching in the beatitudes (Luke 6: 20-26), turns our understanding of life upside down. His action turned our expectations of Bishops and their behaviour upside-down at the same time as it perfectly illustrated his point.

G. K. Chesterton used a similar image in writing about St Francis of Assisi: “[Saint] Francis, at the time … when he disappeared into the prison or the dark cavern, underwent a reversal of a certain psychological kind … The man who went into the cave was not the man who came out again … He looked at the world as differently from other men as if he had come out of that dark hole walking on his hands … If a man saw the world hanging upside down, with all the trees and towers hanging head downwards as in a pool, one effect would be to emphasise the idea of dependence … It would make vivid the Scriptural text which says that God has hanged the world upon nothing.”

In what ways do these images and Jesus’ teaching in the beatitudes turn our understanding of life upside down? Jesus’ radical heartbeat can be sensed in every word of the Sermon on the Mount. The core of the sermon is a call for God’s people to be entirely different. Some of the greatest examples of the call to be different are found in the Beatitudes.

The Beatitudes give us a sense of the radical kingdom lifestyle that Jesus calls us to. It is as if Jesus has crept into the window display of life and changed the price tags. It is all upside down. In a world where ‘success’ and ‘self-sufficiency’ are applauded, and ‘the beautiful people’ are ambitious, accomplished and wealthy, Jesus teaches: “Blessed are you who are poor.” Our culture encourages us to discard guilt and the sorrow that accompanies pangs of conscience. Happiness is everything, entertainment is king but Jesus teaches: “Blessed are you who weep now.”

Donald Kraybill writing about this upside down kingdom says: “Jesus startles us … good guys turn out to be bad guys. Those we expect to receive the reward get a spanking instead. Those who think they are headed for heaven land in hell. Paradox, irony and surprise permeate the teachings of Jesus. They flip our expectations upside down. The least are the greatest. The immoral receive forgiveness and blessing. Adults become like children. The religious miss the heavenly banquet. The pious receive curses. Things aren’t like we think they should be. We’re baffled and perplexed. Amazed we step back. Should we laugh or should we cry? Again and again, turning our world upside down, the kingdom surprises us.”

It is the humble poor who know their need of God and those who have nothing who know they need everything. So, we should pray for those moments when we and others experience poverty, hunger and sadness, as they are moments when we are more likely to turn our faces to God looking for salvation. We need to pray for the opening of doors in us and others that gain and comfort have locked tight.

The Gospel announcement, our salvation, is truly comprehensive, is truly for all, because it is offered to losers, by circumstance or choice. The poor have no means of becoming rich but the rich have within themselves the possibility of becoming poor. There is nothing that we don’t have that will bar our entry to this upside-down kingdom and so we can pray to be rid of what we do have that God’s kingdom may truly come to all. In this way, as the Beatitudes state, our lives are turned upside down and we are blessed with poverty, with grief, with meekness, with hunger, with mercy, with purity, with peacemaking, and with persecution (Gerard Kelly, Humanifesto).

As opposed to the survival of the fittest or looking after No. 1, the kingdom of God, as it is described in the Beatitudes, is a place of happiness for those who know they are spiritually poor, a place of comfort for those who mourn, a place of receptivity for those who are humble, a place of satisfaction for those whose greatest desire is to do what God requires, a place of mercy for those who are merciful, a place in which God is seen by the pure in heart, a place in which those who work for peace are called God’s children, and a place which belongs to those who are persecuted because they do what God requires. That is what those, like St Francis, that we call saints came to realise. It is what we must seek through prayer as we too respond to our calling to be saints.

May God forgive our attempts to be loved, our pride, our pleasure-seeking and our leisure-seeking and instead turn our lives upside down and bless us with poverty, with grief, with meekness, with hunger, with mercy, with purity, with peacemaking, with persecution and with his upside down kingdom. Amen.

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Victoria Williams - Love.

Making a family out of strangers

Here's the sermon that I shared at St Mary's Runwell this morning:

Jesus was deliberately rude to the Syrophoenician Woman – a woman from another race and culture – that he encountered in today's Gospel reading (Mark 7: 24-37). He began by making it clear that she was not one of the chosen people for whom he had come and continued by insulting her and her people in calling them 'dogs'.

Why was he so uncharacteristically rude? We read elsewhere in the Gospels that his disciples had wanted him to send the woman away; ostensibly because of the fuss she was making but, more probably, because she was not one of 'them'. Therefore, Jesus threw all their prejudices at the woman both as a way of confronting his disciples with the ugliness of their prejudice and as a provocation that revealed the faith within this woman.

In the face of seeming denial and insult, she persisted in her request and in her faith in Jesus' ability and willingness to heal. On the back of this tangible example of faith, Jesus was then able to challenge the prejudices of his disciples (as I think was his intent from the outset) by pointing out the depth of faith which he had uncovered in a woman of another race, culture and faith.

We can see these same issues recurring in our own day and time in the way in which the debate about immigration has changed over the years enabling the whole apparatus of the state to become bent towards stopping immigration and sending migrants away, despite such people being amongst those most disadvantaged in the world today. The Archbishop of Canterbury rightly said, for example, that the previous Government’s Illegal Migration Bill was morally unacceptable and represented a “dramatic departure” from Britain's obligations under the 1951 Refugee Convention.

Several years ago, the then Bishop of Dover accused senior political figures, including the then prime minister, of forgetting their humanity and attacked elements of the media for propagating a “toxicity” designed to spread antipathy towards migrants. He said, “We’ve become an increasingly harsh world, and when we become harsh with each other and forget our humanity then we end up in these standoff positions. We need to rediscover what it is to be a human, and that every human being matters.” We can see, therefore, that this parable speaks into issues of our own day and time challenging the prejudices of our Governments and, maybe too, ourselves.

Seeing this story of the Syrophoenician woman as a deliberate challenge to the prejudices of his disciples is also consistent with the story of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10. 25 - 37) where Jesus tells a group of God's chosen people a story in which one of their own receives help, not from his own people, but from a man of another race, culture and faith. In that story, Jesus went further than his already radical teaching of love for our enemies by telling a story in which a member of God's chosen people received God's love and help from a person that he considered to be outside the people of God and an enemy of his own people.

However we choose to draw the boundaries of who is and who is not one of God's people, Jesus breaks through those boundaries with his love for all people, his sacrificial giving for all, and his recognition of all that those who are excluded actually have to offer to those who exclude. The strapline of St Michael’s Church in Camden Town - 'Making a family out of strangers’ - is a very good summary of this aspect of Jesus’ teaching and ministry.

It is a helpful practice, which comes from Ignatian spirituality, to try to place ourselves fully within a story from the Gospels by becoming onlooker-participants and giving full rein to our imagination. If we were part of this story, would we be with the disciples, who wanted Jesus to send the Syrophoenician woman away because she was not one of 'them', or would we be with Jesus, who challenged the prejudices of his disciples by pointing out the depth of faith which he had uncovered in a woman of another race, culture and faith? Our answer to that question will determine the extent to which we seek to make a family out of strangers ourselves.

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The Brilliance - Brother.

Windows on the world (482)

Pollenca, 2024

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Big Star - My Life Is Right.

 

Great Books Explained: The King James Bible

 

I have recently co-scripted a film about the King James Bible with James Payne, a curator, gallerist, and passionate art lover. 

James is on a mission to demystify the art world and discover the stories behind the world’s greatest paintings and sculptures. Each episode of his Great Art Explained series focuses on one piece of art and breaks it down, using clear and concise language free of 'art-speak'. Great Books Explained, in which the film on the King James Bible will appear, is an extension of Great Art Explained and follows the same ideas, except it is about literature. Fifteen minutes, clear concise language, no outlandish theories, just a love for books and reading.

James says: "Coming this Friday is my film co-created by the Reverend Jonathan Evens about the extraordinary King James Bible. For an atheist I’ve also had a strange lifelong obsession with the Bible and in particular the gospels. My research paper for my MA at art school was on “The redemption figure in American cinema” so this was a real pet project for me. It’s a long time coming but the Bible is out this Friday at 8pm (UK time). I also get to use a piece of music I’ve been wanting to use for ages."

The film covers the content and structure of the Bible as well as telling both the story of the King James Version's creation and some of its cultural influence.

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Mark Heard - Well Worn Pages.

Autumn programme: Unveiled, exhibition, Quiet Day, Craft Fayre, Local History Day, Difference Course

We have a packed programme of varied and interesting events in the Wickford and Runwell Team Ministry this autumn including a new art exhibition, heritage displays from Basildon Heritage, concerts, our Unveiled arts and performance events, a Quiet Day, plus two new events - a local history day at St Catherine's and a Craft Fayre at St Andrew's.

Here are fuller details:

Exhibition: 'Trials and Tribulations: Modern Interpretations of Iconography', 13 September to 20 December 2024, St Andrew’s Church - 11 London Road, Wickford, Essex SS12 0AN

The arts programme at St Andrew's Wickford continues in the autumn with an exhibition by Leigh-on-Sea-based artist John Paul Barrett called 'Trials and Tribulations'. The exhibition will run from 13 September to 20 December 2024 at St Andrew's Wickford.

John Paul Barrett specialises in mixed media paintings, using acrylics and oil pastels on paintings that range from symbolism to landscapes and portraits. This exhibition focuses on his modern interpretations of Eastern European religious iconography. More information about him and his work can be found at https://www.jpbarrettart.com/.

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 Autumn 2024 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.Autumn Programme 2024

• 13 September (7.00 pm) – Trials & Tribulations – Exhibition viewing evening. Meet John-Paul Barrett, see his exhibition & hear him interviewed. This Leigh-on-Sea based artist creates modern interpretations of classic iconographic images & scenes.
• 27 September (7.30 pm) – Dave Crawford in concert. Popular local musician, Dave Crawford writes engaging/melodic songs in Americana/ Alt-Rock/Indie-Folk. He has performed at the Leigh Folk Festival, Pin Drop Sessions, & Music for Mind together with Kev Butler. This will be Dave’s second concert at Unveiled. We have also enjoyed his powerful vocals & guitar at our Open Mic Nights.
• 11 October (7.00 pm) – Re-enacting the Napoleonic Wars. Robson Coke (2nd 95th Rifles & Drum Major of the Band of 1st Foot Guards 1815, Napoleonic Association) will talk about the Napoleonic Wars, explain how re-enactments are organised & show costumes and equipment used in re-enactments.
• 25 October (7.30 pm) – Eva Romanakova in concert. Eva Romanakova sings a wide genre of music; Musical Theatre, Arias, Pop, Jazz, Movie Songs & also Folk. She will sing music from various countries and different times. She is performing with accomplished pianist Andrew Palmer.
• 8 November (7.30 pm) – Open Mic Night. Everybody is welcome to come along & play, read, sing or just spectate. See you there for a great evening of live performance!
• 22 November (7.00 pm) – An evening with Steven Turner. Hear about the career of local dancer Steven Turner, who has trained in a variety of dance styles, including contemporary, street, mime & moving with props. Steven founded his own organisation, Next Step Creative, to promote collaboration between dance & other creative arts. He also regularly choreographs & teaches for Dance 21 (a dance company for children & young adults with Down’s syndrome). He has performed across the UK and Europe including Switzerland, Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, & France.
• 6 December (7.00 pm) – Broomfield artists in the Basildon Deanery. Find out about artworks in Basildon & Nevendon by Thomas Bayliss Huxley-Jones & Rosemary Rutherford. An illustrated talk by Jonathan Evens.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.

Other events

Basildon Heritage displays - we will be showing two heritage displays prepared by Basildon Heritage this autumn. The first display is on 'Wickford's churches' and will be at St Andrew's from 10 September to 1 October and St Catherine's from 2 October to 30 October. Then, following on from our recent Unveiled talk about Depeche Mode, a display, 'Sounds of Basildon', will be on the Basildon music scene in the 1980's, i.e. Depeche Mode, Yazoo and Erasure, and will be at St Andrew's later in the autumn.

Underfret in concert - Saturday 21 September 2024, 2.00 pm, St Andrew’s Church, 11 London Road, Wickford SS12 0AN. Underfret are a six-piece ukulele band, playing music from the 1960's onward - https://www.instagram.com/underfret/. A fundraiser for St Catherine’s Wickford (where subsidence has caused cracks in the walls requiring underpinning) - a retiring collection will be taken.

Difference Course - We will be running this course, which “explores what it means to follow Jesus in a complex and divided world, seeing transformation through everyday encounters”, on the following dates: Wednesdays, 2-3.30pm at Roger’s on 25th September, 2nd, 9th, 16th, 23rd October; and Thursdays, 7.30-9pm in St Andrew’s church on 26th September, 3rd, 10th, 17th, 24th October. Each week includes films of stories from Christians facing conflict, Bible study, interactive exercises, prayer and discussion. While it is preferable to attend each week it is not mandatory. A Participant’s Guide is available at a cost of £3.50 for those that would like to purchase one. SIGN - UP sheets available soon. RLN Difference is a part of the Reconciling Leaders Network. Archbishop of Canterbury’s Reconciliation Ministry.

Quiet Day: The 7 S’s of the Nazareth Community, Saturday 28 September, 10.30 am – 3.30 pm, St Catherine’s Wickford. Consider Silence, Sacrament, Scriptures, Service, Sharing, Sabbath, and Staying as a personal Rule of Life. Learn about the Nazareth Community based at St Martin-in-the-Fields and its growth through the Companions of Nazareth. Reflect in the quiet space of St Catherine's, a small country church originally serving a village community which still seems, in church and churchyard, to retain an atmosphere of the rural heritage of Wickford's past. Led by Revd Jonathan Evens, Team Rector, Wickford and Runwell Team Ministry. Cost: £8.00 per person, including sandwich lunch (pay on the day). To book: Phone 07803 562329 or email jonathan.evens@btinternet.com

Local History Day - Saturday 5 October 2024, 10.00 am – 4.00 pm, St Catherine’s Church, 120 Southend Road, Wickford SS11 8EB. View our registers (baptisms, weddings, burials etc,), meet re-enactors from the Napoleonic Association, see a display on Wickford’s churches from Basildon Heritage, tour the church and churchyard, take part in a Scavenger Hunt, support our fundraising appeal, enjoy refreshments in our Church Hall. See our: Commonwealth War Graves; War Memorial for Wickford; William Butterfield reredos; 15th century font; Medieval chancel ceiling; and Stained glass commemorating local characters.

Craft Fayre - A wide range of handmade crafts from a variety of different stalls. Refreshments also available. Saturday 26 October 2024, 10.00 am – 3.00 pm, St Andrew’s Church, 11 London Road, Wickford SS12 0AN.

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Eva Romanakova - Songs My Mother Taught Me.