All Saints Goodmayes: Stations of the Cross

All Saints Goodmayes, which has a set of Stations of the Cross by the artist Henry Shelton, has prepared a booklet of images, reflections and prayers based on these Stations. The reflections and prayers used are those that I wrote for an earlier collaboration with Henry called 'The Passion'.

The Passion: Reflections and Prayers features minimal images with haiku-like poems and prayers that enable us to follow Jesus on his journey to the cross reflecting both on the significance and the pain of that journey as we do so. Henry and I aimed in these reflections to pare down the images and words to their emotional and theological core. The mark making and imagery is minimal but, we hope, in a way that makes maximum impact. Here is an example of one of the reflections and prayers: 

Jesus dies on the cross

The sun is eclipsed, early nightfall,
darkness covers the surface of the deep,
the Spirit grieves over the waters.
On the formless, empty earth, God is dead.

Through the death of all we hold most dear, may we find life. Amen.

The set of Stations now at All Saints Goodmayes have previously been exhibited at York Minister, St stephen Walbrook, and Chelmsford Cathedral. The booklet comes with a Foreword by The Most Revd and Rt Hon. Stephen Cottrell, Archbishop of York:

"At this most holy time, as we follow Jesus on His journey to the cross, Henry Shelton's contemporary images provide an evocative background against which we can place our deepest reflections as we contemplate the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ, who by his death and resurrection delivered and saved the world." 

Henry Shelton was born and grew up in Stratford, East London. He joined West Ham church as a choir boy where he first became aware of the importance of Christian art.

After leaving school he joined a London studio as an apprentice draughtsman developing his drawing skills in lettering and fine art. After 15 years of service he set up his own studio receiving many commissions to design for such clients as the Science Museum, Borough Councils, private and corporate bodies.

During this time he continued painting Christian art and after meeting Bishop Trevor Huddleston he completed a series of portraits of him which were exhibited in St Dunstan's Church, Stepney, where he was also confirmed by the Bishop.

Henry worked designing in studios across the world, including Hong Kong and the USA. Together, we formed commission4mission, an artist's collective that generated church commissions, exhibitions, events and resources. Henry's commissions include a large oil painting of the Ascension installed as an altarpiece in the Church of the Saviour, Chell Heath; the Millennium clock tower in Goodmayes, memorial etched glass windows in All Saints Goodmayes and All Saint's Hutton, paintings for the Chapel at Queen's Hospital Romford, Stations of the Crown of Thorns at St Paul's Goodmayes, and the Trinity Window at All Saints Goodmayes.

An interview that I undertook with Henry can be read here and here.

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Extreme - Peacemaker Die.

Henry Shelton artist

Last Friday in the Unveiled session at St Andrew's Wickford I talked with Henry Shelton about his life and art.

Henry was born and grew up in Stratford, East London. He joined West Ham church as a choir boy where he first became aware of the importance of Christian art.

After leaving school he joined a London studio as an apprentice draughtsman developing his drawing skills in lettering and fine art. After 15 years of service he set up his own studio receiving many commissions to design for such clients as the Science Museum, Borough Councils, private and corporate bodies.

During this time he continued painting Christian art and after meeting Bishop Trevor Huddleston he completed a series of portraits of him which were exhibited in St Dunstan's Church, Stepney, where he was also confirmed by the Bishop.

Henry worked designing in studios across the world, including Hong Kong and the USA. Together, we formed commission4mission, an artist's collective that generated church commissions, exhibitions, events and resources. Henry's commissions include a large oil painting of the Ascension installed as an altarpiece in the Church of the Saviour, Chell Heath; the Millennium clock tower in Goodmayes, memorial etched glass windows in All Saints Goodmayes and All Saint's Hutton, painting for the Chapel at Queen's Hospital Romford, Stations of the Crown of Thorns at St Paul's Goodmayes, and the Trinity Window at All Saints Goodmayes.

An earlier interview that I undertook with Henry can be read here and here, while a Church Times profile on him can be found here.

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Ed Kowalczyk - Grace.

Latest commission4mission e-news

The Summer edition of commission4mission’s e-news can be viewed by clicking here. This edition includes news of our next exhibition at St Stephen Walbrook, services at St Martin-in-the-Fields and All Saints Goodmayes, opportunities to contribute to ‘Church Is’, plus news of exhibitions involving Chris Clack, Terry Ffyffe and Michael Garaway.

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Church is - Dave Parr.

Services celebrating the Arts

Bread for the World

Wednesday evenings at St Martin-in-the-Fields (Trafalgar Square, London WC2N 4JJ) build community through an informal Eucharist with prayer, music, word and reflection. The music for the evening is led by the Choral Scholars of St Martin-in-the-Fields and those present gather around the altar together as the first disciples did to share in the Eucharist together. The time in church is followed by a simple soup supper in the Austen Williams Room, No 6 St Martin’s Place, followed by the opportunity to reflect on and explore the bible together. It’s a great way to find focus during a busy week, to be close to God, make friends, pray and explore faith.

On Wednesday 22nd June, commission4mission artists will be sharing their experiences of inspiration and their thoughts on the place of the Arts in worship. The service begins at 6.30pm and the artists contributing are Irina Bradley, Valerie Dean, Tim Harrold and Henry Shelton. All are welcome.

Service celebrating the Arts

Our annual service celebrating the Arts will be held at All Saints Goodmayes(Goodmayes Lane, Goodmayes, Ilford, London, IG3 9SJ On Sunday 10th July at 3.15pm. All Saints Goodmayes recently commissioned an East Window from Henry Shelton and Richard Paton through commission4mission and the service will celebrate the completion of this commission. Anthony Hodgson will display his painting ‘The Bridge’ and will reflect on its themes using music and poetry. All are welcome.

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The Innocence Mission - You Chase The Light.

commission4mission's latest newsletter

commission4mission's latest newsletter features:

• the work of new member Michael Garaway;
• news of exhibitions by John Gentry, Tim Harrold and Jacqui Parkinson;
• a report of the Dedication Service for the Trinity Window at All Saints Goodmayes; and
• the latest exhibition and associated events at St Stephen Walbrook.

Victoria Norton, who compiles the newsletter says:

"Spring has sprung and our artists are busy with shows and commissions in the coming weeks. I hope you will find time to attend and enjoy all c4m has to offer."

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Prince - Holy River.

Dedication of Trinity Window, All Saints Goodmayes

A service to commission and dedicate the newly installed “Trinity Window” as the East Window of All Saints Goodmayes, to commemorate a century of worship at the church, was held today. The Rt Revd Stephen Cottrell, the Bishop of Chelmsford, conducted the Service and dedicated the Centenary window.

Bishop Stephen said that it was lovely to be at All Saints Goodmayes for Palm Sunday and to dedicate their beautiful centenary window. He noted that the window encompasses all the colours of the liturgical seasons and reminds of God the Holy Trinity. He spoke of God's promise to open the window of heaven for us and led the congregation in praying that as the light shines through the many colours of the window, so our lives may show forth the beauty of God's manifold gifts of grace.

Bishop Stephen is a patron of commission4mission and the Trinity window at All Saints Goodmayes is the 13th commission completed by the group. The window was made and installed by Richard Paton to a design by Henry Shelton. Richard and Henry have previously worked together on commission4mission commissions at All Saints Hutton where they created two sets of etched glass windows.

Henry’s colourful abstract design for the three light East window features, in his inimitable minimal style, imagery representing the Holy Trinity. Henry is a member of the congregation and previously created etched glass windows for the Reindorp Chapel at All Saints.

The window commemorates the 100th Anniversary of the church and has been funded, in part, by donations from the congregation in memory of loved ones.

Richard Paton says: “The last few weeks has seen the making and fitting of a new East Window at All Saints Church, Goodmayes celebrating the church’s Centenary. This very colourful design by Henry Shelton symbolises the Holy Trinity depicted in just 3 lines. The space inside has been transformed from anonymous small square glass making a large space more intimate and warm.”

Richard Paton has over 20 years experience working with glass. When he is not creating works of art in glass, he teaches glass-making classes in the various techniques, passing on his tips, tricks and considerable knowledge to others. Also in 2015, using Craigie Aitchison’s final design, he made a window for the Prayer Chapel in St Martins in the Bull Ring and a 3 meter high stained glass window set into a light box hung on the wall of a North London Synagogue depicting an 11th Century poem visualised in a design by Michael Hall.

Richard graduated from Liverpool with a BA (Hons) in Fine Art in 1990 and was awarded an MA in Visual Culture at Middlesex University in 1998. He is a self-taught stained glass artist with 20 years in the trade who started Rainbow Glass Studios, based in Stoke Newington, North London, in 2001. In that time Richard has had hundreds of commissions which have required different techniques and designs to fulfil very diverse briefs. These range from corporate work to individual commissions from the rich and famous through to work in churches. The variety of glass techniques at his disposal uniquely puts him at an advantage to explore interesting and original work. He teaches regularly at his studio on weekday evenings and runs Saturday workshops for beginners. His work has been featured on TV and at the National Gallery. He is also on the committee for the Contemporary Glass Society who promote the work of glass artists.

Henry Shelton is a noted painter of religious art in a contemporary style. He trained as an apprentice draughtsman in a London studio developing his drawing skills in lettering and fine art. After 15 years he set up his own studio receiving many commissions from such clients as the Science Museum, borough councils, private and corporate bodies. He then worked designing in studios across the world, including Hong Kong and the USA.

Throughout this time and up to the present he has painted Christian art and his commissions include an Ascension installed as an altarpiece in the Church of the Saviour, Chell Heath; the Millennium clock tower in Goodmayes, and the memorial etched-glass windows in All Saints Church, Goodmayes, depicting events in the life of Jesus. In 2007 he had a one-man exhibition in York Minister of the Stations of the Cross. Most recently, he has completed commissions for St Luke’s Chapel in Queens Hospital Romford, a contemporary set of Stations of the Crown of Thorns for St Paul’s Goodmayes and etched glass windows for All Saints Hutton.

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Tim Hughes - Here I Am To Worship.

commission4mission's latest commission - East window, All Saints Goodmayes

commission4mission recently completed its 13th commission, an East window at All Saints Goodmayes created by Henry Shelton and Richard Paton. The window will be dedicated in 2016 by our patron The Rt Revd Stephen Cottrell, Bishop of Chelmsford.

The window was made and installed by Richard Paton to a design by Henry Shelton. Richard and Henry have previously worked together on commission4mission commissions at All Saints Hutton where they created two sets of etched glass windows.Henry’s colourful abstract design for the three light East window features, in his inimitable minimal style, imagery representing the Holy Trinity. Henry is a member of the congregation and previously created etched glass windows for the Reindorp Chapel at All Saints.

The window commemorates the 100th Anniversary of the church and has been funded, in part, by donations from the congregation in memory of loved ones.

Richard Paton says: “The last few weeks has seen the making and fitting of a new East Window at All Saints Church, Goodmayes celebrating the church’s Centenary. This very colourful design by Henry Shelton symbolises the Holy Trinity (God the Father, Jesus & the Holy Ghost) depicted in just 3 lines. The space inside has been transformed from anonymous small square glass making a large space more intimate and warm.”

Richard Paton has over 20 years experience working with glass. When he is not creating works of art in glass, he teaches glass-making classes in the various techniques, passing on his tips, tricks and considerable knowledge to others. Also in 2015, using Craigie Aitchison’s final design, he made a window for the Prayer Chapel in St Martins in the Bull Ring and a 3 meter high stained glass window set into a light box hung on the wall of a North London Synagogue depicting an 11th Century poem visualised in a design by Michael Hall.

Richard graduated from Liverpool with a BA (Hons) in Fine Art in 1990 and was awarded an MA in Visual Culture at Middlesex University in 1998. He is a self-taught stained glass artist with 20 years in the trade who started Rainbow Glass Studios, based in Stoke Newington, North London, in 2001. In that time Richard has had hundreds of commissions which have required different techniques and designs to fulfil very diverse briefs. These range from corporate work to individual commissions from the rich and famous through to work in churches. The variety of glass techniques at his disposal uniquely puts him at an advantage to explore interesting and original work. He teaches regularly at his studio on weekday evenings and runs Saturday workshops for beginners. His work has been featured on TV and at the National Gallery. He is also on the committee for the Contemporary Glass Society who promote the work of glass artists.

Henry Shelton is a noted painter of religious art in a contemporary style. He trained as an apprentice draughtsman in a London studio developing his drawing skills in lettering and fine art. After 15 years he set up his own studio receiving many commissions from such clients as the Science Museum, borough councils, private and corporate bodies. He then worked designing in studios across the world, including Hong Kong and the USA.

Throughout this time and up to the present he has painted Christian art and his commissions include an Ascension installed as an altarpiece in the Church of the Saviour, Chell Heath; the Millennium clock tower in Goodmayes, and the memorial etched-glass windows in All Saints Church, Goodmayes, depicting events in the life of Jesus. In 2007 he had a one-man exhibition in York Minister of the Stations of the Cross. Most recently, he has completed commissions for St Luke’s Chapel in Queens Hospital Romford, a contemporary set of Stations of the Crown of Thorns for St Paul’s Goodmayes and etched glass windows for All Saints Hutton.

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Moby - Almost Home.

Stations of the Cross

Henry Shelton is a noted painter of religious art in a contemporary style. He trained as an apprentice draughtsman in a London studio developing his drawing skills in lettering and fine art. After 15 years he set up his own studio receiving many commissions from such clients as the Science Museum, borough councils, private and corporate bodies.

In recent years he has worked designing in studios across the world, including Hong Kong and the USA. Throughout this time he has painted Christian art and his commissions include an Ascension installed as an altarpiece in the Church of the Saviour, Chell Heath; the Millennium clock tower in Goodmayes, and the memorial etched-glass windows in All Saints Church, Goodmayes, depicting events in the life of Jesus. In 2007 he had a one-man exhibition in York Minister where he showed this set of Stations of the Cross. Most recently, he has completed commissions for St Luke’s Chapel in Queens Hospital Romford, a contemporary set of Stations of the Crown of Thorns for St Paul’s Goodmayes and etched windows for All Saints Hutton.

Shelton has painted four sets of Stations of the Cross, two of which have been combined with meditations by Rev Jonathan Evens. These have been published by http://www.theworshipcloud.com/. These pictures, poems and prayers enable us to follow Jesus on his journey to the cross reflecting both on the significance and the pain of that journey as we do so. With their second sequence, ‘The Passion,’ both aimed to pare down the images and words to their emotional and theological core. The mark making and imagery is minimal but they hope in a way that makes maximum impact. Their first sequence, ‘Mark of the Cross,’ was described by Rev Steve Santry as "Stunning artwork and thought provoking words [which] open up the events around Easter in a new and imaginative way."

Shelton says of his semi-abstract style and minimal flowing lines, that, “as I’ve got older I’ve learnt that ‘less is more’ and through the development of my work I’ve learnt to express emotion in a semi-abstract form.” This is why he paints; “it all goes back to feeling; the pathos of suffering.”

The power of art to evoke emotion is what originally inspired Shelton and which has sustained his work throughout his career: “When I first saw the great Rembrandt’s in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, the power of his images seemed to transcend time. The same thing attracted me to Christian Art as a choirboy at All Saints West Ham; the art spoke to me. I used to look at the altar and see images that were just so powerful. The images seemed to bring the past into the present and to form a profound link with the lineage of the past. I see myself as an artist trying in my small way to continue that lineage and my passion as a Christian artist is to keep that lineage alive in my generation as a witness.”

Shelton says of commission4mission, of which he is a founding member and which encourages churches to commission contemporary art: “I want us to be offering quality work and craftsmanship, rather than mass-produced work, to continue the legacy of the Church as a great commissioner of art. The Church has, in fact, commissioned some of the greatest works of art ever produced.”

To have his work in churches, Shelton says, “really is the fulfilment of my life’s work.” He doesn’t have much ambition to show in galleries and says that, “the whole point for me is to create reaction and engage people; for people to enjoy and be moved by my work, just as I’ve been engaged by the work of other artists.”

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Neal Morse - King Jesus.

Lent, Holy Week and Easter at St John's

Children from Downshall Primary School came to St John's Seven Kings to learn more about Easter. They took part in seven Easter Activity Stations which enabled them to learn about the Easter story and reflect on what the story says to them. This year's Easter Activity Stations involved, among other activities, tasting vinegar and chocolate, washing hands, placing rocks in water and making foil crosses. The Easter Activity Stations taught, among other stories, about the Last Supper, the trial of Jesus, carrying the cross, Jesus' death and resurrection. These activity Stations were also used at All Saints Goodmayes this year and for our own Good Friday Children's Activity Morning.

Brambles the donkey led our Palm Sunday procession from St Paul's Goodmayes to St John's. The service and procession was attended by more than 100 people. From St Paul's the procession went to Westwood Recreation Ground where palm crosses were blessed and the Gospel was read. From there the procession continued along Meads Lane to St John's Seven Kings where the service concluded with Communion. Along the way, the congregation of Seven Kings United Free Church left their service to greet the procession with waved palms, banners and instruments.

The Seven Kings Fellowship of Churches celebrated the learning done together as part of this year's Lent Course - 'Build on the Rock: Faith, doubt and Jesus' at a Lent Service hosted by Seven Kings United Free Church. Among feedback from each of the three groups that studied the Course was the following:

• "We had some very deep discussions. Our discussion about death was particularly interesting, thoughtful and deep."
• "I appreciated thinking about Jesus as 'friend' and 'brother'. This was a new way of thinking. I had to stop and think about what we are really saying when we call Jesus our 'brother'."
• "Asking why God leads us to pray was thought-provoking and important for me."
• "You think you're not that good as a Christian but to then hear that we all struggle with doubt, it makes you realise that you're not odd."  

On Maundy Thursday we appreciated a reflective Communion service with footwashing where Jean Richards, our Reader, spoke about the background to Jesus' prayer for unity in John 17. Our Good Friday Devotional Service featured dramatic monologues written by Rev. Alan Stewart giving perspectives on Christ's Passion from Judas, Pilate, Mary, a Soldier and Peter. Our Service Sheet included two images of the Passion by Worthing-based artist Jonathan Peter Smith (smithpeterjonathan@yahoo.co.uk). In between came our Good Friday Children's Activity morning with Easter crafts including: Easter snow globes, Easter cards, Easter plates, Easter gardens, Easter cakes and more.

Easter Day included a Sunrise Service followed by breakfast which began, as did our All-Age Communion Service, with the rolling away of the stone from the empty tomb. During this Service I said, 'The story of Christ’s death and resurrection takes us forward into a new life. The reality of his presence with us on the way helps us endure and persevere. The combination of the two brings hope for the future because whatever we may experience in the here and now, ultimately Love wins. That is what has made sense for millions of Christians over the centuries since that first Easter Day. May we also know Christ’s resurrection not only making sense for us but also making sense of our lives too.' 

Our Easter Day ended with the baptisms of four children from a local family. There, I said, 'As we celebrate these baptisms today, may we realise afresh the way that our deepest needs - for love and significance – are fully met through baptism into the family of God. Who are we? We are the beloved sons and daughters of our Father God. Why are we here? To use our God-given abilities to do work for God that only we can do.'  
   
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Scott Stapp - What Would Love Do?