Church Times - Book review: Practical Theology Beyond the Empirical Turn by Heather Walton

My latest book review for Church Times is on 'Practical Theology Beyond the Empirical Turn' by Heather Walton:

'Walton’s argument is that empirical approaches to knowledge, particularly in relation to practical theology, are narrow in both measurement and understanding, while also reflecting the unconscious biases of those who devise them. As a result, she argues that a radical expansion of approaches is required, and arts-based and creative approaches, particularly those that address the climate emergency, are strongly advocated.'

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, those for Seen & Unseen are here, and those for Art+Christianity are here.

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John Davis - I Hear Your Voice.

Creation: dominion vs responsibility

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

Last week I led a funeral service for a wonderful lady whose passion through her life had been for animals and nature and who had worked in ecological conservation. I used a part of Genesis 1, the first account of creation found in the Bible – today we have heard part of the second account (Genesis 2.4-17). I used that reading in order to speak about that person’s ecological action but chose to read the passage in the version written by Eugene Peterson called The Message.

I did so because of a key difference in the translation of a key word. Many English translations of Genesis 1 states that human beings have been given dominion over the natural world. Dominion is generally understood to mean the right to govern or rule or determine. Those who have dominion are understood to possess the ability to wield force, authority, or influence, to direct and restrain, to make arbitrary decisions and compel obedience. As a result, humans having dominion over nature has generally been understood as meaning that we have the right and the ability to exploit natural resources and to shape nature to serve our needs. In other words, all the attitudes and actions that have led to the climate emergency.

Eugene Peterson resists that understanding of the relationship between human beings and the natural world by using a different translation. He writes of human beings being responsible for every living thing that moves on the face of the Earth:

God spoke: “Earth, generate life! Every sort and kind:
cattle and reptiles and wild animals—all kinds.”
And there it was:
wild animals of every kind,
Cattle of all kinds, every sort of reptile and bug.
God saw that it was good.

God spoke: “Let us make human beings in our image, make them
reflecting our nature
So they can be responsible for the fish in the sea,
the birds in the air, the cattle,
And, yes, Earth itself,
and every animal that moves on the face of Earth.”

God created human beings;
he created them godlike,
Reflecting God’s nature.
He created them male and female.
God blessed them:
“Prosper! Reproduce! Fill Earth! Take charge!
Be responsible for fish in the sea and birds in the air,
for every living thing that moves on the face of Earth.”

That responsibility for, rather than dominion over, the natural world is what we also see in today’s reading from Genesis, where human beings are placed in the Garden of Eden in order to till it and keep it, or as The Living Bible says, to tend and care for it.

Later this year, we will be having a Stewardship month in which we will reflect on different aspects of stewardship as part of our response to the generosity of God towards us. One aspect of our stewardship involves stewardship of the natural world and its resources. Being a good steward means caring for and conserving the world in which we live and the resources within because to do otherwise selfishly uses up those resources for ourselves and alters the natural cycle of life in ways that harm the world and all that lives on it. We will, therefore, be encouraging all of us, as we have done previously, to look again at the actions we can take to show responsibility by caring for this world, rather than acting in ways that dominate and exploit the natural world.

The words we use have consequences and significant impacts, so we need to be careful about our use of words, including within scripture. The difference between domination of nature and responsible care for nature is immense, as is demonstrated by the climate emergency and the actions of those on opposing sides of the debate. Let us be those who seek to tend and care and keep the earth. Amen.

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11:59 - Psalm 24 - The Earth Is The Lord's.

The narrow way and the climate emergency

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

''Sir David Attenborough issued a warning ahead of the UN climate summit in Glasgow in 2021 that leaders must act now or “it’ll be too late” for the planet.

Cop26 was billed as the last best chance to keep global temperature rises to no more than 1.5C, with Sir David critical of those who deny the climate crisis. In conversation with BBC science editor David Shukman, the naturalist and broadcaster said: “Every month that passes, it becomes more and more incontrovertible, the changes to the planet that we are responsible for that are having these devastating effects.” He added: “If we don’t act now, it will be too late. We have to do it now.”'

There is a narrow window in which we can change. The time is short, and the gate is narrow, as Jesus said to his disciples in our Gospel reading ((Luke 13.22-30).

When he spoke those words, Jesus knew his time was limited. He knew Jerusalem and death was fast approaching. He knew that through his ministry in Israel God's people were being given an opportunity to respond in a new way, yet the opportunity would not be there for long. Therefore, he and his disciples travelled the length and breadth of Israel in the three years before his crucifixion to share the good news of the opportunity that was before the people but only for a short time.

They went with the message that ‘The Kingdom of God is near you now.’ Now was the time when the Kingdom of God could be seen and touched and experienced because now was the time that God himself was with them. He sent his disciples ahead of him to say that the Kingdom of God was coming near, that it would be experienced in the time when he arrived. So, the time to respond and experience and join was now.

The Gospels, therefore, are full of urgency. Jesus' parables are stories of decision, stories in which people find out that time has beaten them and the moment for response has passed. Are we like, the wise or foolish bridesmaids? Those that were ready for the coming of the bridegroom, or not? Are we like, the farmer who built his big barns planning to eat, drink and be merry but whose life was demanded of him that night? Or will we be like the Prodigal Son who realised change was possible and seized the moment by returning to his father and being reconciled.

Life consistently challenges us to decide in the moment. If there is one thing that the pandemic taught us, it is that life is short, and we do not know what is around the corner. Therefore, we should not put off what we know we should do today. Our time is short, the gate is narrow, the time for decision is now.

That's certainly the case in regard to the climate emergency. Global efforts to tackle climate change currently are wildly off track the UN has said, as new data shows that warming gases are accumulating faster than at any time in human existence.

UN Climate Change, the UN agency tasked with addressing the issue, carried out an analysis on the carbon cutting plans that have been submitted by close to 200 countries. The UN wanted to see how much progress is being made in driving down emissions that are threatening to push global temperatures well above 1.5C this century, a level beyond which scientists say extremely damaging impacts will occur.

Right now, when the plans are added up, they indicate that emissions will likely fall by just 2.6% by 2030 compared to 2019. This is far short of the 43% reduction that scientists say will be needed by the end of this decade to keep the world on track for net-zero carbon by 2050.

“The report’s findings are stark but not surprising,” said Simon Stiell, executive secretary of UN Climate Change. “Current national climate plans fall miles short of what’s needed to stop global heating from crippling every economy, and wrecking billions of lives and livelihoods across every country.”

“The climate is changing fast," says Marina Romanello, executive director of the Lancet Countdown. “At the moment, we are still in a position to just about adapt to the changes in the climate. But it is going to get to a point where we will reach the limit of our capacity. Then we will see a lot of unavoidable impacts.” "The higher we allow the global temperature to go, the worse things are going to be”.

We are still in the narrow window of time available to us in relation to the climate emergency, although Cop26 and subsequent conferences have clearly not yet delivered the scale or urgency of action required. In the words of the singer-songwriter Lou Reed:

'This is no time to ignore Warnings
This is no time to clear the Plate
Let's not be sorry after the fact
And let the past become our fate

This is no time for phony Rhetoric
This is no time for political Speech
This is a time for action
Because the future's within Reach'

So, just as Jesus stated in relation to his own mission, we too need to strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able because by then it will be too late. In our current situation, that prediction would be a disaster for the generations that follow us. Amen.

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Lou Reed - There Is No Time.

Seen&Unseen: Life is more important than art

I've just started writing for Seen&Unseen, which aims to make Christian faith better understood in public, displaying the creative, imaginative, culture-shaping power of the Christian gospel.

In my first article I review the themes of recent art exhibitions tackling life’s big questions and the roles creators take. Part of my article is based on a paper I presented at The Art of Creation, a conference held at Kings College London and organised through the National Gallery’s Interfaith Sacred Art Forum, which brought together speakers from a wide range of disciplines to explore the intersection of art, theology, and ecology: 

"The conference was part of a year-long series of reflections on three paintings from the National Gallery’s Collection – Claude Monet’s Flood Waters, Vincent Van Gogh’s Long Grass with Butterflies, and Rachel Ruysch’s Flowers in a Vase - which raise ecological concerns. The papers exploring aspects of these paintings drew on an eclectic, yet fascinating, range of sources including: Maori beliefs; the Jewish and Christian scriptures; South African poetry; the Nouvelle Theologie; the theology of resonance; the writings of Gerard Manley Hopkins and Marilynne Robinson; and a range of related artworks including the work of Barnett Newman and Regan O’Callaghan. The conference initiated a dialogue regarding ways in which art and faith together can help us make reparative connections in a fragile world and its approaches suggest ways of engaging with the big issues that artists and curators are exploring."

In the article I suggest that these "ways of relating art, creation and faith suggest one approach to engaging with the big issues that artists and curators are exploring and which faith communities, including the Church, have explored throughout the history of humanity."

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Bruce Cockburn - To Keep The World We Know.

Tread lightly on the earth

Here's the reflection that I shared at St Andrew's Wickford this morning:

Cliff Richard once sang that he had no bags of baggage to slow him down, no comb and no toothbrush, nothing at all to haul. He was travelling light because he just couldn’t wait to be with his baby that night. I wonder whether Eugene Peterson had that song in mind when he translated this reading in ‘The Message’, his version of the Bible in contemporary language. His version of Jesus’ charge to his disciples starts like this: “Travel light. Comb and toothbrush and no extra luggage.”

Travel light. Jesus was calling the 12 to an itinerant ministry (Luke 9.1-6). Their focus was on going ahead of Jesus to prepare people for his coming and his message. So, they took nothing unnecessary with them, they weren’t distracted by small talk along the way, they welcomed hospitality when they received it but they simply moved on to the next place and the next person whenever they were not made welcome. No distractions, just a clear focus on their task and their message.

We also need to travel light in our individual lives and our corporate Church life in order that we are focused on our core task of sharing the good news about Jesus in actions and words. But there is a second reason for travelling light which is to do with the footprint that we leave on the world. By sitting light to possessions and by accepting hospitality as it was offered to them, they imposed as little as possible on the people, villages and areas through which they travelled. In our society, since the advent of the Industrial Revolution, we have done anything but. Our footprint has been heavy on our world as we have exploited its resources for our own gain and we are only now beginning to realise the consequences.

John V. Taylor's book, ‘Enough is Enough’, kickstarted the simple lifestyle movement. ‘Live more simply that others might simply live’ was their slogan and it is one that Eugene Peterson sees as coming out of the instructions that Jesus gave to his disciples before he sent them out on their mission: “Don’t load yourselves up with equipment,” he writes, “Keep it simple; you are the equipment. And no luxury inns – get a modest place and be content there until you leave.” Keep it simple. Travel light. These are the key messages of Jesus’ instructions. Why? To keep us focused on our message and mission and to tread lightly on the earth as we do so.

Travelling light
without
a purse
without
a bag
without
shoes
without
equipment
you are
the equipment
you are
all you need

Travelling light
no
special appeals
no
luxury hotels
no
looking
for the best
cooks
keep it
simple
keep it
modest
be
content

Travelling light
don’t stop
to make
small talk
with those
on the road
move on
reach
your destination
the harvest
is great
but the
workers
few

Travelling light
do stop
to bless
the homes
in which
you rest
for all
you receive
give thanks
and peace
don’t create
when made
unwelcome
shrug
your shoulders,
wipe
your feet
move on

Travelling light
don’t
fill your barns
simply
to eat,
drink
and
be merry
don’t
store up
riches
simply
to rust
and decay
don’t
store up
riches
simply
for others
to steal
your heart
will be
where
your riches
are

Travelling light
do
store up
acts
of love,
hope
and faith
do
store up
the things
that remain
do
store up
treasures
in heaven
your heart
will be
where
your riches
are

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Joni Mitchell - Big Yellow Taxi.

The Overview Effect and One Beautiful World

 

Here's the reflection I shared at today's music event in Spring of Hope Church for the One Beautiful World Arts Festival:

The main publicity image for the One Beautiful World Arts Festival is a painting of the world as seen from space by Jackie Burns, whose inspirational exhibition of space art is currently at St Andrew’s Wickford.

The first time that astronauts were able to photograph the whole Earth from space came with the first manned mission to the moon on Apollo 8. On December 24, 1968, astronauts Commander Frank Borman, Command Module Pilot Jim Lovell, and Lunar Module Pilot William Anders entered lunar orbit. William Anders captured an iconic picture of the Earth that day which came to be known as Earthrise. Anders said, “We came all this way to explore the Moon, and the most important thing is that we discovered the Earth.”

What Anders experienced is called The Overview Effect; a shift in awareness by astronauts seeing Earth from outer space as a “tiny, fragile ball of life.” The term was coined by author Frank White in 1987 in his book, The Overview Effect — Space Exploration and Human Evolution.

Apollo 8 astronaut Jim Lovell said: “The vast loneliness up here of the Moon is awe inspiring, and it makes you realize just what you have back there on Earth. The Earth from here is a grand oasis to the big vastness of space.”

Apollo 11 astronaut Michael Collins said: “The thing that really surprised me was that it [Earth] projected an air of fragility. And why, I don’t know. I don’t know to this day. I had a feeling it’s tiny, it’s shiny, it’s beautiful, it’s home, and it’s fragile.”

Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong said: “It suddenly struck me that that tiny pea, pretty and blue, was the Earth. I put up my thumb and shut one eye, and my thumb blotted out the planet Earth. I didn’t feel like a giant. I felt very, very small.”

Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin said: “From the distance of the moon, Earth was four times the size of a full moon seen from Earth. It was a brilliant jewel in the black velvet sky.”

Songwriter Julie Gold wrote a song called ‘From a distance’:

“From a distance, the world looks blue and green
And the snow-capped mountains white
From a distance, the ocean meets the stream
And the eagle takes to flight
From a distance, there is harmony
And it echoes through the land
It's the voice of hope
It's the voice of peace
It's the voice of every man”

The Overview Effect has inspired hope as it ‘has been turning astronauts into environmental advocates ever since the first person in space, Yuri Gagarin, marvelled at the planet from orbit in 1961. “People of the world, let us safeguard and enhance this beauty — not destroy it,” the Soviet cosmonaut said upon his return. A half-century later, ex-NASA astronaut José Hernández said that the view aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery in 2009 turned him into “an instant treehugger.” As a result, in recent years, astronauts, including the former NASA astronaut Mae Jemison and French astronaut Thomas Pesquet, have spoken at international climate negotiations, bringing their big-picture perspective with them.

Paintings like those of Jacqui Burns or photos like Earthrise can give us a sense of the Overview Effect and grow in us a greater concern for the one beautiful world we inhabit. For those of us who are religious, our concern for the planet should be heightened by our understanding that it was wonderfully created by God and that human beings have been given the task of caring for it by our Creator. As Julie Gold puts it in her song God is watching us from a distance and, therefore, watching how we care for the world he has made. 

But regardless of whether God’s creation of the world features on our radar or not, the Overview Effect – that sense of the beauty and fragility of our wonderful world – should compel us, as has been the case for so many astronauts, to want to address the climate emergency and save our one beautiful world from the jeopardy into which our human exploitation of resources has placed it.

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Ayo-Ayo: Kabiyesi.

Artlyst: Holiday Snaps – End Of Summer Art Diary

My latest diary article for Artlyst is an additional summer diary based on a trip to Mallorca :

‘At the end of the nineteenth century and for much of the twentieth, art and economic development through the growth of tourism went hand-in-hand in Mallorca; one way, among many, in which reason and art became co-terminus. Art and land have had a longstanding symbiotic relation here, whether documenting Mallorcan life or marvelling at natural beauty. Yet despite the broadening of art in media and concept that began in the twentieth century and continues into the present, as these current exhibitions show art retains its connection with the land – never more urgently than in our climate emergency – and also continues to explore personal and societal reasons for existence creating spaces for contemplation, challenge and change.'

For other posts on my Mallorcan visits, past and present, see here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

My other pieces for Artlyst are:

Interviews -

• 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

Articles -

• Heavenly Visions: Churches As Spaces For Contemporary Art
• In The Black Fantastic London’s Best Summer Exhibition
• Art Search: August 2022 Diary
• Re-imagining Essex July 2022 Diary
• Art Illuminating spirituality June 2022 Diary
• Hew Locke And The Christian Roots Of Carnival – Tate Britain
• Les Lalanne, Schütte And Gursky London Spring Exhibition Highlights
• Sensuous Sickert and Philpot Two Major UK Solo Exhibitions
• Venice To London May 2022 Diary
• Jacob Epstein, Louis Carreon, Titus Kaphar, Betty Spackman – April 2022 Diary
• Raphael The Human And Divine – National Gallery
• Damien Hirst The Visceral Reality Of Death
• Ali Cherri: Artist in Residence National Gallery
• Audrey Flack Carlo Crivelli And Robert Indiana – March Diary
• Surrealism Outside The Usual Story – Tate Modern
• Marcus Lyon Creates Fields of Vision At St Martin-in-the-Fields London
• My Art Diary And Other Thoughts February 2022
• Van Gogh Self Portraits The Infinite And The Ordinary
• Marvellous Icons: The London Jesuit Centre
• And On An Art Note: End Of Year Diary 2021
• Albrecht Dürer Travels Of A Renaissance Artist – National Gallery London
• Diasporan Identities: Life Between Islands Caribbean British Art – Tate Britain
• Isamu Noguchi: Socially Engaged Art – Barbican Centre
• Pablo Bronstein: A This-World Vision Of Hell
• Bosco Sodi: In The Beginning Of Wisdom
• George Condo Lockdown Works Hauser & Wirth
• Theaster Gates Clay As A Profound Metaphor
• Mark Rothko: Mesmerising And Intimate Works On Paper
• International Autumn Art Exhibition Reviews
• Roger Cecil: A Once In A Generation Welsh Painter
• Tino Sehgal: Location, Nature And Pandemic – Blenheim Palace
• Michael Armitage And The Power Of Art – Royal Academy
• Marie Raymond And Post-War Avant Garde Painting In Paris
• Rachel Kneebone: A Complex Tableau Of Organic And Geometric Forms
• Rodin: Suffering And Conflict – Tate Modern
• Barbara Hepworth: Symbols Of Art & Life – Hepworth Wakefield
• 20th Century Women Artists Challenging Conventions In Britain
• Chaiya Art Awards 2021 Gallery OXO
• Marc Chagall’s Exquisite Stained Glass Window Commissions
• George Gittoes Equal parts artist and warrior
• Keith Haring: Personal Spiritual Imagery
• Sean Scully: Philosophical Poetic Pastoral The 12 / Dark Windows
• Arthur Jafa: The Art Of Cutting And Pasting
• Blackpentecostal Breath: Spirit-Led Movement Jumps From Music To Visual Art
• Made in USA Ed Ruscha An American Perspective
• Robert Smithson: The Archetypal Nature Of Things
• If Jesus Is A Man Of Colour Why Did We Make Him Aryan?
• Cosmic Patches And Quilts Five Exhibitions
• Everyday Heroes: Southbank Exhibition Celebrates Low-paid Key Workers
• Entwining Spiritualism And Art – Three Shows
• Of Church And The Visual Arts
• Has The Word Master Reached Its Sell-By Date?
• The People Behind Community Is Kindness Billboard Campaign
• André Daughtry: Art, Rebellion And Racial Justice
• Salisbury Cathedral 800 Years Of Art And Spirit
• Home Alone Together Twenty Five Artists
• Botanical Mind Online: Art, Mysticism and the Cosmic Tree
• Salvador Dalí The Enigma of Faith
• Art And Faith A Time For Seeing
• Andy Warhol: Catholicism His Work, Faith And Legacy
• Kiki Smith: Embodied Art
• Art and Christianity Awards A Positive New Millennium Legacy
• Arnulf Rainer: 90th Birthday Exhibition Celebrated At Albertina Museum
• A Belonging Project And Exiles Loss and Displacement
• Robert Polidori: Fra Angelico Opus Operantis
• Art, Faith, Church Patronage and Modernity
• Contemplating the Spiritual in Contemporary Art
• Mat Collishaw Challenges Faith Perspectives With Ushaw Installation
• Waterloo Festival Launches At St. John’s Waterloo
• John Bellany Alan Davie Spiritual Joy and Magic
• RIFT Unites 17 Art and Science MA Graduates At Central St Martins
• Visionary Cities: Michael Takeo Magruder – British Library
• Van Gogh’s Religious Journey Around London
• William Congdon Holy Sites And The Kettle’s Yard Connection
• Mark Dean Premieres Pastiche Mass At Banqueting Hall Chelsea College of Arts
• John Kirby: The Torment
• Underlying The Civilised Facade
• Curating Spiritual Sensibilities In Changing Times
• Homeless Highlighted: New Beau Exhibition At St Martin-in-the-Fields
• Ken Currie: Protest Defeat And Victory
• Bosco Sodi: A Moment Of Genesis
• Bill Viola And The Art Of Contemplation
• Art In Churches 2018: Spiritual Combinations Explored
• Sister Wendy Beckett – A Reminiscence
• Guido Guidi: Per Strada Flowers Gallery London
• Peter Howson: The play is over – Flowers Gallery
• Camille Henrot: Scientific History And Creation Story Mash Up
• Nicola Green Explores Recent And Contemporary Religious Leaders – St Martin-in-the-Fields
• Art And The Consequences Of War Explored In Two Exhibitions
• Helaine Blumenfeld Translating Her Vision
• Sam Ivin: Physically Scratched Portraits Of Asylum Seekers Exhibited
• Sacred Noise: Explores Religion, Faith And Divinity
• Bill Viola: Quiet Contemplative Video Installation St Cuthbert’s Church Edinburgh
• The ground-breaking work of Sister Corita Kent
• Picasso To Souza: The Crucifixion Imagery Rarely Exhibited
• Michael Takeo Magruder: De / coding the Apocalypse – Panacea Museum
• Giorgio Griffa: The Golden Ratio And Inexplicable Knowledge
• Arabella Dorman Unveils New Installation At St James Church Piccadilly
• Can Art Transform Society?
• Art Awakening Humanity Conference Report
• Central St Martins in the Fields Design Then And Now
• The Sacramental And Liturgical Nature Of Conceptual Art
• Polish Art In Britain: Centenary Marked At London’s Ben Uri Gallery
• Refugee Artists: Learning from The Lives Of Others
• The Religious Impulses Of Robert Rauschenberg
• The Christian Science Connection Within The British Modern Art Movement
• Artists Rebranding The Christmas Tree Tradition
• Art Impacted - A Radical Response To Radicalisation
• The Art of St Martin-in-the-Fields
• Was Caravaggio A Good Christian?

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James MacMillan - O Radiant Dawn. 

Artlyst - Pablo Bronstein: A This-World Vision Of Hell

My latest review for Artlyst is of Pablo Bronstein: Hell in its Heyday at Sir John Soane's Museum:

'With this series, Bronstein is looking back at the world in which his own grandfather grew up and the technology that was prized at that time. He writes that the things that generated wealth and pleasure then ‘are now seen as responsible for much of the ruination and misery of the contemporary world’. 

Bronstein describes his panoramas as ‘a reinterpretation of the 19th and 20th-century glorification of technological and economic advancement’, ‘a bombastic cityscape in which the now misplaced optimism in ‘progress’ is drawn as hyperbole’ ... 

Not immediately and obviously an exhibition for the period of Cop26, this is, nevertheless, one that reveals our taste for the instant, excessive, tawdry, gaudy, flashy and swanky to be, not only kitsch and trivial, but also so seductively addictive that it has gradually yet inevitably led us to the edge of an environmental emergency which we, judging from the Cop26 negotiations, continue to only partially acknowledge and address. The unaffordable cost – the hellish expense – paid for our consumerist addictions is at the heart of this exhibition. Bronstein reveals us to truly be in the heyday of Hell.'

My other pieces for Artlyst are:

Interviews -

• 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

Articles -

• Bosco Sodi: In The Beginning Of Wisdom
• George Condo Lockdown Works Hauser & Wirth
• Theaster Gates Clay As A Profound Metaphor
• Mark Rothko: Mesmerising And Intimate Works On Paper
• International Autumn Art Exhibition Reviews
• Roger Cecil: A Once In A Generation Welsh Painter
• Tino Sehgal: Location, Nature And Pandemic – Blenheim Palace
• Michael Armitage And The Power Of Art – Royal Academy
• Marie Raymond And Post-War Avant Garde Painting In Paris
• Rachel Kneebone: A Complex Tableau Of Organic And Geometric Forms
• Rodin: Suffering And Conflict – Tate Modern
• Barbara Hepworth: Symbols Of Art & Life – Hepworth Wakefield
• 20th Century Women Artists Challenging Conventions In Britain
• Chaiya Art Awards 2021 Gallery OXO
• Marc Chagall’s Exquisite Stained Glass Window Commissions
• George Gittoes Equal parts artist and warrior
• Keith Haring: Personal Spiritual Imagery
• Sean Scully: Philosophical Poetic Pastoral The 12 / Dark Windows
• Arthur Jafa: The Art Of Cutting And Pasting
• Blackpentecostal Breath: Spirit-Led Movement Jumps From Music To Visual Art
• Made in USA Ed Ruscha An American Perspective
• Robert Smithson: The Archetypal Nature Of Things
• If Jesus Is A Man Of Colour Why Did We Make Him Aryan?
• Cosmic Patches And Quilts Five Exhibitions
• Everyday Heroes: Southbank Exhibition Celebrates Low-paid Key Workers
• Entwining Spiritualism And Art – Three Shows
• Of Church And The Visual Arts
• Has The Word Master Reached Its Sell-By Date?
• The People Behind Community Is Kindness Billboard Campaign
• André Daughtry: Art, Rebellion And Racial Justice
• Salisbury Cathedral 800 Years Of Art And Spirit
• Home Alone Together Twenty Five Artists
• Botanical Mind Online: Art, Mysticism and the Cosmic Tree
• Salvador Dalí The Enigma of Faith
• Art And Faith A Time For Seeing
• Andy Warhol: Catholicism His Work, Faith And Legacy
• Kiki Smith: Embodied Art
• Art and Christianity Awards A Positive New Millennium Legacy
• Arnulf Rainer: 90th Birthday Exhibition Celebrated At Albertina Museum
• A Belonging Project And Exiles Loss and Displacement
• Robert Polidori: Fra Angelico Opus Operantis
• Art, Faith, Church Patronage and Modernity
• Contemplating the Spiritual in Contemporary Art
• Mat Collishaw Challenges Faith Perspectives With Ushaw Installation
• Waterloo Festival Launches At St. John’s Waterloo
• John Bellany Alan Davie Spiritual Joy and Magic
• RIFT Unites 17 Art and Science MA Graduates At Central St Martins
• Visionary Cities: Michael Takeo Magruder – British Library
• Van Gogh’s Religious Journey Around London
• William Congdon Holy Sites And The Kettle’s Yard Connection
• Mark Dean Premieres Pastiche Mass At Banqueting Hall Chelsea College of Arts
• John Kirby: The Torment
• Underlying The Civilised Facade
• Curating Spiritual Sensibilities In Changing Times
• Homeless Highlighted: New Beau Exhibition At St Martin-in-the-Fields
• Ken Currie: Protest Defeat And Victory
• Bosco Sodi: A Moment Of Genesis
• Bill Viola And The Art Of Contemplation
• Art In Churches 2018: Spiritual Combinations Explored
• Sister Wendy Beckett – A Reminiscence
• Guido Guidi: Per Strada Flowers Gallery London
• Peter Howson: The play is over – Flowers Gallery
• Camille Henrot: Scientific History And Creation Story Mash Up
• Nicola Green Explores Recent And Contemporary Religious Leaders – St Martin-in-the-Fields
• Art And The Consequences Of War Explored In Two Exhibitions
• Helaine Blumenfeld Translating Her Vision
• Sam Ivin: Physically Scratched Portraits Of Asylum Seekers Exhibited
• Sacred Noise: Explores Religion, Faith And Divinity
• Bill Viola: Quiet Contemplative Video Installation St Cuthbert’s Church Edinburgh
• The ground-breaking work of Sister Corita Kent
• Picasso To Souza: The Crucifixion Imagery Rarely Exhibited
• Michael Takeo Magruder: De / coding the Apocalypse – Panacea Museum
• Giorgio Griffa: The Golden Ratio And Inexplicable Knowledge
• Arabella Dorman Unveils New Installation At St James Church Piccadilly
• Can Art Transform Society?
• Art Awakening Humanity Conference Report
• Central St Martins in the Fields Design Then And Now
• The Sacramental And Liturgical Nature Of Conceptual Art
• Polish Art In Britain: Centenary Marked At London’s Ben Uri Gallery
• Refugee Artists: Learning from The Lives Of Others
• The Religious Impulses Of Robert Rauschenberg
• The Christian Science Connection Within The British Modern Art Movement
• Artists Rebranding The Christmas Tree Tradition
• Art Impacted - A Radical Response To Radicalisation
• The Art of St Martin-in-the-Fields
• Was Caravaggio A Good Christian?

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Gavin Bryars With Tom Waits - Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet.

Becoming a Westminster EcoChurch

 

Becoming a Westminster EcoChurch is on Sunday, 14 November at 1.30pm for 2pm start.

Learn more about the EcoChurch process, meet others from different Westminster faith groups who are also interested in this subject.

In light of the challenge of the global climate emergency and COP26 how do we respond locally as faith groups in Westminster? How might we take a lead as institutions of faith in answering the need to live sustainably?

One response might be to develop concrete local climate action through EcoChurch. This event hopes to help us make personal connections, raise the potential of your own emerging ‘EcoChurch’ and give you an opportunity to gain insight from people who have experience transforming their local faith communities through the EcoChurch process.

Register at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/becoming-a-westminster-ecochurch-tickets-178106851387?aff=ebdssbdestsearch.

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James Taylor - Fire And Rain.

Now is the time

Here's the reflection I shared during the lunchtime Eucharist at St Martin-in-the-Fields today:

'Sir David Attenborough has issued a warning ahead of the UN climate summit in Glasgow that leaders must act now or “it’ll be too late” for the planet.

Cop26 has been billed as the last best chance to keep global temperature rises to no more than 1.5C, with Sir David critical of those who deny the climate crisis.

In conversation with BBC science editor David Shukman, the naturalist and broadcaster said: “Every month that passes, it becomes more and more incontrovertible, the changes to the planet that we are responsible for that are having these devastating effects.”

He added: “If we don’t act now, it will be too late. We have to do it now.”'

The banner behind me with its coloured stripes is intended to remind us of the narrow window of time we currently face in regard to addressing climate change by highlighting how we have witnessed temperatures change across the globe over the past century or more. The colour of each stripe represents the temperature of a single year, ordered from the earliest available data to now.

There is a narrow window in which we can change. The time is short, and the gate is narrow, as Jesus said to his disciples (Luke 13.22-30).

When he spoke those words, Jesus knew his time was limited. He knew Jerusalem and death was fast approaching. He knew that through his ministry in Israel God's people were being given an opportunity to respond in a new way, yet the opportunity would not be there for long. Therefore, he and his disciples travelled the length and breadth of Israel in the three years before his crucifixion to share the good news of the opportunity that was before the people but only for a short time.

They went with the message that ‘The Kingdom of God is near you now.’ Now was the time when the Kingdom of God could be seen and touched and experienced because now was the time that God himself was with them. He sent his disciples ahead of him to say that the Kingdom of God was coming near, that it would be experienced in the time when he arrived. So, the time to respond and experience and join was now.

The Gospels, therefore, are full of urgency. Jesus' parables are stories of decision, stories in which people find out that time has beaten them and the moment for response has passed. Are we like, the wise or foolish bridesmaids? Those that were ready for the coming of the bridegroom, or not? Are we like, the farmer who built his big barns planning to eat, drink and be merry, but whose life was demanded of him that night? Or will we be like the Prodigal Son or realised change was possible and seized the moment by returning to his father and being reconciled.

Life consistently challenges us to decide in the moment. If there is one thing that the pandemic has taught us, it is that life is short, and we do not know what is around the corner. Therefore, we should not put off what we know we should do today. Our time is short, the gate is narrow, the time for decision is now.

That's certainly the case in regard to the climate emergency. 'UN climate chief Patricia Espinosa has urged countries to redouble their climate efforts or face a “destabilised world and endless suffering” as a result of the crisis.

“Overshooting the temperature goals will lead to a destabilised world and endless suffering, especially among those who have contributed the least to the greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere.”

A report from UN Climate Change has been produced so countries have the most up-to-date information before Cop26 and includes extra plans put forward since a full analysis on the issue in September. Ms Espinosa has said the update confirmed what the earlier report showed: “That we are nowhere near where science says we should be.”

Cop26 President Alok Sharma says the latest report makes clear that “to protect the world from the most devastating impacts of climate change, countries must take more ambitious action on emissions, and they must act now”.'

In the words of the singer-songwriter Lou Reed:

'This is no time to ignore Warnings
This is no time to clear the Plate
Let's not be sorry after the fact
And let the past become our fate

This is no time for phony Rhetoric
This is no time for political Speech
This is a time for action
Because the future's within Reach'

So, just as Jesus stated in relation to his own mission, we too need to strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able because by then it will be too late. In our current situation, that prediction would be a disaster for the generations that follow us. Amen.

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Counting Crows - Big Yellow Taxi.

Living God's Future Now - October 2021

 

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

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

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

The online programme includes:

• Regular weekly workshops: Biblical Studies (Monday’s fortnightly), Sermon Preparation (Tuesdays) and Community of Practitioners (Wednesdays)
• One-off workshops on topics relevant to lockdown such as ‘Growing online communities’ and ‘Grief, Loss & Remembering’

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

Regular – Weekly or Fortnightly

Tuesdays: Sermon Preparation Workshop, 16:30 (GMT), livestreamed at https://www.facebook.com/theHeartEdge/.

Wednesdays: Community of Practitioners workshop, 16:00 (GMT), Zoom meeting. Email jonathan.evens@smitf.org to register.

Fortnightly on Mondays: Biblical Studies class, 19:30-21:00 (GMT), Zoom meeting. Register in advance: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMrcOmgrTgsHt2ceY7LepLhQYqQxS1G1ix9. 2021 dates - Gospels & Acts:

• 11 Oct: Lecture 19 John's Gospel The Book of Signs 1
• 25 Oct: Lecture 20 John's Gospel The Book of Signs 2

October

HeartEdge Youth Conversation: Heritage – Sunday 3 October, 14:00 BST (15:00 CAT), livestream. Livestreamed at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCm7v53KPweMpx2IPQnvE3tw. Following successful HeartEdge Lent conversations the HeartEdge hub for Southern Africa is holding a second series of conversations in October 2021. These will feature young people from the Cathedral of St Mary the Virgin, Johannesburg. The first topic / theme is Heritage / Culture, September being Heritage month in South Africa. Panel members for this topic will be Fr. Guma, Jason, a member of the diaspora community, and Fr. Richard Carter from St Martin-in-the-Fields.

Autumn Lecture Series – We Have a Dream: The Dream and the Journey, Neil MacGregor, Issam Kourbaj, Ruth Padel and Lucy Winkett. Monday 4 October, 19:00 – 20:30 (GMT). Tickets: www.smitf.org/lectures. "After the ravages of the pandemic, it’s time for church and society to learn to dream again. Dr Martin Luther King Jr, had a dream of racial equality and social justice. Inspired by his dream, we’re gathering a chorus of dreamers from different walks of life to inform and shape our dreams for the years to come." (Revd Dr Sam Wells) We have a dream, the Autumn Lecture Series at St Martin-in-the-Fields for 2021 brings together an inspirational group of speakers. It invites them to dream again on the vital issues of our nation and planet, after a pandemic that has changed the way we live and relate to one another and the world. Drawing on Martin Luther King Jr’s famous words, we aim in this series to address for today some of the essential choices and needs and hopes facing our precious and yet wounded world. Who are the prophetic voices for our time, and how can the church answer that challenge? How do we respond to the crucial issues reshaping our world like migration and those seeking sanctuary and safety through their journeys? How does racialised justice and ‘Black Lives Matter’ confront our history, our present inequalities and the way we live our future? What is the threat to our planet and the danger of extinction, and what is so crucial at the COP26 Global Summit? What is the place of theatre and the creative arts in the way we learn to understand our world and live our dreams? What is the vision of St Martin’s, at the heart, on the edge, seeking a vision of faith that can find God’s abundance even in scarcity that can inspire people to dream again even in the face of adversity? These lectures will be live, in person, at St Martin-in-the-Fields, and will also be live-streamed online. There will be a chance for questions from the audience, and we hope to gather with the speakers afterwards at a reception. We ask those booking tickets to make a donation of £10 towards the cost of the series, but it is also our aim to make the lectures open to all, so limited free places are available. Those who can give more are invited to pay for a free place for someone else to make sure this programme is available for all.

HeartEdge Spotlight – Suburbia: Thursday 7 October, 14:00-15:30, zoom. Register at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/spotlight-suburbia-tickets-174182302957. With Revd Justin Dodd, St Barnabas, Ealing. Interactive walking tour of this suburban location. Our new SpotLight series builds practitioner networks across similar geographical locations. Are you working in a suburban setting? This event is for you. SpotLight is a new HeartEdge initiative seeking to build supportive practitioner networks focusing upon particular geographical locations. SpotLight: suburbia, SpotLight: city centre, SpotLight :rural and SpotLight: coastal are experiments in being with God and sharing experience of using the HeartEdge 4 C’s in distinctive locations. In a 90 minute session on Zoom, one practitioner will tell their story with a livestream walking tour of their location in the first 20 minutes. This practitioner will seek insights from the group on one particular aspect of their mission or ministry relating to their context. Participants will listen and reflect together sharing joys and challenges of their work, and offering their own hard won wisdom. HeartEdge staff specializing in the 4Cs will collaborate too. These SpotLights will take place on a termly basis, each time livestreaming from a different location.

Creation Care Course Week 1: Thursday 7 October, 19:30-21:00, zoom. Register at https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAkcu6opz4rEtFamJIs6M2cAlvzTQmJT0a_. This 4-week Creation Care Course is a unique collaboration between Chester Diocese, HeartEdge, Melanesian Mission UK and Southampton University. The environment is God’s gift to everyone. We have a responsibility towards each other to look after God’s Creation. Tackling climate change is a vital part of this responsibility. In a recent address to faith leaders on 4th February, ahead of the Glasgow conference on climate change in November 2021, the Archbishop of Canterbury said: “To think climate change is a problem of the future rather than a scourge of the present is the blind perspective of the privileged. We look around and see that Mozambique has been hit again by tropical storms. In Nigeria, desertification has contributed indirectly to conflict between people competing for dwindling resources. Floods and cyclones have devastated crops in Melanesia, risking poverty and food insecurity.” In this 4-week Creation Care Course, we will provide you with vital information about climate change, its impacts on people, and reflect on our role as Christians in taking practical climate action. In Week 1: Caring for Creation (7 October 2021, 19.30-21.00), we will take a theological perspective on creation care and tackling climate change, using bible studies and a wide range of theological resources. Biography of Principal Contributors: Marie Schlenker is a PhD candidate at the University of Southampton, researching climate change impacts in Solomon Islands. Marie conducts her research in close collaboration with the Anglican Church of Melanesia and the Melanesian Mission UK. She holds a BSc in Geosciences, a MSc in Environmental Physics and a Postgraduate Certificate in Disaster Management. Catherine Duce is the Assistant Vicar for Partnership Development at St Martin-in-the-Fields. She works for HeartEdge – a movement for congregational renewal in the broad church. https://www.heartedge.org/. There will be further input from members of Melanesian Mission UK and wider organisations promoting church engagement on this vital topic as we journey towards COP 26. To get the most out of this consecutive course, we highly recommend attending all four sessions. However, individual bookings will be possible as well.

Ideas and inspiration for All Souls, Remembrance, Funeral Ministry and times of grieving: Saturday, 9 October 2021, 11:30 – 15:45 BST, Sacred Trinity Church, Chapel Street, Salford M3 5DW. Register at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/music-and-liturgy-for-times-of-loss-and-lament-tickets-169429798087. This half day will be perfect for clergy, church musicians and lay leaders to find inspiration for the times when we want to grieve with others. We will be introducing new songs, hymns and chants, giving some tips on liturgy, sharing resources and hearing from one another. This is organised by HeartEdge and will be led by Andrew Earis, Director of Music at St Martin-in-the-Fields and Andy Salmon, North West Coordinator of HeartEdge and Rector of Sacred Trinity. The communal music-making will be supported by the new Manchester HeartEdge Choral Scholars. The day costs £5 and we will supply plenty of tea, coffee and cake but you need to bring your own lunch. Please note that there are very limited parking spaces outside the church but it is a short walk from Manchester Victoria and Salford Central and on many bus routes. There are car parks near by. The day will finish with a public concert of about 40 minutes, which is part of the new Great Sacred Music series run by HeartEdge Manchester.

HeartEdge Youth Conversation: Vaccinations – Sunday 10 October, 14:00 BST (15:00 CAT), livestream. Livestreamed at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCm7v53KPweMpx2IPQnvE3tw. Following successful HeartEdge Lent conversations the HeartEdge hub for Southern Africa is holding a second series of conversations in October 2021. These will feature young people from the Cathedral of St Mary the Virgin, Johannesburg. The second topic / theme is Vaccinations. Panel members for the vaccination topic will be an already vaccinated young person, a young person reluctant to vaccinate and a medical doctor. In addition, the Revd Catherine Duce, from St Martin-in-the-Fields, will speak about the spiritual aspects of vaccination.

Reconciling Mission: Healing the Earth: Tuesday, 12 October, 14:00 (BST), zoom - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/healing-the-earth-reconciling-mission-tickets-139537379057. What contributions can Christians and Anglican Churches make to addressing the global environmental crisis, and what it might mean for us to play a part in healing the earth, instead of exploiting it? Alastair McKay (facilitating), Executive Director, Reconciliation Initiatives, Ali Angus, Leader of Eco Church, St Leonard’s Streatham, Alex Hilton, Head of Sustainability, HM Revenue & Customs, and Rachel Mash, Environmental Coordinator, Anglican Church of Southern Africa.

Commerce event: Wednesday 13 October 2021, 10.00 am - 3.30 pm, at Belle Vue Baptist Church, Southend-on-Sea SS1 2QZ. Lunch included. To book email Nicky Snoad at nicky.snoad@stbbc.org.uk. A day exploring creatively extending mission and generating finance through commerce, enterprise and hospitality.

Creation Care Course Week 2: Thursday 14 October, 19:30-21:00, zoom. Register at https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAkcu6opz4rEtFamJIs6M2cAlvzTQmJT0a_. This 4-week Creation Care Course is a unique collaboration between Chester Diocese, HeartEdge, Melanesian Mission UK and Southampton University. The environment is God’s gift to everyone. We have a responsibility towards each other to look after God’s Creation. Tackling climate change is a vital part of this responsibility. In a recent address to faith leaders on 4th February, ahead of the Glasgow conference on climate change in November 2021, the Archbishop of Canterbury said: “To think climate change is a problem of the future rather than a scourge of the present is the blind perspective of the privileged. We look around and see that Mozambique has been hit again by tropical storms. In Nigeria, desertification has contributed indirectly to conflict between people competing for dwindling resources. Floods and cyclones have devastated crops in Melanesia, risking poverty and food insecurity.” In this 4-week Creation Care Course, we will provide you with vital information about climate change, its impacts on people, and reflect on our role as Christians in taking practical climate action. In Week 2: Understanding Climate Change (14 October 2021, 19.30-21:00), we will look at climate change, its drivers and impacts from a scientific perspective. Biography of Principal Contributors: Marie Schlenker is a PhD candidate at the University of Southampton, researching climate change impacts in Solomon Islands. Marie conducts her research in close collaboration with the Anglican Church of Melanesia and the Melanesian Mission UK. She holds a BSc in Geosciences, a MSc in Environmental Physics and a Postgraduate Certificate in Disaster Management. Catherine Duce is the Assistant Vicar for Partnership Development at St Martin-in-the-Fields. She works for HeartEdge – a movement for congregational renewal in the broad church. https://www.heartedge.org/. There will be further input from members of Melanesian Mission UK and wider organisations promoting church engagement on this vital topic as we journey towards COP 26. To get the most out of this consecutive course, we highly recommend attending all four sessions. However, individual bookings will be possible as well.

(Still) Calling from the Edge: Saturday 16 October, 10:00-16:30, zoom. Register at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/still-calling-from-the-edge-tickets-164001249151. (Still) Calling from the Edge is the 10th annual conference on Disability & Church. It's a partnership between St Martin in the Fields and Inclusive Church, hosted online by HeartEdge. Since 2012 these conferences have held space for disabled people to gather, to resource each other and the church. They are uniquely for rather than about disabled people, who are a majority of planners, speakers and delegates. In this year's conference we explore call as challenge, lament and vocation. Through art, music, story and theology, in plenary talks, small groups, workshops and liturgy. It's a cry for justice that marks a milestone: 10 years of calling from the edge. ''Disabled people have a distinct prophetic ministry to the church. In order for the church to fulfil its prophetic ministry to society, it needs disabled people.” John Hull (Opening the Roof, 2012)

Culture Clinic: Monday 18 October, 11:00-12:00, zoom. Register at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/culture-clinic-tickets-165198654623. Culture Clinic is for anyone and everyone looking to develop their church cultural activity. Stuck? Ideas? Check in for 1:1 support. Culture Clinic is the new monthly offer for anyone and everyone looking for support in developing their church cultural engagement - from setting up a gallery space, developing space gigs, hosting comedy or movie nights. The clinic offers 'how to'... helps. Space to share your stories, experience, ideas... Space to find support. Culture vulture - but stuck? Or have ideas to share? Or looking for a fellow conspirator? Why not check into the clinic? Always practical, useful, full of ideas and tactics. The clinic is monthly 1:1 support with Sarah Rogers - HeartEdge Culture Development coordinator.

Autumn Lecture Series – We Have a Dream: The Dream and Racialised Justice, Robert Beckford, Chine McDonald and David Lammy MP. Monday 18 October, 19:00 – 20:30 (GMT). Tickets: www.smitf.org/lectures. "After the ravages of the pandemic, it’s time for church and society to learn to dream again. Dr Martin Luther King Jr, had a dream of racial equality and social justice. Inspired by his dream, we’re gathering a chorus of dreamers from different walks of life to inform and shape our dreams for the years to come." (Revd Dr Sam Wells) We have a dream, the Autumn Lecture Series at St Martin-in-the-Fields for 2021 brings together an inspirational group of speakers. It invites them to dream again on the vital issues of our nation and planet, after a pandemic that has changed the way we live and relate to one another and the world. Drawing on Martin Luther King Jr’s famous words, we aim in this series to address for today some of the essential choices and needs and hopes facing our precious and yet wounded world. Who are the prophetic voices for our time, and how can the church answer that challenge? How do we respond to the crucial issues reshaping our world like migration and those seeking sanctuary and safety through their journeys? How does racialised justice and ‘Black Lives Matter’ confront our history, our present inequalities and the way we live our future? What is the threat to our planet and the danger of extinction, and what is so crucial at the COP26 Global Summit? What is the place of theatre and the creative arts in the way we learn to understand our world and live our dreams? What is the vision of St Martin’s, at the heart, on the edge, seeking a vision of faith that can find God’s abundance even in scarcity that can inspire people to dream again even in the face of adversity? These lectures will be live, in person, at St Martin-in-the-Fields, and will also be live-streamed online. There will be a chance for questions from the audience, and we hope to gather with the speakers afterwards at a reception. We ask those booking tickets to make a donation of £10 towards the cost of the series, but it is also our aim to make the lectures open to all, so limited free places are available. Those who can give more are invited to pay for a free place for someone else to make sure this programme is available for all.

Fast Futures: Thursday 21 October, 19:00-20:30 (BST), zoom. Register at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/fast-foward-tickets-163532577341. Foresight is the ability to think effectively about how the future might be different, so you can prepare for anything, and start to make changes in your own life, in ministry, and in society, for the better. Fast Futures is TryTank’s foresight training and is led by Lorenzo Lebrija. Fast Futures is a 90-minute, introductory-level learning experience that will teach you how to get started with your own creative foresight. This course is for you if: You’re curious about foresight, but don’t know anything about it yet! You want to learn a few habits that can help you spot changes faster, so that you can act faster and adapt faster. You’re excited to stretch your imagination. You want to take away practical skills you can share with others, to help them think faithfully about the future more creatively and optimistically.

Creation Care Course Week 3: Thursday 21 October, 19:30-21:00, zoom. Register at https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAkcu6opz4rEtFamJIs6M2cAlvzTQmJT0a_. This 4-week Creation Care Course is a unique collaboration between Chester Diocese, HeartEdge, Melanesian Mission UK and Southampton University. The environment is God’s gift to everyone. We have a responsibility towards each other to look after God’s Creation. Tackling climate change is a vital part of this responsibility. In a recent address to faith leaders on 4th February, ahead of the Glasgow conference on climate change in November 2021, the Archbishop of Canterbury said: “To think climate change is a problem of the future rather than a scourge of the present is the blind perspective of the privileged. We look around and see that Mozambique has been hit again by tropical storms. In Nigeria, desertification has contributed indirectly to conflict between people competing for dwindling resources. Floods and cyclones have devastated crops in Melanesia, risking poverty and food insecurity.” In this 4-week Creation Care Course, we will provide you with vital information about climate change, its impacts on people, and reflect on our role as Christians in taking practical climate action. In Week 3: Living Climate Change – Stories from Melanesia (21 October 2021, 19.30-21.00), we will learn about the effects of climate change on people and draw upon examples of climate impacts and human responses in Melanesia. Biography of Principal Contributors: Marie Schlenker is a PhD candidate at the University of Southampton, researching climate change impacts in Solomon Islands. Marie conducts her research in close collaboration with the Anglican Church of Melanesia and the Melanesian Mission UK. She holds a BSc in Geosciences, a MSc in Environmental Physics and a Postgraduate Certificate in Disaster Management. Catherine Duce is the Assistant Vicar for Partnership Development at St Martin-in-the-Fields. She works for HeartEdge – a movement for congregational renewal in the broad church. https://www.heartedge.org/. There will be further input from members of Melanesian Mission UK and wider organisations promoting church engagement on this vital topic as we journey towards COP 26. To get the most out of this consecutive course, we highly recommend attending all four sessions. However, individual bookings will be possible as well.

Making UK Connections: Voices of the Pacific – Pacific arts & culture – Thursday 21 October - online 20:00 BST / 7am Pacific Time (22/10), zoom. Register at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/making-connections-voices-from-the-indigenous-pacific-tickets-173884562407. A panel of artists and performers talk about Pacific arts and culture plus the impact climate change has had on artist livelihoods in the Pacific. A celebration of Pacific arts and culture in the lead up to COP26, a three-week festival (9-30 October 2021) is being produced by Pacific Island Artists Connection and hosted by the iconic St Martin-in-the-Fields in London's Trafalgar Square. This inaugural event brings together communities from Fiji, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea who are based in the Pacific region as well as in the UK's large Pacific diaspora. The festival is free to enter and includes an art exhibition curated by the talented Sulu Daunivalu (Director, Museum of Pacific & Oceanic Art, Latvia), heritage arts and products, panel discussions, interactive activities and more. Showcasing both heritage and contemporary arts, including a wide variety of visual art that has never been on show before now, the exhibition will take visitors on a journey across the Pacific region whilst highlighting the impact climate change is having on these small island nations and how Pacific communities are fighting back.

Autumn Lecture Series – We Have a Dream: The Dream for Our Planet, Rt Revd Nicholas Holtam, Dr Emily Grossman, Dr Austen Ivereigh. Monday 25 October, 19:00 – 20:30 (GMT). Tickets: www.smitf.org/lectures. "After the ravages of the pandemic, it’s time for church and society to learn to dream again. Dr Martin Luther King Jr, had a dream of racial equality and social justice. Inspired by his dream, we’re gathering a chorus of dreamers from different walks of life to inform and shape our dreams for the years to come." (Revd Dr Sam Wells) We have a dream, the Autumn Lecture Series at St Martin-in-the-Fields for 2021 brings together an inspirational group of speakers. It invites them to dream again on the vital issues of our nation and planet, after a pandemic that has changed the way we live and relate to one another and the world. Drawing on Martin Luther King Jr’s famous words, we aim in this series to address for today some of the essential choices and needs and hopes facing our precious and yet wounded world. Who are the prophetic voices for our time, and how can the church answer that challenge? How do we respond to the crucial issues reshaping our world like migration and those seeking sanctuary and safety through their journeys? How does racialised justice and ‘Black Lives Matter’ confront our history, our present inequalities and the way we live our future? What is the threat to our planet and the danger of extinction, and what is so crucial at the COP26 Global Summit? What is the place of theatre and the creative arts in the way we learn to understand our world and live our dreams? What is the vision of St Martin’s, at the heart, on the edge, seeking a vision of faith that can find God’s abundance even in scarcity that can inspire people to dream again even in the face of adversity? These lectures will be live, in person, at St Martin-in-the-Fields, and will also be live-streamed online. There will be a chance for questions from the audience, and we hope to gather with the speakers afterwards at a reception. We ask those booking tickets to make a donation of £10 towards the cost of the series, but it is also our aim to make the lectures open to all, so limited free places are available. Those who can give more are invited to pay for a free place for someone else to make sure this programme is available for all.

Making UK Connections: Voices of the Pacific: New solidarity-our faiths – Thursday 28 October – 10:00 BST (9pm Pacific Time), zoom. Register at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/making-connections-voices-from-the-indigenous-pacific-tickets-173888614527. A panel of faith and climate mitigation leaders including His Excellency The Most Rev. Dr Peter Loy Chong DD, Archbishop of Suva, discuss what pacific island communities most need from Cop26 and how communities of faith can connect anew to amplify the calls for urgent action. A celebration of Pacific arts and culture in the lead up to COP26, a three-week festival (9-30 October 2021) is being produced by Pacific Island Artists Connection and hosted by the iconic St Martin-in-the-Fields in London's Trafalgar Square. This inaugural event brings together communities from Fiji, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea who are based in the Pacific region as well as in the UK's large Pacific diaspora. The festival is free to enter and includes an art exhibition curated by the talented Sulu Daunivalu (Director, Museum of Pacific & Oceanic Art, Latvia), heritage arts and products, panel discussions, interactive activities and more. Showcasing both heritage and contemporary arts, including a wide variety of visual art that has never been on show before now, the exhibition will take visitors on a journey across the Pacific region whilst highlighting the impact climate change is having on these small island nations and how Pacific communities are fighting back.

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

Are we missing something? Be in touch with your ideas for development.

Want to run an online workshop or series with HeartEdge? Don't keep it to yourself. Be in touch and let's plan.

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Karen Peris - I Would Sing Along.