Art of Faith: A City Walk

Together with fellow commission4mission member Mark Lewis, I have been involved in researching the Art of Faith walk, recently produced by the Corporation of London with the support of the Diocese of London. This walk enables walkers to discover contemporary works of art in the City’s historic churches, including work by Henry Moore, Damien Hirst and Jacob Epstein.

The City of London has the greatest concentration of historic church buildings anywhere in the country. In the 16th century there were 111 churches in the City. 80 were destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666 with 51 subsequently rebuilt under the direction of Sir Christopher Wren. Today there are no fewer than 42 historic churches situated within the Square Mile, all of which are either Grade I or Grade II listed, and together they illustrate an extraordinary breadth of architectural history.

Less well known is the extent to which they contain significant examples of art commissioned from the 20th century onwards. Many of the churches in the City were damaged by bombing during World War II, providing opportunities in the post-war reconstruction to engage with contemporary art. These artworks are by prominent modern artists such as Jacob Epstein, Patrick Heron, Damien Hirst, Henry Moore, John Skeaping and Bill Viola, as well as work by other reputable artists such as Thetis Blacker, John Hayward and Keith New.

The Art of Faith walk is the second Art Trail created through the work of commission4mission. The first was for the Barking Episcopal Area and was researched and developed by commission4mission member, artist and Fine Arts lecturer, Mark Lewis. Again, a leaflet (Barking_Art_trail) publicises the Trail and provides information about the featured artists and churches. The leaflet includes a map showing the churches featured on the Trail together with contact details, so that visits to one or more churches can be planned in advance.

Mark Lewis’ brief was to research commissioned art and craft in the Episcopal Area from the past 100 years. While stained glass is the dominant Ecclesiastical art form, he was also concerned to show a diversity and variety of media and styles within the selections made. He highlighted works such as the significant mosaic by John Piper at St Paul’s Harlow and the striking ‘Spencer-esque’ mural by Fyffe Christie at St Margaret’s Standford Rivers. Churches with particularly fine collections of artworks included: St Albans, Romford; St Andrew’s Leytonstone; St Barnabas Walthamstow; St Margaret’s Barking; St Mary’s South Woodford; and St Paul’s Goodmayes.

The Art Trail for the Barking Episcopal Area also inspired Revd David New from Worcester to put together his own informative Art Trail leaflet about Thomas Denny‘s stained glass work focusing on churches in the Three Choirs area – Gloucestershire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Van Morrison - Contemplation Rose.

Discover & explore: Patrick Heron (Art)

Today's Discover & explore service at St Stephen Walbrook, explored the theme of art through the life and work of Patrick Heron. The service featured the Choral Scholars of St Martin-in-the-Fields singing Come, ye sons of art by Henry Purcell, Super flumina Babylonis by Giovanni da Palestrina, Aspire to God My Soul by David Bednall and Cantate Domino by Pitoni.

The next Discover & explore service is on Monday 3 April at 1.10pm when, together with the Choral Scholars, I will explore the theme of internet (and the London Internet Church) through the life and work of Peter Delaney.

There will then be a short break and the next series of Discover & explore services, which will explore Reformation500 themes, will begin on 24th April.

In today's service I said:

The Guardian’s obituary for Patrick Heron was entitled ‘The Colour of Genius’. In it, Heron was lauded as having been “one of the half dozen important British painters of the twentieth century.” “Many things contributed to this country's late awakening to the power and importance of modern art after the second world war, but among them Heron's work as painter, critic, and polemicist was a key factor.”

Heron was one of Britain’s foremost abstract painters. He was also a writer and designer, based in St. Ives, Cornwall. He lived in Cornwall as a child from the age of five and returned there for the final 14 months of the war in order to work for the potter, Bernard Leach. “One of his friends was the Guardian journalist Mark Arnold-Forster, who, a few years later, sold him Eagle's Nest, a house with a famous garden high above the Atlantic at Zennor, near St Ives, where Heron had spent childhood holidays. Heron's move to Eagle's Nest coincided with his move into non-figurative painting, and among his first works of the period were the garden paintings, opalescent meshes of colour streaked and dribbled vertically on to the canvases.”

His work became recognised for its bold use of colour and light which redefined British abstract art in the 1960’s. Initially inspired by the French painters Henri Matisse and Georges Braque, he turned to abstraction in his mid-30s, under the influence of Abstract Expressionism, in particular the Colour Field Painting style popularized by Mark Rothko and Barnett Newman. His work is noted for its saturated colour and – despite being unmistakeably abstract – the essential naturalism of its forms. These qualities are apparent in the dazzling kneelers he designed in 1993 to surround Henry Moore’s circular altar at St Stephen Walbrook.

Heron insisted that he ‘was not a member of any church’ and his images were made from a ‘purely pictorial experience’. Our kneelers were the only work he made for a church and the only other Ecclesiastical connection to his work is that the Methodist Collection of Art purchased a painting of a Crucifix and Candles at Night, which is derived from a part of a painting by Titian in the National Gallery. Frances Hoyland speaking about this image said “Heron has used his senses - his body - his flesh -and made something attractive; and maybe he, too, was a channel of Grace.”

I think that another way in which Heron was a channel of grace was through his forging of images from natural forms. His garden paintings were a response to the petals and leaves of the camellias and azaleas that were in flower all over the garden at Eagle’s Nest, their home in St Ives, when he and his wife arrived there to live. Similarly, the paintings that he was making when he died were typical of his style in their use of vibrant colour, and in their imagery, which alluded to the flowers and rocks found around the Cornish coast.

His use of natural forms to create abstract art is a point of connection with Henry Moore who said: “I’ve found the principles of form and rhythm from the study of natural objects.” The architect Antoni Gaudi described nature as “the Great Book, always open, that we should force ourselves to read” and thought that “everything structural or ornamental that an architect might imagine was already prefigured in natural form.”

The argument that Gaudi made begins with God as the creator of all and continues with the recognition that all God made was good. So, when artists or architects base their work on natural forms they are working with God’s good creation and thereby, as his creation reveals his goodness, reflecting and revealing the glory of God. Although Moore and Heron would not necessarily have acknowledged it, in basing their work on natural forms they were reflecting and revealing the glory of God.

Heron’s kneelers do so in a particularly profound manner. They bring the wild fecundity of natural forms into a geometrically ordered building, they bring vibrant colour into the light and dark contrasts of the stone and panelling, and they use these colourful natural forms to designate sacred space. The geometrical perfection of Wren’s architectural design focuses our attention on God’s perfect nature. The wild vibrancy of Heron’s natural forms focuses our attention on the love of God which exceeds all bounds, particularly in Christ’s sacrifice of himself on the cross which shapes and is central to our worship and this space.

In these ways he was, I think, a channel of grace. That thought leads me to another; that he may also have been a recipient of grace. The Guardian's art critic, Adrian Searle, wrote of Heron’s last paintings: "There's an enormous freedom and vitality in them. They are about pleasure and the spirit gets free rein. I certainly don't think he was staring into the dark void of looming death. Quite the opposite."

Intercessions:

Creator of all things, seen and unseen, we praise you for the works of your hand. We declare that you are sovereign over our lives, and that you are the originator of all good things. We humbly ask that you would grant us new ideas, even now. Bless our labours. Fulfill your creative purposes in us today. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer

Creator of the Universe, how infinite and astonishing are your worlds. Thank you for your Sacred Art and sustaining Presence. Divine Imagination, forgive our blindness, open our eyes. Reveal the Light of Truth. Let original Beauty guide our every stroke. Universal Creativity, flow through us, from our hearts through our minds to my hands, infuse our work with spirit to feed hungry souls. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer

Holy God, Holy and Mighty, Three in One, we praise you for the extravagant love that you demonstrate in the creation of this world. We ask that you form in us a community of artists that reflect the Divine Community, marked by self-giving love, infectious joy and the desire to honour and glorify the name of God. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer

The Blessing:

Holy Spirit, Lord and Giver of life, Power and Fire, we praise you for sustaining all things in being, energizing them with vitality, and ushering them to their future and final state of glory. Purify our souls; scour our hearts; re-order our minds; strengthen our bodies. Free us to be playful today. And the blessing of God almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, be among you and remain with you always. Amen.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina - Super flumina Babylonis.

Discover & explore: Lanning Roper

Today's Discover & explore service at St Stephen Walbrook, explored the theme of gardening through the life and work of Lanning Roper. The service was led by Sally Muggeridge and featured the Choral Scholars of St Martin-in-the-Fields singing Jesus Christ the apple tree by Elizabeth Poston, To Daffodils (from Flower Songs) by Benjamin Britten, There is a flower by John Rutter and Little Elegy by Stephen Paulus. At the end of the service we all went to view the memorial inscription for Lanning Roper in the courtyard garden.

The next Discover & explore service is on Monday 3 April at 1.10pm when, together with the Choral Scholars, I will explore the theme of art through the life and work of Patrick Heron.

In today's service we heard the following passage by Lanning Roper from On Gardens and Gardening (1969):

"As a landscape consultant, I have advised on gardens in various parts of the world, on soils ranging from rocky slopes, to acid peaty bogs, and rich fertile valleys. Some are large country gardens, others small back gardens in urban areas, and I have also advised on the planting of town squares, as well as on hospital gardens and housing estates.

Rose gardens, mixed borders, formal parterres, paved herb-gardens and shrub and woodland gardens have all absorbed my interest in turn. I have made it a rule to select personally the plants for my designs, and whenever possible I supervise the planting and often do a great deal of it myself. In this way I get to know the problems and the merits of the soil with which I work and keep in touch with new plants.

As a garden designer, I experience some of the same emotions as a nanny. Having made a garden, I always want to follow its development to maturity. If I plant an avenue of oaks or chestnuts, the well-being of each individual tree is my concern, as well as the avenue as a whole. The excitement of creating and planning for the future is both stimulating and very satisfying."

Sally Muggeridge also mentioned Mies van der Rohe's unrealised Mansion House Square project, which would have featured a planting scheme by Roper, and which is currently being explored in Circling the Square, an exhibition at RIBA. Commissioned by architectural patron and developer Lord Peter Palumbo, Mies van der Rohe designed his proposal for Mansion House Square at the very end of his career, between 1962 and his death in 1969. After a protracted planning process, the scheme was finally rejected in 1985.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

OMD - Architecture & Morality.

Congruity and controversy: exploring issues for contemporary commissions

Today I gave an illustrated talk at St Stephen Walbrook entitled 'Congruity and controversy: exploring issues for contemporary commissions.' Modern commissions by Henry Moore, Patrick Heron, Hans Coper and Andrew Varah at St Stephen Walbrook bring into focus some of the key issues and questions regarding modern or contemporary commissions. I explored these issues in the context of 'Reflection', the latest exhibition at St Stephen Walbrook by commission4mission. The essence of what I had to say in this talk can be found by clicking here.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Michael Kiwanuka - The Final Frame.

10 best places for reflection

In today's Observer Aaron Rosen chooses his 10 best places for reflection. From Reykjavik to Tate Modern, he looks at spaces to inspire contemplation during Lent.

Aaron has some great choices but his choices are clearly intended to prompt reflection among his readers on the choices they would make, so here is my top 10:

l’Abbaye de la Fille Dieu, Romont

Brian Clarke says that stained glass ‘can transform the way you feel when you enter abuilding in a way that nothing else can!’ I would concur, especially after arriving at l’Abbaye de la Fille Dieu in time for a memorable service of Vespers followed by silent contemplation in the still onset of darkness falling.Tomas Mikulas, the architect on the restoration of this Cistercian Abbey, has stated that the overall goal of the restoration was to offer both nuns and visitors an ‘atmosphere conducive to meditation and prayer.’ Mikulas suggests that it is the ‘warm and vibrant atmosphere’ created by Clarke’s windows ‘with the changing light of day’ that ‘makes a decisive contribution’ to the space and to the restoration as a whole.

Chapelle Sainte-Thérèse-de-l'Enfant-Jésus et de laSainte-Face, Hem

Alfred Manessier was a lyrical abstractionist who thought of stained glass less as a design than as “the simultaneous creation of a light-filled architectural unit, thought-out and created by the painter at one go.” In this way he wanted "to express man’s inner prayer.” Chapelle Sainte-Thérèse-de-l'Enfant-Jésus et de laSainte-Face in Hem is an attempt to create spiritual space - a sense of prayer and a glimpse of heaven – through the play of light and colour within the building.

Retreat House Pleshey

Pleshey was the first Diocesan Retreat House to be established in the country. Amongst the list of Retreat conductors is Evelyn Underhill. Arguably the most distinguished Conductor of that time, it is largely due to Underhill that the Retreat house became so popular. When you come to the Retreat House in Pleshey you sense an atmosphere created by six hundred years of prayer. For me, it is a special place because of ordination and cell group retreats.

Worth Abbey

Down dimly-lit stairwells / into a cavernous immensity / of curved brick, concrete and darkness / to stand still, transfixed, / in silent expanse / focused on the glow / and gleam / of the white stone table / over which / the crucified Christ hangs / from concrete cross-beams. / Morning light softly infiltrates, / casting shadows, / bringing the dawn ... The space and acoustic / act and appear as /
the inside of a hi-fi speaker; / the lantern, like an industrial chimney, / funnels the aromatic incense /
of prayer and praise / to tease and to please / the senses of God.

St Benet's Chapel

Adam Kossowski's murals at St Benet's Chapel fill the entire wallspace of this circular chapel surrounding and enveloping worshippers with their imagery. When services are held, however, the altar table is located in front of the panel depicting worship in heaven of the lamb that was slain. In this way, worship on earth is conducted in the context of worship in heaven. This work is about rescue, redemption and salvation. Fr. Edward Maguire has written, 'From clay and fire he forged a vision of the past, present and future to lift up and inspire countless others ... May we be inspired by him to use our gifts as he used his."

Notre-Dame du Bon Conseil, Lourtier

Lourtier is to be found among the imposing alpine architecture of snow-capped peaks in the Val de Bagnes, one of Switzerland's largest nature reserves. I arrived at the end of the afternoon to find the mountain sunshine flooding the empty church. Alberto Sartoris’ design for Notre-Dame du Bon Conseil is clean, spare and minimalist. Internally, the church is a simple white rectangle with a sleek arched wooden roof. Both the ceiling’s planks and the grey-painted wooden pews draw the eye to the sanctuary wall containing two large stained glass windows by Albert Gaeng. The triumph of Lourtier is an influential design coupled with a dramatically beautiful building that is well suited to the liturgy and well used by its people.

The Crypt of Colònia Güell

The Crypt of Colònia Güell is a warm, womb-like enclosure; intimate yet archetypal. It is real and usable communal space while also being of great architectural worth, innovation and beauty. Here the ‘heaven in ordinarie’ of the Eucharist is celebrated in the surround of natural forms recreated by man-made means. 'Gaudí based his buildings on a simple premise: If nature is the work of God, and if architectural forms are derived from nature, then the best way to honor God is to design buildings based on his work. As the Barcelona scholar Joan Bassegoda Nonell notes, "Gaudí's famous phrase, 'originality is returning to the origin,' means that the origin of all things is nature, created by God."'

Chapelle du Rosaire, Vence

‘Simple colours,’ Henri Matisse wrote, ‘can affect the innermost feelings, their impact being all the more forceful through their simplicity.’ The spiritual expression of the blues, greens and yellows he used in the stained glass of the chapel struck him as unquestionable. His goal ‘was to find a balance between a light surface and colour with a solid wall of black-on-white line drawing.’ The line drawings on ceramic tiles of both St Dominic and the Virgin and Child he thought to have a ‘tranquil reverent nature all their own,’ while the great drama of Christ in the Stations of the Cross had made ‘his impassioned spirit overflow within the Chapel.’

Musée Chagall, Nice

On entering the rooms of the Message Biblique - first the room of Genesis and Exodus, then the Song of Songs - one is struck by the colours of the works before their content. Chagall viewed painting as the reflection of his inner self and therefore colour contained his character and message. In his museum inauguration speech he said, ‘If all life moves inevitably towards its end, then we must, during our own, colour it with our colours of love and hope.’ These are paintings which seek to dream by their colours and lines an ideal of fraternity and love. To be surrounded by these massive statements demonstrating - through content and construction - the potential of religion for reconciliation, was a wonderful and moving experience.

St Stephen Walbrook

A stunning blend of old and new art and architecture is to be found at St Stephen Walbrook, Sir Christopher Wren’s masterpiece. Bombed in the Second World War and restored to its present magnificent state in 1981, twentieth century artists and craftsmen have adorned its interior. Henry Moore’s travertine marble altar now stands at the centre under Wren’s dome surrounded by dazzling kneelers from Patrick Heron. Moore’s altar design was intended for people to gather as a community around the altar where God could be found at the centre. Currently contemplation is aided by 'Lamentation for the Forsaken, 2016’, a digital art installation by Michael Takeo Magruder which evokes the memory of Syrians who have passed away in the present conflict by weaving their names and images into a contemporary Shroud of Turin.

What would your 10 choices be?

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lavine Hudson - Flesh Of My Flesh.

Foundations of the City: Exhibition reception

The opening night reception for Alan Everett's exhibition 'Foundations of the City' was held tonight at St Stephen Walbrook.

Sam Wells, Vicar of St Martin-in-the-Fields, was the main speaker at the reception. He spoke about the six pieces in the show which depict the cross referring to The Dream of the Rood, which was the original inspiration for three of these works.

The phrase 'The Dream of the Rood', he said, has "a double meaning: on the one hand it's an account of a person dreaming about the personified cross; on the other, we are all part of the rood's dream - we are all companions of Christ, bearing his scars and sorrows."

He explored Alan's work in terms of:

• the cross, for all its gruesome pain and agony, as depiction of "a realm of existence more textured, more interwoven, than the dullness of a regular life";
• the cross as "a victory won at a terrible price";
• "a cross in the heart of God since the foundation of the world";
• the cross as "the ruin of sin, the ugliness of evil, the destruction of creation";
• the cross as "salvaging true faith from doubt, true identity from obscurity, true Christianity from the accretions of history, tradition or culture"; and
• the cross become "a new creation". 

By way of introducing the evening I said the following:

For over eight hundred years a place of worship has stood on this site witnessing to the power of God in people’s lives. Sir Christopher Wren’s masterpiece, the present church is the fourth to have stood here. Bombed in the Second World War and restored to its present magnificent state in 1981, twentieth century artists and craftsmen have adorned its interior. That is why Henry Moore’s travertine marble altar now stands at the centre under Wren’s dome usually surrounded by dazzling kneelers by Patrick Heron (although those are currently away undergoing repair and restoration).

Henry Moore’s altar design was intended, as you can see, for people to gather as a community around the altar where God could be found at the centre. God at the centre of our lives and communities is what we seek to celebrate through all that we do here at St Stephen Walbrook.

The stunning blend of old and new art and architecture to be found at St Stephen Walbrook draws significant numbers of tourists and other visitors’ year in and year out. William Newman’s dark wood panelling provides a dramatic backdrop to the regular programme of contemporary art exhibitions that the church hosts. The temporary exhibitions that we host add to the experience enjoyed by those who visit and aid the prayer and reflection for those of us who frequent this space regularly.

For these exhibitions, we partner with established art societies (such as the National Society of Painters, Sculptors & Printmakers or the Society of Catholic Artists) or artists with an interest in St Stephen Walbrook and our spirituality. In 2016 our programme begins with this show and will also feature solo shows by the stuckist artist Joe Machine, Brazilian artist Kim Poor, and group shows by the National Society and commission4mission.

In addition, during Lent, we will host the 13th Station in an exhibition of Stations of the Cross at 14 iconic locations in Central London. ‘Lamentation for the Forsaken, 2016’ is a digital art installation by Michael Takeo Magruder which evokes the memory of Syrians who have passed away in the present conflict, by weaving this names and images into a contemporary Shroud of Turin. Stations of the Cross 2016 will be launched tomorrow at Kings College Chapel Strand Campus and begins on Ash Wednesday. As part of Stations of the Cross 2016, we will hold an event discussing the current refugee crisis next Monday at which the artist will speak alongside Dionne Gravesande, Head of Church Advocacy at Christian Aid.

Alan Everett’s work, as you will see, also engages with current events by addressing experiences of persecution and martyrdom in our own time whilst also relating these current experiences to the foundational event for Christians of Christ’s crucifixion. In inviting Alan to exhibit here I was engaged by the organic nature of his work as he combines the deliberation of his rhythmic mark marking with the more random effects of drips and splashes; all cohering through his overall perception of the evolving work. This way of working is ideally suited to the exploration of construction and destruction, layering and fragmentation, life and death which is to be found in these works and this exhibition.

As a result, these paintings are a welcome and contemplative addition to the reflective and prayerful nature of this sacred space and will guide us in our meditation during Lent. Alan will share something of his inspiration and the motivations behind these works when he speaks about them here on Wednesday 4th March at 1.00pm. We will also explore their themes in worship through one of our Discover & explore services next Monday at 1.10pm.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

God at the Centre

Here is my article for the Parish Newsletter at St Martin-in-the-Fields this weekend:

One of the unique aspects of my role at both St Martin and St Stephen is the opportunity to celebrate the Eucharist from two artist-designed altars made from travertine marble; Shirazeh Houshiary and Pip Horne’s altar at St Martin and the Henry Moore altar at St Stephen.

The Moore altar, measuring 8ft across and weighing several tons, was at the centre of a controversy and court case as a result of objections and this, eventually, was resolved by going to the highest ecclesiastical court of the land, the Court of Ecclesiastical Cases Reserved where the judges ruled that the Moore altar was acceptable as an altar for the Church of England!

Moore’s altar, made of travertine marble cut from the very quarry which provided the marble for Michelangelo’s work, now stands at the centre of the church under Wren’s dome surrounded by dazzling kneelers by Patrick Heron. These commissions sensitively combine modern and baroque art and architecture contributing to the interplay of circles and squares, light and dark, in the space to create a stunning harmonization of old and new.

Moore’s design was intended for people to gather as a community around the altar where God can be found at the centre. God at the centre of our lives and communities; that is what the Christmas story and the carols we currently singing are all about. At Christmas we celebrate the belief that, in Jesus, God has moved into our neighbourhood, entered our world and come to be with us by becoming one of us. That is why Jesus was called Emmanuel, which means God is with us.

Jesus is the greatest gift that any of us can receive, both at Christmas and any other time in our lives, because by receiving him, we receive God himself.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Belle & Sebastian - O Little Town Of Bethlehem.

Society of Catholic Artists Private View

The Private View for the Society of Catholic Artist's 'Care of Creation' exhibition was held tonight at St Stephen Walbrook. I made the following remarks during the evening (using material from our website):

Welcome to St Stephen Walbrook in the City of London. For over a thousand years a place of worship has stood on this site. Sir Christopher Wren’s masterpiece, the present church is the fourth to have stood here. At the time of its building the great dome was unique in England and it was from this church that Wren developed his plans for St Paul’s Cathedral.

Here Sir John Vanbrugh is buried and many distinguished men of letters and of the arts have graced the life of this place. John Dunstable the composer and past merchants and Lord Mayors have been a part of its life.

There is a plaque to the Rev’d Robert Stuart de Courcey Laffan, who with Baron Pierre de Coubertin revived the Olympic Games in 1890. Bombed in the Second World War and restored to its present magnificent state in 1981, twentieth century artists and craftsmen have adorned its interior. Henry Moore’s travertine marble altar now stands at the centre under Wren’s dome surrounded by dazzling kneelers by Patrick Heron.

With an almost perfect acoustic for choral singing and a renowned organ famed for its regular recitals on Fridays at 12.30 pm for City workers, St Stephen stands witness next to the Lord Mayor’s residence and at the heart of the City it was built to serve. We seek to do this in a range of different ways, so, for example, on Tuesdays, between 7.30 and 9.30 am, there are ten minute reflections on work-based themes repeated every 15 minutes while, on Thursdays, the community gathers for a Sung Eucharist at 12.45 pm with mass settings designed to blend with its traditional liturgy and architectural environment. We also organise programmes exploring contemporary issues such as our current ‘Philanthropy in the City’ programme, a series of events including exhibitions, services and talks exploring both the history of philanthropy in the City and current opportunities for philanthropic activity. St Stephen is also the home of the London Internet Church and its ministry of prayer and praise.

The damaged St Stephen Walbrook needed repair after the war and until then the interior was filled with pews in dark stained wood and the conventional east end altar table with the reredos containing the Ten Commandments and paintings of the Old Testament figures of Moses and Abraham. The windows had been filled with stained glass and the pristine feeling of Christopher Wren’s classical building had become dark and Victorianised. The original clear glass windows reflecting the light had been lost and filled with stained glass.

In taking the controversial step of commissioning one of the world’s most original artists to devise a statement about belief as seen in the Walbrook altar was taking a risk. Dr Chad Varah and the people of St Stephens were engaged in a major social outreach programme in founding the Samaritans in 1953, a telephone ministry for those in serious trouble and they now wanted this iconic Wren building to express a theology of how they saw the gospel in relation to the workplace.

This meant that the 17th century placing of the altar away from the people with the priest standing with his back to the congregation no longer expressed what they felt to be the immanent nature of the God they worshipped and served. Thus Henry Moore conceived a centrally placed altar made of travertine marble cut from the very quarry which provided the marble for Michelangelo’s work.

By carving a round altar table with forms cut into the circular sides Moore suggested that the centre of the church reflected the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem commemorating the sacrifice of Abraham and Isaac as a prefiguring of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross and the place for the offering of the Eucharist at the heart of Christian worship. This place was designed for people to gather as a community around the altar where God could be found at the centre.

This changed the way that Walbrook was to develop for the future, if you want to know what a community believe see how they worship. The restoration itself cost £1. 3. Million. The altar measuring 8ft across and weighing several tons was at the centre of a controversy and court case as a result of objections and eventually was resolved by going to the highest ecclesiastical court of the land, the Court of Ecclesiastical Cases Reserved where the judges ruled that the Moore altar was acceptable as an altar for the Church of England!

So, classical, modern and contemporary art and architecture beautifully combine at St Stephen Walbrook with significant examples of modern art within Sir Christopher Wren’s perfectly proportioned masterpiece, where the woodwork and carvings by William Newman lead to wonderful contrasts between dark and light. Newman’s dark wood panelling provides a dramatic backdrop to the regular programme of contemporary art exhibitions that the church now hosts. This marvellous blend of old and new provides a richly contemplative space in which to display and view art.

For these, we partner with either established art societies (such as the National Society of Painters, Sculptors & Printmakers or the Society of Catholic Artists) or significant art historians such Edward Lucie-Smith. In 2016 our programme will feature solo shows by the stuckist artist Joe Machine, artist-priest Alan Everett, Brazilian artist Kim Poor, and group shows by the National Society and commission4mission.

In putting together an exhibition programme of this kind, we are seeking to work across the primary debate that has occurred in the C20 and contemporary Church in relation to the engagement of the Church with the Arts. The call from Marie-Alain Couturier in France and Walter Hussey in Britain was to commission the best artists of the day regardless of faith commitment, as Couturier phrased it the ‘secular masters’ of the day. Their call resulted in challenging and exciting commissions by artists such as Pierre Bonnard, Marc Chagall, Cecil Collins, le Corbusier, Fernand Léger, Henri Matisse, Henry Moore, Graham Sutherland, and others. Theirs is a legacy which continues to this day in a significant number of church commissions.

But it is not the only legacy of commissioning from that period. Last year I used my sabbatical to visit churches in Britain, Belgium, France and Switzerland that had commissioned modern art, so saw for myself work by groups of artists founded by the likes of Maurice Denis, Alexandre Cingria and Eric Gill, among others, which primarily undertook church commissions. At the same time that Couturier and Hussey were commissioning, another equally valid and creative approach to church commissions was happening which resulted in commissions which, though different in style, were equality in creativity and liturgical value.

As a result, there remains a valid and creative place in the Church for groups such as the Society of Catholic Artists or commission4mission, the artists group of which I am part. The variety and verve of the work included in this exhibition is again a clear demonstration of our need in the Church for groups such the Society of Catholic Artists. Here at St Stephen Walbrook we want, in our exhibition programme, to work both with the ‘secular masters’ of our day and with groups like your own and commission4mission, among others. The vibrancy of the Churches engagement with the Arts, in my view, depends on encouragement and support for both. So, for these reasons, I want to welcome you warmly to St Stephen Walbrook and congratulate you on the strength of the exhibition that you have shared with us.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Felix Mendelssohn - Verleih uns Frieden.

'Gift' exhibition reception

Tonight we held a well-attended opening night reception for the ‘Gift’ exhibition.

I said: 'Welcome to St Stephen Walbrook and welcome to ‘Gift’, commission4mission’s third exhibition here in the stunning blend of old and new art and architecture to be found at St Stephen Walbrook which draws significant numbers of tourists and other visitors year in and year out. The reordering of the church undertaken in the 1980s sensitively introduced significant examples of modern art (altar by Henry Moore and kneelers by Patrick Heron) within this Wren masterpiece, which also contains significant woodwork and carving by William Newman.

Newman’s dark wood panelling provides a dramatic backdrop to the regular programme of contemporary art exhibitions that the church will now host. For these, we partner with either established art societies (such as the National Society of Painters, Sculptors & Printmakers or the Society of Catholic Artists) or artists with an interest in St Stephen Walbrook and our spirituality. In 2016 our programme will feature solo shows by the stuckist artist Joe Machine, artist-priest Alan Everett, Brazilian artist Kim Poor, and group shows by the National Society and commission4mission.

commission4mission’s ‘Gift’ exhibition anticipates the traditional season of giving associated with the Christian festival of Christmas, but is intended as a broad theme open to wider interpretation. Our artists showcase their individual engagements with this theme and so, while, as you view the exhibition you will certainly see images exploring the giving involved Christ’s incarnation and crucifixion, you will also see a wide range of other interpretations of our theme including reflections on gifts such faith, reflection, choice, hindsight, creativity, intercession, identity and revelation, together with meditations on our abuse as humans of the gifts we have been given. We hope that the range and variety of work, both in terms of content and media, will give pleasure and prompt reflection.

commission4mission seeks to encourage churches to commission contemporary art and Rob Floyd is one of our artists who has experienced particularly significant opportunities in making the Stations of the Cross cycle for Manchester Cathedral and Stations of the Resurrection cycle for Liverpool Cathedral. We have therefore invited him to reflect on those experiences and opportunities with us today. Rev. Rachel Mann, Poet in Residence at Manchester Cathedral has said, “I heartily recommend that if you want to understand a little more about the applications of the word ‘Art’ in our language, spend time in communion with Rob Floyd’s paintings. You will be rewarded.” We will, I am sure, be similarly rewarded by what Rob has to share with us tonight.'

Rob reflected on his experiences and opportunities emphasising the importance of holding face-to-face discussions with churches and cathedrals about exhibition and commission opportunities. He spoke too about the energy and pressures of large series of works together with the sense that works taken on a life of their own once displayed. His cycle of Stations of the Resurrection are due for completion by Easter 2016 and three works from this series are included in the ‘Gift’ exhibition.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bruce Cockburn - Gifts.

The way to unity is through diversity

Here is my sermon from yesterday's lunchtime Eucharist at St Stephen Walbrook (the sermon can be heard at the London Internet Church website):

In the culture of Jesus’ day, those with disabilities were often excluded from their community because of their disability. We see this in the Gospels in references to disabled people living outside villages and towns and being beggars on the streets. Those who were Jews, were excluded from worship at the Temple because of their disability. Jesus’ acts of healing were, therefore, acts of inclusion because, as a result, those healed were reintegrated into their community. For those who were Jews, we often read of these people being sent to authorities after their healing in other that they can return to their communities.

Despite this, as the theologian John Hull has noted, many disabled people rightly ‘claim the Bible and Christian faith are not so much part of the answer but part of the problem.’ He notes that ‘many Christians still persist with a literal concept of miracle, and the imitation of Christ is sometimes thought to involve healing miracles for disabled people.’ In addition, ‘the Bible itself depicts many disabilities in a negative way.’ ‘He gives blindness as one example, due to his personal experience of this condition, which ‘is frequently used as a metaphor for sin and unbelief.’ This is a metaphor taken from the world of sighted people and used to marginalise and demean the world of blind people. The result of these negative features of the [Christian] tradition’, John Hull says, ‘is that disabled people usually find better things to do on a Sunday morning than go to church’.

That situation is the reverse of Jesus’ intent when he healed. He intended to include disabled people in the community, culture and worship of his day but some aspects of the Christian tradition which he began have resulted in disabled people experiencing exclusion. As John Hull has said, ‘The true miracle … is when disabled people are fully integrated into Church life and accepted exactly as they are’.

At St Stephen Walbrook we inhabit a space which is a visual treasure chest. We rightly value Wren’s masterpiece as ‘the pride of English architecture’ (John Summerson) and because the sensitive mirroring of Wren’s dome with Henry Moore’s altar and Patrick Heron’s kneelers creates harmonious space. However, those who are blind cannot see what we see in this space and those with mobility impairments cannot access the space in order to see. All the while that those of us who can access and see the glories of this space, accept that others cannot, we are actually a space and community of exclusion. As a community whose mission statement says we seek to provide, without prejudice or expectation, a safe and welcoming place, we need to creatively imagine how we can include those who are currently excluded.

Jesus, in order to communicate with the man in our Gospel story (Mark 7. 31 - 37), uses touch and gesture. There are several different theories as to why Jesus acts in ways that seem very strange to us; putting his fingers in the man’s ears, spitting before putting his fingers on the man’s tongue and looking up to heaven. The simplest explanation would seem to be that touch and gesture were the ways in which communication could take place. The starting point for inclusion for us, as for Jesus, is to enter to some extent the world of the other person, in this case the man who was deaf and who had a speech impediment.

It can only be as we connect with the different world that others inhabit that understanding can come from which inclusion can develop. John Hull says: ‘The major disabilities create a distinctive world of experience, so different from the world in which the majority live as to constitute different human worlds. The powerful majority often create a world which is assumed to be the only world. Those who do not share this world are regarded as being without a world and are pitied or patronised. This idea of multiple worlds is of great political and social significance. If you do not understand my world, how can we relate to each other with mutual respect? If we rush too soon to a single world, we create an exclusive domination. The only way to create a unity of the human species is to go through multiplicity. The way to unity is through diversity … We must also include the different human worlds of experience, such as the disabled worlds we have been thinking about. Just as the Church can’t be holy or catholic without the equal ministry of women with men, so it cannot be holy or catholic without the equal prophetic and sacramental ministry of disabled people with the able-bodied.’

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Stevie Wonder - Visions.

Artistic heritage: St Martin-in-the-Fields and St Stephen Walbrook

One of many exciting aspects to the role of Priest for Partnership Development that I have recently begun is the opportunity to connect with the way in which both churches have engaged with the visual arts.

St Stephen Walbrook is an Anglican Parish Church rich in heritage but one which remains actively involved in the City of London. The current church was built by Sir Christopher Wren 1672-80 and accommodates a major and controversial reordering centred around Henry Moore's circular altar.

After the bombing of World War Two St Stephen Walbrook was restored and the interior was redesigned to express contemporary worship. Most of the fittings had been burnt or destroyed and it meant that seating and altar arrangements could be thought out again. Thus it was that Henry Moore was persuaded to design and carve a central altar using travertine marble from the quarry near Rome used by Michelangelo. Commissioned by Lord Palumbo, the altar was carved in 1972.

The Ven. Peter Delaney has written that by carving a round altar table with forms cut into the circular sides Moore suggested that the centre of the church reflected the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem commemorating the sacrifice of Abraham and Isaac as a prefiguring of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross and the place for the offering of the Eucharist at the heart of Christian worship. This place was designed for people to gather as a community around the altar where God could be found at the centre. The axis of the church is now under the dome designed by Sir Christopher Wren and no longer has an east west orientation. This speaks of this new century where we see God at the centre of all life as the Moore altar is at the centre of this church and this church is at the centre of this city.

The restoration cost £1. 3 million. The altar measuring 8ft across and weighing several tons was at the centre of a controversy and court case as a result of objections and eventually was resolved by going to the highest ecclesiastical court of the land, the Court of Ecclesiastical Cases Reserved where the judges ruled that the Moore altar was acceptable as an altar for the Church of England!

Moore’s altar is complemented by colourful abstract kneelers designed by Patrick Heron and candlesticks designed and made by Hans Coper. The building was finally rededicated in 1987.

Trafalgar Square is well known as the location for the world famous art collections in the National Portrait Gallery and National Gallery. But in the Crypt of St Martin-in-the-Fields there is also a special space for art lovers, as the Gallery in the Crypt’s dramatic 18th Century architecture makes a stunning backdrop to display modern art and photography.

St Martin-in-the-Fields is also home to several commissions and permanent installations by contemporary artists. Nicholas Holtham has written that, as an adjunct to the main renewal project at St Martin's, "an Arts Advisory Panel was formed and a series of commissions have helped to complete the transformation of the building." These include:

Processional Cross, 2013, by Brian Catling: Catling’s exquisite design references a ‘cross of poverty’: not an ornate object, but one crafted from basic materials by someone with the simple desire to fashion the powerful symbol of the Cross. The starting point is two pieces of wood humbly tied together by a length of string; a third piece of wood hanging from the centre provides an allusion to St Martin tearing his cloak in two and giving half to a beggar. Through casting the cross in a strong yet lightweight aluminium and gilding it in white gold, Catling’s original idea is transformed into an extraordinary emblem of the church. Throughout the process the cross has been worked on by hand, creating an original and conceptually complex work.

East Window, 2008, by Shirazeh Houshiary and Pip Horne: The East Window was commissioned as part of the Renewal of St Martin-in-the-Fields, our major £36m building project from 2005-2008. Light was a key theme of the project and the East Window was designed to let in as much light as possible while creating a work of art that is uplifting and inspirational. The artist was given a brief suggesting a minimal, possibly monochromatic design would be appropriate and that a potential starting point or subject was that of ‘Jacob’s Ladder’, a story which has had a continuous thread of resonance for St Martin’s.

Altar, 2011, by Shirazeh Houshiary & Pip Horne: The Altar is designed by Shirazeh Houshiary and Pip Horne, creators of our East Window, and was dedicated at the Patronal Festival in celebration of our patron saint, St Martin of Tours on 13 November 2011. The Altar is at the symbolic and spiritual heart of our church. It is the place where we gather together in communion with one another and with God, and where broken bread and shared wine become the signs of God’s everlasting love for us. It is a sacred space, the place of transformation, the altar upon which we remember the death of Christ and the suffering of the world, but also the place of resurrection and hope. Designed to complement the East Window, the Altar is made from a single block of Travertine Stone that appears to float on a plinth of dark stained oak. These materials have been selected to harmonise with the colours used in the interior of the church. It is gently illuminated by LED lights placed within the hollowed out stone.

The Saint John’s Bible, Heritage edition, presented to St Martin-in-the-Fields in 2009: Created by the monks of Saint John’s Abbey and University in Collegeville, Minnesota under the creative direction of Donald Jackson, the Saint John’s Bible is a union of an ancient Benedictine tradition with the technology and vision of today, illuminating the Word of God for a new millennium of multiple cultures and multiple faiths. St Martin-in-the-Fields has been given a Heritage Edition of the Saint John’s Bible. It was a gift from Saint John’s Abbey made possible by the generosity of Dan and Katherine Whalen. Created in a series of seven volumes, the bible is used in services in Church and some of the volumes are on permanent display in the Foyer. The Saint John’s Bible was commissioned in 1998 by the Roman Catholic Benedictine Monks of Saint John’s Abbey and University in Collegeville, Minnesota. It was created by a team of scribes, artists and craftspeople in a scriptorium in Monmouthshire under the artistic direction of Donald Jackson, one of the world’s foremost calligraphers and the scribe to HM Queen Elizabeth ll’s Crown Office and the House of Lords. Measuring more than two feet by three feet, the bible parallels that of its medieval predecessors, written on vellum, using quills, natural handmade inks, hand-ground pigments and gold leaf while incorporating modern themes, images and technology of the 21st century.

In the Beginning by Mike Chapman, presented to St Martin-in-the-Fields in 1999: Mike Chapman’s beautiful sculpture In the Beginning was commissioned to mark the new millennium and was part of the 1999 Trafalgar Square Christmas celebrations. Carved in a 4.5 tonne block of Portland Stone, this work is now permanently on display at the entrance to the church. In The beginning is well-loved by thousands of visitors to St Martin’s every year and as the artist said “It seemed to me that a tiny life-size baby craved from stone in such an enormous environment would be the best way to remind us all of just whose birthday we are celebrating.”

Shadow No 66 (triptych) 1996 by Brad Lochore: This oil on canvas by Brad Lochore explores the fleeting essence of an object using the effects of light mediated via cinema and photography. Lochore’s paintings poetically underline the impermanence and fragility of our lives, and remind us that although we may recognize real things in such artworks, they are after all illusory. Shadow No 66 (triptych) is on permanent display in the Crypt. Brad Lochore says, “On a metaphorical level shadows are a sign of absence – they indicate the ‘not being there’ of the thing they depict – and that is a very persuasive way to talk about the problem of the picture. For instance, an apple in a painting, no matter how beautifully painted, is not there. It seems to me that a critical part of being a painter is not just to make pretty pictures – it’s to address the problem of pictures. And for me, painting shadows, which is predominantly what I do, is a way I can remorselessly address that dilemma. The dilemma is that the human senses have never been assaulted by so much imagery as now, and I think we forget that. Every minute we encounter a world mediated by pictures, so the ‘real’ is mainly conveyed through images now. And that is not to mourn the passing of a better time, it’s just to recognise how the world is. It seems to me that one of the primary tasks of art is to foreground that problem”

Tapestry by Gerhard Richter: In the Dick Sheppard Chapel, a tapestry by Gerhard Richter has been lent by a generous donor. Rev. Richard Carter writes that the tapestry fills this small chapel with light and energy, warmth and imagination. It is like hanging resurrection on the wall. Sit and gaze at the colours; the cross that leads you through layers into the beyond.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nickel Creek - Reasons Why.

commission4mission: Arts in Worship event

On Saturday 14th March commission4mission have organised an interactive event at St Stephen Walbrook exploring the use of visual arts in worship which will run from 1.00pm to 4.30pm. 

The event will include:

• art workshops in a variety of styles and media (including calligraphy, design enlargement, drawing on board, line techniques and pastels) led by Hayley Bowen, John Gentry, Mark Lewis, Henry Shelton and Peter Webb;
• sessions showing and discussing use of visual multi-media meditations;
• viewing of the annual exhibition by the National Society of Painters, Sculptors & Printmakers;
• commission4mission and Oasis stalls;
• a Special General meeting to discuss proposed revised Charitable Objects for commission4mission; and
• a Service celebrating the Arts.

St Stephen Walbrook is a Wren church with a stone altar carved by Henry Moore and abstract kneelers designed by Patrick Heron. St Stephen Walbrook can be found at 39 Walbrook, London EC4N 8BN (from Bank tube station, take exit 8 and the church is a few yards ahead).  The event is open to all.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Colin Burns - I Wait For You.