Seen and Unseen: Revisiting Amazing Grace inspires new songs

My latest article for Seen & Unseen is entitled 'Revisiting Amazing Grace inspires new songs'. In the article I highlight folk musicians capturing both the barbaric and the beautiful in the hymn Amazing Grace and Christianity's entanglement with the transatlantic slave trade more generally:

'The Sorrow Songs, Stolen From God and Grace Will Lead Me Home are three deeply moving and challenging albums, with [Angeline] Morrison and [Cohen] Braithwaite-Kilcoyne as the exceptional musicians linking all three, that tackle the history of the transatlantic slave trade, unearthing both incredible tales and uncomfortable truths. The Church is among the institutions that need most to hear and receive the truths and tales these albums share.'

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

My 18th article was an interview entitled 'Art, AI and apocalypse: Michael Takeo Magruder addresses our fears and questions'. In the interview the digital artist talks about the possibilities and challenges of artificial intelligence.

My 19th article was entitled 'Dark, sweet and subtle: recovered music orientates us'. In the article I highlight alt-folk music seeking inspiration from forgotten hymns.

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Angeline, Cohen and Jon - Grace will lead me home.

No strangers, only friends you haven’t met yet

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

A central aspect of God's experience as a human being in the person of Jesus Christ was that of rejection. Jesus was, in the words of Isaiah 53, ‘despised and rejected by others; a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity; and as one from whom others hide their faces he was despised, and we held him of no account’ (Isaiah 53. 3). We see that rejection here, in this story (Mark 6. 1 – 6), set in his home town at the beginning of his ministry, just as we see it more violently worked out at the end of his ministry when he is crucified.

Rejection is a human experience which we all understand because each us will have experienced rejection at one time or another. It is an experience that God has also shared and therefore understands as we go through our personal experiences of rejection.

But rejection is a human experience which we all understand because it is also something to which each of us is party. As in this story, we find it easy, as human beings, to find reasons to reject other people. It is not so long ago in the history of this country that there were appalling signs in windows saying, 'No Irish, no Blacks, no Dogs'. In our lifetime we have seen whole societies built around the separation of people on the basis of colour, with the Civil Rights and anti-apartheid movements, thankfully, having brought some significant change to those situations of rejection.

Yet, although we have seen change, we continue to see particular groups of people in society demonised, scapegoated and rejected. In the Church today, it is the LGBTI community who have that experience while in society generally, it is migrants, whether refugees or asylum seekers, that are the focus of significant rejection.

When Jesus is rejected, as in our Gospel reading, God is rejected. God, in Jesus, enters in to our experience, as human beings, of rejection. He does so in order to bring to light our constant scapegoating and rejection of others by exposing us to the futility of that way of life. Rejection of others ties us into a cycle of revenge and recrimination locking us in to spirals of violence.

Yet, when we have, as human beings, scapegoated and rejected God himself, what more can we do by way of rejection? The way to free ourselves from these negative cycles is by rejecting the impulse to reject or scapegoat others, in other words by following in the footsteps of Jesus who freely laid down his life for others. It is this to which Christ’s death as a scapegoat on the cross calls us.

Today, while we may not literally see signs saying 'No Irish, no Blacks, no Dogs', similar signs are nevertheless still there is our words and actions although applied to different groups of people at this different time. 'No economic migrants,' even 'No migrants', would seem to be the current cry, while in the Anglican Communion we persist in rejecting people on the basis of their sexuality. For those who follow a God who was scapegoated, reviled and rejected, there can be no scapegoating of others. For those who follow a God who laid down this own life for love of others, there must be a similar breaking of cycles of rejection through our own attitudes, speech and actions.

Instead of being those who reject, we need to become those who invite. The opposite of rejection is not simple acceptance, but active engagement; the invitation to participate in community. The goal of those who are great inviters is “to have everyone participating, giving and receiving gifts.” Abundant community involves welcoming “those on the margins”, “which is the heart of hospitality.” As William Butler Yeats was credited with saying, “There are no strangers here; only friends you haven’t met yet.” May it be so with each one of us. Amen.

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Manfred Mann's Earth Band - Prayer.

Church Times - Art review: Michael Forbes, Blk this & Blk that . . . a state of urgency, at the Djanogly Gallery, Nottingham

My latest review for Church Times is Michael Forbes, Blk this & Blk that . . . a state of urgency, at the Djanogly Gallery, Nottingham:

'ON ENTERING Gallery 1A at the Djanogly Gallery, one sees a series of dismembered torsos — the arms of all the figures being absent — of the crucified Christ in cast Jesmonite, primarily white, but with gold and pink also used, and hung upside down from ropes the ends of which trail across the floor. In this, the largest sculptural installation here, some of the torsos wear life jackets, pointing to recent political and humanitarian events.

Untitled I highlights “how the white European male has dominated the image of Christ” and challenges white viewers with the question how they “reconcile exemplifying Christ whilst reaping unjust benefits from being white”. Forbes has, for many years, questioned this aspect of religion, “believing that it is morally and theologically incumbent upon Christians to realise how whiteness confers privileges that have an impact on the lives of black people and people of colour”. The installation (through the inclusion of life jackets) raises these questions in relation to the legacies of the slave trade and also the current refugee crisis.'

Click here for my Artlyst diary for October which also includes this exhibition.

Other of my pieces for Church Times can be found here. My writing for ArtWay can be found here. My pieces for Artlyst are here and those for Art+Christianity are here. See also Modern religious art: airbrushed from art history?

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Ben Harper - With My Own Two Hands.

Kehinde Wiley at the National Gallery - 'Saying Yes to Us'

My latest review for Church Times is of Kehinde Wiley at the National Gallery The Prelude:

'Mountains have often been depicted as places for encounter with God, and the film, as also the paintings based on Friedrich’s images, frequently reference the Romantic wanderer figure in search of spirituality or self-discovery.

The title of the film refers to William Wordsworth’s autobiographical poem The Prelude, and his “Ode: Intimations of Immortality” is quoted, together with Thoreau’s Walden and Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Nature. Emerson’s line that “We are as much strangers in nature, as we are aliens from God” sums up much of a film whose character are, by turns, overwhelmed by snow, and subsumed by whiteness, so that they almost disappear in the landscape.

In this way, Wiley achieves a dual focus, reflecting the overwhelming reach of white supremacy, while also acknowledging humanity’s fragile relationship with nature, currently and most significantly regarding climate change.'

Other of my pieces for Church Times can be found here.

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The Staple Singers - The Gardener.

We Have a Dream

 

'On Monday 15 November the Autumn Lecture Series at St Martin-in-the-Fields came to a close with an insightful and thought-provoking lecture by Sam Wells with a response from Liz Adekunle: A Dream for a New Social Order.

This year has been a wonderful series of lectures as we have dreamed together. When we conceived of the series we wanted to search for a vision of hope whilst not avoiding the reality of the struggle or the suffering. 'You can't dream again', said Robert Beckford, 'without recognising the nightmare'. In this lecture series, which has been intimate, engaged, challenging, and inspiring, I believe our speakers have done just that.

We gathered together those who had dreams and visions which inform and shape our future. We have dreamed with and for the Church with the Archbishop of York; we have dreamed with refugees and the journey towards safety, inclusion and belonging and the way their story is told; we have dreamed for racialised justice in the light of the murder of George Floyd in the US and the Black Lives Matter Movement and the continuing legacy, violence and evidence of present racism; we have dreamed for the planet in the run up to the crucial COP26 Global Summit in Glasgow; we have dreamed through imagination, and the power of theatre, drama and the arts to discover a deeper recognition of our humanity and we have dreamed of a new social order. It has been an exciting journey encompassing both death and resurrection.

All these lectures are now online and available to everyone free of charge as part of our St Martin's resources. You can find all these lectures on the St Martin's Digital website.

This is your chance to catch up with this lecture series if you missed it or to watch again. Thank you for all those who took part and all those who made donations to make this lecture series possible. Can I also thank the Education Committee and all those who helped with hospitality, stewarding, sound and technical support, and the team in St Martin's Shop and Cafe in the Crypt - who have made this series possible. And to you the audience both in person and online, thank you, keep watching and join us again next year.'

Revd Richard Carter

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St Martin-in-the-Fields - Great Sacred Music.

Meet the Chaplains and Becoming a Westminster EcoChurch

Churches Together in Westminster is currently running its BLM Reading Group where we are reading “We Need to Talk About Race – Understanding the Black Experience in White Majority Churches” by Ben Lindsay. All are welcome. Register on Eventbrite at https://cutt.ly/amQqpkI.

“Meet the Chaplains” is to be held at 7pm on 22 October 2021 online. Register at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/meet-the-chaplains-tickets-164735122185. 

Many of you will be familiar with our “Meet the Neighbours” events hosted by CTiW member churches, and this is an extension of this idea. Chaplains from a number of different sectors within Westminster will be speaking online about their ministries. Everyone is welcome, and we anticipate that this will be an enjoyable and informative event.

For further information please see http://ctiw.london/wp-content/uploads/chaplains-poster-2.pdf.

Then, 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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Bruce Cockburn - If A Tree Falls.

We Need to Talk About Race – Understanding the Black Experience in White Majority Churches

The new BLM Reading Group from Churches Together in Westminster begins soon. 

We will be reading “We Need to Talk About Race – Understanding the Black Experience in White Majority Churches” by Ben Lindsay and meeting online to discuss the book on Thursdays 8.00 – 9.00pm, September 16, 23, 30 & October 7, 14. Free – All welcome. 

Register on Eventbrite at https://cutt.ly/amQqpkI.

Explore eye-opening insights into the black religious experience, challenging the status quo in white majority churches and discuss how we can work together to create a truly inclusive church community. From the UK Church’s complicity in the transatlantic slave trade to the whitewashing of Christianity throughout history, the Church has a lot to answer for when it comes to race relations. Christianity has been dubbed the white man’s religion, yet the Bible speaks of an impartial God and shows us a diverse body of believers. It’s time for the Church to start talking about race.

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The Staples Singers - Got To Be Some Changes Made.

New (G)race podcast

 

New (G)race podcast with Azariah France-Williams, Winnie Varghese plus singer, songwriter, activist Samantha Lindo on faith, climate emergency & activism.

Singer and activist Sam Lindo joins Azariah and Winnie to talk God, race, and finding home. "I spent my whole school trying to minimise my difference..." This episode Sam talks connecting faith to activism, getting arrested and ending up in court. "I was asked to move, and I didn’t… I got to proclaim that truth… Speaking to power literally was the path my faith had led me on… " Stories and inspiration - including tips on cheeky, playful, non-violent resistance... and a song!

Listen at https://anchor.fm/heartedge/episodes/6-Speaking-truth-to-power-was-the-path-my-faith-led-me-on-Sam-Lindo-e144a5tx.

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Samantha Lindo - Underside.

Artlyst interview - Genesis Tramaine: A Queer Devotional Painter

My latest piece for Artlyst is an interview with Genesis Tramaine about her work and her current exhibition at Almine Rech:

'Painting gives me room to see myself. To listen to myself and others without words or judgement of societal norms that characterise social injustices. Painting adds colour to an otherwise dull world. It allows a frequency that motivates and inspires others to be creative. Painting allows me to identify and disconnect from the conditions that have shaped my identity as a Black woman artist and lean on the strength of the Lord for new hope.'

I reviewed 'Genesis Tramaine: Evidence of Grace' for Church Times - see here. Last year I wrote about several emerging artists who are Christians - see https://www.artlyst.com/.../church-visual-arts-revd.../. Two of those artists, including Genesis Tramaine, have current exhibitions; the other being Lakwena Maciver who I also interviewed for Artlyst - see https://www.artlyst.com/.../lakwena-maciver-review.../.

My other Artlyst pieces are:

Interviews -

• 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 -

• 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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Sister Gertrude Morgan - I Got The New World In My View.

Painful Legacies: Systemic Racism in America and Britain

The CEEP Network
in partnership with
HeartEdge

present

Painful Legacies: Systemic Racism in America and Britain
Friday, August 13
3:00pm EDT

Is this a moment when, as Rev. William J. Barber II recently claimed, we ought to wake up to the ways systemic racism is choking the life out of democracy? The first in a series of transatlantic conversations organized by the CEEP Network and HeartEdge on key issues for churches in the UK and US will enable discussion of the church’s response to systemic racism and the ongoing Black Lives Matter protests. Up for discussion are similarities and differences between the US and UK contexts plus areas for collaboration, action and learning.

Outcomes: Identification of areas for collaboration, action and learning.

Panelists Include:

• Debra Bennett - Rector, Church of Our Saviour; Akron, Ohio
• Cornelia Eaton - Canon to the Ordinary of Ministry, Diocese of Navajoland; Farmington, New Mexico
• Azariah France-Williams - Pioneer Priest, The Ascension Hulme HeartEdge Hub Church; Manchester, United Kingdom
• Farai Mapamula - Minister, Castle Bromwich Methodist Church; Birmingham, United Kingdom
• Manoj Mathew Zacharia - Rector, St. Anne’s Episcopal Church; Annapolis, Maryland
• Rosalyn Murphy - Priest-in-Charge, St Thomas, Longford; Coventry, United Kingdom
• Anthony Reddie - Director, Oxford Centre for Religion and Culture; Oxford, United Kingdom

Please register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/114984959108

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Mavis Staples - Change.

Living God's Future Now programme

‘Living God’s Future Now’ is a series of online seminars, discussions and presentations hosted by HeartEdge. They are designed to equip, encourage and energise church leaders, laypeople and enquirers in areas such as preaching, growing a church, shifting online, deepening spirituality and responding to social need.

Here's the next instalment in the HeartEdge Living God's Future Now programme:

• Sermon Preparation Workshop: Tuesday 21 July, 4.30pm (BST), livestreamed at https://www.facebook.com/theHeartEdge/.
• Growing community online - Part 4: Thursday 23 July, 4.30pm (BST), livestreamed at https://www.facebook.com/theHeartEdge/. Sally Hitchiner, Lorenzo Lebrija and Katie Tupling explore 'how to' build community online. Practical tips, stories, keeping in touch, sharing insights, finding support, promoting your services.
• Difference, Diversity, Deviance: Friday 24 July, 4.00 pm (BST), zoom meeting. Join Rev Dr Miranda Threlfall-Holmes and guests for talks, interview and discussion. Each Friday in July. Register at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/difference-diversity-deviance-tickets-111287620268.
• PassionArt: The Art of Belonging: Monday, 27 July, 14:00 – 15:30 BST. Register for a zoom invite at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/passionart-the-art-of-belonging-tickets-112450346012. PassionArt aims to recover beauty at the heart of our communities through collective acts of creativity. In this workshop artists, curators and hosts from PassionArt projects will be in conversation with Azariah France-Williams.
• In the shadow of your wings: Friday 31 July, 4.30 pm (BST), Zoom meeting. An Interactive Online Event Presented by Deus Ex Musica which is a musical bible study on the Psalms. A unique ecumenical event that combines new musical interpretations of psalms with small-group discussion. Register for a zoom invitation at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/in-the-shadow-of-your-wings-tickets-111528470658.
• Book Launch | Ghost Ship: Saturday 1 August, 4.00 pm (BST). Join Azariah France-Williams and guests for readings, music, discussion and debate. Guests include Winnie Varghese and Bishop Guli Francis-Dehqani. Register at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/book-launch-ghost-ship-tickets-113436305042.

Growing community online - Part 4:
Thursday 23 July, 4.30pm (BST), livestreamed at the HeartEdge facebook page.

Sally Hitchiner, Lorenzo Lebrija and Katie Tupling explore 'how to' build community online. Practical tips, stories, keeping in touch, sharing insights, finding support, promoting your services - via the mainstream press, and websites including 'ChurchNearYou' for the C-of-E, or across denominations Find a Church. With news of apps, websites and resources plus alternative approaches and structures. Watch the first three workshops at https://www.facebook.com/pg/theHeartEdge/videos/?ref=page_internal

Sally Hitchiner is Associate Vicar for Ministry at St Martin-in-the-Fields. Her work includes liturgical and organisational aspects of the church. She currently leads ministry to the dispersed congregation of St Martin's via a confidential online community space and pastoral care groups. Sally set up an online Christian community as a university chaplain and founded the Diverse Church initiative with over 1000 participants across the UK. Diverse Church grew from one community to a community planting organisation, launching a new community of 60-100 Christians across the UK and Ireland each year.

Fr. Lorenzo Lebrija is founding director of the TryTank, the experimental Lab for church growth and innovation. He is responsible for the entire process of development and implementation of experiments for innovation in the church. (It's a staff of 1, so don't be that impressed!) Prior to launching TryTank, Lorenzo was the Chief Development Officer for the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles. He served as the Pastor on behalf of the Bishop at St. John's Episcopal Church in San Bernardino, CA, and as priest associate at St. Athanasius Episcopal Church at the Cathedral Centre of St. Paul in Los Angeles.

Rev Katie Tupling was a parish priest for 16 years before becoming Diocesan Disability Advisor and Lead Chaplain amongst Deaf people for the Oxford Diocese, in March 2019. She was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy at the age of 2 1/2 and is now the proud owner of purple crutches, a purple wheelchair, and a red scooter (it didn't come in purple!). Katie is also Co-founder of ‘Disability and Jesus’, a user led task group wrestling with theology, discipleship, and church practice. In the lived experience of disability. She has co-authored the book ‘Pilgrims in the dark’ - the story of how Disability and Jesus came into being, and co-authored a Grove booklet ‘Worship and Disability, a Kingdom for all’ (both 2018). Katie's social media presence includes: working with UCB Radio as well as BBC local radio, a weekday live feed on Twitter and Facebook, a ‘recorded as live’ Sunday service with Disability and Jesus, and a YouTube channel.

PassionArt: The Art of Belonging, Monday, 27 July 2020, 14:00 – 15:30 BST. Register for a zoom invite at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/passionart-the-art-of-belonging-tickets-112450346012.

PassionArt aims to recover beauty at the heart of our communities through collective acts of creativity. In this workshop artists, curators and hosts from PassionArt projects will be in conversation with Azariah France-Williams. PassionArt explore issues around art and faith through exhibitions, art trails, projects, teaching, resourcing and creative gatherings.

Based in Manchester they have built links and partnerships with churches and secular cultural institutions to encourage the creative exploration of Christian festivals and to integrate faith, beauty and creative practice within the city. They aim to push creative boundaries using contemporary art and installation to visually critique our time and culture and to consider ways to increase beauty and hope in our place.

Lesley Sutton is an artist, curator and founder of PassionArt who has worked with churches, community groups and the cultural sector in Manchester for over 20 years. Her work aims to help bridge the divide between sacred and secular space using the Arts as a means of conversation to explore the universal human condition.

Micah Purnell is a Manchester based, award winning, multi-disciplined, concept driven creative. He specialises in quality book design and carefully crafted public messaging.

Elizabeth Kwant is a Manchester based artist, researcher and curator whose interdisciplinary practice incorporates film, photography, performance, installation and print. Her work investigates contemporary geo-political and social issues; migration, immigration detention, legacies of colonialism, modern day slavery and associated concerns of representation.

In the shadow of your wings: Musical Bible study on the Psalms
Friday 31 July, 4.30 pm (BST), Zoom meeting. Register for a zoom invitation at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/in-the-shadow-of-your-wings-tickets-111528470658.

An Interactive Online Event Presented by Deus Ex Musica, A unique ecumenical event that combines new musical interpretations of psalms with small-group discussion. Participants watch pre-recorded live performances of brand-new vocal settings of three beloved psalms (13, 57, and 148), each of which has been set to music by a composer representing a different Christian tradition.

After viewing each set of performances, participants engage in moderated small-group discussions. Since each psalm is set to music by more than one composer, participants hear how different musical responses to the same text bring to life various dimensions of each psalm. This provides a unique and memorable way for participants to experience the depth and beauty of Scripture in ways that promote both learning and discipleship. It also provides a rare opportunity for Christians of all stripes to gather in fellowship and dialogue about something we all agree on: the power and importance of the Bible. No musical experience or expertise is required by any participants.

Deus Ex Musica is an ecumenical organization comprised of musicians, educators, and pastors, and scholars, that promotes the use of sacred music as a resource for learning and spiritual growth. www.deus-ex-musica.com.

Book Launch | Ghost Ship: Saturday 1 August, 4.00 pm (BST). Join Azariah France-Williams and guests for readings, music, discussion and debate. Guests include Winnie Varghese and Bishop Guli Francis-Dehqani. Register at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/book-launch-ghost-ship-tickets-113436305042.

The Church is good at saying all the right things about racial equality. But the reality is the institution has failed to back up these good intentions with demonstrable efforts to reform. It is a long way from being a place of black flourishing. Through conversation with clergy, lay people and campaigners in the Church of England, A.D.A France-Williams issues a stark warning to the church, demonstrating how black and brown ministers are left to drown in a sea of complacency and collusion. While sticking plaster remedies abound, France-Williams argues that what is needed is a wholesale change in structure and mindset.

For the online book launch join Azariah France-Williams and guests for readings, music, discussion and debate - and the launch of 'Ghost Ship - Institutional Racism and the Church of England'.
With: Guli Francis-Dehquani, Samantha Lindo, Randolph Matthews, David Neita, Sharon & Calvert Prentis and Winnie Varghese.

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Deus Ex Musica - Psalm 57.

Artlyst - André Daughtry: Art, Rebellion And Racial Justice

My latest article for Artlyst is about André Daughtry’s Weight, a video work from 2014 that attempts ‘to visualise societal projections on the black male body’.

'Daughtry explains: ‘The piece was made in order to show the projections of race as an actual weight on the experience of Black men in achieving acceptable standards of living.' ...

Daughtry is currently the Minister of the Arts at Judson Church and continues to make work as an artist and facilitate conversations around contemporary art and spiritual traditions ...

From the mid-1950s onwards Judson has been a church with three inter-related missions; the political, the social and the artistic. Daughtry has explained how the Rev. Howard Moody encouraged his Associate Minister, Rev. Bud Scott, to establish the Judson Gallery with the artist Claes Oldenburg as co-director in 1958 in the basement of the building that was known as Judson House, an adjacent building that the church-owned and used for student and staff housing. Judson Gallery was where artists like Oldenburg, Jim Dine, Marc Ratliff, Allan Kaprow, Tom Wesselmann and others would have some of their first shows in New York.'

My other Artlyst pieces are:

Interviews:

• 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:

• 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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Marvin Gaye - Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler).

Beyond Words: A response to the apology at General Synod

Azariah France-Williams, who is currently on placement at St Martin-in-the-Fields preparing for a new mission initiative with HeartEdge, has offered his thoughts on the Church of England General Synod's apology for racism in the church.

In his post for the SCM blog he asks:

'What are the thoughts of the church and its senior members in regard to race and ethnicity - that of themselves, as well as that of others? We are used to words, and I now want to know what the deeds of the church might be?'

Read his post here. His book Ghost Ship: Institutional Racism in the Church of England is published this summer.

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Eric Bibb - Migration Blues. 

Crossing boundaries

Here is my sermon from today's Eucharist at St Stephen Walbrook:

Jesus was amazed or surprised. This is worthy of note because the Gospels only record that Jesus was surprised twice. He was firstly amazed that his own, hometown people rejected him, and secondly that this gentile officer accepted him (Matthew 8. 1 - 13).

There is much about this story and this officer that is surprising. We see his humility in that, although he is the local official of the ruling power, he says he is not worthy to have Jesus, an itinerant Jewish preacher, in his home. When the same story is told in Luke’s Gospel (Luke 7. 1 - 10), we find that the local Jewish elders testify to the officer’s love of the Jewish people, to the extent that he himself had built a synagogue for the locals in Capernaum. As a result, the Jewish elders are prepared to advocate on his behalf. Then we read that slave is ‘very dear’ to him. There is much about this man that is at odds with the general practice of those who have positions of power, particularly when the position of power held is that of an oppressive ruling elite.

So there is much about this man to which Jesus would respond. The officer cares about others and he does so regardless of nationality, religion and class. His love of others enables him to cross boundaries between people. There is even the possibility (in the Greek word used of the slave) of a same-sex relationship existing between the officer and his servant! The officer is an intercessor. He speaks on behalf of his servant and sends other intercessors (the Jewish elders) in his name who speak on his behalf. As a result, nothing is mentioned in the story about the servant who was healed having faith. It is the officer who had faith and stood in the gap for the servant by interceding for him.

His faith was seen in that he believed that Jesus would help his servant and in his realisation that Jesus didn’t need to come his home in order to do so. The Jewish elders didn’t think Jesus would help a gentile soldier unless they had proved that he was good to the Jews. Yet, in order to receive help from Jesus no good works are required. The Jewish elders wanted to prove to Jesus that the officer was worthy of Jesus’ help and yet the officer himself stated that he was not worthy. His faith was seen in his trust that Jesus was someone who would act with compassion and love, not that he saw himself as good enough to earn that love. Jesus showed in this story that the only thing he assesses is whether or not we have that kind of faith.

The officer understood Jesus’ ability to heal in terms of his being part of a chain of command in which he was able to issue orders and where what he ordered occurs. The fact that Jesus commended the officer’s faith doesn’t mean that we then have to accept that the officer was right about Jesus being part of this chain of command. The story can be understood in that way and often has been, but what Jesus commended was the officer’s faith, not the means or logic by which he arrived at that faith.

Jesus continually taught that true leadership is shown through service. He reversed our common expectations about the way in which power should be held and exercised. The Roman officer, by caring about others and doing so regardless of nationality, religion and class, was actually living out in practice what Jesus was teaching to others. As faith without deeds is dead, it may actually be the officer’s practice of servant leadership to which Jesus was referring when he said, “I tell you, I have never found faith like this, not even in Israel!”

Like Jesus then, if we allow ourselves, we will be surprised by this story. In it, the gentile, the pagan, the one who did not believe in the God of Israel, the one who was the representative of the oppressive ruling power, the enemy, was the one who crossed boundaries of race, religion, class (and possibly also sexuality), to show real faith in practice. Despite the differences between them, this man and Jesus recognized a commonality of practice in each other. The officer said to Jesus you seem to be my real commanding officer and Jesus said to the officer I see real faith lived out in practice in you. In the synergy that existed between them the servant recovered and was found to be well once again.

In a world where racist xenopobia is on the rise, we will do well to pay attention to the lessons of today’s Gospel reading. During Interfaith Week, it is vital to state that: “Alongside all of good will, we will work to tackle with renewed determination the challenges of poverty, ignorance, injustice, crime and violence, and social fragmentation and to help shape a society where all feel at home; all are valued and justly treated; and all have a chance to thrive.”

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Anthony - If It Be Your Will.

Statement from West End Church Leaders

As leaders of churches in the West End of London, we are disturbed at reports of the rise in incidents of hate speech and racist acts. We commit ourselves to resisting such attitudes. We invite our congregations to continue our traditions of welcome and hospitality, and to look for active ways of celebrating diversity and exploring ways of living with difference.

We are working for a community where all are welcome and can feel safe.

• Revd Sue Keegan von Allmen, West London Mission Superintendent Minister.
• Fr Pascal Boidin, Rector – Notre Dame de France
• Rev Alan Carr, Rector, St Giles in the Fields
• Fr Andrew Cameron-Mowat SJ, Parish Priest, Church of the Immaculate Conception Farm Street
• Revd Richard Carter, St Martin-in-the-Fields. 
• The Revd Philip Chester, Vicar of St Matthew, Westminster; Parish Priest of St Mary le Strand; Area Dean of Westminster (St Margaret)
• Stephane Desmarais, French Protestant Church of London
• Revd Jonathan Evens, Associate Vicar, Partnership Development, St Martin-in-the-Fields
• Rev’d Simon Grigg, St Paul’s Church Covent Garden.
• Rev Dr Ruth Gouldbourne, Co-Minister, Bloomsbury Central Baptist Church
• Rev Katherine Hedderly, St Martin-in-the-Fields
• The Red Dr Ivan Khovacs, St James’ Piccadilly
• Rev Philip Majcher , Minister, Crown Court Church of Scotland
• Rev Lindsay Meader, St James’ Piccadilly
• Fr. Kevin Mowbray sm, Notre Dame de France
• The Revd David Peebles, Rector, St Georges Bloomsbury
• Revd Val Reid, Minister of Hinde Street Methodist Church
• Dominic Robinson SJ, Superior, Farm Street Jesuit Community
• Joost Röselaers, Minister of the Dutch Church in London
• Rev Dawn Savidge-Cole, Communities’ Minister, Bloomsbury Central Baptist Church
• The Revd Hugh Valentine, St James’ Piccadilly
• The Revd Dr Sam Wells;Vicar, St Martin-in-the-Fields
• The Revd Lucy Winkett, St James’ Piccadilly
• Revd Dr Simon Woodman, Co-Minister Bloomsbury Central Baptist Church

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John Rutter - The Peace Of God.

No room for complacency

Daniel Trilling has an excellent article in today's Guardian where he lists 10 dangerous misconceptions about the far right.

The British far-right should be having a ball. With the economy faltering, austerity biting and economic pessimism growing, the conditions for racism and racist scapegoating could hardly be better. But, as Nick Lowles and Matthew Collins report in their essay on the current state of the British far right, racist groups are contracting and morale is dropping.

Their essay concludes: “The British far right is fragmented and bitterly divided and in the short term this will continue. While we might enjoy the short-term respite there is no room for complacency. Sooner or later the traditional far-right, in the guise of the BNP or EDL, or the Radical Right, in the guise of UKIP, will re-emerge as a major political threat. In the meantime, we should brace ourselves for an upsurge in organised and unorganised racist and political violence.”

They have written this essay to help HOPE not hate decide a strategy for the next couple of years. Over the next few weeks their website will host a discussion on the future of the far right and to help shape their response. They would appreciate our views.

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Ben Harper - Like A King.

Assembly on racism

This is the assembly I gave on Friday at St Edwards Church of England School and Sixth Form College which is adapted from resources at the Collective Worship resource from the Culham Institute:

Liverpool striker Luis Suares has been found guilty by the FA of racially abusing his opponent, Manchester United defender Patrice Evra, and has been given an 8 match ban as a result. He argued in his defence that the word he used isn’t a term of abuse in his culture but his defence of what he did and Liverpool’s support of him seem to have led to a Liverpool fan racially abusing Oldham defender Tom Adeyemi in another recent match. That fan has been arrested by the Police and faces the possibility of a lifetime’s ban from Anfield, Liverpool’s home ground.

Sometimes people argue that it doesn’t matter what people say to each other; that, for example, everyone should be able to think and say what they like and people shouldn’t be punished for shouting abuse at a person because he had a different skin colour. But what we say to each other does matter and does have an effect. Signs around the ground at Anfield make it clear that Liverpool FC should be opposed to racial abuse in their ground but because they seem to have tolerated it on the pitch it then seems to have spread to the stands as well. Therefore, Liverpool FC need to find a way to make it clear that foul language, violence and racism are not acceptable at Anfield; on the pitch and in the ground.      

Jesus told the story of the Good Samaritan to oppose racial intolerance in his own time. Here is the story he told: Luke 10: 25-37. Jews and Samaritans hated one another in Jesus' time as they were different races with different religions but in Jesus' story it is the Samaritan who is the hero and who helps the one who is his enemy. Jesus taught that we are neighbours not enemies and that we should both give to and receive from those who are in some way different from us.

Nearly 19 years ago Stephen Lawrence, a black teenager, was killed by a gang of white boys while he was waiting at a bus stop. Stephen was killed for no other reason than that he was black. It was a purely racist killing. It is a sad fact, but for thousands of years people have been persecuted, abused and killed because of the colour of their skin, or for their race, and it still goes on today.

Yet we are really all the same under our skin. In Genesis 1. 26 -28 we read “In the beginning God created the heavens and the Earth... God said, 'Let us make Man in our own image and likeness... So God made Man in his own image and likeness, male and female He created them.”  This means that there is no reason for racial prejudice, or prejudice of any kind. Because we are all created by God in his image, Christians believe that we are all children of God and life is much better when we share what each race has to give - music, clothes, food, beliefs, skills.

For the whole of the 19 years since Stephen's death his parents have campaigned for justice for their son's killing. When she came out of the Old Bailey, Doreen Lawrence, Stephen's mother said that she would not let her life be ruled by her hatred of the people responsible for Stephen's death. Doreen set up the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust a few years ago to provide financial help for young people from ethnic minorities to achieve their educational ambitions. She has called these young people her 'beacons of shining light,’ showing the world what can be achieved when prejudice is put to one side. She says that if Stephen were alive 'he would be proud of them too'. She says, 'I think he'd be surprised at all the positive changes that have taken place in his name.'

When Stephen's mother returned home from the Old Bailey, she lit a candle in his memory. As we light a candle, let us remember Stephen and all those who have been victims of racial hatred. Let us ask God to give us grace to live our lives fairly and without prejudice.

Father, thank you for the amazing variety of people in your world. Help us to learn to value each other and not to fear. Give comfort to those who are hurt by racism. Make us strong to fight racism wherever we meet it in whatever ways we can and help us to understand that you are on our side. In Jesus' name we ask this. Amen.

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Michael Kiwanuka - Home Again.