The Holy Spirit as the breath and peace of God

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

There are two occasions on which we are told Jesus’ disciples received the Holy Spirit. The second was at Pentecost but the first was one of the Resurrection appearances, in which Jesus appeared to his disciples and said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit (John 20. 21 & 22). On this occasion the Holy Spirit came as the breath of God and as words of peace.

The Spirit’s coming in this way was promised by Jesus who, as we heard in today’s Gospel Reading (John 14. 15 - 31), said, “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth … he abides with you, and he will be in you” (John 14. 15 – 17). “The Holy Spirit … will remind you of all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid” (John 14. 26 & 27).

By giving them the Spirit he was giving them his peace and doing so in a similar way to that in which he had received it; as, when he was baptised, the Spirit descended upon him in the bodily form of a dove. The dove being a Biblical symbol of peace; a symbol that derived from the dove which brought news to Noah of the flood having receded, enabling life to begin again on earth.

When I was at St Martin-in-the-Fields we had an art installation which saw two thousand white paper doves hanging in the nave of the church forming a 15-metre-long paper sculpture called Les Colombes – The White Doves. Following successful installations with over 300,000 visitors in Jerusalem and Munich, these origami doves bore hopes and greetings from people who came into the church, from passers-by, from night revellers in the bar around the corner, from locals and strangers, people from all over the world. Catholic and Protestant, Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist, poor and rich, anyone could fold them and should fold them. In the flock each individual, separately folded dove became one of many. The German artist, Michael Pendry, said: “Folded by different people, the doves in their unity stand for such a fundamental human right. The time has come to admonish and to stand up for this – for the right to peace and freedom! So that that the flock of doves might grow, from place to place, from country to country, across all borders.”

In this way, the flock was a symbol of a collective spirit of peace; one which is particularly needed at this time when terror has revisited our streets and leisure activities. The flock of doves headed from the entrance of the church towards the sanctuary, where lies the answer to all the questions of our spiritual potential – who am I, where do I come from, where am I going? In answer to these questions, the descent of the Spirit in the bodily form of a dove told us that we are the beloved sons and daughters of our Father God and that we are here to use our God-given abilities to do work for him that only we can do.

Vicar of St Martin-in-the-Fields, Sam Wells, said that: “When at his baptism the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus like a dove Jesus wasn’t blown away – he was touched more deeply that words can say or eyes can perceive. That’s what this exhibition is about – and what’s more, it affirms that the Holy Spirit works through the humble hands of you and me.” Jesus gives us his peace, in the form of the Holy Spirit, so that we can then be peacemakers ourselves.

Sam has explained that “The Holy Spirit is the part of God that gives us here and now and forever and always those things that Jesus brought us once and for all. Jesus has shown us and brought us peace, but we need the Spirit to continue to make peace in and among us. The one Spirit proclaims “peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near” (2:17). One of the most difficult things in life is to balance your care for those who are near – your regular circle of friends, family, neighbours, and colleagues – with your responsibility for those who are far off – distant friends, family, fellow citizens, and people of other nations and faiths … how easy it is to become so wrapped up with a small circle of intimates that we can’t register the need of those outside our own tiny world … It’s hard to be at peace with those who are far and at peace with those who are near … Jesus is our peace because he gives us the Holy Spirit to reconcile those from whom we are far off and those to whom we are near. Jesus is our peace because he gives us the Holy Spirit to reconcile the parts of ourselves that are far from God with the parts of ourselves that are near.”

Sharing the Peace is the climax to which the first half of our service moves. We are used to it and probably imagine that it has always been part of Anglican worship. However, it was the liturgical reform of the later 20th Century that rediscovered the Kiss of Peace of the early church, and it was introduced in the Church of England’s experimental Series 3 liturgy in about 1971. Holy Communion is celebrated by the whole people of God gathered for worship and at the sharing of the Peace we are reminded that we are together unified as the body of Christ.

This is the moment when we are reminded that Jesus said Blessed are the peacemakers: they shall be called children of God. We are to let the peace of Christ rule in our hearts, since as members of one body we are called to peace, and we are reminded that the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace. If we live in the Spirit of peace, we are to walk in the Spirit of peace.

This is the moment in our service when Christ breathes on us so that we receive his Spirit and live in his peace. His promise was, Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. The Peace is the moment in our Service when we are reminded of that promise and encouraged to receive it.

Many of us shake hands or hug on Sunday mornings without thinking about what the symbol means. Sometimes, we “cross our fingers” as we say “peace!” with people we don’t like, and keep bland, expressionless faces as we shake hands with someone we haven’t yet forgiven. The Peace calls us to go deeper than that.

“Before you offer your gift at the altar,” Jesus says, “be reconciled.” In our Service, the Peace always comes after the Prayers of the People and the Confession and Absolution. We are called to prepare ourselves to go to the altar: to pray for those we’ve hurt, and those who have hurt us; to confess the sins we need to confess, and to receive God’s forgiveness; and then to be reconciled, one with another, as a symbol of our new life in Christ.

Then, we can truly go to the Altar with clean hands and a ready heart, and receive truly the gift Christ makes available to us all: his body and blood given in love for us.

When others spread war, anxiety, division and strife, those led by the Spirit make peace. Sharing the Peace is the time in our service when we can make peace amongst ourselves. Then, at the end of our Service we are told to go in peace to love and serve the Lord in the rest of the week because those who are led into peace by the Holy Spirit become peacemakers in the world and in their local communities. May it be so for each one of us. Amen.

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

U2 - Love And Peace Or Else.

Church Times - Art review: Seeing the Unseen at Stanley Spencer Gallery, Cookham

My latest exhibition review for Church Times is on Seeing the Unseen: Reality and Imagination in the Art of Stanley Spencer at The Stanley Spencer Gallery:

'While the naivety of some of Spencer’s imagery and ideas can lead to a dismissal of his work as a whole, his affirmative, inclusive and reconciliatory impulses and images are surely close to the compassionate heart of the incarnation. For all his personal fallibilities and the shortcomings of some images, it is hard to think of many other modern artists in whose work the compassionate heart of Christ beats as steadily and fully, and for that we should be profoundly grateful.'

For more on Stanley Spencer, see here and here.

Other of my pieces for Church Times can be found here. My writing for ArtWay can be found here. My pieces for Artlyst are here, those for Seen & Unseen are here, and those for Art+Christianity are here.

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

Sara Watkins - Take Up Your Spade.

Chaiya Art Awards exhibition 2023

Chaiya Art Awards, the UK’s biggest art awards illuminating spirituality is bigger and better than ever. With a first prize of £10,000, this third biennial competition, is now hosting over 100 artists in a unique exhibition entitled AWE+WONDER.

Savour this rare but affordable art collection over 14 rooms across 2 galleries. Engage with the artists as they respond to the theme of AWE+WONDER. Their work expresses itself in diverse mediums, including painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, video, textiles, ceramics and installations. Immerse yourself in its multi-faceted spirituality. Give yourself time – to hover, to breathe, and let its contents kiss your space with the unexpected. Make space for uninhibited, magical journeying.

Reaching out far and wide to solely UK artists Chaiya Art Awards invited thousands to participate and over 700 submitted. Founder, Katrina Moss comments “We know that art helps us to gain a fresh perspective in times of crisis and conflict, but can also be genuinely transformative, taking the artist and the viewer on journeys of discovery. Each year’s competition is underpinned by the theme of spirituality and we invite and engage people of all faiths to enter; those with none and everyone in between. When setting each year’s competition brief, we give artists the opportunity to explore and express their response to spirituality and to the theme through their creativity.”

Joining Katrina on the judging panel for 2023 were Kaffe Fassett, Favour Jonathan, Alastair Adams, Dr Christo Kefalas, Marcus Lyon, Ann Clifford, and Alastair Gordon. The public are also invited to vote for their favourite artwork with the winning artist receiving a £1000 prize.

Alongside the exhibition is ‘AWE+WONDER’ the book which includes all the finalists’ work alongside vibrant poetry and prose. It allows profound engagement with the theme viewed through the eyes of both artists and writer.

7-16 April 2023 at gallery@oxo and The Bargehouse on London’s Southbank
Bargehouse Street, London. SE1 9PH
11-6pm (last day till 4pm)
FREE ADMISSION
Art for sale £150 - £25,000
more info at https://chaiyaartawards.co.uk

The exhibition includes several artists I know and have worked with in various ways: Deborah Harrison; David Millidge; and Ali Mulroy. David Millidge's 'The Last Supper' was included in several commission4mission exhibitions including 'Reconciliation', the exhibition I organised at Coventry Cathedral. My Artlyst interview with Chaiya Art Awards founder Katrina Moss and other pieces on the Chaiya Art Awards can be found here, here, here and here.

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

Gordon Gano (featuring Mary Lou Ward) - Oh Wonder.

Art review: Zadie Xa: House Gods, Animal Guides and Five Ways 2 Forgiveness at the Whitechapel Gallery

My latest review for Church Times is of Zadie Xa: House Gods, Animal Guides and Five Ways 2 Forgiveness at Whitechapel Gallery:

'Central to this installation is a vision of reconciliation, harmony, and unity across generations, between humanity and the natural world, and within the material and the spiritual. Though rooted in Korean heritage and religion, this is a vision that transcends its sources, fascinating as they are, to welcome all who come to reflect in this temporary immersive and meditative space.'

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?

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

Al Green - People Get Ready.

A Memorial Service for Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu and Ambassador Lindiwe Mabusa: Prayers

Here are the prayers I prepared for today's Service of Celebration and Thanksgiving for Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Ambassador Lindiwe Mabuza at St Martin-in-the-Fields:

God of justice, we give you thanks for your prophets, prophets like Desmond Tutu, who advocate for love, justice and human rights in the struggles against apartheid, oppression and exploitation and for climate justice, peace in Palestine and Israel, equal rights for the LGBTI community, equality, fairness and justice across the world. Like the Arch, may we come to see that all humans are of infinite worth intrinsically because all are created in Your image and that systems such as apartheid are blasphemous because they treat the children of God as if they are less than Your own. Challenge us through your prophets to create societies wherein people count and where all have equal access to the good things of life, with equal opportunity to live, work and be educated. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

God of culture, we thank you for your poets, poets like Lindiwe Mabuza, for whom art was an essential part of the struggle and poetry a part of a whole arsenal of weaponry to be used against apartheid. We thank you for all who shape their words to get to the heart of the matter and move their hearers. We thank you for all who kneel, where road-blocks to life pile precariously, and scoop earth, raising mounds of hope, who oath with their lives to immortalise each footprint left, each grain of soil that flesh shed, each little globe of blood dropped in the struggle upon the zigzag path of revolution. We thank you for those who saw that Soweto's blood red road would not dry up until the fields of revolution were fully mellow tilled, always to bloom again. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

God of unity, we give thanks for your reconcilers, reconcilers like Desmond Tutu, who do the demanding, sometimes agonising, sometimes traumatic work of truth-telling, testimony, confession, listening, reparation and rehabilitation. We thank you for all who helped investigate the violations that took place in South Africa between 1960 and 1994, provided support and reparation to victims and their families, and compiled a full and objective record of the effects of apartheid on South African society. Remind us that while we are not responsible for what breaks us, we can be responsible for what puts us back together again and naming the hurt is how we begin to repair our broken parts. That, as the Arch reminded us, in our own ways, we are all broken and out of that brokenness, we hurt others. May forgiveness be the journey we take toward healing the broken parts and become whole once again. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

God of relationships, we give thanks for your Ambassadors, Ambassadors like Lindiwe Mabuza, who succeed in promoting their countries and cultures winning new friends from across many fields, from business to tourism, music, literature and arts and culture. Give us the gift of bringing people together and of polishing rough diamonds until they themselves know how brightly they shine. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

God of freedom, we give thanks for 27 years of freedom since South Africans voted in their first democratic elections. We give thanks for the lives and work of Desmond Tutu and Lindiwe Mabuza and the part that each played in the anti-apartheid movement. We give thanks for those of all faiths and none who contributed to the anti-apartheid movement. We give thanks that Trafalgar Square became a global focal point for the movement and for the part that St Martin-in-the-Fields played within that movement. We give thanks for the ongoing partnership between St Martin’s and St Mary’s Cathedral in Johannesburg. We give thanks for the work of the High Commission in the UK as it contributes to the creation of a better South Africa through its engagement with the government and people of the United Kingdom. God Bless South Africa; Guard her children; Guide her leaders And give her peace, for Jesus Christ's sake. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Merciful God, accept these prayers for the sake of your Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen.

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

David Fanshawe - Dona Nobis Pacem - A Hymn for World Peace.

Making the world a Eucharist

A sermon preached at St Martin-in-the-Fields on Sunday 14 November 2021 by Revd Jonathan Evens. 

Readings of address: Daniel 12.1-3; Hebrews 10.11-14 [15-18]19-25; Mark 13.1-8 

View the service at https://www.facebook.com/stmartininthefields/videos/456468419203039 

In 1917 Private David Jones of the Welsh Fusiliers was out searching for firewood. He was in the Ypres section of the Western Front. ‘As I was always cold, one of my main occupations was to hunt for any wood that was dry and could be used to make a decent fire.’ ‘Just a little way back, between our support trench and the reserve line, I noticed that a byre or outhouse … still stood and its roofing appeared to be intact … I thought that looks to be the most likely place where there might wooden objects or, with a bit of luck, a wood-store perfectly dry and cut ready for use. So I went to investigate, but there was no door on that side. I found a crack against which I put my eye expecting to see empty darkness.’[i]

Instead, he saw something that changed his life. He could make out an altar constructed from of ammunition boxes. On it were two candles. As his eye adjusted to the light, he could see half a dozen infantrymen kneeling on the floor. And in front of them, a robed Catholic priest celebrated Mass. The tinkling of a bell broke the silence, followed by Latin words, gently spoken. He realised he recognised some of the men. He felt the oneness between the priest and those tough soldiers gathered round him in the half-darkness; a unity of spirit beyond anything he had previously experienced. He was amazed, too, that this Mass was happening so close to the frontline.

In this sight a saving and redeeming God emerged from the devastating brutality and squalor of the trenches. David Jones found Christ in the darkest of places. As he witnessed his first Mass in an outhouse amid the wasteland of the western front, he started to seek for hope among the ruins.[ii] This hope was found in the unity of spirit he observed because, as he later wrote, ‘the Mass makes sense of everything.’[iii]

After the war he became both a painter of sacramental images and a poet who wrote two epic poems. The first is about his experience of being wounded during the attack on Mametz Wood in July 1916, when about 4,000 Welsh soldiers died. It has been described as ‘a book about how, even in the most appalling circumstances,’ we ‘can still discern beneath the surface of experience an ultimate significance in life.’[iv] The second is a long meditation on a man attending Mass sometime during the Second World War which encompasses the entire history of humankind because the Mass makes sense of everything.

His work is about remembrance and the ways in which remembrance transforms us in the present. It takes the shattered fragments of wartime experiences putting them together with the key stories of humanity to form poems that were bigger and more beautiful that their fragmented parts. In doing so, he mirrors the action of Christ in the incarnation and crucifixion as he goes down into the depths of destruction in order then to bring together the fragments of our broken lives.

Some years ago, Fiona MacMillan created a wonderful image of that incarnational activity in a photograph of a broken host to publicise the 2018 disability conference Something Worth Sharing. In this image: ‘seven contrasting hands belong to members of St Martin's community aged 7 to 90, of diverse gender, ethnicity, disability and experience. Each have a piece of the host: Each has something worth sharing without which some part would be missing.’ Fiona concludes, ‘The broken host is a reminder of Jesus, his life broken and shared. For me, it echoes the words of Donald Eadie, Methodist theologian whose life changed with a disabling spinal condition: 'My world cracked open and life broke through'. Being broken is sometimes the way new life begins’.’

As today’s reading from Hebrews reminds us, Christ’s was a once-for-all action that is then re-presented and re-membered in and through the Eucharist. The Eucharist being the most significant and meaningful form of Remembrance. We bring the broken fragments of our lives, including the shattering destruction of wartime experiences throughout the centuries, to the one whose own body was broken on the cross but who endured that experience out of love for us to bring us through brokenness into reconciliation and resurrection. In return we receive his body and blood into our lives through a fragment of bread and a sip of wine. Our life is joined to his. The broken fragments of our lives are gathered up and incorporated into the story of God’s saving work with humanity. The fragments of our lives are accepted – overaccepted – and unified as we are brought together to form a new body - the body of Christ – in which all things find their place and where all shall be well and all manner of thing be well.

God takes us and our offerings and places them in a far larger story than we ever could have imagined by giving them a sacred story and making them sacred actions. As we retell and re-enact what Jesus did at the Last Supper, we also remember what God did to Israel in ‘taking one special people, blessing them, then breaking them in the Exile before giving them as a light to the nations to bring the Gentiles to God.’ ‘In the telling of those stories and the performance of those actions we are transformed into God’s holy people.’ That’s what the regular celebration of the Eucharist is about. When the Eucharist is served, each of us offers all that we uniquely are at the altar and we receive from God everything we need to follow him by being a blessing to others in our daily lives. In this way, as David Jones claimed, the Mass makes sense of everything, even the destruction and damage of war. Not by explaining it away or even explaining it at all but by plumbing its depths to find a way through to renewal and restoration.

We remember that story, not simply by recalling it to mind but by re-enacting and re-inhabiting it. We join our story to that of God’s activity in the world by playing a part within that story because we are, as David Jones once wrote, ‘creatures with bodies, whose nature it is to do this, or that, rather than think it.’[v] This is what it means to live sacramentally and to truly remember. So, in the Eucharist we see, we touch, we hear, we taste our God. As Sam Wells has said: ‘The Eucharist is a whole-body experience of truthful living in a new society as God’s companions together forever.’ Only one thing more remains. We must ask, as have all those who, like David Jones, experienced war and survived, what do we need to remake the whole world like this? What do we need to do to make the whole world a Eucharist?

St Augustine said: ‘You are the Body of Christ. In you and through you the work of the incarnation must go forward. You are to be taken. You are to be blessed, broken and distributed, that you may be the means of grace and vehicles of eternal love.’ Sam has explained that: ‘The elements of bread and wine are taken, blessed, broken and shared just as Jesus was taken, blessed, broken and shared. In a similar way the congregation as a whole is taken out of its ordinary pursuits; blessed with the grace and truth of forgiveness and scripture; broken in the disciplines of intercession, peacemaking and food-sharing; and shared with the world in love and service. As the bread and wine are offered, transformed and received, the congregation, and through it the whole creation, is offered, transformed and received.’

Although he suffered throughout his life from what we know called Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, David Jones spent the rest of his life creating poems and paintings that re-call before God events in the past so that they become here and now in their effect on us. He wrote of the Mass as being to do with the re-calling, re-presentation and re-membering of an original act and objects in a form that is different from but connected to the original act or object that is being recalled. Remembering the Lord’s Supper is not simply recalling it to mind; instead, it is remembered by the re-enacting and re-presenting of the original act. He created poems and paintings that mirror the action of the Eucharist and create a world that is a Eucharist.

In this way he discovered the mission statement of the church, which is to make the world a Eucharist. Amazingly, he discovered this in wartime in the depths of destruction and despair when nation had risen against nation and kingdom against kingdom. That was a real demonstration of the reality that we, as the people of God, are often closer to God in adversity, than in times of comfort.

We are not all artists or poets but, whatever our roles and talents, like David Jones, we too can go out from the Eucharist to make the world a Eucharist. Again, Sam has explained well what this looks like in practice. ‘Faithful service,’ he says, ‘means practices that look like worship—those that gather people and form them as one body, that reconcile and open lives to repentance and forgiveness, that proclaim truth and reveal God’s story, that embrace need and unleash gifts, that express thanks and are open to the Holy Spirit, that share food and wash feet.’ As we do such things, we will discover what David Jones discovered at the Western Front in 1917, we will create our equivalents of his sacramental poems and paintings, we will reconcile the broken fragments of our lives, we will restore the torn fabric of society, we will make the world into a Eucharist. This is the most significant and meaningful form of remembrance in which we can engage.

In 1917 David Jones went looking for wood for a fire that would temporarily warm him in the trenches. What he found in an outhouse in the Ypres sector of the Western Front was a glow, a fire which he described as ‘goldenness’, that would inspire him throughout his life. In the Mass all the fragments of his life were held together and recreated, he was connected to the bigger story of God’s work in the world throughout human history, and he was inspired to make his world a Eucharist for others to inhabit and experience.

What will you bring to the altar to be gathered up by Jesus today? Will you come forward today to receive Christ in the form of bread into your life and join your story to his, so you can play your part in the story of God’s work with this world? How will you go from here today to make the world a Eucharist tomorrow? David Jones found his answers to those questions in an outhouse on the Western Front. Will you find your answers at St Martin-in-the-Fields this morning? To do so, will be to truly remember on this Remembrance Sunday.

[i] Rene Hague ed., Dai Greatcoat: a self-portrait of David Jones in his letters, Faber & Faber Ltd, 1980, pp.248-249.
[ii] Jonathan Miles, Backgrounds to David Jones: a Study in Sources and Drafts, University of Wales Press, 1990, p.64.
[iii] Letter to Saunders Lewis 3rd March, 1971, published in Agenda, vol. 11, no..4 - vol. 12, no. 1, 1973/4, "Saunders Lewis introduces two Letters from David Jones", pp.17-29, particularly p. 20.
[iv] Atholl C. C. Murray, "In Perspective: A Study of David Jones's 'In Parenthesis'," in Critical Quarterly, Autumn, 1974, pp. 254-63.
[v] Rene Hague ed., Dai Greatcoat: a self-portrait of David Jones in his letters, Faber & Faber Ltd, 1980, p. 232.

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

David Jones - In Parenthesis.

Responding to the climate emergency

 

In the run-up to Cop26 HeartEdge is programming a range of workshops on response to the climate emergency to assist churches in raising awareness and responding within parishes.

We begin by repeating the Creation Care Course we ran earlier in the year. On this occasion in a unique collaboration between Chester Diocese, HeartEdge, Melanesian Mission UK and Southampton University. The course begins on Thursday 7 October, 19:30-21:00, zoom. Register at https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAkcu6opz4rEtFamJIs6M2cAlvzTQmJT0a_.

The environment is God’s gift to everyone. We have a responsibility towards each other to look after God’s Creation. Tackling climate change is a vital part of this responsibility. In a recent address to faith leaders on 4th February, ahead of the Glasgow conference on climate change in November 2021, the Archbishop of Canterbury said: “To think climate change is a problem of the future rather than a scourge of the present is the blind perspective of the privileged. We look around and see that Mozambique has been hit again by tropical storms. In Nigeria, desertification has contributed indirectly to conflict between people competing for dwindling resources. Floods and cyclones have devastated crops in Melanesia, risking poverty and food insecurity.”

In this 4-week Creation Care Course, we will provide you with vital information about climate change, its impacts on people, and reflect on our role as Christians in taking practical climate action.

Biography of Principal Contributors: Marie Schlenker is a PhD candidate at the University of Southampton, researching climate change impacts in Solomon Islands. Marie conducts her research in close collaboration with the Anglican Church of Melanesia and the Melanesian Mission UK. She holds a BSc in Geosciences, a MSc in Environmental Physics and a Postgraduate Certificate in Disaster Management. Catherine Duce is the Assistant Vicar for Partnership Development at St Martin-in-the-Fields. She works for HeartEdge – a movement for congregational renewal in the broad church. https://www.heartedge.org/.

There will be further input from members of Melanesian Mission UK and wider organisations promoting church engagement on this vital topic as we journey towards COP 26. To get the most out of this consecutive course, we highly recommend attending all four sessions. However, individual bookings will be possible as well.

Next, is Reconciling Mission: Healing the Earth - Tuesday, 12 October, 14:00 (BST), zoom - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/healing-the-earth-reconciling-mission-tickets-139537379057.

What contributions can Christians and Anglican Churches make to addressing the global environmental crisis, and what it might mean for us to play a part in healing the earth, instead of exploiting it? Alastair McKay (facilitating), Executive Director, Reconciliation Initiatives, Ali Angus, Leader of Eco Church, St Leonard’s Streatham, Alex Hilton, Head of Sustainability, HM Revenue & Customs, and Rachel Mash, Environmental Coordinator, Anglican Church of Southern Africa.

Then we explore the impact of climate change on the Pacific Islands through two panels entitled Making UK Connections: Voices of the Pacific. On Thursday 21 October (online 20:00 BST / 7am Pacific Time (22/10), zoom) a panel of artists and performers will talk about Pacific arts and culture plus the impact climate change has had on artist livelihoods in the Pacific. Register at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/making-connections-voices-from-the-indigenous-pacific-tickets-173884562407. On Thursday 28 October (10:00 BST (9pm Pacific Time), zoom) a panel of faith and climate mitigation leaders including His Excellency The Most Rev. Dr Peter Loy Chong DD, Archbishop of Suva, discuss what pacific island communities most need from Cop26 and how communities of faith can connect anew to amplify the calls for urgent action. Register at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/making-connections-voices-from-the-indigenous-pacific-tickets-173888614527.

These panel sessions are part of a celebration of Pacific arts and culture in the lead up to COP26, a three-week festival running 9-30 October 2021, is being produced by Pacific Island Artists Connection and hosted by St Martin-in-the-Fields in London's Trafalgar Square. This inaugural event brings together communities from Fiji, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea who are based in the Pacific region as well as the UK's large Pacific diaspora. The festival is free and includes an art exhibition curated by the talented Sulu Daunivalu (Director, Museum of Pacific & Oceanic Art, Latvia), heritage arts and products, on-line panel discussions, interactive activities live-streamed with Fijian speakers and performers.

Showcasing both heritage and contemporary arts, including a wide variety of visual art that has never been shown before, the exhibition will take visitors on a journey across the Pacific region whilst highlighting the impact climate change is having on these small island nations and how Pacific communities are fighting back.

Many of the works on display will be for sale and this income will directly assist Pacific Islanders who have been so badly affected by the COVID pandemic. A selection of artists showing in the exhibition include Nicolai Michoutouchkine, Irami Buli, John Danger and Robert Kua.

Fiji-based dance company VOU Fiji will be featured in a recorded film showcasing their award winning piece ‘Are We Stronger Than Winston?’. Choreographed by VOU’s Navi Fong after Fiji was devastated by category 5 Tropical Cyclone Winston in February 2016, the piece has been redeveloped by Fong to incorporate current conversations on climate change and climate action. At the opening ceremony, a live dance performance will follow the film, performed by Ta’Arei Weeks, also choreographed by Navi Fong, through virtual connections, highlighting the Covid-19 impact on travel and cultural tourism.

All event updates will be posted at Pacific Art Festival London 2021: 9th October - 30th October | Facebook. The exhibition will also be online from Saturday 9th October.

Also at St Martin-in-the-Fields is The Dream for Our Planet, a lecture by Rt Revd Nicholas Holtam, Dr Emily Grossman, Dr Austen Ivereigh on Monday 25 October, 19:00 – 20:30 (GMT). Tickets: www.smitf.org/lectures.

"After the ravages of the pandemic, it’s time for church and society to learn to dream again. Dr Martin Luther King Jr, had a dream of racial equality and social justice. Inspired by his dream, we’re gathering a chorus of dreamers from different walks of life to inform and shape our dreams for the years to come." (Revd Dr Sam Wells)

We have a dream, the Autumn Lecture Series at St Martin-in-the-Fields for 2021 brings together an inspirational group of speakers. It invites them to dream again on the vital issues of our nation and planet, after a pandemic that has changed the way we live and relate to one another and the world. Drawing on Martin Luther King Jr’s famous words, we aim in this series to address for today some of the essential choices and needs and hopes facing our precious and yet wounded world. Who are the prophetic voices for our time, and how can the church answer that challenge? How do we respond to the crucial issues reshaping our world like migration and those seeking sanctuary and safety through their journeys? How does racialised justice and ‘Black Lives Matter’ confront our history, our present inequalities and the way we live our future? What is the threat to our planet and the danger of extinction, and what is so crucial at the COP26 Global Summit? What is the place of theatre and the creative arts in the way we learn to understand our world and live our dreams? What is the vision of St Martin’s, at the heart, on the edge, seeking a vision of faith that can find God’s abundance even in scarcity that can inspire people to dream again even in the face of adversity?

These lectures will be live, in person, at St Martin-in-the-Fields, and will also be live-streamed online. There will be a chance for questions from the audience, and we hope to gather with the speakers afterwards at a reception. We ask those booking tickets to make a donation of £10 towards the cost of the series, but it is also our aim to make the lectures open to all, so limited free places are available. Those who can give more are invited to pay for a free place for someone else to make sure this programme is available for all.

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

Jackson Browne - World In Motion.

Restoring Relations: Reconciling Ourselves to God and One Another

Wednesday, Nov 18, 2020, 8:00 PM GMT, zoom - https://www.eventbrite.com/e/restoring-relations-reconciling-ourselves-to-god-and-one-another-tickets-128573259079?mc_cid=60f9bd2d42&mc_eid=22b185552c.

An internet search for ‘reconciliation,’ gives the definition that reconciliation is “the restoration of friendly relations.” Our broken world and deep division on any number of issues suggests this definition only names one element of what true reconciliation entails.

For those in the United States, the recent election has exacerbated a years’ long fraying of the social compact. Harsh rhetoric, dismissive attitudes, and a lack of listening have resulted in misunderstanding and fragmentation across society – with some folks literally at each other’s throats.

Throughout the world, COVID-19 has exposed deep divisions based not only on the actual economic and health impacts, but also among people of goodwill on all sides around the perceived threat of the Coronavirus and the impact of measures taken to mitigate the virus spread. Add these elements to an already fractured populace and nations around the world find their citizenry divided and quickly working to unmake the social contract.

Do we stand aside and watch this happen? Or, do we act in ways consistent with our Baptismal Covenant? As Christians, our faith calls us to be agents of reconciliation - as hard as that might be given deep-seated and stridently held convictions. How do we act on this call?

Join our panel for a candid discussion of what it means to be agents of reconciliation and how we go about this work. While answers are often elusive, our panel will explore avenues allowing us to restore civil discourse and engagement… and then move into the work of deep listening, understanding, and compromise.

Panelists include:

• Steve Lawler - Founding Director, The Walker Leadership Institute at Eden Theological Seminary; St. Louis, Missouri (moderator)
• Alastair McKay - Executive Director, Reconciliation Initiatives; Founder, Bridge Builders (UK); Coventry, United Kingdom
• Chuck Robertson - Canon to the Presiding Bishop for Ministry Beyond the Episcopal Church; New York, New York
• Lia Dong Shimada - Mediator and Community Practitioner; Senior Researcher for the Susanna Wesley Foundation at the University of Roehampton; London, United Kingdom
• Josh Thomas - Executive Director, Kids4Peace; Washington, D.C.
• Xolani Diwati - Dean , St Mary's Cathedral; Johannesburg, South Africa

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

U2 - One.

ArtWay: The Light Without and Within

My latest visual meditation for ArtWay explores confession via images from S. Billie Mandle's monograph, Reconciliation:

'The confessionals that Mandle photographed over a ten-year period were pragmatic structures, often constructed with acoustic tiles, and more neglected than the churches themselves. Her images spoke to the beliefs that have defined these dark rooms and shaped this intimate yet institutional ritual. In the rooms themselves she found visible and invisible traces of people, communities, prayers and dogmas.

In the neglect of places and practices abandoned because of abuse, these seedy scruffy spaces that seem to share with us the shabby shame of sin, Mandle identifies the primary source of light and makes that the focus of her images. Light illumines and illuminates. In some images the light reveals the extent to which these spaces are rundown and gone to seed neglected. In others, the light irradiates the entire space transforming, changing, beautifying.'

My visual meditations for ArtWay include work by María Inés Aguirre, Giampaolo Babetto, Marian Bohusz-Szyszko, Alexander de Cadenet, Christopher Clack, Marlene Dumas, Terry Ffyffe, Antoni Gaudi, Nicola Green, Maciej Hoffman, Giacomo Manzù, Michael Pendry, Maurice Novarina, Regan O'Callaghan, Ana Maria Pacheco, John Piper, Albert Servaes, Henry Shelton and Anna Sikorska.

My Church of the Month reports include: Aylesford Priory, Canterbury Cathedral, Chapel of St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face, Hem, Chelmsford Cathedral, Churches in Little Walsingham, Coventry Cathedral, Église de Saint-Paul à Grange-Canal, Eton College Chapel, Lumen, Metz Cathedral, Notre Dame du Léman, Notre-Dame de Toute Grâce, Plateau d’Assy,Romont, Sint Martinuskerk Latem, St Aidan of Lindisfarne, St Alban Romford, St. Andrew Bobola Polish RC Church, St. Margaret’s Church, Ditchling, and Ditchling Museum of Art + Craft, St Mary the Virgin, Downe, and St Paul Goodmayes, as well as earlier reports of visits to sites associated with Marian Bohusz-Szyszko, Marc Chagall, Jean Cocteau, Antoni Gaudi and Henri Matisse.

Other of writings for ArtWay can be found here. My pieces for Church Times can be found here. Those for Artlyst are here and those for Art+Christianity are here.

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

Elton John - Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word.

commission4mission: 'Reconciliation' exhibition & Private View

Mercurial Dance gave their final performance of the day at Coventry Cathedral just prior to the Private View of our ‘Reconciliation’ exhibition in the Chapel of Christ the Servant. The Route 10 project explores our relationship to health and wellbeing, and our bodies’ capacity to heal. The piece has been based on conversations with both health professionals and people along the no.10 bus route.

The Revd Canon David Stone, Precentor and Sub-Dean at Coventry Cathedral, and Mark Lewis, Chair of commission4mission, welcomed guests to the Private View. Mark spoke about the themes of reconciliation found in the exhibition from the reconciliatory aspects of the life of Christ, contemporary issues including plastic pollution and conflict in the Middle East, plus images referring to the reconciliation ministry of Coventry Cathedral. The exhibition ends with two images of an embrace alongside Deborah Harrison‘s sculpture depicting clasped hands.

‘Reconciliation’ is an exhibition by commission4mission artists in the Chapel of Christ the Servant at Coventry Cathedral (1 Hill Top, Coventry CV1 5AB) from 10 March – 12 April 2019. Cathedral opening hours: Mon to Sat – 10 am to 5 pm (Last entry for visitors is 4 pm), Sun – 12 noon to 4 pm (Last entry is 3 pm).

‘Reconciliation’ is a group show by commission4mission artists. The title and theme for the exhibition can be understood in terms of reconciliations that are emotional, political, personal, biblical, national, communal etc.

Revd Jonathan Evens, commission4mission’s secretary says: ‘Our artists have reflected broadly on the theme responding with imagery that ranges from various forms of embrace, through pardoning and connections to aspects of the Life of Christ including Annunciation, Crucifixion and Glorification. Contemporary issues addressed include conflicts in the Middle East and plastic pollution. There are also images of Coventry Cathedral itself, emphasising its reconciliation ministry. A mix of abstract and representational imagery has been created, utilising ceramics, collage, digital illustration, drawing, painting, photography and sculpture.’

The exhibition includes work by Ally Ashworth, Hayley Bowen, Harvey Bradley, IrinaBradley, Valerie Dean, Mary Donaghey, Jonathan Evens, Maurizio Galia, Michael Garaway, John Gentry, Clorinda Goodman, Laura Grenci, Deborah Harrison, David Hawkins, Anthony Hodgson, Eugenia Jacobs, Mark Lewis, David Millidge, Lucy Morrish, Irene Novelli, Janet Roberts, Henry Shelton, and Peter Webb.

‘The Last Supper’, a sculpture by David Millidge is inspired by Leonardo Da Vinci’s iconic Christian masterpiece. However, it is not about Judas or betrayal. It is about the journey of religious tolerance. The disciples in this Last Supper are all identical figures but decorated with a thin veneer of symbols and images representing different faiths (ceramic transfers).

David says: ‘If we are to continue living in a world where wars, conflicts, prejudice and persecution remain on the decline, we must continue to break down the barriers that divide us with acceptance and respect for the different faiths that we live by. My sculpture portrays an optimistic vision of a future where all ideologies sit side by side in harmony.’

The faiths represented, approximately in order of affiliated members are: Christianity, Islam, Atheism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Judaism, Taoism, Bahaism, Confucianism, Jainism, and Shintoism.

Mary Donaghey’s contribution also images a reconciliation yet to be realised. In To Arm is to Harm, leaders of five countries dealing or buying arms smile as arms are burnt. The background shows their distressed faces as they see what they and the Arms Trade enable; destruction of Palestinian homes (rebuilding shown), etc..

Former Bishop of Barking, David Hawkins also addresses contemporary issues with his mixed media pieces: ‘Carrier bags have become the latest culprits in the war on pollution, with two million being purchased every minute across the globe. Back lit by the sun, they become angels of death and destruction. Our Celtic forbears saw God’s activity in the mundane of everyday life – in our century, even in carrier bags.’

The Angels of Death pictured in these images feature in Old Testament stories which foreshadow the forgiveness and reconciliation to be found in the death of Christ.

Similarly, Michael Garaway’s ‘Friday Process – Mark’ also focuses on the significance of Christ’s crucifixion coming as it does from a series of four which present in graphical form the symbolic ‘hardware’ related to Christ’s suffering and death, as described in the Gospel accounts.

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

Live - Run To The Water.

Reconciliation: commission4mission exhibition

‘Reconciliation’ is an exhibition by commission4mission artists in the Chapel of Christ the Servant at Coventry Cathedral (1 Hill Top, Coventry CV1 5AB) from 10 March – 12 April 2019. Cathedral opening hours: Mon to Sat – 10 am to 5 pm (Last entry for visitors is 4 pm), Sun – 12 noon to 4 pm (Last entry is 3 pm). Private view: Saturday 9th March 5-7pm

‘Reconciliation’ is a group show by commission4mission artists. The title and theme for the exhibition can be understood in terms of reconciliations that are emotional, political, personal, biblical, national, communal etc.

Revd Jonathan Evens, commission4mission's secretary says: 'Our artists have reflected broadly on the theme responding with imagery that ranges from various forms of embrace, through pardoning and connections to aspects of the Life of Christ including Annunciation, Crucifixion and Glorification. Contemporary issues addressed include conflicts in the Middle East and plastic pollution. There are also images of Coventry Cathedral itself, emphasising its reconciliation ministry. A mix of abstract and representational imagery has been created, utilising ceramics, collage, digital illustration, drawing, painting, photography and sculpture.'

The exhibition includes work by Ally Ashworth, Hayley Bowen, Harvey Bradley, IrinaBradley, Valerie Dean, Mary Donaghey, Jonathan Evens, Maurizio Galia, Michael Garaway, John Gentry, Clorinda Goodman, Laura Grenci, Deborah Harrison, David Hawkins, Anthony Hodgson, Eugenia Jacobs, Mark Lewis, David Millidge, Lucy Morrish, Irene Novelli, Janet Roberts, Henry Shelton, and Peter Webb.

'The Last Supper', a sculpture by David Millidge is inspired by Leonardo Da Vinci's iconic Christian masterpiece. However, it is not about Judas or betrayal. It is about the journey of religious tolerance.
The disciples in this Last Supper are all identical figures but decorated with a thin veneer of symbols and images representing different faiths (ceramic transfers).

David says: 'If we are to continue living in a world where wars, conflicts, prejudice and persecution remain on the decline, we must continue to break down the barriers that divide us with acceptance and respect for the different faiths that we live by. My sculpture portrays an optimistic vision of a future where all ideologies sit side by side in harmony.'

The faiths represented, approximately in order of affiliated members are: Christianity, Islam, Atheism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Judaism, Taoism, Bahaism, Confucianism, Jainism, and Shintoism.

Mary Donaghey's contribution also images a reconciliation yet to be realised. In one area of her painting, armaments are piled resembling a bonfire with monetary notes of the major countries dealing in the Arms Trade. This is ready to be used in the igniting of it all. Nearby, Israeli soldiers are welcoming displaced Palestinians into new houses, the fence being down. An Iranian prison is open, prisoners emerging. A Syrian hospital is supplying prosthetic limbs, skies clear, nails being shovelled into a hole in the ground. The offending leaders of these countries also behave with compassion towards their present victims.

Former Bishop of Barking, David Hawkins also addresses contemporary issues with his mixed media pieces: 'Carrier bags have become the latest culprits in the war on pollution, with two million being purchased every minute across the globe. Back lit by the sun, they become angels of death and destruction. Our Celtic forbears saw God’s activity in the mundane of everyday life – in our century, even in carrier bags.'

The Angels of Death pictured in these images feature in Old Testament stories which foreshadow the forgiveness and reconciliation to be found in the death of Christ.

Similarly, Michael Garaway's 'Friday Process - Mark' also focuses on the significance of Christ's crucifixion coming as it does from a series of four which present in graphical form the symbolic 'hardware' related to Christ's suffering and death, as described in the Gospel accounts.

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

Glenn Kaiser - Presence Of The Lord.