Upcoming events in the Wickford and Runwell Team Ministry

Here are the upcoming events in the Wickford and Runwell Team Ministry during January and February:

Fear not, for I am with you: An exhibition of religious paintings by David Sowerby

9 January – 3 April 2026

St Andrew’s Church, 11 London Road, Wickford SS12 0AN

View the exhibition and hear David speak about his work at ‘Unveiled’, the arts & performance evening at St Andrew’s Wickford, Friday 9 January, 7.00 pm.

St Andrew’s is usually open: Sat 9am-12.30pm; Sun 9.30am-12 noon; Mon 2-3.45pm; Tue 1-4.30pm; Wed 10am-12 noon; Fri 10am-1pm. https://wickfordandrunwellparish.org.uk/whats-on.html 

David Sowerby

Born 24th October 1954

Studied Foundation at Middlesbrough Art College

BA (hons) Art and Design at The Central School of Art (London)

I worked as a freelance illustrator and teacher throughout my life and eventually retired as a Principal Lecturer at The University of the Arts London.

I now support a range of charities, both local and national, via my mutual interest and fascination with art and creativity. 

An earlier exhibition was just prior to the first lockdown which was held at The Transition, Chelmsford, with proceeds going towards The British Heart Foundation raised just over £6,000.

I continue to support local and national charities, contributing a large percentage of any sales to such charitable organisations and causes.  

My work can be viewed on my Facebook pages, search for David Sowerby with more available to view at Sowerbycreations (Facebook again) 

Unveiled

A regular Friday night arts and performance event
at St Andrew’s Church, 7.00 – 9.00 pm
11 London Road, Wickford, Essex SS12 0AN

See below for our Spring 2026 programme and http://wickfordandrunwellparish.org.uk/whats-on.html for more information.

Exhibitions, open mic nights, performances, talks and more!

Unveiled – a wide range of artist and performers from Essex and wider, including Open Mic nights (come and have a go!).
Unveiled – view our hidden painting by acclaimed artist David Folley, plus a range of other exhibitions.

Spring Programme 2026

• 9 January (7.00 pm) – ‘Fear not, for I am with you: An exhibition of religious paintings’ exhibition viewing evening. Meet artist David Sowerby, see his exhibition & hear him speak about his work. David worked as a freelance illustrator and teacher and was a Principal Lecturer at The University of the Arts London.
• 23 January (7.00 pm) – ‘Writing on the Arts’. A talk by Jonathan Evens reflecting on his experiences of writing on the Arts for publications including Artlyst, ArtWay, Church Times, International Times, Seen and Unseen and Stride Magazine, among others.
• 6 February (7.30 pm) – Meet film director Will Norman and see his acclaimed film My Brother Bob, which explores the meaning of quality of life and won Best Documentary at the UKFF. Will Norman is a London based director known for his surreal and playful approach to storytelling across commercials and music videos.
• 27 February (7.30 pm) – Rev Simpkins in concert. Rev Simpkins’ music mixes the colourful folk tradition of Appalachians Mountains with the melodiousness and carefully-observed lyrics of the Kinks. Close harmonies intertwine with banjo, French horn, and bass. “Melodious, chaotic, gloriously energetic, the fruit of the fevered musical imaginations of Matty Simpkins.”
• 13 March (7.00 pm) – ‘Nevendon to Wickford’. A talk by Geoff Whiter of Wickford Community Archive. Geoff’s talk will include a number of unseen photographs of Wickford Town centre.
• 27 March (7.30 pm) – Open Mic Night. Everybody is welcome to come along & play, read, sing or just spectate. See you there for a great evening of live performance!

These events do not require tickets (just turn up on the night). There will be a retiring collection to cover artist and church costs. See http://wickfordandrunwellparish.org.uk/whats-on.html for fuller information.

Rev Simpkins 

Suffolk-Essex musician, Rev Simpkins, presents an evening of acoustic music of great imagination and charm.

The Rev will perform songs from his acclaimed folk albums such as ‘Big Sea’ and ‘Saltings’, together with songs from his band album ‘Pissabed Prophet’. The gig will also feature songs from the Rev’s most recent album ‘Headwater’, a collection of fever dreams and reflections on awe and delirium, recorded in the aftermath of an extreme reaction to immunotherapy treatment for stage 4 cancer. These songs recreate sounds and visions experienced on the hospital ward.

The Rev’s sweeping melodies, rich harmonies, and fascinating lyrics have won him both a cult following and national acclaim. This is a rare chance to experience the breadth of the Rev’s  work in one evening.

"Bizarre Post-Punk mastery...Ludicrously cool" 8/10 Vive le Rock on ‘Pissabed Prophet’

“Headwater takes us into new ruminative territory with its industrial electronic soundscapes and use of drones and silences to bring us into contemplation.” International Times

Nazareth Community Gathering

Saturday 17 January, 2.00 pm

St John’s Church, Outwood Common Rd, Billericay CM11 2LE

A first meeting of the incipient South Essex Nazareth Community including: Study (Letter from Nazareth); Sharing (Wonderings); Staying With (Preparing a 7S’s Rule of Life); and Sacrament (Eucharist).  

A contemporary Rule of Life: Silence, Service, Scripture, Sacrament, Sharing, Sabbath, Staying With

All are welcome to find out more and take part in this initial Gathering to begin forming a Nazareth Community in South Essex.

WICKFORD AND RUNWELL 

PARISH STUDY DAY 2026 

THE BIG STORY: THE BIBLE IN FIVE ACTS 

Saturday 31st January 2026 

9.30am - 2pm in St Andrews church 

Lunch provided.

Explore the amazing story told through the Bible from Creation to Jesus and the Early Church and look into the future and what it means for us.

... discuss ...

Discuss is a youth discussion group meeting monthly on Fridays, 7.00 pm, St Andrew's Centre. All discussion topics chosen by the group. All teens and twenties are welcome.

Dates:

• 16 January
• 20 February
• 20 March
• 17 April
• 15 May
• 12 June
• 10 July

Pancake Party

St Catherine’s Hall

17th February 2026

Between 2.30 pm and 4pm

£5 for pancakes and tea or coffee

There will also be a raffle

Sign up lists coming soon, pay on the day

WICKFORD AND RUNWELL PARISH 

LENT 2026 

Inspired to Follow: Who is my Neighbour 

A journey through Lent 

A course from St Martin-in-the-Fields in conjunction with the National Gallery, exploring Art and the Bible Story. We are offering this six week course from week commencing 23rd February. The final week will be decided by each group. 

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Rev Simpkins - In The Marsh A Desert.

International Times: Fever Dreams at the Brink

My latest review to be published by International Times is of 'Headwater' by Rev Simpkins, plus his album launch gig:

“For Simpkins to have come through his treatment as he has is wonderful. His creative responses – marvellous music surrounding and shaping depth of insight – are genuinely amazing. His illness inspired him to return to his original calling in music and setting out to sail that big sea has enabled him to explore both the depths of human experience and the redemptive power of music. Join him at the brink, risking the roar and rage, by allowing the waters of this latest stage of his journey to pour on your head.”

For more on Rev Simpkins read my interview with him for Seen and Unseen here and my review of the Pissabed Prophet album here.

My earlier pieces for IT are an interview with the poet Chris Emery, an interview with Jago Cooper, Director of the the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, a profile of singer-songwriter Bill Fay, plus reviews of: 'The Invisibility of Religion in Contemporary Art' by Jonathan A. Anderson; 'Breaking Lines' at the Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art, albums by Deacon Blue, Mumford and Sons, and Andrew Rumsey, also by Joy Oladokun and Michael Kiwanaku; 'Nolan's Africa' by Andrew Turley; Mavis Staples in concert at Union Chapel; T Bone Burnett's 'The Other Side' and Peter Case live in Leytonstone; Helaine Blumenfeld's 'Together' exhibition, 'What Is and Might Be and then Otherwise' by David Miller; 'Giacometti in Paris' by Michael Peppiatt, the first Pissabed Prophet album - 'Zany in parts, moving in others, you’ll be hard pressed to find a more unusual, inspired & profound album this year. ‘Pissabed Prophet’ will thrill, intrigue, amuse & inspire' - and 'Religion and Contemporary Art: A Curious Accord', a book which derives from a 2017 symposium organised by the Association of Scholars of Christianity in the History of Art.

Several of my short stories have been published by IT including three about Nicola Ravenscroft's EarthAngel sculptures (then called mudcubs), which we exhibited at St Andrew's Wickford in 2022. The first story in the series is 'The Mudcubs and the O Zone holes'. The second is 'The Mudcubs and the Clean-Up King', and the third is 'The mudcubs and the Wall'. My other short stories to have been published by International Times are 'The Black Rain', a story about the impact of violence in our media, 'The New Dark Ages', a story about principles and understandings that are gradually fading away from our modern societies, and 'The curious glasses', a story based on the butterfly effect.

IT have also published several of my poems, including 'The ABC of creativity', which covers attention, beginning and creation, and 'The Edge of Chaos', a state of existence poem. Also published have been three poems from my 'Five Trios' series. 'Barking' is about St Margaret’s Barking and Barking Abbey and draws on my time as a curate at St Margaret's. 'Bradwell' is a celebration of the history of the Chapel of St Peter-on-the-Wall, the Othona Community, and of pilgrimage to those places. Broomfield in Essex became a village of artists following the arrival of Revd John Rutherford in 1930. His daughter, the artist Rosemary Rutherford, also moved with them and made the vicarage a base for her artwork including paintings and stained glass. Then, Gwynneth Holt and Thomas Bayliss Huxley-Jones moved to Broomfield in 1949 where they shared a large studio in their garden and both achieved high personal success. 'Broomfield' reviews their stories, work, legacy and motivations.

To read my poems published by Stride, click here, here, here, here, here, and here. My poems published in Amethyst Review are: 'Runwell', 'Are/Are Not', 'Attend, attend' and 'Maritain, Green, Beckett and Anderson in conversation down through the ages'.

I am among those whose poetry has been included in Thin Places & Sacred Spaces, a recent anthology from Amethyst Press. I also had a poem included in All Shall Be Well: Poems for Julian of Norwich, the first Amethyst Press anthology of new poems.

'Five Trios' is a series of poems on thin places and sacred spaces in the Diocese of Chelmsford. The five poems in the series are:

• 'Barking';
• 'Bradwell';
• 'Broomfield';
• 'Pleshey'; and
• 'Runwell'.

These poems have been published by Amethyst Review and International Times.

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Rev Simpkins - The Brink.

Seen&Unseen - Beyond Christmas cards: a guide to the season’s art, past and present

My latest article for Seen&Unseen is a guide to the 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:

'Whether you are looking to continue the tradition of sending Christmas cards through the post or will be sending digital greetings to family and friends, looking for, creating or commissioning nativity images that depict Jesus coming in your culture and your time continues to offer a significant way of showing the wonder of the incarnation to others. And, if you do so, while being entirely contemporary, you will also be firmly rooted in art history and church tradition.'

Victoria Emily Jones, who is quoted in the article, has curated two collections of nativity art.: 2011 collection, and 2015 collection. She has also compiled an Advent Slideshow and Devotional for Art & Theology. For more on our collaboration, click here.

My first article for Seen&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.

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Rev Simpkins - Big Sea.

A weekend of music, art, poetry and a Confirmation Service

On Friday, at St Andrew's Wickford, Suffolk-Essex musician, Rev Simpkins, presented an evening of acoustic music of great imagination and charm, inspired by the history and geography of East Anglia.

The Rev performed songs from his acclaimed folk albums Big Sea and Saltings, before his band Pissabed Prophet, formed with Dingus Khan’s Ben Brown and Nick Daldry, took to the stage to play their first ever acoustic set.

The Rev’s sweeping melodies, rich harmonies, and fascinating lyrics have won him both a cult following and national acclaim. This was a rare chance to experience the breadth of the Rev’s work in one evening.

Read my interview for Seen&Unseen with Rev Simpkins (in which we discuss how music is an expression of humanity and his faith) and my review of Pissabed Prophet for International Times.

Yesterday, I attended Everywhere is Heaven: Malcolm Guite, Christopher Southgate, Roger Wagner, a poetry reading to open Everywhere is Heaven: Stanley Spencer/Roger Wagner, an exhibition at the Stanley Spencer Gallery in Cookham. The poetry reading took place in Holy Trinity Cookham, the setting of Spencer's Cookham Resurrection.

The exhibition is the Gallery’s first collaboration with a living artist. Roger Wagner has been deeply inspired by Stanley Spencer’s paintings, and both artists have been described as ‘visionary geniuses’, each seeking to evoke the mystical in everyday experience. Just as Spencer found Cookham to be ‘heaven on earth’, so Roger evokes biblical happenings in contemporary settings.

Born in 1957, Roger Wagner read English at Oxford University before studying at the Royal Academy School of Art. He has been represented in London since 1985 by Anthony Mould Ltd exhibiting there many times. Other one man shows include retrospectives at the Ashmolean Museum in 1994 and 2010. He has produced several books of illustrated poems and translations: Fire Sonnets (1984), In a Strange Land (1988), A Silent Voice (1997), Out of the Whirlwind (1997). The Book of Praises – a translation of the psalms Book One(1994), Book Two (2008), Book Three (2013).

Malcolm Guite is the former Chaplain of Girton College, Cambridge and author of various books on contemporary spirituality. In addition to this he is a poet and singer-songwriter and fronts the Cambridge-based band Mystery Train. In 2023 he was awarded the Lanfranc Award for Education and Scholarship, for his outstanding multifaceted promotion of the Gospels through poetry, public speaking and scholarship.

Christopher Southgate works at the University of Exeter as a Professor in Theology. He has been publishing his poetry since 1985. He is the author of nine collections of poetry, including a verse biography of T.S. Eliot – A Love and its Sounding (Salzburg, 1997). He has won a number of awards for poetry. He was also commended in the 2009 National Poetry Competition, and shortlisted for the 2022 Bridport Prize.

Today, we have had a Basildon Deanery Confirmation Service at St Gabriel's Pitsea led by The Rt Revd Adam Atkinson, the new Bishop of Bradwell who spoke about encouraging one another as we go forward on our faith journeys. There were 18 candidates from three parishes, including two from Wickford and Runwell.

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Pissabed Prophet - Waspdrunk.