Rev Simpkins in concert

Rev Simpkins in concert
Friday 17 November, 7.00 pm
St Andrew’s Church, 11 London Road, Wickford SS12 0AN
Part of ‘Unveiled’, the new Friday night arts and performance event at St Andrew’s Church
No ticket required – donations requested on the night

Rev Simpkins and Pissabed Prophet

Suffolk-Essex musician, Rev Simpkins, presents an evening of acoustic music of great imagination and charm, inspired by the history and geography of East Anglia.

The Rev will perform 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, takes 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 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

"A MOST JOYOUS ALBUM...A WORK WITH AN OVER-ARCHING SENSE OF COMMUNITY, LIFE, LOVE, AND NATURE, WHILST ALSO MUSING ON THE CYCLICAL INEVITABILITY OF DEATH AND DECAY" Fatea Magazine on Pissabed Prophet

"ENERGETIC...GLORIOUS...A DANDELION FIELD FULL OF FRESH CUT GOODNESS" The Organ on Pissabed Prophet

Read my review of Pissabed Prophet here.

The full autumn programme of arts and culture events at St Andrew's Wickford (11 London Road, Wickford SS12 0AN) continues next Friday with 'Poetry & Prayer' (all events begin at 7.00 pm):

• 22 September – Poetry and Prayer: Hear Jonathan Evens speak about and read poems about prayer and poems that are prayers. Enjoy poems by John Berryman, John Donne, Carol Ann Duffy, George Herbert, Ann Lewin and Mary Oliver among others.
• 6 October – From Hong Kong to Wickford: See the multifaceted pictorial display at St Andrew’s created by Wickford-based composer Ho Wai-On. It features stories of a lifetime of interaction with UK-Hong Kong based artists/people that have resulted in many creative works. Hear Wai-On speak about the exhibition, her career and her creative projects.
• 20 October – An evening with the Ladygate Scribblers. Hear poetry and prose from a long-established Wickford-based writers’ group.
• 3 November – Wickford Heroes: Hear Steve Newman of the Wickford War Memorial Association and author of ‘Wickford Heroes - The Wickford & Runwell Roll of Honour Book’ speak about the War Memorial & some of those from Wickford & Runwell who made the supreme sacrifice in the World Wars.
• 17 November – Rev Simpkins in concert featuring songs from ‘Pissabed Prophet’ – “Melodious, chaotic, gloriously energetic, the fruit of the fevered musical imaginations of Matty Simpkins (Rev Simpkins) and Ben Brown (Dingus Khan, SuperGlu).”
• 1 December – Mission to Seafarers evening including Sea Shanties: The Mission to Seafarers provides help and support to the 1.89 million crewmen and women who face danger every day to keep our global economy afloat. Hear more about their work from Paul Trathen, Port Development Manager. Also enjoy a selection of sea shanties from local singers led by John Rogers.
• 15 December – Film Night: It's a Wonderful Life. The story of dejected and desperate George Bailey, who's spent his whole life in the small town of Bedford Falls, but longs to explore the world. Reaching rock bottom, he starts to believe that everyone in his life would be better off if he had never been born. An angel shows him how important a role he's had in the lives of friends and family.

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.

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Rev Simpkins - Creeksailor.

Conversion of Paul

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

Today the Church remembers the conversion of St Paul (Acts 9. 1-22); a feast that has been celebrated in the Church since the sixth century but which became universal in the twelfth century. Paul’s conversion has become a classic Christian encounter with God, to the extent that the phrase ‘a Damascus Road experience’, meaning an extraordinarily dramatic conversion or a profound life-changing experience, has come into common usage.

Saul’s Damascus Road experience literally turned his life upside down as is symbolised by his fall. One moment he was up on his feet - a leader of others with a warrant from the High Priest to arrest heretics – the next, he was flat on his back in the road with God telling him that those he was persecuting were actually God’s own people – the body of Christ. In one moment, everything he thought he knew was shown to be false and the entire direction that his life had taken up to that point was reversed so that he goes from this encounter to preach the Christ whom formally he had persecuted. The story suggests that this is the power of God’s presence – encounter with God reveals the inadequacy of all that we have known up to that point and turns us around to receive and know the truth.

This is also symbolised by the light which shines in this story. In the Bible, Jesus is spoken of as ‘the light of the world.’ This light shines in the darkness of error and reveals truth. John 3. 18 – 20 says: “This is how the judgement works: the light has come into the world, but people love the darkness rather than the light, because their deeds are evil. Those who do evil things hate the light and will not come to the light, because they do not want their evil deeds to be shown up.” Saul comes into the light, sees that his deeds are evil, turns away from them and begins a new way of life signalled by taking a new name.

Through this encounter Saul sees: that Jesus is God; Jesus has been raised from death and is alive; and Jesus is in his people - the Church, which is the Body of Christ. Or does he? One of the strange aspects of this story is that in the story Saul does not see. He does not actually see Jesus - instead he hears his voice - and the immediate result of the encounter is that Saul is blinded and cannot physically see.

So, what is going on here? Is this encounter with God as straightforward as my earlier comments suggested? It may be that sight distracts us from hearing the still, small (perhaps inner) voice of God; that it is only once he has been blinded by the light that Saul can hear what God wishes to say to him. So, there may be an element of asceticism in the story – the closing off of physical sight in order to enhance spiritual insight.

We might also suggest that darkness, blindness, lack of sight and lack of knowing is actually essential to true encounter with God. As God cannot be defined or fully comprehended by human beings, it may be essential to true encounter with God to realise our inability to fully ‘know’ God and therefore to accept and rest in the darkness and blindness of our lack of knowing.

We also need to remember that his conversion experience was a beginning: Saul took some time to become Paul and some time to begin to understand that his call to preach -- to Jew and to Gentile -- the saving power of Jesus, the Son of God, was something that was a whole life's journey for him. Paul says in his Letter to the Church in Galatia, "God set me apart before I was born and called me through his grace ... Three years after (the Damascus Road conversion), I went up to Jerusalem." The preparation for this moment of his conversion was his whole life.

Finally, it is easy for us to think that to be effective our testimonies must be dramatic as was the testimony of Paul. The story of how the persecutor of the faith became the Apostle to Gentiles, including his Damascus Road experience, was and is a story full of drama and one which had huge impact in its day and has had since.

However, we should not, as a result, despise other less dramatic and more gradual testimonies of faith. My own story is one of growing up in a Christian family and of coming to faith as a child after hearing an account of the crucifixion at a Holiday Bible Club. That night I knelt by my bed and asked Jesus into my life. As a shy teenager very aware of my own shortcomings I later doubted whether I was good enough for God but in my late teens was shown Romans 5. 8, which says “while we were still sinners Christ died for us,” by a youth group leader and, as a result, recommitted my life to Christ. Over the course of my life, I have felt God leading me to develop the particular mix of community action, workplace ministry, artistic activities and relationship building that characterises my ministry today.

That simple, undramatic testimony will I hope be an encouragement to those of you here today who, like me, don’t have dramatic testimonies to tell but who nevertheless have real encounters with God and real growth in faith to share as part of our testimonies. When we do so, we are witnesses to Jesus and to the impact and effect that he has had on our lives. 

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Bob Dylan - Precious Angel.

Saturday Solace: Beautiful Scars

Here's the reflection I shared during Saturday Solace at St Andrew's Wickford this morning:

Bible reading:

While they were talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’ They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. He said to them, ‘Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.’ And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, ‘Have you anything here to eat?’ They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate in their presence. (Luke 24.36-43)

Meditation: Beautiful scars

When Jesus says to his disciples, “Look at my hands and feet … Touch me and see”, it is the scars from the nails that were driven into his hands and feet while on the cross and the spear that was thrust into his side that he is asking his disciples to look at and touch. These scars are part of Christ’s resurrected body.

Christ’s resurrection is only achieved by way of the wounds he gained from the crucifixion. He is for us the risen Christ because he was firstly for us the crucified Christ. In a similar way our wounds inevitably form and shape us. We would not be who we are as we now are without having gone through or having endured those wounding experiences.

In Isaiah 53 we read: “Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering … and by his wounds we are healed.” Jesus saves us through his wounds. Those who are wounded often become wounded healers, with their experience of living with their wounds shaping their ministry to others facing similar experiences and circumstances.

We are all wounded and scarred, that is reality for all of us, but the marks of our pain can be turned into beautiful scars if we view the wounds we bear as being embraced by Christ, as formative in our lives and as opportunities which create potential in us to minister in future to others.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, who carries on his body the scars of our salvation, make our scars beautiful like your scars. May wounds in our lives, which at one time were signs of harm, become signs of care for others as our experience of living with our wounds comes to shape our ministry to others as wounded healers. We pray for this resurrection experience and ask that what was once harmful and destructive in our life be transformed to become life-giving for us and for others. Amen.

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Merry Clayton - Beautiful Scars.

Gala Fundraising Concert

 

Join us and Ladybirds Song Group for a Gala Concert on Saturday 21st January at St. Andrew's Church in Wickford, doors open 7pm, for a fundraising concert in aid of restoration work at St. Catherine's Church. Admission free but there will be a retiring collection. Refreshments and raffle also on the night. We hope to see you there.

Urgent work is required to the Tower of St. Catherine’s Church Wickford as a result of ground movement caused by the long dry summer. This resulted in subsidence of the foundations in the North West corner of the church which caused a number of large cracks to appear in the walls and some stonework to fall. As a result, urgent safety and weather protection work costing £23,000 is required followed by the investigations needed to design a long-term solution to the problem.

A fundraising campaign to raise an initial £23,000 has been launched, but this is only the beginning of a much longer project to effectively underpin the church in order to prevent the regular recurrence of the issue. This first stage of the project will involve: removing or temporarily fixing loose stonework; undertaking temporary roof repairs and loose filling of walls for weather protection; removal of loose internal plasterwork; temporary covering of affected windows; and the reinstatement of the lightning conductor.

"Our churches are seeking to be at the heart of the community in Wickford but also need the support of the wider community in the town, particularly as we address the problems of subsidence at St Catherine's Church and the expense of maintaining this much-loved community building given the effects of significant climate change."

“Our recent consultation exercise in the Parish revealed that the churches in Wickford and Runwell are seen as contributing to the sense of community and are valued both for the support they bring to others and as centres for peace and prayer which provide a sense of Christian presence. Many local people have been baptised or married at St Catherine’s or have family members commemorated in the churchyard. For all these reasons, we believe many locally will want to support this campaign to ensure that this much-loved community building is repaired and secured for the future.”

Our fundraising campaign begins with a series of fundraising events involving Ladybirds Song Group, Rumatica Ukulele Group and a Quiz Night:

• Ladybirds Song Group: Saturday 21 January, 7.30 pm, St Andrew’s Church (11 London Road, Wickford SS12 0AN). The Ladybirds Song Group sing all over South Essex performing popular songs from the 1950s to the present. No tickets required. A retiring collection will be taken.

• Quiz Night: Saturday 4 February, 7.00 pm, 1st Runwell Scout Hall (Runwell Gardens SS11 7DW). £5.00 p/head. Tables of up to eight. Bring your own snacks & drinks (Tea and Coffee available). To book a table email StCatherinesQuiz@hotmail.com. Street parking in Church End Lane.

• Rumatica Ukulele Group: Saturday 11 March, 3.00 pm, St Catherine’s Church (120 Southend Road, Wickford SS11 8EB). A local band playing and singing a wide range of popular songs including rock, pop, country, swing, rock and roll. Enjoy a cream tea afterwards in the church hall.

Those wishing to contribute to this campaign, can send cheques made out to Wickford and Runwell Parochial Church Council to The Rectory, 120 Southend Road, Wickford SS11 8EB or phone 07803 562329 / email jonathan.evens@btinternet.com for the bank details to use for a bank transfer.

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Sufjan Stevens - Ring Them Bells.

Wickford & Runwell Team Ministry: Events and initiatives

Unveiled, the regular arts and performance evening at St Andrew's Church (11 London Road, Wickford SS12 0AN), returns tonight (Friday 13 January) at 7.00 pm with 'From Rettendon Turnpike to Halls Corner: A Journey in Time', a talk by Geoff Whiter of Wickford Community Archive. Unveiled includes 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.

Our Spring Programme for 2023 is as follows:

• 13 January – 'From Rettendon Turnpike to Halls Corner: A Journey in Time'. A talk by Geoff Whiter of Wickford Community Archive.
• 27 January – 'The Blind Jesus (No-one belongs here more than you)': Exhibition viewing evening. See this exhibition of Last Supper images and works about belonging or feeling welcomed. Hear from artist Alan Stewart, project lead Celia Webster (co-founder of WAVE), and Revd John Beauchamp, Disability Ministry Enabler for the Diocese of London.
• 10 February – An evening with composer Silvio Bartoli. Numerous performances of his pieces have been done during the last years in London, by The Hermes Project, The Explore Ensemble, different solo pieces, and the RCM Philarmonia. In addition to his career as a composer, he teaches composition, harmony, piano, theory and solfege.
• 17 February – 'God Gave Rock and Roll to You': a talk by Jonathan Evens about the religious influences in Rock, Pop, and Soul music.
• 3 March – Open Mic Night with John Rogers. Everybody is welcome to come along and play, sing or just spectate. Hope to see you there for a great evening of live music!
• 17 March – St Martin’s Voices, one of the UK’s most versatile professional vocal ensembles, performing concerts on the international stage as well as giving regular BBC broadcasts and special services at London’s iconic St Martin-in-the-Fields. The ensemble performs regularly alongside the Academy of St Martin in the Fields and London Mozart Players and is featured in the Church of England’s online worship resources that have attracted over 4 million downloads.

These events do not require tickets (just turn up on the night). There will be a retiring collection to cover artist and church costs.

We are also running a fundraising campaign for urgent work that is required to the Tower of St. Catherine’s Church Wickford as a result of ground movement caused by the long dry summer. This resulted in subsidence of the foundations in the North West corner of the church which caused a number of large cracks to appear in the walls and some stonework to fall. As a result, urgent safety and weather protection work costing £23,000 is required followed by the investigations needed to design a long-term solution to the problem.

A fundraising campaign to raise an initial £23,000 has been launched, but this is only the beginning of a much longer project to effectively underpin the church in order to prevent the regular recurrence of the issue. This first stage of the project will involve: removing or temporarily fixing loose stonework; undertaking temporary roof repairs and loose filling of walls for weather protection; removal of loose internal plasterwork; temporary covering of affected windows; and the reinstatement of the lightning conductor.

"Our churches are seeking to be at the heart of the community in Wickford but also need the support of the wider community in the town, particularly as we address the problems of subsidence at St Catherine's Church and the expense of maintaining this much-loved community building given the effects of significant climate change."

“Our recent consultation exercise in the Parish revealed that the churches in Wickford and Runwell are seen as contributing to the sense of community and are valued both for the support they bring to others and as centres for peace and prayer which provide a sense of Christian presence. Many local people have been baptised or married at St Catherine’s or have family members commemorated in the churchyard. For all these reasons, we believe many locally will want to support this campaign to ensure that this much-loved community building is repaired and secured for the future.”

Our fundraising campaign begins with a series of fundraising events involving Ladybirds Song Group, Rumatica Ukulele Group and a Quiz Night:

• Ladybirds Song Group: Saturday 21 January, 7.30 pm, St Andrew’s Church (11 London Road, Wickford SS12 0AN). The Ladybirds Song Group sing all over South Essex performing popular songs from the 1950s to the present. No tickets required. A retiring collection will be taken.
• Quiz Night: Saturday 4 February, 7.00 pm, 1st Runwell Scout Hall (Runwell Gardens SS11 7DW). £5.00 p/head. Tables of up to eight. Bring your own snacks & drinks (Tea and Coffee available). To book a table email StCatherinesQuiz@hotmail.com. Street parking in Church End Lane.
• Rumatica Ukulele Group: Saturday 11 March, 3.00 pm, St Catherine’s Church (120 Southend Road, Wickford SS11 8EB). A local band playing and singing a wide range of popular songs including rock, pop, country, swing, rock and roll. Enjoy a cream tea afterwards in the church hall.

Those wishing to contribute to this campaign, can send cheques made out to Wickford and Runwell Parochial Church Council to The Rectory, 120 Southend Road, Wickford SS11 8EB or phone 07803 562329 / email jonathan.evens@btinternet.com for the bank details to use for a bank transfer.

We are also continuing with our Contemplative Commuters and Saturday Solace initiatives:

• Contemplative Commuters is a Facebook group for any commuter wanting quiet reflective time and content on their journeys to and from work. Those joining receive a short weekly reflection, prayer and link to a useful resource at the beginning of the week. These can be used as group members wish, at any point throughout the week. Also available are 30-minute online services of Morning Prayer recorded on Tuesdays, Wednesdays & Thursdays at churches in Wickford & Runwell. Group members can share requests for prayer, whether personal or for family, friends, colleagues, also for home, work or world situations. Prayers are offered in the online services of Morning Prayer.
• Saturday Solace provides regular 10-minute reflection and Christian mindfulness sessions between 10.00 am and 12 noon on Saturdays at St Andrew’s Wickford to any in need of rest and renewal. Drop in whenever you can or combine your visit with food & drink at our popular Coffee Morning in the St Andrew’s Centre.

Like many local churches, the three churches in the Wickford and Runwell Team Ministry each contain interesting collections of art works from a range of periods and in a range of styles. As these artworks demonstrate, churches have for many years been significant patrons of the visual arts and contain important and interesting works of art. A case study on the Parish for Gods' Collections explores the artwork in our three churches and ways to share such works more widely.

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Silvio Bartoli - After.

Ministry and withdrawal, ministry and moving out

Here's the sermon I preached at St Andrew’s Wickford during yesterday's midweek Eucharist:

Mark’s Gospel begins a little like an action movie. Before we have completed the first chapter John the Baptist has preached, Jesus has been baptised, tempted in the desert, called the disciples, and healed a man in the synagogue. The pace of action is breathtaking. Read it at home and see for yourself!

So we are still in the first chapter with today’s Gospel reading (Mark 1. 29-39) and, although that is the case, we have here ten verses that show us the pattern of Jesus’ whole ministry. This is what Mark is so good at doing. He doesn’t just tell us the story straight; this happened then that happened. Instead he tells stories that sum up what the whole of Jesus’ mission and ministry were about, so that we can follow in Jesus’ footsteps by doing the same.

The first pattern that we see in this story is the balance been ministry and spirituality. The first few verses of the story describe an intense period of ministry. Jesus returns from the synagogue where he has just healed a man to find that Simon’s mother-in-law is unwell. He heals her and then spends the evening healing many “who were sick with all kinds of diseases and drove out many demons.” We know how busy and exhausted we can often feel through the ministry we do in our workplaces, homes, community and here at St John’s. We can imagine how Jesus would have felt following his day of ministry.

In the morning, everyone is again looking for Jesus but he is nowhere to be found. Long before daylight he had got up, left the town and gone to a lonely place where he could pray. In order to pray effectively and well to needed to get away from the demands of ministry and away from his disciples. He needed to be alone with God in order to recharge his batteries for further ministry to come and this is Jesus’ pattern throughout his ministry; active mission together with others combined with withdrawal for individual prayer and recuperation.

This needs to be our pattern too. The busyness of ministry here and in our weekday lives cannot be sustained if it is not fed by regular times of withdrawal for prayer and recuperation. The two are clearly separated in Jesus’ live and ministry and he is prepared to disappoint people, as in this story, in order to ensure that he has the times of prayer and recuperation that he needs in our to sustain his active ministry.

The second pattern that we find in this story is that of ministry and moving on. Jesus has this time of active ministry with the people at Capernaum and then he moves on to preach in the other villages around this town and indeed across the whole of Galilee. The people don’t want him to go. The disciples tell Jesus that everyone is looking for him. They want more of what he has already given them. But he refuses them and moves on to preach to others.

There are two aspects to the pattern of Jesus’ ministry here. First, is his concern for all to hear. That is why he has come, he says, that he should bring God’s message to all. We need that same motivation. The message of salvation cannot stay wrapped up inside this building or our congregation but must go out from here. That also needs to happen for our own growth and development. We grow as Christians not by staying where we are and being ministered to but by getting up and following in Jesus’ footsteps ourselves; by becoming active ministers of the Gospel ourselves.

That is why Jesus constantly challenges his hearers to take up their cross and follow him. It is not that he wants to condemn all of us to suffering and a hard life instead he wants us to become people who learn how to give more than we receive. If all that we do as Christians is receive then our faith is ultimately a selfish one that is about what we can gain for ourselves. But what Jesus models for us is a way of life based on giving not getting and it is as we follow in his footsteps by giving that we grow and mature as Christians not the other way around. When we get up and go, we are putting our faith into action and genuinely trusting God. In that way, our faith is stretched and strengthened and grows.

William Temple, who was probably the greatest twentieth century Archbishop of Canterbury, famously said, “The Church is the only society that exists for the benefit of those who are not its members.” What he meant is that the Church is not about us members getting our needs and wants satisfied; it is instead about equipping and motivating us, the members, to bless others in the love of Christ. That is what Jesus sought to achieve by moving from town to town, village to village and challenging his disciples to travel with him. 

We need to mirror these patterns of ministry and withdrawal, ministry and moving out in our lives and our Church. We must be a society that exists for the benefit of those who are not its members. As we follow Christ, we cannot simply be about getting our needs and wants satisfied but need to be about being equipped by God through times of prayer and recuperation to be signs of Christ outside of this building, outside of our congregation, out where it makes a difference, out in our community and workplaces.

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Steve Bell & Malcolm Guite - Epiphany on the Jordan.

Unveiled Spring 2023 Programme

The regular Friday night Unveiled arts and performance event at St Andrew’s Church, 7.00 – 9.00 pm, (11 London Road, Wickford, Essex SS12 0AN), begins again from Friday 13 January, with 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 2023

• 13 January – 'From Rettendon Turnpike to Halls Corner: A Journey in Time'. A talk by Geoff Whiter of Wickford Community Archive.
• 27 January – 'The Blind Jesus (No-one belongs here more than you)': Exhibition viewing evening. See this exhibition of Last Supper images and works about belonging or feeling welcomed. Hear from artist Alan Stewart, project lead Celia Webster (co-founder of WAVE), and Revd John Beauchamp, Disability Ministry Enabler for the Diocese of London.
• 10 February – An evening with composer Silvio Bartoli. Numerous performances of his pieces have been done during the last years in London, by The Hermes Project, The Explore Ensemble, different solo pieces, and the RCM Philarmonia. In addition to his career as a composer, he teaches composition, harmony, piano, theory and solfege.
• 17 February – 'God Gave Rock and Roll to You': a talk by Jonathan Evens about the religious influences in Rock, Pop, and Soul music.
• 3 March – Open Mic Night with John Rogers. Everybody is welcome to come along and play, sing or just spectate. Hope to see you there for a great evening of live music!
• 17 March – St Martin’s Voices, one of the UK’s most versatile professional vocal ensembles, performing concerts on the international stage as well as giving regular BBC broadcasts and special services at London’s iconic St Martin-in-the-Fields. The ensemble performs regularly alongside the Academy of St Martin in the Fields and London Mozart Players and is featured in the Church of England’s online worship resources that have attracted over 4 million downloads.

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.

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Silvio Bartoli - After, for String Quartet.

The Blind Jesus (No-one belongs here more than you) exhibition

The Blind Jesus (No-one belongs here more than you) is an image in charcoal of the Last Supper which includes the central character of a visually impaired Jesus, surrounded by twelve people of differing ages, backgrounds and abilities. At the table, an empty chair invites the viewer to find themselves at the table.

The Blind Jesus (No-one belongs here more than you) exhibition will be in St Andrew's Church (11 London Road, Wickford SS12 0AN) from 9 January until Easter. The exhibition includes additional Last Supper images created by: (Still) Calling from the Edge conference (including audio description); WAVE (We are All Valued Equally); St Mary's Catholic Primary School in Muswell Hill; and St Paul's CE Primary School in Barnet.

St Andrew’s Church is usually open: Saturdays from 8.30 am to 12.30 pm; Sundays from 9.30 am to 12.00 noon; Mondays from 1.30 to 3.45 pm; Tuesdays from 1.00 to 4.30 pm; and Wednesdays from 10.00 am to 12.00 noon. To arrange a visit with in-person audio description please contact Revd Jonathan Evens on tel: 07803 562329 or email: jonathan.evens@btinternet.com. See http://wickfordandrunwellparish.org.uk/whats-on.html for fuller information.

On Friday 27 January we will be holding an exhibition viewing evening from 7.00 pm. See this exhibition of Last Supper images and works about belonging or feeling welcomed. Hear from artist Alan Stewart, project lead Celia Webster (co-founder of WAVE), and Revd John Beauchamp, Disability Ministry Enabler for the Diocese of London. In-person audio description will be available during this event.

The Blind Jesus (No-one belongs here more than you) has been commissioned by Celia Webster, Co-Founder of Wave (We’re All Valued Equally), as part of a project in which it seeds other images of the Last Supper that are truly for everyone. Schools, churches and community groups are being invited as part of this project to create their own Last Supper images (such as ‘Called to the Feast’ a video exhibition with audio description at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KI_kHhSsVxg).

Pupils in year 1 and 2 at St Paul’s CofE School in Friern Barnet created their work with their amazing art teacher, Dimple Sthalekar. The work shows how we begin as roots and then grow. The leaves of the tree are multi-coloured and moveable to show how we can move into different spaces and communities. St Paul's is a hugely welcoming and inclusive school that welcomes children from all backgrounds and faiths and uses the medium of art to convey this.

The Blind Jesus (No-one belongs here more than you) has been shown previously at St Martin-in-the-Fields, St Andrew's Hertford and Muswell Hill Methodist Church - see https://joninbetween.blogspot.com/2022/03/the-meaning-in-miracles-seeing-and.html and https://www.hertfordstandrews.co.uk/Groups/379600/Hertford_St_Andrews/Faith/Blind_Jesus/Bli nd_Jesus.aspx. 

Celia writes: “When our third little girl was born with learning disabilities my experience was of no longer fitting in, and of feeling that we didn’t belong anywhere. For me the piece is very moving. The young man leaning on Jesus’ shoulder reminds me of the trust my daughter seems to have in God (well, most of the time!) which often teaches and challenges me. The wounded Jesus reassures me that He is never a distant God and like any loving parent experiences his children’s hurt and suffering as his own. His vulnerability reflects the God that came as a vulnerable baby and then refugee and then victim of torture. It reminds me that, whilst sadly we Christians are a very poor advert for Christianity and can appear bigoted, racist, exclusive, homophobic and judgemental, Jesus is not like this. Jesus is the friend of the overlooked and those on the edge. He is the God of an upside-down Kingdom. However worthless, not good enough, whatever sense of failure we might feel, we are shown in this picture that our true identity is found in Jesus who just wants us to be close to him and love him and allow him to love and transform us!” 

The artist, Revd Alan Stewart, intends that this Jesus challenges theological and Biblical imagery of blindness as sin or something to be cured. This is a Jesus who comes from a place of vulnerability, unaffected by the visual appearance of others. Responding to the image, a visually impaired friend of Alan’s has written “as a visually impaired person an image of Jesus who is like me makes me feel accepted … I wish my visual impairment would be cured. But I am glad that Jesus embraces it.” 

Revd John Beauchamp, Diocesan Disability Ministry Enabler for the Diocese of London, writes that: “In this Last Supper the marginalised and excluded and devalued are invited to the table. Invited to be with Jesus. To sit and eat with Him. To find themselves with Him and recognise themselves in Him. To find that their embodiment is not a barrier but in fact their passport into the kingdom where all of our human diversity is redeemed and celebrated in a riot of joy and celebration.” 

The image is offered as the beginning of a conversation. The questions it asks include: 

• What associations do we have with blindness?
• How does this Jesus ‘see’ me?
• Is his outstretched hand a welcome or an asking for help?
• Why has each figure been chosen?
• What are their stories?
• Who else should be at this meal?
• Is the empty chair for you?

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Merry Clayton - Beautiful Scars.

A moment of empathy and inspiration

Here's the Sermon I shared in the Eucharist at St Andrews today:

When Mary goes to visit her cousin Elizabeth (Luke 1.39-45), who was also against all expectations bearing a child, the child who would be John the Baptist, Luke tells us that the Holy Spirit came upon them, that the babe in Elizabeth’s womb ‘leaped for joy’ when he heard Mary’s voice, and it is as the older woman blesses the younger, that Mary gives voice to the Magnificat, the most beautiful and revolutionary hymn in the world.

Malcolm Guite describes their meeting like this in his Sonnet on the Feast of the Visitation:

Here is a meeting made of hidden joys
Of lightenings cloistered in a narrow place
From quiet hearts the sudden flame of praise
And in the womb the quickening kick of grace.
Two women on the very edge of things
Unnoticed and unknown to men of power
But in their flesh the hidden Spirit sings
And in their lives the buds of blessing flower.
And Mary stands with all we call ‘too young’,
Elizabeth with all called ‘past their prime’
They sing today for all the great unsung
Women who turned eternity to time
Favoured of heaven, outcast on the earth
Prophets who bring the best in us to birth.

Mary needed that moment of empathy and inspiration because the experience of being the Theotokos, the God-bearer, was a difficult one. Difficult, because she was not believed - both by those closest to her and those who didn’t really know her. Mary was engaged to Joseph when the annunciation occurred. As she was found to be with child before they lived together, Joseph planned to dismiss her quietly. He had his own meeting with Gabriel which changed that decision but, if the man to whom she was betrothed, could not believe her without angelic intervention, then it would be no surprise if disbelief and misunderstanding characterised the response to Mary wherever she went.

We can imagine, then, how important it was to her to be with a relative who not only believed her but was also partway through her own miraculous pregnancy. The relief that she would have felt at being believed and understood would have been immense and then there is the shared moment of divine inspiration when the Holy Spirit comes on them, the babe in Elizabeth’s womb leaps for joy, and as Elizabeth blesses Mary, she is inspired to sing the Magnificat. In the face of so much disbelief and lack of support, this confirmation that they were both following God’s will, would have been overwhelming.

We can learn much from Mary’s faith, trust and persistence in the face of disbelief, misunderstanding and probable insult. We can also learn from this moment when God gives her both human empathy through Elizabeth and divine inspiration through the Holy Spirit to be a support and strengthening in the difficulties which she faced as God-bearer. Our experience in times of trouble and difficulty will be similar as, on the one hand, God asks us to trust and preserve while, on the other, he will provide us with moments of support and strengthening.

Mary has been given many titles down the ages but ‘the earliest ‘title’, agreed throughout the church in the first centuries of our faith, before the divisions of East and West, Catholic and Protestant, was Theotokos, which means God-Bearer. She is the prime God-Bearer, bearing for us in time the One who was begotten in eternity, and every Christian after her seeks to become in some small way a God-bearer, one whose ‘yes’ to God means that Christ is made alive and fruitful in the world through our flesh and our daily lives, is born and given to another.’ In his poem ‘Theotokos’, Malcolm Guite suggests some ways in which Mary’s experience can speak to us and inspire us in the challenges we face as we go through life:

You bore for me the One who came to bless
And bear for all and make the broken whole.
You heard His call and in your open ‘yes’
You spoke aloud for every living soul.
Oh gracious Lady, child of your own child,
Whose mother-love still calls the child in me,
Call me again, for I am lost, and wild
Waves surround me now. On this dark sea
Shine as a star and call me to the shore.
Open the door that all my sins would close
And hold me in your garden. Let me share
The prayer that folds the petals of the Rose.
Enfold me too in Love’s last mystery
And bring me to the One you bore for me.

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Kate and Anna McGarrigle - Seven Joys Of Mary.

Gods' Collections: Wickford and Runwell case study

The churches in the Wickford and Runwell Team Ministry have recently featured as a case study in the Gods' Collections research project. Places of worship of all traditions have always accumulated collections. Today some have generated great art museums, while others just keep a few old things in a sacristy cupboard. The Gods' Collections project looks at why and how these collections have developed, how they have been looked after, and how understanding of them has changed over the millennia.

The case study explores the artworks found within St Andrew's, St Catherine's and St Mary's churches and considers some of the ways in which such works can be publicised, including the use of art trails as used previously in the Barking Episcopal Area and the City of London.

To read the case study click here.

In addition to this case study, I have also written a case study on the art collection of St Martin-in-the-Fields based on a tour of the site which I originally developed for the Friends of St Martin-in-the-Fields.

This case study sets the commissions programme at St Martin-in-the-Fields in the wider context of the renewal of sacred art within the twentieth century. The case study also develops further, articles originally written for Artlyst and Art+Christianity.

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Ricky Ross - I Am Born.

Transferred into the kingdom of the beloved Son

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

Transfer deadline day has been described as the busiest and most exciting 24 hours for every football fan in the world.

Transfer deadline day is the final point at which players can be transferred from one club to another meaning that some deals are put together very quickly and some players who, one day, were wearing the colours of their original team are the next day in the colours of a new team. Normally transfers are planned and known about in advance but on transfer deadline day surprising and unexpected deals can be done.

Our Gospel reading (Luke 23:33-43) gives us just such a surprising transfer when one of the criminals on the cross alongside Jesus says, “Remember me when you come into your kingdom” and Jesus says, “Today, you will be with me in paradise.” Our New Testament reading (Colossians 1:11-20) explains what is going on as a transfer; a transfer from the power of darkness to the kingdom of the beloved Son and it's instant, just like on transfer deadline day.

Transfer deadline day sees a select group of footballers change clubs but the transfer we see happening on the cross isn’t selective. If a dying criminal can be transferred from the power of darkness to the kingdom of the beloved Son, then surely that’s transfer that is open to anyone, indeed is intended for any or all of us.

Instead of money changing hands as is the case on transfer deadline day, for the Christian, baptism is the sign that this transfer has taken place. For some, baptism happens soon after the transfer has taken place. For others, baptism confirms something that happened in that person’s life many years earlier.

In the baptism liturgy, the transfer is described as follows: “God calls us out of darkness into his marvellous light. To follow Christ means dying to sin and rising to new life with him. Therefore, the candidate is asked: Do you reject the devil and all rebellion against God, do you renounce the deceit and corruption of evil and do you repent of the sins that separate us from God and neighbour. These decisions involve our leaving the powers of darkness while the following are to do with our transfer to the kingdom of the Beloved Son: Do you turn to Christ as Saviour, do you submit to Christ as Lord and do you come to Christ, the way, the truth and the life.

The transfer into the kingdom of the Beloved Son is enabled by Jesus on the cross, which is where we see the extent to which God is with us. Jesus is the reconciler of all things because he is both divine and human, so in him all things hold together. As God he is the Creator, so, in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things were created through him and for him. In him, the creator of the universe becomes part of the creation bringing creator and creation together as one.

Through Jesus’ incarnation God moved into our neighbourhood and experienced human life in all its beauties and frustrations, joys and sorrows. Because he experienced human life for himself, Jesus is then able to take all he experienced and us as well into God. He becomes the head of the body, the church; the beginning and the firstborn from the dead. Through him, we become one with God. In him, God comes down to earth in order to bring us to God and bring heaven and earth together, uniting heaven and earth, just as they will finally be united in a new heaven and earth in future. Through him God has been pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.

The cross shows just how God loves us and wants to be with us. Being with us is the reason God created the universe but we are often uninterested or opposed to being in relationship with God, because of the self-interest that governs so much of what do as human beings. In Jesus, God comes into our world to be with us as a human being but we reject him, put him on trial and then kill him. You would think that would be enough for God, that he would say those humans are simply not interested and they’re not going to change, so I’m going to give up on them as a result. That isn’t what happens. As he hangs on the cross, Jesus is faced with a choice between being with God his Father and being with us. He chooses to be with us. God the Father is faced with a choice between holding on to Jesus or letting him go to be with us. He chooses to let Jesus be with us. The cross is so important for us, as Christians, because it is where we see how much God loves us and how much he is prepared to sacrifice in order to be with us. That sacrifice enables us, like the repentant thief on his cross, to transfer into the kingdom of the Beloved Son.

Ann-Kay Lin has experienced God with her in this way in her experiences and in her music, most notably in the composition Blessed created as a leaving gift for Jane Freeman based on the Beatitudes. As a result, she is wanting to show today through baptism that this transfer that we have been exploring has happened in her life too. In her case, baptism is a confirmatory sign of something that happened long before.

The impact that this has had is shown in her composition Blessed which shows the way we are to live as a result of this transfer having taken place. So, before her baptism, let us listen to Blessed as an act of reflection and prayer - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvDJIwUmR8A.

This serice can be viewed by clicking here.

Rev Simpkins and the Phantom Folk perform Saltings

Rev Simpkins and the Phantom Folk performed Saltings at St Andrew's Wickford this evening.

Saltings is an album of ten illustrations by Tom Knight and ten songs by Matt Simpkins created in and about the ‘saltings’ of Essex. It is a loving portrait of the mystery and beauty of this salt marsh wilderness, and a meditation on the real human cost of the wilderness time of the pandemic.

Found within 50 miles from London, the saltings are one of England’s last natural wild spaces. Working as a parish priest a few miles away, Matt came to the saltings to retreat and compose these compelling and compassionate songs about his community’s real-life experiences during the pandemic. Saltings portrays hope found amid wilderness.

The album weaves together tales of the legendary and mysterious figures of the saltings, such as John Ball (leader of the peasants’ revolt) and Saint Cedd (whose Saxon chapel stands at Bradwell), with reflections on the wilderness’s ever-changing tides, skies, and seasons. Saltings is an attempt to share the atmosphere and history of this remarkable place in picture and song. 

Sinner songster, guttural gospeller & pop-poet-priest, the Rev’d Matt Simpkins’s music is an unholy brew of bruising freak blues, string-snapping finger-twanged folk, and sanctified psychedelia. Shades of Captain Beefheart, Pavement, and the Kinks meld with Evensong choirs and pipe organs, pre-war Gospel Blues, string orchestras, brass bands, and Bert Jansch style finger-picking.

Before he became the fourth generation of his family to be ordained as an Anglican priest, Matt came to musical notoriety through his raucous exploits in Fuzzface, Gospel-fiddle duo Sons of Joy, as a solo artist performing as Rev Simpkins & the Phantom Notes, and by collaborating with the remaining members of the Small Faces to reconstruct their LP Ogden’s Nut Gone Flake.

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Rev Simpkins - Plough Sunday.

Henry Shelton artist

Last Friday in the Unveiled session at St Andrew's Wickford I talked with Henry Shelton about his life and art.

Henry was born and grew up in Stratford, East London. He joined West Ham church as a choir boy where he first became aware of the importance of Christian art.

After leaving school he joined a London studio as an apprentice draughtsman developing his drawing skills in lettering and fine art. After 15 years of service he set up his own studio receiving many commissions to design for such clients as the Science Museum, Borough Councils, private and corporate bodies.

During this time he continued painting Christian art and after meeting Bishop Trevor Huddleston he completed a series of portraits of him which were exhibited in St Dunstan's Church, Stepney, where he was also confirmed by the Bishop.

Henry worked designing in studios across the world, including Hong Kong and the USA. Together, we formed commission4mission, an artist's collective that generated church commissions, exhibitions, events and resources. Henry's commissions include a large oil painting of the Ascension installed as an altarpiece in the Church of the Saviour, Chell Heath; the Millennium clock tower in Goodmayes, memorial etched glass windows in All Saints Goodmayes and All Saint's Hutton, painting for the Chapel at Queen's Hospital Romford, Stations of the Crown of Thorns at St Paul's Goodmayes, and the Trinity Window at All Saints Goodmayes.

An earlier interview that I undertook with Henry can be read here and here, while a Church Times profile on him can be found here.

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Ed Kowalczyk - Grace.