Earthairwaterfire exhibition

I've spent today assisting Bishop David with his marvellous Earthairwaterfire exhibition at St Peter's Harold Wood. We have had tremendous support and help in hanging the show from folk at St Peter's which has enabled Bishop David to show both his largest expansive landscapes together with smaller more intimate work.

Bishop David is fascinated by the organic structure of landscape and its transitory appearance as weather and light pass over it. Like landscape, many of these pieces are layered whether composed using stripes of colour or collage. The concept for the exhibition comes from the Prayer of Anthony the Great; 'Keep us alive with the earth of humility, with the air of contemplation, with the water of remorse and the fire of love.'

The opening times for the exhibition are: Weekdays 9.00am - 5.00pm. Saturday 15th March 9.00am - 12.30pm. Evenings Wednesdays and Fridays 6.00pm - 9.30pm. The exhibition is open until Friday 21st March.

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Lifehouse - Aftermath.

Farewell Songs of Praise and Earthairwaterfire exhibition

Chelmsford Cathedral was packed today for a truly joyful Songs of Praise service at which we said farewell to Bishop David, the Bishop of Barking, on his retirement. The service reflected the diversity of the Barking Episcopal Area with which Bishop David has fully engaged and celebrated throughout his ministry with us. Contemporary and traditional hymns were mixed with a rapper, African drums, Gospel singers, choral singing, a 50-piece orchestra, the worship band from Good Shepherd Romford, mime from Ken Wylie, along with contributions from Bishop Stephen, Duncan Green, Joel Edwards, Jonathan Oloyede, Martin Webster, John Perumbalath and many others, all organised by Paul Bowtell and a team of helpers.

Bishop David is well known for his visualisations of the Gospel message which have remained in people’s memories and hearts long after his visits. Over the years in church at various confirmation services we have seen him release live doves, wash and iron clothes, pitch a tent and boil a kettle on a camping gaz stove, use a leaf blower to fill the sails of a full-size sailing dinghy, bake a cake, build a wall and burn straw. At my first training weekend as a curate he did a handstand to demonstrate the way in which Jesus, through his teaching in the beatitudes, turns our understanding of life upside down. 

His approach has been to use surprise, shock, mirth and amusement in order to make what are hopefully memorable spiritual and theological points because our insistence on using far too many words often goes right over people’s heads and a picture can say more than a thousand words. Jesus also used visuals in his very concrete teaching, so he always felt he was in good company in using everyday objects to make connections for others. He explained more in an interview with me in 2008 which can be read here and here. 

Before he leaves us Bishop David is exhibiting his paintings at St Peter's Harold Wood from 11th – 21st March. He is a landscape artist who works with acrylics, watercolour, mixed media and installations. He is fascinated by the organic structure of landscape and its transitory appearance as weather and light pass over it. Bishop David has exhibited previously in Stafford, Leeds, Merseyside, London, Nigeria and Capetown. Earthairwaterfire can be viewed weekdays from 9.00am – 5.00pm. Saturday 15th March, 9.00am – 12.30pm. Wednesday and Friday evenings from 6.00 – 9.30pm.

He has said of his artwork: "I am inspired by landscape. Most of what I paint has its inspiration in landscape. I can’t help but be influenced by landscapes and townscapes. As early as I can remember I have enjoyed walking in the countryside. I also enjoy mountain climbing and grasp any opportunities to get out into wide open spaces. My ministry has mainly been urban and time in the countryside is a counterpoint to where I’ve tended to live in my ministry. But I’m also inspired by colourful, busy townscapes and the quirkiness of that as well."

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Brenton Brown - Everlasting God.

Exhibition and gig: Bishop and Superhero

commission4mission's Patron, The Rt. Revd. David Hawkins will be exhibiting his paintings at St Peter's Harold Wood from 11th – 21st March, prior to his retirement as Bishop of Barking. +David is a landscape artist who works with acrylics, watercolour, mixed media and installations. He is fascinated by the organic structure of landscape and its transitory appearance as weather and light pass over it. Bishop David has exhibited previously in Stafford, Leeds, Merseyside, London, Nigeria and Capetown. Earthairwaterfire can be viewed weekdays from 9.00am – 5.00pm. Saturday 15th March, 9.00am – 12.30pm. Wednesday and Friday evenings from 6.00 – 9.30pm.

Superherouk will be visiting St Laurence Barkingside as part of their rescheduled Battle For Your Soul Tour in March. Check out their Facebook page, or visit their reverbnation page by clicking here http://www.reverbnation.com/superhero.

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Superhero - Cool Police.

Exhibition: Earthairwaterfire

The Rt. Revd. David Hawkins will be exhibiting his paintings at St Peter's Harold Wood from 11th – 21st March, prior to his retirement as Bishop of Barking. Bishop David is a landscape artist who works with acrylics, watercolour, mixed media and installations. He is fascinated by the organic structure of landscape and its transitory appearance as weather and light pass over it. Bishop David has exhibited previously in Stafford, Leeds, Merseyside, London, Nigeria and Capetown. He is Patron of commission4mission.

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Steeleye Span and Martin Carthy - The Lark In The Morning.

The Bible - to be continued ...

On Sunday evening I heard Stephen Cottrell, the Bishop of Chelmsford, preach on the Bible Year 2011. Bishop Stephen's sermon was bookended by two stories. The first concerned a man who had read, in 24 hours, the whole of the New Testament for the very first time and who had concluded that it was the most incredible message of love. The second was about a woman who had sung a rhyme listing the books of the Bible to the Bishop while in the Silver Ring at Royal Ascot on Ladies Day. This incident had been a trigger for this person to share something of her troubled background with Bishop Stephen and commit to opening and reading her Bible again, after many years of not doing so.

In between, he spoke about the Psalms as the love songs of the Bible and highlighted the look of love from God towards who walk in his ways (Psalm 33). This he contrasted with the look of love which Jesus has for the rich young ruler who walks away from him (Mark 10. 21). That same love was there for the woman in his story regardless of the way in which she chose to respond to the incident. All this illustrated the need for us to give away to others the Bible and its message of love and, as a result, three words should be added to the Bible; 'to be continued'.

Bishop Stephen was preaching at St Peters Harold Wood and, as part of the same service, dedicated two fused glass windows by Caroline Richardson, which had been commissioned through commission4mission.

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Sixpence None The Richer - Breathe Your Name.

c4m webpage update (31)

The latest posts on the commission4mission webpage concern our most recent commission and the latest Faith & Image meeting and visit. Caroline Richardson is working on window designs for St Peter's Harold Wood while tomorrow's Faith & Image meeting on Hindu Worship and Philosophy will be followed by a visit to the Neasden Temple.

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Scott Stapp - The Great Divide.