How to Pilgrimage in a time of Pandemic

Today at 3.00 pm. Register for a zoom invite at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/how-to-pilgrimage-in-a-time-of-pandemic-tickets-109203239830.

For centuries pilgrimages have awakened seekers from all walks of life. ‘Solvitur ambulando’ is a Latin phrase meaning it is solved by walking. Join us for a workshop to hear from some serial pilgrims about their discoveries, insights and encounters on ancient Christian paths. In these difficult days of lockdown panellists Richard Frazer, Beth Jusino and Ian Smith will share how they have adapted to these unusual circumstances and share ideas for how to awaken seekers locally through a passion for walking.

Richard Frazer has been minister at Greyfriars Kirk, (Church of Scotland) www.greyfriarskirk.com since 2003. During that time, he has founded the Grassmarket Community Project www.grassmarket.org that supports some of the city’s most vulnerable adults and has also established the Greyfriars Charteris Centre, www.charteriscentre.com a place for wellbeing, social enterprise and building community, which has strong links to Edinburgh University. At Greyfriars, there is a ministry team dedicated to creating an inclusive and affirming community for those of faith and others exploring their spirituality through worship, reflective space and other volunteering opportunities. Richard has a passion for pilgrimage walking and has recently published a book, Travels with a Stick, about his journey on the Camino de Santiago. minister@greyfriarskirk.com

Beth Jusino is an editor, writer, and unlikely pilgrim who lives in Seattle, Washington. In the past 5 years, she’s spent more than 100 days on various parts of the Way of St James, and is an active member and volunteer newsletter editor for the American Pilgrims on the Camino. Her award-winning memoir about her pilgrimage from Le Puy, France, to Finisterre, Spain, is Walking to the End of the World: A Thousand Miles on the Camino de Santiago. You can find her stories, essays, and Camino photos at www.caminotimestwo.com or on Instagram and Twitter @bethjusino.

Ian Smith is a writer and serial pilgrim. His non-fiction books include “The Good Parish Management Guide” (Canterbury Press) and “Stepping out” (Redleg Publications) written with his wife, Alison Gelder. His latest novel is “Redemption Song” and poetry collection, “The Woodland Suite” (both Redleg Publications). Ian has been involved in walking and organising pilgrimages since 1983 and has (with his wife) walked a number of Camino routes as well as many Cross-carrying pilgrimages to Walsingham and Iona. Longer walks include a pilgrimage from Walsingham to Santiago in 2010 and London to Rome via Lourdes in 2017. He is currently planning a pilgrimage from London to Istanbul, mainly following the Rhine and Danube rivers. Ian lives with his wife in central London.

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U2 - Walk On.

Start:Stop - Be doers of the Word

Be doers of the Word

Investors in People argue that “Everybody needs someone to look up to in the workplace. They want role models. This may seem like a daunting responsibility for a manager or employer, but it needn't be. It's largely just a matter of what we call ‘walking the talk’ and leading by example.” William C. Taylor, author of Practically Radical, has written that, “One of the most ubiquitous aphorisms in business is that the best leaders understand the need to “walk the talk” — that is, their behavior and day-to-day actions have to match the aspirations they have for their colleagues and organization.”

The phrase “if you’re going to talk the talk, you’ve got to walk the walk” is a modern version of old sayings like “actions speak louder than words” and “practice what you preach.” Another early form of the expression was “walk it like you talk it.” Many people now condense this to “walk the talk.”
All these are essentially versions of James 1. 22, “be doers of the word, and not merely hearers. “The real blessing of the Christian faith does not lie in listening to sermons or reciting liturgies, but in dwelling on what is true until it transforms what we do. A genuine encounter with Jesus provokes action.”

The action it produces is “care for orphans and widows in their distress.” Jesus said, in the Parable of the sheep and goats, that God’s judgement on us will be based on our actions; giving food to the hungry, drink to the thirsty, welcoming the stranger, clothing the naked and visiting those in prison. These actions are to be the end result of our faith. If our looking deeply into God’s word does not result in our doing these things, our faith is not genuine and we are not walking the walk as Christians.

Prayer

As we relate to our colleagues, customers and suppliers, make us doers not merely hearers of your word. May we talk the talk and walk the walk.

As we seek to model our values and those of our company in the way we manage or relate to others,
make us doers not merely hearers of your word. May we talk the talk and walk the walk.

As we demonstrate our faith in actions and, where necessary, words, make us doers not merely hearers of your word. May we talk the talk and walk the walk.

As we show compassion to those in need here in the UK and globally, make us doers not merely hearers of your word. May we talk the talk and walk the walk.

As we do our job and respond to the new challenges and opportunities in our changed political environment following the General Election result, make us doers not merely hearers of your word.
May we talk the talk and walk the walk.

May your Spirit inspire, guide and empower us to live as your people, following in your footsteps, animated by your Spirit and putting into practice in our lives what we hear from your word. May we be doers of your word and not merely hearers only and may that blessing of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit rest upon us and remain with us always. Amen.

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Kanye West - Jesus Walks.

Bishop Stephen's ninth missionary journey

Bishop Stephen Cottrell has been undertaking 10 missionary journeys in the Diocese of Chelmsford during the Diocese's Centenary Year. His walk on Tuesday 30th September will be the penultimate journey and will take him from Woolwich to Seven Kings via Stratford. The idea is that people can come and join him for all or part of the walk each day, and at breakfast, lunch and in the evening there is an opportunity for the local church to use him in some sort of activity.

His route in Redbridge will take him from Ilford Station  to St John's Seven Kings via Thorold and Benton Roads. A group from the parish will meet him at the Ley Street/Benton Road parish boundary at about 16.20 and will walk with him to St John's. There will be public prayer in our community garden with the Bishop at about 17.15.

There are several ways in which you could be part of +Stephen's missionary journey. First, a group will leave St John's at 16.15 to meet +Stephen on the way and walk with him to St John's. Second, you could join us for public prayer in the community garden at St John's at 17.15. Third, you would be very welcome to come to the Sophia Hub Anniversary event in the evening.

The Seven Kings & Newbury Park Sophia Hub has been open for one year and is celebrating its first anniversary with a business networking event on Tuesday 30th September from 5.45pm at St John's Seven Kings (St Johns Road, Seven Kings, Ilford IG2 7BB). We would love you to be there celebrating this milestone with us and our special guest, The Rt. Revd. Stephen Cottrell, Bishop of Chelmsford.

The event will include: a Sophia Hub presentation; sharing your views on enterprise and community; meeting our start-ups; opportunities to network and join our timebank; buffet and refreshments. We have exciting achievements to share with you including the delivery of Sophia Courses, a weekly Enterprise Club and the setting up of a Timebank.

See our website - http://sophiahubs.com/seven-kings/ - and blog - http://sophiahubs7k.wordpress.com/.%C2%A0 for more details.

We look forward to seeing you on Tuesday 30th September. Please RSVP to ros.southern@sophiahubs.com.

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U2 - I Will Follow.

Prayer morning with labyrinth

A prayer morning is being organised at St John's Seven Kings for Saturday 1st February from 10.00am – 1.00pm. The morning will include a variety of prayer reflections and activities with input from different members of St John's. There will be a variety of inputs on prayer, various prayer exercises and styles of prayer plus an opportunity to use a prayer labyrinth. Do come along both to pray for St John's and the world and to grow in your own prayer life.

St John’s has been given a prayer labyrinth for our own use and to loan out to other churches. The labyrinth is on heavy duty canvas and comes in two parts connected by velcro. It can fit into a car boot and comes with a blue ground sheet and 36 glass bowls (for use with candles), plus ideas for use. It is painted in dark blue fabric paint but is not waterproof, so needs care if it is used outside. The pattern is a nine circuit Chartres labyrinth which is best used as a simple walking labyrinth.

Lana Miller, Campus Pastor at the Eastern Mennonite University, suggests that the labyrinth is a model or metaphor for life: "The Christian life is often described as a pilgrimage or journey with God, a journey in which we can grow closer in relationship with God, and in turn, closer to others.

In life, as in the labyrinth, we don’t know where the path will take us. We don’t foresee the twists and turns that the future holds, but we know that the path will eventually arrive at the centre, God. Sometimes the path leads inward toward the ultimate goal, only to lead outward again. We meet others along the path—some we meet face-to-face stepping aside to let them pass; some catch up to us and pass us from behind; others we pass along the way. At the centre we rest, watch others, pray. Sometimes we stay at the centre a long time; other times we leave quickly.

Ways to use the labyrinth:

1. Ask God a question upon entering and then listen for an answer. For example: Ask God what he wants to tell you and listen for an answer.

2. Pray for yourself on the way in, stop to experience God’s love in the center, and pray for others on the way out (or vice versa).

3. Recite the Lord’s Prayer as you walk. (Instead, you may recite some familiar scripture. Repeat it as you walk).

4. As you move toward the centre of the labyrinth, focus on letting go of distractions or worries that keep you from God. In the centre, spend time reflecting on your relationship with God. Be aware of God’s presence. Then, as you leave spend time giving thanks and praising God for all that he has done.

5. As you move toward the centre of the labyrinth, focus on letting go of distractions or worries that keep you from God. In the centre, spend time reflecting on your relationship with God. Be aware of God’s presence. Then, you will sense the need to move out into the world again. As you leave, walk with Jesus back into the places of ordinary life."

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Taize - Ubi Caritas.

Olympics Prayer Walk

A series of prayer walks is being organised to pray for and around the Olympic Park in East London.

The prayer walk on Saturday 1st October will be focussed on Stratford and the major gateway into the park through the newly opened Westfield Stratford City Shopping Centre. It is expected that 70% of the hundreds of thousands visiting the park during the Olympics will use this entrance.

Those attending will be briefed by David Richards, Vicar of St John’s Stratford, and by Julia Murphy, Coordinating Chaplain to Westfield Stratford City. Starting at St John’s Stratford on the Broadway the walk will conclude with prayer in Inspiration – the Quiet Space in Westfield Stratford City.

The full programme is as follows:

10.00 am - Arrive by 10.00 am please at St John’s Stratford - David Richards to give briefing.

10.15 am - Pray for St John’s and other Stratford Churches in the ‘churchyard’.

10.30 am - Walk to and pray for Stratford Cultural Quarter. Walk through and pray for Stratford Mall [Local shopping centre]. Pray for Transport and the Olympics from opposite Stratford Station.

11.00 am - Arrive Westfield Stratford City Shopping Centre - Julia Murphy to give briefing. Walk over the bridge and through Westfield Southern Boulevard which will be the main entrance to the Olympic Park to vantage point overlooking the Park. Pray for the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

11.30 am - Adjourn to Inspiration the Westfield Stratford City Quiet Space where we will pray for the ministry there and for Julia Murphy.

12.00 pm - Depart.

Please pass this on to those who would be interested – no need to book - just come to pray - whatever the weather!

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Delirious? - Sanctify.

Local Art trail

Since we launched the local Church Art Trail between St Peter's Aldborough Hatch, St John's Seven Kings, St Paul's Goodmayes and All Saints Goodmayes in July 2010, we have discovered more about the artworks which feature on the trail and several new works of art have been placed along the route taken by the trail. Therefore, an updated post detailing the Trail, as it now stands, is needed. 

St Peter's Aldborough Hatch



Et alias oves hab eo (And other sheep I have), sculpture by Anthony Foster depicting Christ as the good shepherd. Foster, who was a pupil of the sculptor Eric Gill sharing Gill’s Roman Catholic faith and commitment to the Distributionist movement, worked in wood and stone and has many Church commissions in the UK.

Crucifixion by Leonard Wyatt has hung above the main doors at St. Peter's since it was purchased by the then Vicar, the Revd Lawrence Pickles, in the late 1950s or early 1960s. The painting was part of an exhibition in the tennis courts at Valentines Park in Central Ilford. The Revd Pickles took members of the St. Peter's congregation to see the painting, including two youngsters who sang in the choir – both of whom continue to be members of St. Peter's to this day. From the moment it was first brought to St. Peter's people have either appreciated or disliked it – for the painting has been the subject of controversy over those 50 or so years. Leonard Wyatt (1922-2008) was born in Forest Gate and trained at the Hornsey College of Art. He joined the Free Painters Group in its very early days and remained an active member until poor health forced his retirement at the turn of the century.

The sculpture of the Woman of Samaria was installed at the West End of the Churchyard in the early 1960s. It bears the inscription ‘Springing up into eternal life (John IV – XIV)’ and the name Rose Jacobs (1882 – 1961). The sculpture is the work of Aberdeen-born artist Thomas Bayliss Huxley-Jones FRBS, ARCA (1908-1969).

The decorated organ originally made for the 1862 London exhibition.

St John the Evangelist Seven Kings

The West window was designed by Derek Hunt and installed in 2005. The theme is “Light of the World” and its design brings together references from St John’s Gospel with elements particular to St John’s.

A Nativity window designed by Louis B. Davis is located below the West window. Louis B. Davis worked for Powell's from 1898 to 1909. He was an important Arts and Crafts stained glass artist. His windows at Dunblane Cathedral, Stirling are stunning, some of the most impressive stained glass I have seen. Davis trained with Christopher Whall, the Arts and Crafts maker and teacher from c. 1893 until he moved to Powell's. St John's also has two other windows from the Powell's or Whitefriars workshop (as does St Paul's Goodmayes) as well as a Nativity window produced by C.E. Kempe & Co. Ltd., a famous Victorian glassworks begun by Charles Eamer Kempe. The window features the company’s trademark tower and wheatsheaf symbol.

Two new mosaics  are being created by Viki Isherwood Metzler for the community garden at St John's Seven Kings. A version of Graffiti Love (above) has been commissioned for the East wall, while a trinitarian design will feature as part of a sculpture in the remembrance area of the garden.

Downshall Primary School

This mural was produced by artist Effie Coe from Invisible Dust, an art and environmental science organisation, and children from Downshall Primary School. During workshops with Effie, the children were asked to create their own imaginary visions of the surrounding streets both now (left) and into the future (right). The original drawings in the coloured blocks and the slogans were produced by the children themselves.

Goodmayes Methodist Church

This mural, which depicts the fruit of the Spirit, was designed for Goodmayes Methodist Church  by students from the graphic design department of Barking College.

St Paul's Goodmayes

St Paul’s features a wealth of stained glass designed by William Morris and Sir Edward Burne-Jones.

Other stained glass includes work by Leonard Evetts, the most prolific British stained artist of the 20th century, as well as pieces from the FaithWorks and Whitefriars studios.

Other works of note at St Paul’s include a Madonna and Child by the contemporary Roman Catholic sculptor, Jane Quail.

The most recent commission is a set of Stations of the Crown of Thorns painted by Henry Shelton, which includes the tryptich shown above.

Millennium Clock Tower

 (Clock Tower, Goodmayes, photograph by Malc McDonald - <div xmlns:cc="http://creativecommons.org/ns#" xmlns:dct="http://purl.org/dc/terms/" about="http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2098238"><span property="dct:title">Clock Tower, Goodmayes</span> (<a rel="cc:attributionURL" property="cc:attributionName" href="http://www.geograph.org.uk/profile/44954">Malc McDonald</a>) / <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/">CC BY-SA 2.0</a></div>)

Henry Shelton also designed the Millennium Clock Tower at Goodmayes, a project that was initiated by All Saints Goodmayes.



All Saints Goodmayes

The memorial etched glass windows in All Saints, depicting events in the life of Jesus, are again the work of the noted painter of religious art in a contemporary style, Henry Shelton. Shelton is the founder member of commission4mission which aims to encourage the commissioning and placing of contemporary Christian Art in churches, as a means of fundraising for charities and as a mission opportunity for the churches involved.

Creation of the Art Trail was a recommendation in the report produced following a Community Street Audit of Aldborough Road South by the Seven Kings & Newbury Park Resident's Association and the Fitter for Walking project of Living Streets. Printing of the Art Trail leaflets was funded by Living Streets as part of the Fitter for Walking project and copies of the leaflets can now be found in the churches on the Trail. Fitter for Walking helps residents create streets they can be proud of. It is funded by the Big Lottery Fund, along with contributions from local authorities to work in five areas of England. As a result of our recommendation, additional murals are being considered by Area 5 for two additional sites locally.

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Kate Rusby - Walk The Road.

Living Streets award webpage

The Seven Kings and Newbury Park Residents Association (SKNPRA) is congratulated on the Living Streets website for achieving Redbridge’s first Living Streets Neighbourhood Award. We received the award for their work improving the local environment along Aldborough Road South in order to get more people out walking.

The Neighbourhood Award was presented at the Creating Community event in May which included the opening, by the Archdeacon of West Ham, of the community garden at St John's Seven Kings and the presentation of the Living Streets Neighbourhood Award by the Mayor of Redbridge.

Living Streets works with communities to improve local environments and get more people out walking. Groups and individuals who have successfully encouraged walking and promoted safe, vibrant streets and spaces receive awards to acknowledge their creativity, community spirit and hard work.

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The Clark Sisters - You Brought The Sunshine.

Fitter for Walking mural

Last night this mural was created on the wall of Downshall Primary School. It is one of a series of outcomes from the work which the Seven Kings and Newbury Park Resident's Association have undertaken in partnership with the Fitter for Walking project.

The artwork was produced by artist Effie Coe from Invisible Dust, an art and environmental science organisation, and children from Downshall Primary School. During workshops with Effie, the children were asked to create their own imaginary visions of the surrounding streets both now (left) and into the future (right). The original drawings in the coloured blocks and the slogans were produced by the children themselves.

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Victoria Williams - Shoes.

Living Streets: Community Audit

Seven Kings & Newbury Park Resident's Association and Living Streets organised a comunity audit of Aldborough Road South today as part of the Redbridge Fitter for Walking project. As we walked the street we noted issues for notification to the relevant authorities and to consider for comunity action. These included: dumped rubbish, cracked pavements, speeding traffic, and improved signage, amongst other issues.

Living Streets say we all hear a lot about the need to increase the amount of exercise we take, and for busy people the best answer to that can be leaving the car keys at home and walking more as part of their daily routine.

But to do that, we need our streets to feel safe, look attractive, and be looked after with people in mind. Often it's simple things that can make a huge difference to how we view our streets - whether clearing up a particularly useful walking route, starting up street parties, or running campaigns to get parents walking the school run.

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Elvis Costello - What's So Funny 'Bout Peace Love & Understanding.