Runwell, 2025
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After The Fire - Frozen Rivers.
Saturday, 21 June 2025
Sermon for the first Sunday after Trinity, Sunday 22 June, titled ‘Release and change’
Here's the sermon for the first Sunday after Trinity, Sunday 22 June, titled ‘Release and change’, that I've recorded for the weekly sermon series of the Diocese of Chelmsford.
All the sermons in the series can be found on the 'Weekly Sermon Videos' playlist. My earlier sermons in the series can be viewed here and here.
Imagine for a moment what it must be like to hear many voices in your head. Some of us will have had such experiences when events have overwhelmed us and, in our anxiety, we cannot see a way through and so the issues and options we experience run round and round in our minds without finding a resolution. Others of us may have had diagnosed mental health conditions which have included the experience of hearing competing voices. Each of these experiences are distressing and are hard to deal with.
Such experiences give us some insight into the story told in today’s Gospel reading (Luke 8.26-39) and the experiences of the man that Jesus healed, all described in the understandings of Jesus’ time rather than the understandings of today. The man describes his experience in terms of having a legion or mob of voices in his mind and the distress caused leads him to live in a distressed state away from his local community.
Our society, too, sometimes responds to the mental distress that people experience by isolating people from their communities, although, generally, we try to support people as much as possible within their homes, families and communities.
When confronted by this man, Jesus stops, listens and then responds him. Similarly, as Jesus’ followers, we also need to be those prepared to give time and space to any who are anxious or distressed, and especially to listen in ways that enable people to unpack their experiences and those things that are a source of distress for them.
In our Parish, Kintsugi Hope Wellbeing Groups are one of the ways in which we offer such space. Kintsugi Hope Wellbeing Groups provide a structured yet flexible program designed to help participants accept themselves, understand their value and worth, and grow towards a more resilient and hopeful future. These groups are places where people can experience:
Many of us respond to uncertainty, anxiety or distress by bottling up our thoughts and feeling; keeping them inside, rather than sharing them with someone else and thereby allowing them to be expressed, explored and understood. Our bottled-up feelings have to go somewhere – they have to expressed – because, if that doesn’t happen, they build up and build up inside us until they finally explode and, by exploding, do more damage that would have been the case if they had been expressed earlier.
It may be that this is what is being depicted for us in the strange part of today’s Gospel reading where the many strong forces in the life of this man are sent, by Jesus, into a herd of pigs which then rush down a steep bank into the lake and are drowned. His pent-up emotions needed to come out – to be expressed – in order to leave him and go elsewhere.
The man needed to see something that symbolised his full and final release in order to believe that he was finally free and that is what the episode with the pigs provided for him. A key part of what happened for them was that their pent-up emotions found a different kind of release which then enabled him to be free of them and to begin to share positively out of the experiences he had had.
I wonder what is bottled-up inside of us that we need to express and release in order to begin to become free from its negative effects on our lives. Again, our Kintsugi Hope Wellbeing Groups can potentially offer safe spaces in which that sort of disclosure is possible but talking to counsellors or psychologists might also be helpful.
This man was able to walk away free from all that had been tormenting him through his encounter with Jesus. More than that he began to share positively out of the difficult experiences he had had. That is also the experience of several from our Kintsugi Hope Wellbeing Groups.
When we are able to address the difficult experiences in our lives – express, explore and move beyond them, so they no longer constrain and limit or harm us – then these wounds in our lives can become the places from which we are able to support and help others. We become wounded healers in the same sort of way that Jesus through his suffering became the source of salvation for each one of us. It is by his wounds that we are healed and, once we have received healing, as with the man in our Gospel reading, then we are often able to support and help others going through similar experiences because of our personal knowledge of what they are currently going through.
Kintsugi Hope works with the centuries-old Japanese repair technique which uses urushi (Japanese lacquer) dusted with powdered gold to restore broken ceramic and porcelain vessels. Rather than masking fractures, kintsugi highlights them with gold to tell an object’s story. Items which have been restored using the kintsugi technique are often considered even more precious than they were before. It is the same with those who receive healing as did the man in today’s Gospel reading as, by becoming wounded healers, we become even more precious than we were before.
Such experiences give us some insight into the story told in today’s Gospel reading (Luke 8.26-39) and the experiences of the man that Jesus healed, all described in the understandings of Jesus’ time rather than the understandings of today. The man describes his experience in terms of having a legion or mob of voices in his mind and the distress caused leads him to live in a distressed state away from his local community.
Our society, too, sometimes responds to the mental distress that people experience by isolating people from their communities, although, generally, we try to support people as much as possible within their homes, families and communities.
When confronted by this man, Jesus stops, listens and then responds him. Similarly, as Jesus’ followers, we also need to be those prepared to give time and space to any who are anxious or distressed, and especially to listen in ways that enable people to unpack their experiences and those things that are a source of distress for them.
In our Parish, Kintsugi Hope Wellbeing Groups are one of the ways in which we offer such space. Kintsugi Hope Wellbeing Groups provide a structured yet flexible program designed to help participants accept themselves, understand their value and worth, and grow towards a more resilient and hopeful future. These groups are places where people can experience:
- Safety and support, where there is no shame in struggling
- An increase in self-worth, confidence and wellbeing
- A deeper understanding of the reality of God's love for them
- Clear pathways to receive additional support if needed
Many of us respond to uncertainty, anxiety or distress by bottling up our thoughts and feeling; keeping them inside, rather than sharing them with someone else and thereby allowing them to be expressed, explored and understood. Our bottled-up feelings have to go somewhere – they have to expressed – because, if that doesn’t happen, they build up and build up inside us until they finally explode and, by exploding, do more damage that would have been the case if they had been expressed earlier.
It may be that this is what is being depicted for us in the strange part of today’s Gospel reading where the many strong forces in the life of this man are sent, by Jesus, into a herd of pigs which then rush down a steep bank into the lake and are drowned. His pent-up emotions needed to come out – to be expressed – in order to leave him and go elsewhere.
The man needed to see something that symbolised his full and final release in order to believe that he was finally free and that is what the episode with the pigs provided for him. A key part of what happened for them was that their pent-up emotions found a different kind of release which then enabled him to be free of them and to begin to share positively out of the experiences he had had.
I wonder what is bottled-up inside of us that we need to express and release in order to begin to become free from its negative effects on our lives. Again, our Kintsugi Hope Wellbeing Groups can potentially offer safe spaces in which that sort of disclosure is possible but talking to counsellors or psychologists might also be helpful.
This man was able to walk away free from all that had been tormenting him through his encounter with Jesus. More than that he began to share positively out of the difficult experiences he had had. That is also the experience of several from our Kintsugi Hope Wellbeing Groups.
When we are able to address the difficult experiences in our lives – express, explore and move beyond them, so they no longer constrain and limit or harm us – then these wounds in our lives can become the places from which we are able to support and help others. We become wounded healers in the same sort of way that Jesus through his suffering became the source of salvation for each one of us. It is by his wounds that we are healed and, once we have received healing, as with the man in our Gospel reading, then we are often able to support and help others going through similar experiences because of our personal knowledge of what they are currently going through.
Kintsugi Hope works with the centuries-old Japanese repair technique which uses urushi (Japanese lacquer) dusted with powdered gold to restore broken ceramic and porcelain vessels. Rather than masking fractures, kintsugi highlights them with gold to tell an object’s story. Items which have been restored using the kintsugi technique are often considered even more precious than they were before. It is the same with those who receive healing as did the man in today’s Gospel reading as, by becoming wounded healers, we become even more precious than we were before.
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Graham Kenrick feat. Natasha Petrovic w/ mental wellbeing charity Kintsugi Hope - Jesus Of The Scars.
Museum of Living History workshop
This June, they are running free workshops where participants can help design and create artefacts that will go on display in their museum this August. Our names and our creations will be showcased for everyone to see!
Today, the workshop at St Andrew's Wickford took place. See photographs above for activities in the church and at our coffee morning, plus our finished artefacts.
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Rev Simpkins - A Ballad Of John Ball.
Friday, 20 June 2025
Church Times - Art review: Finding My Blue Sky (Lisson Gallery, London)
My latest exhibition review for Church Times is on Finding My Blue Sky at Lisson Gallery, London:
'THE exhibition “Finding My Blue Sky” is structured as an invitation to imagine your own paradise. The parallel title in Arabic makes this clear: “What is the World that you Dream of?”
Accordingly, the exhibition is a journey of retreat and surrender in search of a sense of longing and belonging — of home, of sacred space — by inviting viewers to participate in the creation of meaning. In the words of its curator, the art-world influencer Omar Kholeif, “‘Finding My Blue Sky’ invites spectators to indulge in the sensuous curve of artistic endeavors that exist in their own culturally situated space of dreaming — one that allows us to sketch myriad possible routes to modernity, and with this, new ways of looking altogether.”'
'THE exhibition “Finding My Blue Sky” is structured as an invitation to imagine your own paradise. The parallel title in Arabic makes this clear: “What is the World that you Dream of?”
Accordingly, the exhibition is a journey of retreat and surrender in search of a sense of longing and belonging — of home, of sacred space — by inviting viewers to participate in the creation of meaning. In the words of its curator, the art-world influencer Omar Kholeif, “‘Finding My Blue Sky’ invites spectators to indulge in the sensuous curve of artistic endeavors that exist in their own culturally situated space of dreaming — one that allows us to sketch myriad possible routes to modernity, and with this, new ways of looking altogether.”'
Other of my pieces for Church Times can be found here. My writing for ArtWay can be found here. My pieces for Artlyst are here, those for Seen & Unseen are here, and those for Art+Christianity are here.
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Van Morrison - Remembering Now.
Wednesday, 18 June 2025
Shut the door
Here's the reflection I shared at today's Deanery Mothers' Union Service at St Catherine's Wickford:
From the mid-1920s onwards, Evelyn Underhill became highly-regarded as a retreat conductor and an influential spiritual director. Her first experience of a conducted retreat at the Pleshey retreat house in 1922 transformed her attitude toward church and vocation, and began the process of clarifying her own calling.
Born on 6th December 1875 in Wolverhampton, from an early age she described having mystical insights, and her deep interest in spiritual matters continued throughout her life. Between 1921 and 1924 her spiritual director was Baron Friedrich von Hűgel, who encouraged her to place Jesus Christ more centrally at the heart of her reflections. After his death in 1925 she began taking on a prominent role in the Church of England, leading retreats at Pleshey and elsewhere, and as a spiritual guide to many. Amongst the books she published are ‘Mysticism’ (in 1911) and ‘Worship’ (in 1936). She was one of the first women theologians to give public lectures at English universities, and was the first woman allowed officially to teach Church of England clergy.
Evelyn Underhill is one of the most important Christian mystics of the twentieth century and was one of the first important figures to champion the humility, ordinariness, and indeed “normalcy” of the mystical life. The subtitle of one of her best books, ‘Practical Mysticism’ is “A Little Book for Normal People.” She worked hard to dispel the notion that mysticism only belonged to the super-holy, the super-religious, the super-pious. On the contrary, the contemplative life is the ordinary state for Christian maturity. (http://evelynunderhill.org/three-evelyn-underhill-anthologies/)
In her book on The Fruits of The Spirit, she wrote about today's Gospel passage (Matthew 6.1-6, 16-18) in relation to retreats:
“Christ, who so seldom gave detailed instruction about anything, did give some detailed instruction of that … recollection which is the essential condition of real prayer, real communion with God.
"When you pray, go into a room by yourself - and shut the door." I think we can almost see the smile with which He said those three words, and those three words define what we have to try to do. Anyone can retire into a quiet place and have a thoroughly unquiet time in it - but that is not … the shutting of the door …
Shut the door. It is an extraordinarily difficult thing to do. Nearly everyone pulls it to and leaves it slightly ajar so that a whistling draught comes in from the outer world, with reminders of all the worries, interests, conflicts, joys and sorrows of daily life.
But Christ said shut and He meant shut. A complete barrier deliberately set up, with you on one side alone with God and everything else without exception on the other side. The voice of God is very gentle; we cannot hear it if we let other voices compete. It is no use at all to enter that room, that inner sanctuary, clutching the daily paper, the reports of all the societies you support, your engagement book and a large bundle of personal correspondence. All these must be left outside.
The object … is not intercession or self-exploration, but such communion with Him as shall afterwards make you more powerful in intercession; such self loss in Him as shall heal your wounds by new contact with His life and love.”
Evelyn Underhill was writing specifically for retreatants but Jesus’ words were not originally addressed to those on retreat. Instead, they were addressed to ordinary people going about their everyday lives, so his call to shut the door when praying was not once a year when we are on retreat but each time we pray. Likewise, seeking the opportunity of being alone with God and attending to God in order that we may do His will better in our everyday lives is not intended by Jesus as a once a year opportunity, rather as a regular experience.
The reward that God provides for our private prayers is the multiplication of all that we give, as St Paul says in our reading from 2 Corinthians 9: ‘He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness.’
That was the experience of Mary Sumner who, in 1876, wrote her own personal prayer which she then prayed every day for the rest of her life: ‘All this day, O Lord, let me touch as many lives as possible for thee; and every life I touch do thou by thy spirit quicken, whether through the word I speak, the prayer I breathe or the life I live. Amen.’
Later, Mary decided that a new organisation was needed in her parish and the first branch of Mothers' Union was begun. She was spurred into action when her eldest daughter gave birth to her first baby. Mary remembered her feelings of inadequacy as a young mother charged with the terrible responsibility for a new life. She believed that women from every class needed to understand that motherhood was a profession and be equipped to perform it. Motherhood involved more than providing for the physical needs of children. The primary responsibility of mothers was to raise their children in the love of God. Mothers could only do this, she believed, if their lives were firmly rooted in prayer.
Her plan for a new form of mothers’ meeting, bringing together mothers of all classes, did not start auspiciously. Having gathered the women of the parish in the Rectory, Mary could not present her ideas due to nerves. She had to call them together again a week later to explain the objects of the new society and to give out simple cards containing practical suggestions.
In 1885, Bishop Ernest Wilberforce of Newcastle called on Mary to speak to a women's meeting made up of 1000 poor and anxious women at the Portsmouth Church Congress. Despite her initial resistance, as at that time respectable women did not address public meetings, she agreed. Painting a picture of the low moral standards in the country, she asked what could be done to improve the national character. Her answer was that the power for change lay in the hands of mothers. If women united in prayer and committed themselves to a Christian life the nation could be transformed.
The meeting responded to her passion and conviction with a rousing ovation. It was on this wave of public enthusiasm that the Bishop of Winchester decided to make Mothers' Union a diocesan organisation. This decision was destined to change the lives of many far beyond the boundaries of the diocese of Winchester.
The global movement that is the Mothers’ Union began with personal prayer in a room with a shut door and grew as a result of the prayer that underpinned its growth. May our generation commit ourselves to prayer by following the examples of Jesus, Evelyn Underhill and Mary Sumner. Amen.
Celebrating Evelyn Underhill at the Retreat House with Canon John Howden.
From the mid-1920s onwards, Evelyn Underhill became highly-regarded as a retreat conductor and an influential spiritual director. Her first experience of a conducted retreat at the Pleshey retreat house in 1922 transformed her attitude toward church and vocation, and began the process of clarifying her own calling.
Born on 6th December 1875 in Wolverhampton, from an early age she described having mystical insights, and her deep interest in spiritual matters continued throughout her life. Between 1921 and 1924 her spiritual director was Baron Friedrich von Hűgel, who encouraged her to place Jesus Christ more centrally at the heart of her reflections. After his death in 1925 she began taking on a prominent role in the Church of England, leading retreats at Pleshey and elsewhere, and as a spiritual guide to many. Amongst the books she published are ‘Mysticism’ (in 1911) and ‘Worship’ (in 1936). She was one of the first women theologians to give public lectures at English universities, and was the first woman allowed officially to teach Church of England clergy.
Evelyn Underhill is one of the most important Christian mystics of the twentieth century and was one of the first important figures to champion the humility, ordinariness, and indeed “normalcy” of the mystical life. The subtitle of one of her best books, ‘Practical Mysticism’ is “A Little Book for Normal People.” She worked hard to dispel the notion that mysticism only belonged to the super-holy, the super-religious, the super-pious. On the contrary, the contemplative life is the ordinary state for Christian maturity. (http://evelynunderhill.org/three-evelyn-underhill-anthologies/)
In her book on The Fruits of The Spirit, she wrote about today's Gospel passage (Matthew 6.1-6, 16-18) in relation to retreats:
“Christ, who so seldom gave detailed instruction about anything, did give some detailed instruction of that … recollection which is the essential condition of real prayer, real communion with God.
"When you pray, go into a room by yourself - and shut the door." I think we can almost see the smile with which He said those three words, and those three words define what we have to try to do. Anyone can retire into a quiet place and have a thoroughly unquiet time in it - but that is not … the shutting of the door …
Shut the door. It is an extraordinarily difficult thing to do. Nearly everyone pulls it to and leaves it slightly ajar so that a whistling draught comes in from the outer world, with reminders of all the worries, interests, conflicts, joys and sorrows of daily life.
But Christ said shut and He meant shut. A complete barrier deliberately set up, with you on one side alone with God and everything else without exception on the other side. The voice of God is very gentle; we cannot hear it if we let other voices compete. It is no use at all to enter that room, that inner sanctuary, clutching the daily paper, the reports of all the societies you support, your engagement book and a large bundle of personal correspondence. All these must be left outside.
The object … is not intercession or self-exploration, but such communion with Him as shall afterwards make you more powerful in intercession; such self loss in Him as shall heal your wounds by new contact with His life and love.”
Evelyn Underhill was writing specifically for retreatants but Jesus’ words were not originally addressed to those on retreat. Instead, they were addressed to ordinary people going about their everyday lives, so his call to shut the door when praying was not once a year when we are on retreat but each time we pray. Likewise, seeking the opportunity of being alone with God and attending to God in order that we may do His will better in our everyday lives is not intended by Jesus as a once a year opportunity, rather as a regular experience.
The reward that God provides for our private prayers is the multiplication of all that we give, as St Paul says in our reading from 2 Corinthians 9: ‘He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness.’
That was the experience of Mary Sumner who, in 1876, wrote her own personal prayer which she then prayed every day for the rest of her life: ‘All this day, O Lord, let me touch as many lives as possible for thee; and every life I touch do thou by thy spirit quicken, whether through the word I speak, the prayer I breathe or the life I live. Amen.’
Later, Mary decided that a new organisation was needed in her parish and the first branch of Mothers' Union was begun. She was spurred into action when her eldest daughter gave birth to her first baby. Mary remembered her feelings of inadequacy as a young mother charged with the terrible responsibility for a new life. She believed that women from every class needed to understand that motherhood was a profession and be equipped to perform it. Motherhood involved more than providing for the physical needs of children. The primary responsibility of mothers was to raise their children in the love of God. Mothers could only do this, she believed, if their lives were firmly rooted in prayer.
Her plan for a new form of mothers’ meeting, bringing together mothers of all classes, did not start auspiciously. Having gathered the women of the parish in the Rectory, Mary could not present her ideas due to nerves. She had to call them together again a week later to explain the objects of the new society and to give out simple cards containing practical suggestions.
In 1885, Bishop Ernest Wilberforce of Newcastle called on Mary to speak to a women's meeting made up of 1000 poor and anxious women at the Portsmouth Church Congress. Despite her initial resistance, as at that time respectable women did not address public meetings, she agreed. Painting a picture of the low moral standards in the country, she asked what could be done to improve the national character. Her answer was that the power for change lay in the hands of mothers. If women united in prayer and committed themselves to a Christian life the nation could be transformed.
The meeting responded to her passion and conviction with a rousing ovation. It was on this wave of public enthusiasm that the Bishop of Winchester decided to make Mothers' Union a diocesan organisation. This decision was destined to change the lives of many far beyond the boundaries of the diocese of Winchester.
The global movement that is the Mothers’ Union began with personal prayer in a room with a shut door and grew as a result of the prayer that underpinned its growth. May our generation commit ourselves to prayer by following the examples of Jesus, Evelyn Underhill and Mary Sumner. Amen.
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Museum of Living History workshop and Mid-Summer's Night Market
Two great events happening in Wickford on Saturday:
Museum of Living History workshop
Saturday 21 June, 10.00 am - 12 noon, St Andrew's Church, London Road, Wickford SS12 0AN
Unpuzzled Theatre Company are running a free workshop where you can help design and create artefacts that will go on display in their Museum of Living History this August. Your name and your creation will be showcased for everyone to see!
No experience needed — just bring your enthusiasm! Open to all ages.
Unpuzzled Theatre Company are building a museum — and they want YOU to be part of it! They're creating a community museum, and it all starts with Wat Tyler and the Peasants' Revolt — an incredible piece of local history that happened on our very doorstep.
Mid-Summer's Night Market
Saturday 21 June, 6.00 pm - 10.30 pm, Lower Southend Road, Wickford
Think fairy lights, artisan eats, dreamy handmade goods, and a buzzing community vibe. Great entertainment & fab drinks from Posh Boys. Walk-Ins from Lost Cause Tattoo. Fishing advice & wiggling things from The Tackle Shop. Wickford Tandoori will be out with their delicious food. Pisces will be serving up their delicious Fish & Chips. The White Swan will be open for drinks (entertainment tbc). In addition to all that there will be additional food stalls, market stalls and coffee.
Organised by Wickford Business Improvement District.
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David Crawford - The Unwritten Story.
Saturday, 14 June 2025
Windows on the world (523)
London, 2025
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Alan Sparkhawk with Trampled By Turtles - Get Still.
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