jonnybaker

a jolt

it's not that often i get jolted by a blog post but tom brackett succeeded with his observation of the number of failed church plants in the episcopal church and the subsequent fallout of talented leaders. he is appealing for some deeper reflection on what is happening. i have no idea how transferable this is to the uk context but think he is raising something that needs to be discussed...

ben bell does it again (no not the swimming pool leap!)

wrapping paper (scrunched), originally uploaded by ben bell.

ben bell seems to have the knack of coming up with a brilliant image for christmas and/or advent every year. there is a set of his advent images here. anyway he has worked with wrapping paper produced by artist mark wallinger which was given away with the guardian as part of a series of wrapping paper designed by artists (he has mark's blessing to do so!). and this is one of four images as a result. if you want to use the images go and ask nicely...

#digimission

today i am one of several speakers at digimission - an EA gathering reflecting on mission and digital culture. it's from 11-3 at st pauls church, robert adam street w1u . i think it's being broadcast/streamed here and the twitter hash tag is #digimission.

unwrap our darkness

each year our ealing photo group all design a christmas card and we have a lucky dip at the christmas meal - you get to take home someone else's design. here's mine for this year (which is more an advent than christmas card)... the words are a line from an advent prayer christmas confession by cheryl lawrie in her book hold this space (cheryl thanks - hope that's ok!). click on the image to see it larger and feel free to save it and use it...

more on advent...

more on advent...

christine sine loves advent and has produced a movie this year which you can view and read the text of on her blog here. 

i-church have an online advent calendar - no idea what's behind the doors because it's not quite time!

catholics and the emerging church

andrew reflects on catholics and the emerging church. if missiology is anything to go by the catholics have some of the best mission thinking around - we've had the privilege of experiencing that through steve bevans in recent month (whose latest book is amazing - must review it when i get a moment!).  always think that the emerging church conversation is at its best and most interesting when it's framed by mission.

andrew also blogs about the next chapter in the jones adventure having joined the redumptancy club. i really hope and pray that this shift for the jones will end up with a more sustainable support for the future. it's been fun working as part of the same team these last few years...

advent on its way...

i have spent a couple of days hiding away writing for a book on curating worship which will be out next summer. a couple of chapters by me and then a series of around a dozen interviews with practitioners/curators who do amazing things in worship. this originally began life by me picking up a book on cuartion in the art world at an art gallery in oxford when i was early for a wedding! one thing led to another and i was inspired to interview a few people perhaps to publish on the blog but as much for my own interest. but it just got too interesting so it's now going to be turned into a book. the weather here in scotland has been gales and rain which has meant i have stuck to the task and not been tempted out - i haven't taken a single photo even! i am now headed to glasgow to do some teaching at the university with doug gay and looking forward to the friday evening blether!

it's nearly advent - how did that happen?! i seem to have less time than ever to blog these days.

but a few things - love this card design from rich

inspired by beyond's beach hut advent calendar if you're anywhere near yorkshire ben norton has a beach hut advent calendar launching in bridlington which looks really exciting with community groups, artists, schools, actors and puppets all part of the storytelling extravaganza!

as ever cheryl lawrie has been posting some wonderful pieces of liturgy - christmas spirit | whimsy | 44 days to go

widows mite - do something small to make a big change for young people!

do something small to make a big change for young people - text the word MITE to 82540 and help frontier youth trust raise £100 000!

ok it sounds optimistic right but if all of you who read this do so then that's a good start (i admit i am not in the league of 100000 readers) but then if you tweet or blog or facebook send it viral and keep pushing it on. how difficult can it be?! it's called widow's mite based on the story in luke 21 where jesus praises a poor woman who gives a little as more generous than the rich who make a display of their giving. in these credit crunched times it's a story that connects.

here's why i am into it...

richard passmore is a briliant youthworker. i have known him for years. he is better than anyone i know at doing and developing detached youth work with young people beyond the edges of the church. i have been involved with him (in the background on the support group) as he has developed and piloted church on the edge. the project has at heart the intentionality of growing church with young people on the edge as a missionary endeavour and to develop a framework that can facilitate locally grounded and resource light expressions of church. since piloting the project we have learned a lot and now have requests to support others and grow new church on the edge expressions across the country. richard works with a group of skaters and bikers and you may remember me blogging about flow before. i love what richard is doing. this is not about bums on pews as that isn't going to happen with these kinds of young people. it's about growing something new. it's also got a young edge. many of the fresh expressions and emerging church communities are reaching and working with adults (which is great but we need to renew the younger end too).

richard has got plans to now develop this into a dozen new projects a year each year over three years - that is 36 new projects. he has secured a bundle of money (£60 000) to help resource it and this appeal is to make up the rest. in terms of what i am up to with cms we hope we can help encourage and train some of the pioneering leaders and connect where appropriate the church on the edge communities into the cms community. details yet to be worked out of course... but you get the idea! the projects go by the name of church on the edge or streetspace

if you are outside the uk don't fret - you can still donate your mite here - what a mite is in your currency i have no idea but every little helps. and if you want to donate a big mite that's always welcome too. i'll keep you posted of how this campaign goes. i love it's audacity really - surely you can't raise £100 000 in this way?! spread the word...

once more into the void

void, originally uploaded by jonnybaker.

some of us from the ealing lip photo group went to visit the how it is installation at the tate modern on saturday and the strolled along the southbank and to the national portrait gallery to see the national portrait prize exhibition (which is really worth a visit btw). i have added a set of the day here.

i know i have blogged some movies and photos of the installation before but how do you photograph darkness? i ended up most liking photos where you can hardly make anything out as they seem somehow experientially closest to the feeling in there or i like these feet you can make out.

this shot of the staircase looks pretty sci fi

the photo above was taken on a 30 second exposure but someone was walking towards me in the dark and so i had to move the camera and myself before both got kicked! the effect is kind of interesting...

greenbelt pocket liturgies book

it's a bit of a proost week on the blog...

ben edson (who co-ordinates the worship at greenbelt) had the great idea of pulling together some of the liturgies from groups who had contributed to the worship programme at greenbelt this year to make a book in the pocket liturgies series on the festival theme - standing in the long now. this whole self publishing world is amazing - within 2 months the book was made, uploaded and printed. and is now available on proost either to download or as a physical book. contributions in the book are from sanctus1, blesséd, safespace, sanctuary, church on the corner, ambient wonder, foundation, sanctum and maybe along with the sunday morning communion liturgy. the series of pocket liturgies really has grown into a neat series...

if you subscribe you can access the book as a download in the download area.

i didn't mention it in the last post because there was so much advent stuff to write about and the books hadn't been delivered but they have now arrived.

other pocket liturgies books

• grace
• moot
• navigatio
• sanctus 1
• hold this space
• book of blessings
• holy darkness
• sanctuary

(and same size but slightly different - )

• listings
• espresso scriptures

in scotland...

next week i am in scotland. at the start of the week i am hiding away for a couple of days to write. following the series of blog posts on worship curation i am writing a book on it which will be out next summer in time for greenbelt. the bulk of the book will be a series of conversations/interviews with people who curate worship. i'm pretty excited about it - i have found the interviews so interesting...

then i am headed to glasgow to hang out with doug gay and do some teaching for his students and then be part of a couple of discussions. if you are around the friday evening is a blah|blether - curry, beer and conversation - in the crypt of wellington church. sorry it's short notice from me but hope to see some of you there...

beach hut advent calendar now available on proost

in addition to all the other wonderful advent stuff on proost we are now stocking the amazing beyond advent calendar. you need to order quick to get yours in time for dec 1! order here

anyone for the deep end? community...

today's guardian has a really interesting article by tobias jones, author of utopian dreams, his reflections on visiting and staying with various communities.  the article is called why i'm setting up a woodland commune. he has been so inspired by the pilsdon monastic community in devon that he is buying a woodland as a place of community for those struggling to cope with life. it's a brave and honest piece. i instantly like the guy though i've never met him (he did speak at greenbelt a couple of years back i think). in all the talk around new monasticism, hospitality that is able to welcome those struggling and provide a place to belong has surely got to be at the heart of it? i have recently felt quite challenged by this partly through a friend who has taken a teenager into her family life with a lot of risk attached. and she commented to me that it is the only way people struggling will find a way forward...

cms has been exploring this kind of thing over the last few years, changing the overall structure to community, and investing in and kick starting a community house in iffley, oxford. that's been going just over a year now and is developing gently through teasing out what it means to live in community. it's not my place to reflect on it but at some point the community can and will no doubt reflect more. but my overall impression is that it's got a real authentic life about it already. there is a piece in the last yes magazine which is all focused on the theme of mission community written by one of the members. since starting that venture we seem to be hearing of and connecting with more people either on a similar journey or wanting to undertake a similar venture. i suspect they will network together informally and share learning on the way. tom sine (also in the last yes magazine) was advocating new economic models (as he has done for decades!) as so many people seem to live in isolation in single units and it could free up cash to live with less pressure or resource good things and help people connect with fellow human beings rather than live in isolated pods. 

i suspect many of us are so attached to our own space that it would be a challenging leap but i warm to it... though i have no doubt it would be challenging. my mum has been a shining example to me in this regard in her own quiet way, opening up her home to those struggling - she still does and i have no doubt always will. as kids, people were in and out of the house and our lives and sometimes things would literally go bump in the night but i think it was good for us. tobias jones says that one of the reasons they are doing it is for their children as counter to the common notion of defending and protecting them he thinks the children he has met in this sort of environment embody humanity, gentility, empathy and maturity in astonishing ways. being exposed to suffering and learning the place of acceptance as the environment in which people can slowly become themselves is surely good for children? and children are generally very healing in their acceptance unconditionally of people, far more than us grown ups!

jones also surprised me with this statement though i don't know why i was surprised (co-incidentally i happened to read the sermon on the mount while i was eating my breakfast today so it was a nice connection)

most of all we're taking our leap in the dark because we've belatedly realised that the sermon on the mount might actually be a manifesto for life, rather than a few nice ideals to take out for a spin on a Sunday morning. We've come to believe in the survival of the weakest, not just the fittest. William Vanstone once came out with the great line that the Church is like a swimming pool: all the noise is at the shallow end. We felt called to the deep end, to the place where it's more quiet, more dangerous maybe, more radical.

anyone else for the deep end?

prime time loving (the girl next door)

this thursday harry baker (aka dubb) is in the final of utter spoken words at kings cross. tickets are £5 - i'll be going. come and join me. he made it to the final by winning a poetry/spoken word contest where 25 poets delivered a poem on the first 25 prime numbers (poetry geek heaven?!). anyway harry sent me his winning poem which was for the number 59 and goes like this...

59 wakes up on the wrong side of the bed,
Realises all of his hair is on one side of his head,
Takes – just under a minute – to work out it’s because of the way that he slept,
He finds some clothes and gets dressed.
He can’t help but look in the mirror and be subtly impressed
How he looks rough around the edges and yet casually messed,
As he glances out the window sees the sight that he is blessed with
Of 60 from across the street.
Now 60 was beautiful,
With perfectly trimmed cuticles,
Dressed in something suitable,
Never rude or crude at all.
Unimprovable,
Right on time as usual,
More on cue than a snooker ball
But liked to play it super cool.
59 wanted to tell her that he knew her favourite flower,
He thought of her every second every minute every hour,
But he knew it wouldn’t work, he’d never get the girl,
Because although she lived across the street they came from different worlds.

While 59 admired 60’s ‘perfectly round’ figure,
60 thought 59 was… odd.
One of his favourite films was 101 Dalmatians,
60, of course, preferred the sequel.
While he romanticised the idea that they were star-crossed lovers,
They could go against the odds (and evens) because they had each other,
She maintained the views imposed upon her by her mother
That separate could not be equal.
Even with rose-tinted eyes 59 could realise
The reason why 60 would never love him.
He had picked up on the vibes, that because he was 59,
60 felt she was above him.
And though at the time he felt stupid and dumb,
For trying to love a girl controlled by her stupid mum,
He should have been comforted by the simple sum –
Take 59 away from 60, and you’re left with the one.

Sure enough it took him 2 months of moping around,
But 61 days later, 61 was who he found,
His next-door neighbour, he went round to her house,
Because he had lost his keys again and his parents were out.
As he noticed the slightly wonky numbers on the door,
He wondered why he’d never introduced himself before,
As she politely let him in his jaw dropped in awe –
61 was like 60, with a little bit more.
She had prettier eyes, and an approachable smile,
And like him, rough-around-the-edges casual style,
And like him, everything was in disorganise piles, a
And like him, her mum didn’t mind if friends stayed a while.
Because she was like him, and he liked her.
He reckoned she would like me if she knew he was like her,
It was different this time – these feelings felt proper,
So he plucked up the courage and asked for her number

She laughed – I’m 61.
He grinned – I’m 59,
And today I’ve had a really nice time,
So tomorrow if you wanted you could come over to mine?
She said yeah…
I love talking to people, who are just as quirky,
So she agreed to this unofficial first date.
In the end he was only ready 1 minute early,
But it didn’t matter because she arrived I minute late.
From that moment on there was non-stop chatter,
How they loved x-factor, how they had 2 factors,
How it didn’t matter – distinctiveness made them better,
By the end of the night they knew they were meant together.
As time went by the relationship deepened,
He found all the little things about her more appealing,
He had complicated ways of telling her his feelings,
Like his reasoning for why things would work between them…

He explained – you’re 61, I’m 59,
Rotated round/upside down, that’s 19 and 65,
The age that one might get a job until the day that they retire,
Of course it will work because we’ve got the world to be inspired?
She laughed at him.

Now one day she was talking about ‘stuck up 60’,
She noticed that 59 looked a bit shifty.
He blushed – told her of his crush:
“The best thing that never happened, because it led to us”
61 was clever see, not prone to jealousy,
Looked him in the eye and told him quite tenderly,
You’re 59 I’m 61 together we,
Combine to become twice what 60 would ever be.
At this point 59 had tears in his eyes,
Was so glad to have this one-of-a-kind girl in his life.
He told her the very definition of being prime
Was that with only one and himself could his heart divide,
And she was the one he felt he could give his heart to,
She said she felt the same and now she knew the films were half true.
Because this was better than that, that love was just a sample,
Because when it came to real love, they were a prime example.

advent - new 9 lessons animations and a bundle of other ideas and resources from proost

9 Lessons is a wonderful new flash animation from jon birch of asbojesus fame. it is incredibly simple an idea. run the flash file (in a browser or flash player) and there are 9 animating loops corresponding to each of the nine lessons and carols from the traditional christmas service. but here's the brilliant part - each one loops for as long as you like while you do the reading and whatever else. then you simply click on the play button in the corner to move on to the next image. it's only £2.99 and is this year's offering from proost into the ever expanding creative melee of ideas as the worldwide body of christ goes crazy to celebrate the coming of jesus the god/human into the world.

proost actually now have an amazing selection of advent ideas and resources. if you've not come across them have a look at the following:

nine - nine artists interpret the traditional nine readings with 6 movies and 3 songs - see here for info

25 - si smith's amazing cutout and make nativity characters and advent calendar and comic
- see here for more info

wait - vaux's simple but powerful movie and liturgy on waiting in advent - see here

silent night - a movie that's ideal for pretty much any christmas service - see here

then of course lots of liturgies and songs on the advent theme elsewhere in the books and audio sections...

it's probably obvious but these resources are as useable round a meal table or in your lounge with a family and friends as they are in a worship service. use with creativity and imagination!

did i ever mention that if you subscribe to proost you get access to all the back content and the coming year whenever you like for the equivalent of five pounds a month?! ;-)

anyway hope your own creative juices are flowing and that of your communities. i'll be blogging other ideas and stuff that's out there as the weeks go by.

i am making 9 lessons a worship trick - no 75 in the third series - as i love it so much.

[update: jon has added it to youtube if you want to take a look]

grace tonight

meals with god - tonight's grace 8pm st mary's ealing

#gdc1joelbaker

joel is blogging stuff from the first year of his graphic design course here gdclevel1.

teach yourself php one day, have a blog the next. nice...

from the college point of view, get all students to collate their portfolios online and learn some web code at the same time. also nice...

note to self: why not get pioneer leaders to develop portfolios online?

alternative worship and emerging church weekend in london

the next resource weekend is in london from jan 8-10 and focuses on mission and worship. it's hosted by grace and moot. the weekend will include...

fri evening in the scooterworks bar in waterloo

sat morning - reflecting on the story of grace, an alternative worship community and unpacking its mission instincts in relation to postmodern (or whatever you want to call it) culture

sat afternoon - some practical worskhops in small groups in whatever areas of interest the group have - curation/planning, leadership, visuals, creativity, music, community life...

sat evening - grace and grace cafe

sun morning - reflecting on the story of moot, a new monastic community, and unpacking its mission instincts and theology in relation to life in the city

sun afternoon - visiting art installations in london and reflecting on them theologically

sun evening - moot

i am looking forward to it. the good news is that you can just book into this weekend - it will stand alone. so if you missed the first resource weekend it won't matter. it's only £95 which includes food in the day on sat and sun. you need to find your own accomodation. details are on the resource web site here. and you can book from there... we get a lot of people visiting interested in finding out more about grace so this weekend is absolutely ideal if you are thinking of making such a visit.

getty images and flickr

a while back i blogged that getty images had started a new collection with flickr. seeing as flickr has so many brilliant photos this seemed like a really smart idea. the way it worked was that you had to be spotted and invited to submit particular photos. i got contacted and thought i'd try it with the 7 photos that they liked. to my amazement i have had two that have been used and i have earned some money which is always a bonus... it's gradually been changing such that artists on getty have been invited to submit new photos for selection though it seems to take rather a long time to hear back. the latest development though is that the whole thing has been thrown open so anyone can submit photos for consideration to getty through artist picks. thomas hawk blogs about it here if you want more detail.

what kind of bread and wine

what kind of bread and wine - from third space, a small missional community in matlock - worship trick 74 in the third series.

small missional communities seems to be an area that is growing in interest and practice. i mentioned a while back that ian adams has been writing a series on getting one started - since i wrote that he's added a few more pieces - i'll update that post shortly to include them. he is also facilitating a network in the uk with cms . i noticed too that there is a US network transFORM that has recently got started. so if that's what you are up to you might like to connect.

i can hear already a critique - is this just the latest fad, a change of language because we get bored so quickly?! i don't see it that way. i think it's got a unique edge and welcome it - communities that are smaller, a bit more organic, and exist for mission and the way i see it don't usually need to employ anyone to run them which may be the key factor as the church reshapes for a sustainable future. emerging church, alternative worship, deep church, new monasticism, fresh expressions - all have different edges but the fact that they exist shows that the church is changing, adapting, reshaping herself to respond to the new context(s) she finds herself in. from my personal point of view the key issue is contextual mission - as long as that is the question at the core that is good news.