jonnybaker

signs of the spirit

signs of the spirit grace tomorrow night

i absolutely love dean's photo that he has used for the flier

off to nick cave tonight which i'm looking forward to...

grace tomorrow - resurrections

resurrections will explore three themes in the life of peter at grace on saturday evening (tomorrow)

and you held me

the grace lent blog 2008 draws to a close for another year...

you must read yesterday's reflection and you held me

a shift in perspective: elijah in the desert

at grace this saturday we continue our lenten desert journies with a shift of perspective and elijah in the desert

it will be an interactive exploration of the story. we take it in turns to curate/pull it together - this month it's my turn with adam and kathy and i'm looking forward to it...

8pm st marys ealing | directions on the web site | café and guest DJ

lent blog still rolling

the grace lent blog is still rolling along

you are the god who sees

the outline for the feb grace service hagar is now in the grace archive.

i loved steve's blessing you are the god who sees and am making it worship trick 24 series 3

grace lent

so lent starts today...

have just got back from norway where the youth ministry training i did seemed to go well (reflections on that to come...)

but a quick mention that the grace lent blog 08 starts today so add it to your reader and follow along.

also this is a bit late for today but jenny is leading a course on desert journies at st marys for six wednesday evenings. no need to book you can just turn up.

we are picking up on two of those desert journies at the next two graces. first up this saturday is hagar.

grace video

at grace on saturday we had about 20 students from calvin college in the USA visit. they brought a video camera to record their trip and have uploaded a montage on youtube

so the year gets into action

so after a gentle ease back into catching up on e-mails and so on last week, this week feels like there won't be much room to breathe as everything gets going...

i start teaching a module on mission for the centre for youth ministry degree course in oxford monday and am then back for a grace planning meeting in the evening
into the office tuesday to catch up and play my first game of sqaush for years (exercise to get fit after christmas!) followed by the first meeting of the year in the evening of the ealing LIP group
down to bath on the wednesday to plot the year ahead for proost
meet 20 students from calvin college on thursday followed by coffee/lunch with pete rollins who is in town and then preparation for fri and sat
then friday i am speaking at jane foster smith's funeral, a friend who died over christmas. i have never spoken at a funeral so this is both a privilege and highly scary. and advice or prayer welcome.
and saturday i teach on the mission shaped ministry course at chelmsford and get back in time for the first grace of the year visits .

so there may not be a lot of blogging or photos this week!

speaking of the first grace of the year come and join us if you are around. cathy ross, a friend from cms who runs the mission education centre will be out guest speaker as we draw our thoughts on hospitality to a close and explore the visit of the magi and their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. here's the  flyer

grace nine - samurai swords and helium balloons

last night was the grace christmas celebration nine. i think this is the 6th year we have done this which is definitely as traditional as we get! taking the nine readings from the trad nine lessons and carols service, nine volunteers choose a piece of music and something artistic/creative to do/show/reflect on. it's a really simple idea.

this year didn't disappoint. nine sets of helium balloons defined nine spaces from which the readings would be done. each reading was signaled by one of the kids bursting a balloon at that space. this was a simple idea but it really made the space work as a whole.

i did the reading of the birth of christ which was a good opportunity to use si smith's amazing 25 advent models. people got cutting and sticking and within 10 minutes or so we had created a nativity scene. my tune this year was foy vance's gabriel and the vagabond, a story of hope.

the most dramatic reading was ben's who reflected on thin places, where heaven and earth seem to touch. the reading was from behind a muslin sheet with projected stars on it. having described the shepherds on the hillside experiencing a thin place that night, he produced a samurai sword and cut through the muslin sheet which was a first for us and the sword was quickly locked away out of sight...

mince pies, mulled wine and cntrst DJing rounded off a good night.

i'm sure photos will get added to the gracelondon flickr group in the next few days and the archive will no doubt list the tunes etc some time soon...