jonnybaker

interviewing artist iain cotton about his pioneer graduation tiles

it's a celebration at cms today for pioneers graduating today which is always a joyous occasion. from the first graduation we commissioned artist iain cotton to make a gift for each student. this has now had ten iterations - this year will be the eleventh. they have become a really interesting reflection on what pioneering is about. so i visited iain cotton in his studio to ask him about the graduation tiles he has made over the last decade. you can read the transcript here and see some of the tiles. i'll make sure i take some photos later of this year's iteration.

proost advent series

the phoenix rises from the ashes! proost has reappeared thanks to chris and rob. for those who are new to the blog proost was a platform that i created with friends jon and aad back in the late 90s to piublish music originally and then it was a digital platform for all sorts of artistry from people involved in alkternative worship and emerging churches. it was an incredible era really. i have very fond memories.

andy freeman then picked up the baton and ran it for a season, then it felt as though it was time for it to be let go.

but chris and rob felt a tug towards exploring with the community of artists who contributed what it might look like to do something. they have been running a podcast series. and for advent they are now posting a daily something on chris's blog this fragile tent. day one is a wonderful poem from chris called east of eden and day two is a brilliant illustration from si smith.

so do follow along. i like to have something daily to reflct on in the season of advent (advent is the season which runs up to christmas).

the image to the right is si smith's take on the virgin mary living in a flat in leeds!

i plan to be contributing later in the series.

smoke is rising - advent grace dec 14

i am looking forward to this year's advent grace on sat dec 14 at st mary's ealing. we have invited people to create something - music, video, poem, liturgy, installation or whatever. i have written a carol which opens with the words 'smoke is rising...'- yes i don't know how that happened. i'll post it on the blog with music at some point in december. the tune is written by niall dunne who is training as a pioneer with cms at the moment so that is a delight too. 

anyway here's the blurb. put it in your diary. we will zoom it as well so if you are interested in that leave a message or email me.

Advent is a season in which we look forward in anticipation and longing for another possible world when all things are made new, when Christ returns, when there will be no more injustice. That longing in the run up to Christmas is also waiting in hope for Jesus Christ to come into the world as a sign of that incoming future.

Join us for an evening of longing which will be expressed through song, art, prayers, poems written and made by those who are there. If you would like to contribute then do let us know. There will be a cafe afterwards with mulled wine and mince pies.

politics in the pulpit

this week i was invited to be the guest on politics in the pulpit. this is a podcast that is a conversation about the readings from the bible that will be used in sunday church services in mainline denominations (aka the lectionary). sometimes you get given some wonderful passages that are easy to respond to or open up and connect with today's world. other times they are a bit more challenging! this week's was the latter but it was good fun to join matt and nathan for a conversation. search politics in the pulpit in your usual podcast app or click oin the link above if you are interested.

remaking religion

chris goan is on something of a roll. he is blogging a series of reflections on his blog this fragile tent called remaking religion. he is arguing that western religion is no longer fit for purpose and needs some sort of revolution. lots of good provocative stuff there and actually when you scratch below the surface he is highlighting that we need communities that embody the way of jesus christ more authentically. the posts are quite long so pour a drink and take a bit of time with it. i confess to being envious of his latest canoe trip too!

the poetry of pilgrimage

michael mitton has a new book out - poetry of pilgrimage. together with russ parker he has led pilgrimages around the british isles to sites of celtic saints. i had the pleasure to go with a group of pioneers on one to ireland many years back which was wonderful. the book is a square format, and for each of the 23 celtic saints has a photograph, story, description of location, a poem and some questions for reflection. when i went on a pilgrimage to ireland michael wrote and read a couple of the poems. you can get a flavour of the poems actually on michael's poetry page on his web site here. i have linked to that before actually. it's obviously a great book if you are visiting any of those sites but equally is a lovely book for reflection anyway. the celtic stories are always inspiring and resonate with pioneers in my experience.

michael asked me to give an endorsement and i wrote:

The poems are beautifully crafted... they are soulful, spiritual, and carry a depth and a yearning. They bring to life in a wonderful way the lives of Celtic saints and their mystical longings. They reverberate like prayers. I am drawn back to them again and again.

proost links removed

thank you to readers who have contacted me via comments over the last year to let me know that all the proost links on the blog are broken and what was the proost domain now points to a porn site! a sorry depressing tale of our times. anyway i have painstakingly gone through and unlinked everything so no one has that experience any longer. it's possible i have missed one or two so please leave a comment if you do find a link. ironically this is at a time where proost seems likely to be resurrected though not with the same domain. chris and rob are continuing their proost podcast series - search proost on spotify to find it. they are up to twelve episodes. and there is a rumour of advent resources brewing...

grace: remember - sat 9 november

the next grace is close to remembrance sunday. we will be taking the opportunity to pause and ponder what has happened in the last year in gaza and the west bank following the hamas attaack on october 7 2023. chris rose who is the director of amos trust will be joining us. he is very informed so do bring any questions. i will be playing a few spngs from backbone, an album i recorded in 1999 with jon birch as jonnys in the basement. they seem as poignant now as then so have reworked them for acoustic versions. there will be a cafe afterwards - everyone is always welcome.

lost in light

in 2023 i saw fourtet and he had an amazing light display of nearly 40000 light balls suspended - see this post for a photo. that lighting was done by squidsoup who currently has an exhibition in shoreditch, london of 5 installations - lost in light. i love that kind of immersive exhibition. we went in half term so there were lots of kids enjoying it and charging around touching the light hangings so i hope it survived that week! anyway here's a few photos to give you the idea. it is light and sound so you get half the idea probably.

northern lights over st beunos

what a treat to be in north wales at st beuno's and to see the northern lights in the night sky. i am here doing a course on spiritual conversations.

sunflower triptych

we were issued a challenge of making a triptych for the photography group. this was mine.

acts 11 project launched!

yesterday was the first day of the first acts 11 project conference. at it's heart it is a centre focused on human migration and global witness. we took a moment to celebrate the launch by cutting a cake. it was an exciting moment. more to follow...

the lost art of getting lost

this week i had the absolute joy of catching up with friend lowell sheppard who was in london for a book awards ceremony as his book dare to dream was one of the books in the final selection. he was giving a workshop at the royal geographic society.

i have never been there before and we got a tour as part of it. it's a place with millions of maps, paintings of colonial explorers and their artefacts and so on. we were shown the lecture theatre and this slide was up for a lecture that was happening that evening called 'the lost art of getting lost' which was celebrating 50 years of the bradt guides. hilary bradt is a female explorer.

that of course made me think of getsidetracked as we had the same thought and one of the prompts is GET LOST . it's one of my favourite illustrations and would love it as a t-shirt if and when we get round to doing that (there's another idea for a GET!)

GET LOST says

It’s really hard to get lost these days. So switch off your phone or even better leave it behind. Set yourself a challenge of genuinely getting somewhere where you have no idea where you are. This will sharpen your senses no end. See what you find! It’s worth practicing lostness with low risk so you’re prepared for really being lost. You lose a friend, a job, a home, your health. Whilst you wouldn’t wish these bigger displacements on anyone people often find things they would never have discovered if things had followed the path they had planned. So whether you choose it or it just happens embrace it.

GET SIDETRACKED is an app on creativity with 54 promts - shake your phone for a random GET. search getsidetracked in the apple or android app stores. 

get lost!

grace

we kicked off a news season of grace last night revisiting the liturgy from wounded in all the right places. this time we all contributed some broken pieces to make 'grace', a sign that our own brokenness can become something when we come together with others who are broken. westill have the communion table we made from broken pieces in 2008 which we used last night. we topped and tailed it with a couple of nick cave tunes - joy and as the waters cover the sea. my playlist is here if you are on apple music. 

grace new season gets underway sat evening

grace is back sat night 8pm st mary's ealing. it will a communion service with a cafe afterwards. for us it always feels like the start of a new year. do come along.

shake it!

thanks to those of you who have bought the getsidetracked app. we have just updated to version 1.02 so the shake feature is now working properly. it's a fun way to use the app. shake the phone and you get a random prompt. 

sunflowers

last week as i drove to the wood through sussex these sunflowers were all greeting the morning sun. i loved that they weren't a farmer's crop but simply in a wide verge. i had nick cave's album wild god on in the car, it was a glorious morning and i felt full of joy! i had to stop the car for a few photos...

get heretical

the getsidetracked app has a get of the day and i noticed today's is get heretical. this reminded me that iain cotton gave jon (one of the team behind the getsidetracked app who did the illustrations) a gift for his birthday of the get heretical image and prompt carved into slate. it's gorgeous. every line of work or business has an orthodoxy, a usual way of doing things. getting heretical is about suspending that and seeing what happens, what opens up. 

thanks everyone who has downloaded the app - just search getsidetracked on apple or android to find it. love to here how you are using it and especially any stories of how a prompt has worked out. we also have no idea how to promote an app so do tell people about it! thanks to nick who included it in a church of england mailing today which made me smile when i received it. it also made me smile because it arrived on a day when the prompt of the day is get heretical!!!

acts 11 launch - 26-27 Sept

when we refocused our work and team in post christian britain we retained our mission focus at the edges encouraging pioneers and pioneering churches. that is what we have done well and are passionate about. but we also discerned three particular areas to prioritise and encourage - younger people, people experiencing poverty and diasporas. 

i am excited to let you know about a new piece of work that has grown out that third focus of our cms team in britain - acts 11. acts 11 is a centre for global witness and human migration. harvey kwiyani is one of our team leaders and is the visionary who has developed the idea. we have a launch event over two days - 26-27 september. the first day is a conference aimed at anyone interested. the second day is a conversation for those involved in theological education or missions organisations. all the details and how to book are here. you can book into one or other or both days. you can also sign up virtually too.

at cms we often say the gifts of the world church are already here and celebrate that. but we then don't seem to quite know how to make the most of that. it's been my friendship with harvey that has helped me work out how to practically put some legs on that. the fruit of that has been adding in an african and asian pathway to our training (and we hope latin american in the future too), and now this acts 11 centre which will be involved in resources, research, training, gatherings, networking and so on. we hope the fruit is also new understandings of collaboration, decolonised mission and so on.

we had lined this up before the riots in the uk in august. but now this seems more timely and more important than ever. please do come. and do spread the word about it. you can book here

 

 

balloon ride

over two years ago jen gave me a hot air balloon ride. since then i have booked a ride lots of times but each time the weather was too windy but finally this week we got to go on a beautiful morning. we took off in petworth in west sussex and landed near billingshurst. if the wind had been slightly different we might have flown over prospect wood. it was such a beautiful experience - peaceful, gently floating over the world. i have added some photos to flickr - balloon ride