jonnybaker

pioneer practice now available as a download

we created pioneer practice to be a designed printed book, a coffee table book, full colour, lovely to hold and read and dip into kind of book, the kind of book you feel would not be out of place in the tate modern bookshop. so we resisted selling it as a digital book. but over a year on and we think it's time to make it available as a download. because the layout is so much the book it is available as a pdf (not as ebook or kindle). it looks fabulous on screen on an ipad or laptop with the luminosity of the screen. it is available from getsidetracked.co for £10. of course this is good news internationally - far easier than the cost and impact of posting round the world. enjoy!

100!

100th parkrun completed yesterday in southall accompanied by clem pacing me who at age 9 left me behind on the final lap!

[thanks for the photo to the photographer at souhall parkrun]

luton hat factory arts centre - july's pioneer practice venue

looking forward to the next stop on the tour which is the last before a break over august. i'll be in luton at the hat factory arts centre on july 16. i like that the header of the arts centre web site says 'dream it you must' - indeed i couldn't agree more. there is a workshop in the afternoon and an evening social with food. come to one or other or ideally both. hope to see you there if you are anywhere nearby.

 

unfinished agenda

the newbigin pioneering hub in birmingham celebrated it's launch on saturday. it was great to be there. cathy ross gave the annual newbigin lecture which she titled 'unfinished agenda' riffing on lesslie newbigin's autobigraphy of that title. the unfinished agenda is of mission. cathy suggested there were several areas you could pick to explore that are unfinished but chose to explore the issue of race and mission which she has been reading, reflecting and talking with others about. i am guessing it will be published or appear online somewhere. there were responses from sally mann, mike royal, jenny smith and paul weston. it was really challenging and i was left with lots to chew over!

the hub is a partnership between the urc, seedbeds and cms. it was great to meet several people from the urc and find out some more about their tradition of dissent which rather appeals to me. i found out about dissenting academies and promiscuous eucharists (perhaps more on them another time)! i jotted down a couple of quotes from adrian and jenny who work for the urc and spoke about the partnership. it's great the urc is so enthused about the hub. I really hope it will help nurture a hopeful network and ecosystem of new creative practice and open up some pathfinding dissent. i found it warming hearing someone in the structures saying pioneering is where it is at.

here's a photo of those of us who were involved in the day

update: the lecture can be watched here - unfinished agenda and read here