jonnybaker

we cannot go back

i am exhibiting in the london independent photography 34th annual exhibition - vitality. it only runs for a week. the opening is this thurs. if you are in that part of town and fancy going let me know.

it's one of the interventions from our trickster exhibition. in walpole park, like many parks, there are benches with quotes from the good and the great on them. but there are plenty of benches without! amazingly this intervention is still there so either the park crew like it or they haven't noticed or they don't mind. it does blend in rather well.

pioneer practice portsmouth feb 18th

delighted to say that we are taking pioneer practice to portsmouth on 18 feb - info and tickets available here

 

mountain retreat

i go on a retreat every year. in terms of my life, headspace, wellbeing, imagination, relationship with god it's one of the best things i do. i tend now to go somewhere quiet, alone, silent. the last couple of years that has been in the wood. but group retreats are also great. i have done a few of those. last year johnny sertin and paul rose ran a mountain one for pioneers that sounded wonderful. they are running one this year. places are limited so book early if you are interested. book here

labyrinth - grace next saturday

it seems to have become something of a tradition to walk a labyrinth for the first grace of the year. do join us. it will be simple, meditative, with a soundscape of ambient tunes followed by a cafe - saturday 14 jan 8pm st mary's ealing

a blur

i had fun messing around at kew before christmas slowing down the shutter speed to blur the light. i like this one - because it is a laser you get a crisp light pattern blur with the backdrop of blurred trees.

true north

this is the thirteenth of a series celebrating twenty years at cms

see  1. gold | 2. emerging church | 3. blah | 4. new forms | 5. worship tricks | 6. mission shaped church and fresh expressions | 7. pioneer ministry | 8. church planting | 9. red tape | 10. doing the imaginative work | 11. post colonial mission | 12. for goodness sake

this is the final reflection. 13 makes a baker's dozen after all! 

once the pioneer training started, a few years in i was amazed at how wonderful it seemed - it felt like something precious was going on. religious communities sometimes talk about a charism or gift that is at the heart of what they are about. i went on a retreat in 2015 and wrote in my journal what i thought the facets of the charism we were seeing at cms with pioneers might be. i called it true north - true north being a metaphor for god's mission which is the big orienting factor, joining in with the healing of all things. and then i came up with 9 facets of that gift. several years on i think they still name something good. i don't think i have ever posted that on the blog. so it seems a fitting way to end this series of reflections.

there are actually two versions of it.

the latest one is in pioneer practice (use discount code in january of HAPPYNEWYEAR btw to get it for £10) which is somewhat distilled. you can download it here - true north v2

and the original is simply those 9 facets written out with a short explanation - you can download them exactly as they were first written here - true north v1

i would love any feedback on that - do leave comments or how you see it. if i were to rewrite now i would add something on the gift of community and diversity i think which we are feeling our way towards. there is a talk of me elaborating on it in germany in 2017 if you want to know more.

so there you go. that is my baker's dozen celebrating twenty years at cms. now time to look forward...

• 1. gold
• 2. emerging church
• 3. blah
• 4. new forms
• 5. worship tricks
• 6. mission shaped church and fresh expressions
• 7. pioneer ministry
• 8. church planting
• 9. red tape
• 10. doing the imaginative work
• 11. post colonial mission
• 12. for goodness sake
• 13 true north

HAPPYNEWYEAR - pioneer practice discount

looking back on 2022 one of the highlights was getting out and about post COVID to tour pioneer practice with gav mart. we did around 20 dates i think. thank you to everyone who came - it was so good to connect with people, hear stories of what is happening and glimpse sparks of ideas that are yet to emerge. to celebrate we have set up a discount code for pioneer practice to run through january. the code is HAPPYNEWYEAR and will get you a print copy for £10 or download for £7. order at gestsidetracked.co 

if you have not come across it pioneer practice is a full colour book (more like a chunky magazine really) with a mix of stories and practical short pieces on everything related to getting something started. it's accessible, you can dive in anywhere, and is beautifully designed - we are super proud of it.

do pass on the code - oh and HAPPYNEWYEAR

we quit

i have so much respect for those putting their bodies on the line to protest the climate crisis and the government's continual ignoring of the gravity of the situation. i got the latest email update from extinction rebellion and they are making a change of tactics away from disruption of the public and to prioritise attendance rather than arrest and relationships over roadbloacks. see we quit. put april 21 in your diary to be in london. 

the big issues for 2023 are the climate and wealth inequality - we don't have to organise our world the way we do. a new imagnation is required.