a lino print of water from saturday's advent grace. the (intentional) blur gives it a sea like feel.
alternative worship
December 17, 2024
December 03, 2024
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.
November 26, 2024
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.
November 02, 2024
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.
September 15, 2024
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.
September 13, 2024
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.
July 14, 2024
music is sacred
this room is in the vinyl factory reverb exhibition at 180 studios. take your shoes off - a sure sign this is holy ground. sit in quiet in what feels like a sacred space and an album takes centre stage to be played for everyone to listen to. music is spiritual or can be. my own experience is that i find music has played an important part in the soundtrack of my life. It can speak to me, inspire me, help me express emotion, touch me, put into words what i don't know how to, be a prayer, accompany a prayer. i loved it - so simple, one to do at grace at some point. it got me wondering what a playlist would be of spiritual tunes. i may come back to that...
May 23, 2024
April 03, 2024
March 01, 2024
grace labyrinth at beyond in brighton sun march 10
if you are down brighton way come and say hi at beyond on 10 march 7pm. we (grace) will be running a labyrinth.
February 27, 2024
emerged - chipping in to the conversation
the latest episode of the emerged podcast series has contributions from a few places round the world that were experimenting in the emerging culture back in the 90s and 00s. it was great fun to have an excuse to chat with tony jones after many years and some of our conversation features in the episode around leading the way in decline, alternative worship, emerging church, fresh expressions and the labyrinth in a can! i laugh a lot listening back to it. it was great to hear sivin kit, jason clark, graeme codrington, pete rollins and dave andrews on the same episode. i am enjoying the series - loved that season. makes me want to kick on further into that whole movement really. the work is not done, though to be honest i have kept at it.
February 14, 2024
January 30, 2024
ambient prayer 2
grace on saturday february 10 is another ambient prayer. this one will be similar in format but with different images, movie, playlist, prayers. over time we'll develop a series with a repeating form but different approaches to contemplative prayer. i have even made an ambient video loop for it! nothing will be demainded of you other than sitting in silence listening to great music and being invited to pray.
January 15, 2024
new forms: ambient prayer 1
[photo: steve collins]
it's lovely when something comes together. i have had a playlist called ambient prayer for a few years so it's an idea that has been brewing. but last night's grace saw the first ambient prayer.
we have created a frame/shape for ambient prayer around 5 sections - settle, descent, meditation, silence, ascent. ambient music plays throughout (apart from silence). within that there are two guided prayer exercises - one a centring/stilling prayer and the other a meditation/contemplative exercise. those can vary of course. then each time there is a visual idea - ideally expressed in both still and moving image. we also made a card to give to people who came. that has the image, section titles, and prayers. a screen has the visual idea and the name of the section at that point i.e. also minimal. it was low lit with a candle in the centre.
for ambient prayer 1 we used a breathing prayer exercise with christine sine's lovely prayer and the lovely be still prayer from st hilda community. the visual idea was the tidal pool in margate as one side of the wall was still and the other choppy which seemed a good picture for the attempt to settle and be still. i took the movie on a phone camera so it's a bit shaky but now want to go back and shoot it with a tripod but whether the conditions will repeat i don't know. it was a very compelling image.
the outline for ambient prayer 1 has been added to the grace archive here, including an explanation, the prayers, the playlist, the postcard and so on.
the opening and closing prayer written by steve collins were written especially for ambient prayer. i am adding those below:
opening prayer
turn towards god
with all of your being
throw your turbulent concerns, your anxieties and joys
into the calm and unfathomable sea of god
let them sink down until the ripples have ceased
do not look for them
or cast lines into the depths to fish for them
holy god, holy and eternal
maker and sustainer of all things
calm the storms of our hearts and minds
carry us in the ship of your love
across the reflecting sea of prayer
guided by your Son
amen
closing prayer
return clean from prayer to the world
and love it more
let calm trust in god be rooted in you
like a tree that stands secure
become shelter and healing to those around you
bear fruit
holy god, holy and eternal
maker and sustainer of all things
fill us with the strong hope of your spirit
help us plant the seeds of your love
into the broken ground of the world
watered by your Son
amen
the playlist is here on apple and here on spotify - i think these tunes are really wonderful but then i did put it together.
i hope over time we'll build up several of these.
i have tagged this new forms. that has been on my mind for quite some time to blog/insta new forms of worship, community, church. i have of course done that for years and it was the name of a venue we hosted at greenbelt for years. anyway i hope over time to add a few things to that conversation as we need them as much as ever. grace is not new and yes we have done things like this for a while but this is a new form/shape which others are welcome to pick up/adapt/reinvent so i think it fits the bill.
this can go on the worship trick 4 series list too!
January 05, 2024
ambient prayer
january and february’s grace are ‘ambient prayer’.
expect something minimal - ambient music, low light in the dark of winter, an image to ponder, space to breathe, a candle, silence, a few guiding thoughts for prayer.
followed by a café.
if you have never been to grace, or are not used to church spaces this would be a lovely one to attend as it will be very quiet. you won't be called on to do anything other than sit in the quiet with ambient music with space to be still, to meditate, to pray. it's at st mary's in ealing 8pm on saturday 13 january. wear warm clothes as even when the heating is on it is never hot in winter!
i absolutely love ambient music and will be curating the playlist so i can't wait.
how did we get here?
this is a personal reflection on how we have got to where we are w.r.t. mission and the church. it was written for a think tank group in the church of england on mixed ecology (which means the ecosystem that can contain multiple ways of being church especially embracing new forms that relate to those outside of church cultures). in other words it is an english perspective, not attempting to give a global overview, and it is related primarily to the church of england. it was written as a discussion starter so reads as a set of notes rather than a crafted article. i wrote it in the wake of covid. but now seems a good moment to publish it prompted by the emerged podcast. after I had written a draft of this I came across a chapter written by graham cray in cultivating missional change which was a book published in south africa which gives an excellent overview. i have opinions on what i have written but have tried to resist commenting or critiquing at this juncture. i think it best to be generous and see these threads as part of a whole, a wider movement.
Mixed Ecology: How Did We Get Here?
This is inevitably a take and there will be many other takes and lots to fill in. So think of this as a conversation starter and something that others can add to or possibly write other takes. There is a question of how far you go back and why but I think 50 years is probably a reasonable window.
Two environmental factors
Culture - the world changed significantly whatever way you describe it - post modern, emerging, post Christendom, post Christian even. One significant factor aligned with this is digital and communication technology which has changed so much more than we realise. Some writers see the change as a threat and some as opportunity but the change is not really contested.
Decline - I remember a staged walkout at an event in the 90s of 300 young people which at the time was the stat leaving the UK church each week. Whatever way you come at it church was declining which created anxiety and pressure.
Four tributaries
Urban areas - there is a long history of engaging in poorer areas - worker priests and so forth but the marker that sticks out is the Faith in the City report in 1985 which made an impact. The reason it’s worth mentioning is it raised questions about resourcing, liturgy, young people, race, culture, mission and so forth. It probably didn’t use the term but was asking contextual questions.
Charismatic renewal - there are various tributaries of this but a lot of the same issues we talk about now were in the renewal conversations though talk of new churches came later. Whatever your tradition that movement softened the church and generated openness to the Spirit in a fresh way, and emphasised ministry in the body of Christ rather than being too clerical. There was some threat in this too in that many left and set up other things but a lot stayed and quite a lot came back. Festivals and conferences led to various networks addressing questions of church and mission in a range of ways. The likes of Graham Cray, for example, were quite shaped by that movement. John Collins who was the modern founder of HTB was too. A later tributary though less Anglican was the coalition of youth led initiatives that were part of house church movements and mission agencies from the 1990’s. This included in particular Ichthus and Pioneer along with NGM, Youth For Christ, Frontier Youth trust, Oasis, New Wine and YWAM England. This was a fusion of alt worship exploration and mission impulse. Events such as Greenbelt and Remix explored the objective of reimagining faith in the cultural commons with art and justice themes. This laid the ground for catalysing a number of other significant sub movements including, cultural shift, 24/7, the Factory, Soul Survivor and so forth.
Global missions - Lesslie Newbigin is probably the most famous voice from when he returned to England from India (1974) and drew on issues of mission and culture to say that we needed mission that took the gospel and culture in the West seriously. Another thread from missions was contextual theology which is a relatively new concept growing either out of liberation theology in S America and S Africa. The postmodern turn questioned the West’s overarching domination and narrative in theology as much as in other disciplines so global voices and other voices from the margins became very important. Contextual approaches fit this new environment well. CMS first engaged in Britain as a mission context in the 1970s. And then engaged in a new way following a report in the 2000s recommending engagement with what it described as the emerging culture.
Youthwork - as noted above the decline in young people was a lightning rod for the church’s anxiety around decline. Pete Ward made the link between cross cultural mission and youth ministry in his book Youth Culture and the Gospel in 1992. Youth ministers began experimenting and developing youth church (which they were not able to call that at times). Oxford Youthworks and Frontier Youth Trust pioneered in that space, with some iterations of YFC on board.
Some chapters in the story
Decade of evangelism. The Church of England’s efforts in the decade of evangelism (1990s) haven’t gone down that favourably in history - a review said that it had probably slowed decline at least. There was a lot of effort but not a lot to show for it. That partly fuelled questions of what a better approach was and what might come out of it. At the conference ACE99 reflecting on it, a memorable moment was when John Drane shared a cross cultural approach with spiritual seekers at new age fairs using tarot cards that seemed to polarise the room - one half excited about contextual mission and the other thinking they were hearing some new heresy.
Theology. It was not just a pragmatic movement. A re-theologising was most certainly taking place, with a significant level of thought leadership and theological reflection. Missio Dei became a widely received theological idea that flipped peoples understanding (albeit it had emerged in the 1950s). More broadly there has been a turn to context and a new appreciation of the incarnation in theology – inculturation or contextualization are two ways of expressing it. Trinitarian participation is another way that has been opened up of understanding mission. There has been a new emphasis on the Spirit in mission. Ecclesiology is also an area that has had a lot of attention, notably Rowan Williams introduction to MSC setting the tone for that. And more latterly a whole conversation has kicked off around decolonising mission and deconstructing whiteness.
Church planting. There were several ways into this but church planting became a growing area of interest. Growing indigenous expressions of church was a logical outcome of mission that drew on cross cultural approaches - youth churches grew from this understanding in the 1980s. Anglican Church Planting Initiatives was founded as a charity in 1996 though I imagine was doing things from around 1991. Interestingly in the late 1990s and early 2000s (I think) the annual conferences that they hosted showcased anything and everything new - congregation plants, alternative worship, cell church, youth church. It was only much later that the language of planting became more polarising as it seemed to be the preserve of more conservative approaches to both theology and church.
Alternative Worship. This was a movement that engaged imaginatively with postmodern culture in quite radical ways in the 90s both in terms of the structure of church and worship but also exploring theology in ways that seemed to fit postmodern sensibilities - black, eco, feminist and liberation theologies were all at the table. Intriguingly it also seemed a playful turning away from modernising moves of the charismatic movement towards a blend of more ancient with urban club culture. Greenbelt festival was home to this and then a range of other new forms that were picked up and shared.
Emerging church. The issue named by emerging church seemed to be that it was not simply about changing worship but about the whole - discipleship, spirituality, church, leadership and so on all needed exploring in light of the new environment. In 2002 ACPI, Church Army, CMS and others to agree to start a web site to catch some of the stories of what was emerging and emergingchurch.info was set up to do that. Perhaps a significant book (though not well received by some Anglicans) was The Shaping of Things To Come by Hirsch and Frost which catalysed a lot of conversation about what being missional meant. Some started to call their church expressions missional communities, others drew on monastic patterns and claimed a new monasticism.
Mission Shaped Church. In 2004 this report named the surprise of the bubbling up of fresh expressions of church around the edge, said it was a good thing and named the mixed economy of church in the intro by Rowan Williams. Messy church started that year I think which became one of the most widespread fresh expressions.
Fresh Expressions. The Lambeth Partners funded fresh expressions under Rowan Williams wooing and persuasion and that quite quickly diffused across the church. For example at one time I think Mission Shaped Ministry, a course in fresh expressions had run in 40 dioceses. Other denominations got on board - Baptists, Methodists, Salvation Army, Congregataional Federation, URC to name a few. It also generated a lot of interest in other parts of the world. For example I know MSC was translated into Korean. FX was keen to appeal across all streams of the church and notably published books relating to the sacramental traditions. It has always struggled to shake off accusations of being overly evangelical which is slightly odd given Rowan’s leadership. Several years later the Church of England backed off funding FX - I think because the view was it had become embedded or mainstream but also the funding through Lambeth Partners stopped with a change of Archbishop from Rowan to Justin. Other denominations still support it. The argument in defence of this will be that it is embedded in the strategy now. I will resist commenting at this point.
Church Army and CMS (two of the mission communities or sodalities of the C of E) - Church Army and CMS have been players all the way through the above both contributing to the thinking and theological imagination as far back as the likes of John Taylor but also through publishing, being on the group that wrote MSC, developing training and so forth. Other newer charities or groups have since emerged (CCX, Myriad etc). Dioceses have really needed the sodal structures to call the church forward and to work in partnership with.
Pioneer Ministry. It was a recommendation in Mission Shaped Church that the kind of ministry that was starting new things should be seen as a new designation and pioneer ministry was what it was called. Another recommendation was that training for pioneer ministry should be done through a cross cultural lens which is why CMS for example were invited by the church to design training. Stephen Croft the first Fresh Expression worker under Rowan managed to do the policy work for a recognition of a designation of pioneer ministry and also worked to change the pastoral measure so that it was possible to plant church across parochial boundaries.
HTB. It is probably worth singling out HTB as a passionate advocate of church planting - hosting the church planting conferences above but also developing a model of planting in London by taking on churches that were low in numbers to revitalise them. I am less familiar with the timeline on this and how the trajectory developed into the Resource church model over time.
SDF - the Church Commissioners shifted how they gave surplus money towards dioceses. Dioceses could bid but one large area of funding needed to be tied to mission and ministry that grew the church. Whilst there have been a range of bids Resource church has been in vogue with the SDF board so a lot of investment has gone into larger city centre church plants.
CCX - London appointed a Bishop of Islington in 2015 to oversee church planting which was a fairly radical idea at the time. Out of that CCX and latterly Myriad have grown with a focus on encouraging planting.
July 2019 C of E Synod - A report was presented at Synod in July 2019 15 years on from Mission Shaped Church . Research from Church Army has been done at various points on fresh expressions and the report The Day Of Small Things showed that fresh expressions was probably the most effective means of reaching those outside the church that the church had seen for quite some time. A motion was presented and passed encouraging every parish to explore adding a contextual expression of church.
C of E Mixed Ecology Vision - The C of E has a new vision for a church of missionary disciples with Jesus at the centre and a mixed ecology of church. This seems a logical extension of all the above.
COVID. In July 2019 it felt like momentum was really there but the church is now emerging the other side of COVID more anxious and resource stretched. It remains to be seen how that vision is to be embedded and carried forward into the next 50 years.
[a slightly more expansive view of the last twenty years and my personal take on it is in this baker's dozen 13 reflections celebrating twenty years at cms]
December 08, 2023
grace christmas labyrinth
come and join us for our grace christmas labyrinth on saturday night.
Join us for a meditative and prayerful Christmas labyrinth, a peaceful evening before the hectic part of the season gets going.
There will be mulled wine and mince pies in the cafe afterwards.
November 23, 2023
November 12, 2023
heaven exists - grace is 30
this extraordinary cake was commissioned by lynda who is a dear friend and member of grace. she wanted to celebrate grace's 30th birthday and poured her creativity and gratitude into the cake as an amazing gift. the cake is called heaven exists and looked and tasted amazing. thank you lynda! the cake was made by nastassja
we had a wonderful evening doing a new take on communion by numbers round tables.
a slideshow of moments from grace over the years was scrolling put together by steve collins from his incredible archive of photos over the years - hopefully he will add it online somewhere and i'll add a link - so good to be reminded of so many amazing moments. a playlist with a tune from each of the 30 years was put together by mike rose, the sole founder member who remains part of grace.
overall there was just a lot of love in the room, with a small community of amazing creative human beings (in the room and online) who have journeyed together as a community of friends making artful soulful worship (fresh vital worship as the early flyers used to say) seeking to follow christ in today's world and support one anther in whatever life has thrown our way. during that time this small group have sparked the imagination of people al round the world, published books, albums, hosted web sites, been part of movements of alternative worship and emerging church, led grace in cathedrals and festivals. and all the while we have remained small, never employed anyone, and been hosted in the mothership of st mary's who have simply let us get on with it.
a revamped ethos was introduced on the night - tweaked really to add more on being a welcoming community to all which has gione up our agenda over the years as an intention. i will no doubt post that and link to other pieces of the service when they go up on the grace web site.
i am very grateful. it's such a gift of grace.
October 28, 2023
grace - the BIG 30!
the next grace marks our 30th birthday. i wasn't there when it started - jenny and i joined in when we moved to london a couple of years after that. but it's been home for us, a wonderful creative christian community in which to work out what it means to follow christ in today's world. i think the creativity joel and harry flow in was really nurtured in the air breathed at grace, alternative worship and greenbelt over those years. during that time we have created and curated some really wonderful worship, music, liturgy, movies. all the while there has never been anyone employed to lead it - it's a collaborative venture. i'd love it if you wanted to come even if you haven't ever been but especially if you have been part of that journey at any point. thanks to st mary's ealing for giving the permission and space for grace to be a congregation over those years and trusting us to get on with it. it would be hlepful to know rough numbers so if you plan to come let me know in a comment or something.
here's the blurb on the web site -
11th November is Grace's 30th birthday service - to mark the occasion we will be meeting around a table for a service of Communion by Numbers. Meeting around a table has been a large part of the Grace experience and sitting at a table with food and conversation we meet our companions, ourselves and sometimes God.
We'd love to see old friends and new around the table on 11th November - there will be food, drinks and music. It would be great to know if you plan to join us.
jonny
an advocate for pioneers, lover of all things creative and an explorer of faith in relation to contemporary culture
Recent Comments