jonnybaker

art objects

i have blogged before about art and how much i identify with artists and the way they see the world. i like to think i am one even though it's not my life's work. when i read books on art i always find myself playing with the the way pioneers interact with the world and switching the word artist for pioneer. i think it's probably because pioneering is a gift of sight and imagination. which is true of art. in both cases they also go on to make or translate into something tangible out of that gift of sight. it's also perhaps because that seeing has to suspend what is 'normal' to see and imagine differently and is a form of truth speaking and acting. it can't sell itself, it has to embody gift.

i have done that with think like an artist, and art matters, and the creative stance for example.

a book i read a year ago was art objects by jeanette winterson. it is a collection of essays on art written in 1996 that i absolutely loved. she says about it:

I wanted to communicate the passionate excitement I have for art of all kinds. I really believe in the redemptive, persuasive, healing power of art. We all need it.

she is a wonderful writer. her sentences are so beautifully crafted. i have heard he speak twice and loved what she had to say. she is someone who thinks and lives deeply. as is my (probably bad) habit i underlined various sections of the book and particularly loved an essay called 'imagination and reality' in which she says that the currency of art is the currency of imagination and that the original role of the artist is as a visionary. artists see beyond the view from the window, beyond the mundane and interestingly she says that is why art fares better alongside religion than capitalism or communism. here are a few quotes i liked...

Art’s true effort is to open us to dimensions of the spirit and of the self that normally lie smothered under the weight of living

In a money culture, art by its nature objects. It fields its own realities, lives by its own currency, aloof to riches and want. Art is dangerous

The artist is a translator; one who has learned how to pass into her own language the language gathered from stones, from birds, from dreams, from the body, from the material world, from the invisible world, from sex, from death, from love.

The charge laid on artists is to bring back visions

The rebellion of art is a daily rebellion against the state of living death routinely called real life.

Art is pushing at the boundaries we thought were fixed. the convenient lies fall; the only boundaries are the boundaries of our imagination.

Art is pushing at the boundaries we thought were fixed. the convenient lies fall; the only boundaries are the boundaries of our imagination. How much can we imagine? The artist is an imaginer. The artist imagines the forbidden because to her it is not forbidden. If she is freer than other people it is the freedom of her single allegiance to her work. Most of us have divided loyalties, most of us have sold ourselves. The artist is not divided and she is not for sale.

the book is totally brilliant for inspiring about art so let it do that work for your heart and soul. but if your brain works like mine and you are a pioneer, you might also try and switch the word art for pioneering or artist for pioneer and see how that resonates...

 

art [pioneering] matters

i love artists - the way they see, think and make. so much so that i am happy to say 'yes' if anyone asks me if i am an artist. i have blogged before about books about artists - notably think like an artist, and the creative stance. as you probably know if you read this blog regularly i train pioneers people who have ideas for making the world a better place, people who see possibilities and then build things out of their seeing, people who imagine and can gather communities of people who follow christ which don’t require them to leave their culture behind. whenever i read a book about artists or art i find myself replacing the word art with mission or pioneering. it’s quite a fun game to play. for christmas this year my son harry gave me a book art matters which has four essays or reflections by neil gaiman illustrated by chris riddell. one off the pieces is called make good art and is the text of a speech neil made in 2012 at the university off the arts - the text and video are here. it’s absolutely brilliant - do digest it in full its own right. but i have taken the liberty of taking a few of his quotes and switching the words the arts or art for pioneering or pioneer. i have placed them in brackets so it’s obvious. anyway see what you think…

When you start out in [pioneering] you have no idea what you are doing. This is great. People who know what they are doing know the rules, and know what is possible and impossible. You do not. And you should not.. If you don't know it's impossible it's easier to do. And because nobody's done it before, they haven't made up rules to stop anyone doing that again, yet.

If you have an idea of what you want to make, what you were put here to do, then just go and do that.

When you start off, you have to deal with the problems of failure. You need to be thickskinned, to learn that not every project will survive.

I decided that I would do my best in future not to [pioneer] just for the money. If you didn't get the money, then you didn't have anything. If I did work I was proud of, and I didn't get the money, at least I'd have the work. Every now and again, I forget that rule, and whenever I do, the universe kicks me hard and reminds me. The things I did because I was excited, and wanted to see them exist in reality have never let me down, and I've never regretted the time I spent on any of them.

I hope you'll make mistakes. If you're making mistakes, it means you're out there doing something.

Do the stuff that only you can do. The urge, starting out, is to copy. And that's not a bad thing. Most of us only find our own voices after we've sounded like a lot of other people. But the one thing that you have that nobody else has is you. Your voice, your mind, your story, your vision. So [pioneer] as only you can.

Where would be the fun in making something you knew was going to work?

People keep working, in a freelance world, and more and more of today's world is freelance, because their work is good, and because they are easy to get along with, and because they deliver the work on time. And you don't even need all three. Two out of three is fine. 

That was the hardest lesson for me, I think: to let go and enjoy the ride, because the ride takes you to some remarkable and unexpected places.

The rules, the assumptions, the now-we're supposed to's of how you [pioneer], and what you do then, are breaking down. The gatekeepers are leaving their gates. You can be as creative as you need to be. The old rules are crumbling and nobody knows what the new rules are. So make up your own rules.

And now go, and make interesting mistakes, make amazing mistakes, make glorious and fantastic mistakes. Break rules. Leave the world more interesting for your being here. [Pioneer]

lifelines [for the table]

several years back our friend lynda asked if we could meet up once a week to talk about life and at that time parenting as she was taking custody of her grandson. so we began meeting round a meal. it came up in conversation with a couple of other friends and they joined in and over the years various others have joined in and come and go. there are some occasional visitors who feel like they are part of the extended table family. sometimes there are three of us and sometimes it can get into double figures. the format is simple - jen or i cook food, others bring contributions and we sit and eat and drink and catch up on life. as well as a meal there is usually something to spark conversation - a poem, a thought, a prayer, a reading. and there is always space to share joys and sorrows and to pray together. the prayer is usually informal - it might involve lighting a candle, or sometimes a simple liturgy as we remember christ in sharing bread and wine in the meal, or sometimes it is enough to be held in silence for a moment. it's not really religious and we have tried to make it open and welcoming to anyone - as long as they are happy for food, conversation and prayer (whatever way they interpret that) all is well.

it is so simple. from the start jen and i agreed we wouldn't put effort into content so the thought/reflection is last minute. it's not about that really. but it has been and is a gift to have a group of friends who care for one another and hold one another in life. we are part of grace which is a wider church community but this group is also just as much our community of faith. i recommend it as a habit to get going in your life...

our latest conversation starter has been a wonderful find - lifelines by martin wroe and malcolm doney - a book with colour photographs and 99 reflections. they are spiritual themes but made very accessible for people of faith and none. so we have taken to simply asking someone round the table to take the book away, pick a theme they like and come back and share it with us and we talk about it. as well as being delightful provocations, what it has done which has been lovely is to share out facilitating the conversation starting. the themes are wide ranging - community, silence, waking up, kindness, creating a clearing, grief, activism, prayer... and of course friends round the table is the real lifeline.

i know i hardly blog worship tricks these days but i am going to add it to the list... 

the art of advent

this advent i am going to read through this lovely little book the art of advent by jane williams which has a painting for each day of advent with a short reflection. it's full colour and less than ten pounds! i was delighted to see meg wroe's reworked rublev's icon is in the book.

on imagination and mission - a chapter in missional conversations out today

Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing,there is a field. I'll meet you there. Rumi

it was this quote by rumi that sparked ric stott and i to have a conversation about imagination and creativity in mission. that conversation is published in missional conversations: a dialogue between theory and praxis in world missions which comes out today. i am very excited to be part of this book which has been pulled together by two of my friends and colleagues at cms - cathy ross and colin smith. the book takes nine contemporary contexts for mission such as the environment or migration and two writers explore that theme, one from a theoretical and one from a practice based approach. in our case ric and i couldn't work out which was which so we went for a slightly different approach going to and fro between us in conversation.

there is a book launch on nov 27 at cms in oxford at 4pm - see invite below. if you're anywhere near oxford do come along. it's currently reduced price on scm web site i noticed.

steve bevans gives it a lovely endorsement:

Cathy Ross and Colin Smith have put together an amazing collection of essays in these pages. Not only does their conversational method match their understanding of mission. Their content is fresh, exciting, imaginative, and in some cases groundbreaking. This is a pioneering book in every sense of the word. It's certainly the best collection of essays in missiology that I have read in a long time.

download the invite to the book launch here

 

future present is here!

good news - following the crowdfunding future present has been printed and has landed at proost hq - i have yet to see a copy but it exists. i can't wait! those of you who have ordered copies they will soon be winging their way to you...

future present nearly present!

future present is nearly present. we have six days to go on our kickstarter campaign and are 94% of the way there which equates to needing £219 to reach our target - it's exciting!

so one more push to get there - future present is a full colour book/zine with 14 contributors dreaming of a better world by imagining a different future and then asking what you differently now on the basis of that future. all contributions and the design of the zine have been donated. it's a work of love and gift.

the simple deal is this - buy a copy as a pre-order for only £10 which includes postage (if you are in the uk). or buy 10 for £70. and if you are overseas the deal is pretty good too for ordering 10 copies. 

we have one offer no one has taken up yet which is that proost who are publishing it will host an event and you'll get 50 copies for £400 - that is a pretty sweet deal too.

thank you again everyone who has pre-ordered and/or backed it in other ways - much appreciated. our hunch is that there are still lots of people thinking oh yes i must get round to it - go for it!

half way and more than half way!

fifteen days gone fifteen to go in the kickstarter campaign. i make that half way. the good good news is that we are now over 70% of the way to the total which is more than halfway :) . in fact right this moment there is £839 left to raise to reach our total. so we're feeling pretty good about it so far but we're not there yet and it's all or nothing. so as we start week three please back the project. if you have already big thanks! if you have meant to but haven't got round to it then please get round to it this week. and of course being the internet we all live in our own echochambers so please bounce it around your friends' echo chambers and beyond.

even though i feel we have talked about it quite a bit people have still asked me questions so here are a few FAQ

1. what is it? a zine
2. what's a zine - maga-zine but it will be more chunky, like a book but not a book, full colour, cool design
3. what's it about? dreaming of a better world in lots of areas of life - we asked contributors to imagine a different future and then think what we can do now to help that future arrive.
4. who are the contributors? - see the list in the image to the right
5. what does it look like? ah follow this link to see some spreads from the inside
6. how much do i have to give to back it? £10 is the price of a copy pre-ordered so it's a great deal for you
7. what if i am overseas? yes you can still order and back it only postage gets added. there's a great deal for 10 copies overseas btw
8. who is publishing it? proost - see their latest news update about it here
9. when will it be out? - assuming we reach our target we'll print straightaway so july
10. are you at greenbelt? good question - yes! we are seeing greenbelt as the official launch of it. greenbelt's theme is acts of imagination - a kind of perfect fit. so there should be a panel there on future present, and some kind of launch party 
11. where did you say i could go to back it? now you're talking - future present kickstarter

hope that helps!

one week three steps twenty two days

so we're one week into our first ever kickstarter campaign to raise money for the print run of future present - a zine that has 14 contributions exploring a better world. it's going to be full colour and look and feel great. i'm excited about it. it turns out the kickstarter thing is fun, addictive and nerve racking in equal measue.

the fun part is simply seeing what happens - knowing you are putting something out there and hoping this will enable it to become something real.

the addictive part is the temptation to keep looking to see if anyone else has pledged to buy one or more - i've had to shut the page down in my browser!

the nerve racking part is whether we will make it - it's all or nothing in that if we raise the money we're good to go. if not zilch!

the good news is we are on the eight day of 30, now have over 100 backers and are more than halfway to the target which feels amazing. but we want to keep it moving forwards and need your help.

i have three hunches - 

• that there are loads of people who have seen it and think i'll do that and haven't yet got round to it - if that's you then please get round to it!
• that lots of people think that the campaign is asking for a gift - it isn't. it's asking for you to pre-order a copy. plus it's postage free and as good a price as you'll get. the larger pledges are really good deals especially if you are not in the uk. so why wait?
• the third is that there are lots of people who haven't yet heard about it because we all live in small worlds. we're shouting about it in our small world but please let people know in your world too and spread the word

thank you if you've read this far! if you want a simple take on what future present is about it is these three steps above...

future present kickstarter goes live

i have been working on a side project with a few friends - future present. it's a full colour zine that seeks to imagine a different kind of world. we're running a kickstarter campaign to fund the print run through pre-orders! the simplest pledge is only £10 which preorders you a copy of the full colour zine. or there are some fairly sweet deals for 10 copies which you might like to think about especially if you are outside the uk. i have never done one of these before so looking forward to the next 30 days to see what happens. reminds me of blue peter and the totalisers if you are old enough to remember that! steve collins has done an amazing job on the design - go visit the future present kickstarter page here

big thanks to proost for partnering with cms pioneer on this project.

how to disappear completely

the wonderful si smith has published a graphic novel with valley press. it's gorgeous drawing as ever and a powerful story in its own right, a story of loss and withdrawal. it's also clearly informed by christ's journey to the wilderness though i don't think you need to make that connection necessarily. it was originally commissioned as a piece to work with schools but is good news that is has made it to a wider audience. si says...

I’d previously produced work that relocated biblical narratives to present-day Leeds, and also explored the story of Christ in the wilderness, so this comic felt very much like a natural progression for me,’ Si explained. ‘It was a way of reflecting on the season of Lent, packing it with references and layering up the meaning so it bears repeated reading. It’s also deliberately quite open to interpretation, so readers can invest the narrative with their own meanings

you can order it through valley press here

on innovation 3: feeling your way

how does newness happen or emerge? i am fascinated by this question. one way it happens is through feeling your way. this may sound vague or airy fairy but I think it’s an essential part of innovation that is probably either invisible to many or at least hugely underrated. it’s part of a process or what some call a framework for innovation that is quite widely recognised (though not normally called feeling your way). the areas of process that tend to get more attention often come after this. the previous two blog posts focused on the kinds of people who seem to be able to see differently and make things happen and on the kind of environment that creates the air in which creativity and imagination flourish which will lead to innovation. paying attention to the framework and process out of which innovation emerges is a third way of coming at it. of course there isn’t one - there are multiple ways of naming and describing this. 

the thing that got me thinking about the value of feeling your way or at least made me realise how much I do this personally was reading mike moynagh’s latest book church In life. i really like this book. in it mike uses emergence and complexity theory to explore a framework of innovation and how newness emerges in relation to new ecclesial communities. i think this is a very dynamic way of approaching contextual mission. it is able to be responsive, flexible, creative, learn from what’s happening, and adapt accordingly. but whether or not that is the focus of your innovation it is really worth paying attention to. the innovation framework he uses describes six processes of innovation, which overlap and feed into each other. They are: 

• dissatisfaction
• exploration
• sense making
• amplification
• edge of chaos
• transformation

it’s great to read a book like this that names restlessness, dissatisfaction as a positive thing. lots of organisational cultures prefer to hide dissatisfaction. dave male suggests the same start point in his book how to pioneer. gerald arbuckle names it as grief but is essentially naming the same thing  transformation is the result of the other five processes working together in overlapping and interpenetrating ways. dissatisfaction starts you on the journey. you explore through trial and error alongside prayerful attention. sense making turns your exploration into a story i.e. you are reflecting on what’s happening, piecing it together and making sense of it. in other words feeling your way! 

crucially this involves plenty of conversation and feedback - so rather than having a solution you land and develop the important thing becomes listening and learning and adapting in the light of feedback. mike suggests it’s a move to ‘act and reflect’ rather than ‘predict and plan’. this reminded me of the iterative process outlined in the lean startup.

in innovation or pioneering in mission there is always a whole lot of uncertainty and feeling your way. In relation to leadership in the church the same point i made in the previous post is true. most preparation and formation in theological colleges is not focused on dealing with flexible, adaptable, responsive leadership - it assumes a much more fixed body of knowledge and practices that leaders will go and lead as they have been trained and all will be well. i think mike’s book is extremely helpful in offering a very different framework of innovation for leadership in mission. it imagines an environment where things are unpredictable, and unknown. i also think the edge of chaos is a fascinating insight. systems and organisations that are very fixed and stable don’t tend to cultivate creativity and innovation - they dampen it or squash it. newness is seen as a threat to order. now you don’t want total chaos but systems that are open to change and newness are nearly always less stable - inside the edge of chaos is the sweet spot. feeling uncertain, knowing things are unpredictable and not being sure what the future might look like whilst knowing the present can’t continue as it is turns out to be a good place to be, perhaps ideal even. It’s reassuring, though depending on your personality may be energising or anxiety inducing. i found it very helpful to have a process named that i feel i do instinctively.

mike has been a great reflector for the church in the uk on cultural change and mission and fresh expressions of church. this post isn’t meant to be a book review though I am writing one for anvil at some point soon which I will post a link to here when I have done it. but I do wholeheartedly recommend it. and in my view mike’s thinking and writing gets better and better.

the power of a simple diagram

i was really pleased to see mark berry and philip mounstephen have written a grove booklet on mission and community. it gets a hefty review here if you want to know what it's about and that saves me writing too much (!). i am particularly pleased because it's part of grove's mission and evangelism series and cms has become a partner in that series contributing a couple of booklets a year - at least that's the plan. this is the first. it used to be the evangelism series but we were keen if cms were to be involved that it become mission and evangelism. i have read it and really recommend it. it's the kind of book you read and think 'of course!' but then realise that what seems obvious often isn't.

the thing in the book that i thought was very neat and powerful was a diagram. they draw on robert warren's missionary congregations book which i really liked when it came out and that had three interlocking equally sized circles in a venn diagram of worship, mission and community saying that all three were important and that in the intersection you'd find the heart or spirituality of a congregation. i remember drafting what grace was about years ago and having those three sections on an older version of the web site.

what mark and philip do is redraw the diagram showing the reality could be very different in practice to warren's nice equal version. it seems quite shocking - community is small and mission is isolated. but the more i have thought about it the more i think that diagram nails something with truth in it even if it is exaggerated.

it's at least worth pondering if you are in a congregation or church what the balance is and where all the church's time, money and effort goes. we have been thinking about this at grace recently and realising that in our case community has grown in importance over the years and we are reflecting on what mission looks like. i guess worship has always been a reasonable size as we grew out of what was then known as alternative worship. i'll blog again in a separate post to say a bit more about this with a diagram we drew for grace. 

 

launch

it's been great this week to go to a couple of events where jen has launched and spoken about her book run for your life. the first was an evening organised by the ealing eagles, the running club that jen is part of. there was so much support and love for jen in the room - it is a really incredible community.

then last night was the launch at maggies - a centre for people affected by cancer. it is next to charing cross hospital and it's where we would go and have lunch before heading into the hospital when jen was having chemotheraphy. i rather like this photo of maggies sign with the hospital reflected in it.

jen has written about the launch here. harry had written some poems especially for the evening which may well appear online somewhere. one is in jen's post which was four lines long but opened with the amazing observation that there is a mother in the middle of chemotherapy...

and of course i took a few photos

loving seeing peoples reactions to the book and the publisher pitch are doing a great job of lining up articles and interviews. all in all wonderful stuff...

run for your life

jenny has written a book on her journey through being diagnosed with breast cancer and the ensuing chemotherapy, surgery, radiotherapy and recovery, coupled with her love of running and how that was a big part of her journey. the book is out in a month. it's published with pitch publishing.

i am so close to the story it's hard for me to be objective but i think it's a wonderful book. it will of course be of interest to anyone facing the diagnosis but i think it will also help anyone who knows someone facing that whether friends or family (which is probably most of us). jenny runs a blog and if you haven't read it do. her writing there on the journey is what was the spark for the book...

pioneering mission for the church's theology

i am pleased to say i have a chapter in the end of theology: shaping theology for the sake of mission. the chapter was originally presented at a conference exploring the relationship between theology and mission. as you can guess from the title of my chapter pioneering mission for the church's theology, i reflect on the importance of the practice of mission for doing theology rather than seeing it as something somehow either prior to or abstracted from mission. i also use it as an opportunity to reflect on what we have been learning about teaching mission and theology in the pioneer training at cms. the book is a collection of essays from a range of writers such as pete ward, kirsteen kim, michael goheen and is edited by jason sexton and paul weston. it is good to see this sort of conversation taking place and it is fun to be part of it. if i may i'll quote myself in the chapter to give you the gist - apologies if that seems like the act of an egotistical maniac - it's not meant to be!

The title of the gathering at which the papers in this book were presented was "Doing Theology for the Church's Mission", but this is problematic. It seems to assume somehow that the thinking part comes first, and then the church's ministry, mission and practice will change. I am highly suspicious of this way of orienting the conversation. In my experience all the best theology comes out of practice, out of real questions arising from mission or ministry on the ground, not as something that is worked out in the academy and then banked up for dealing with mission later on. That is why I called my paper at the conference "Doing Mission for the Church's Theology"

think like an artist [or pioneer]

having said i'd mention a few books i've read this year i have since failed to do so - start of term and all that!

but one short, easy to read book i loved is think like an artist by will gompertz. i probably like it because i  think like an artist (at least judging by this book). i like books on creativity. but the thought that i was musing on when reading it was how similar the ways of thinking gompertz describes for artists are to pioneers. i guess it's because the gift that pioneers bring is one of seeing new ideas and possibilities. here's a quote or two where you can substitute pioneer for artist...

Artists don't seek permission... they just do it.

They rarely sit back and wait for things to happen to them - they happen to things!

To break the rules and defy all these powerful people takes enormous courage... It generally takes at least two to take on the status quo - an artist and a patron.

The future depends on us talking a different approach

Passion is the spur that makes us want to know more. It provides the impulse for the thoughtful enquiry that generates the knowledge which fires our imagination to come up with ideas. These lead to the experiments that eventually result in the production of a realised concept. That is the path that creativity takes.

you get the idea... one chapter that appealed to me at the start of a new year with a fresh intake of students was one titled all schools should be art schools which i quoted from at our induction last week (and i admit i wish i had studied art rather than maths!). i certainly think the approach would be well suited to pioneers and i hope we capture a flavour of it at cms. 

art is all about breaking rules and discovering new stuff... There is of course a paradox in the notion that students should go to school to learn to break rules but it is worth contemplating

Art school or not students need to leave education as independently minded, intellectually curious, self confident and resourceful - prepared for and excited by the future and what they might be able to contribute to it. 

words of hope

i have read a stack of books this year and always mean to mention them on the blog and don't seem to get round to it so alongside editing photos from the summer in the next month i'll add a few books i have read that i think worth a mention...

first up words of hope from amos trust is a collection of prayers and liturgies and reflections - it's delightful and poignant. amos trust is small human rights organisation challenging injustice and cultivating hope. the words capture their spirituality wonderfully well. it's such a refreshing change to read words that you can echo an agreement to in your own heart. i find the arriculation of spirituality in much contemporary worship is either very focused on individual relationship with god or on proclaiming how great jesus is on a throne in the sky. it's harder to find songs and prayers of longing and anger and hope that relate to the world we actually live in.

the book is available here

this book is a reminder to me of the importance of communities and movements articulating a mission spirituality not just in mission statements and branding and in news stories but also in prayers, liturgies, poetry, art and longings that are expressed soulfully. it is of course what proost has been about and is about for years!

a new pathway [1]

i am very happy to have contributed to a book on training for mission - the book is part of the epic regnum series that has been produced as a result of a conference in ediunuburgh 2010. amazing the publishers have decided to make the whole series available as pdf downloads for free - yes free - simply look under each title and click on the download! i don't know of any other series that has happened to. what seems to happen is when a new book goes up it is made free six months later. they are all quite large books and have a range of themes with a series of chapters in.

the one i have contributed to is called reflecting on and equipping for christian mission. and the chapter is a case study in which i tell the story of cms pioneer mission leadership training and reflect on our approach. it's called a new pathway. you can go here to download the book and look it up in the index. or email me and i'll send you my chapter. it's a really helpful book with some fabulous chapters. i wish it had been around when i was reflecting on how to set up a new course for pioneering mission. i think i'll come back and reflect on one or two other chapters here on the blog if i can find time which is why i have numbered this post [1]. i have waited until now to post about this as i wanted the book to be free before doing so!

thank you to stephen bevans for inviting me to contribute - your kindness and encouragement has been a gift.

a book to help pioneers reflect

nice to see the first review of pioneering spirituality - thank you sally rush for both reading and reviewing it! she says that it is a book to help pioneers reflect, and that its scope is wider than many previous texts of its kind which is good to hear.

last year i also had a chapter in mission on the road to emmaus which sally also reviews here and selects as her book of the year