jonnybaker

hope

godisnowhere reflection

a reflection/piece of liturgy i wrote for grace last night. i have been struck looking at the stories of the resurrection appearances how grief and hope are often close together, and how often god’s absence and presence are experienced in the same stories. perhaps this has something to say to us in our own experience at the moment - many of us have felt god is far away and many of us have been reassured by god’s presence.

The women arrive at the empty tomb
God is nowhere
Suddenly Jesus meets them
God is now here

Mary weeping with loss in the garden
God is nowhere
The gardener speaks her name
God is now here

The disciples afraid in a locked room
God is nowhere
Then Jesus appears
God is now here

Thomas refusing to believe
God is nowhere
He touches Jesus wounds
God is now here

The disciples fish all night without a catch
God is nowhere
“Throw your net over the right side”
God is now here

Peter shattered when the cock crows
God is nowhere
A healing conversation on the beach
God is now here

Two disciples downcast on the Emmaus Rd
God is nowhere
They recognised him in the breaking of bread
God is now here

GODISNOWHERE

hand washing ritual

grace's easter vigil went well - like so many others we were feeling our way with the technology running it online and quickly worked out that our usual music background didn't work! i hope it went well for people who followed along on the hashtag #graceeastervigil2020 in either twitter or instagram. a big plus was having people join in who were in other countries! the communion prayer is here

it was really good fun having steve leach dj at the end live on facebook and it's still there if you want to have a listen. he played an amazing tune of his with the queen's speech mixed in which i loved. 

as ever we invited people to create bits of content. i thought one was really worth sharing here as a worship trick. gill created a hand washing ritual in response to one of the readings. it is on the grace web site and has a prayer that goes along with the various kinds of washing. it's really lovely. i have put it on my phone so i can dig it out each time i wash my hands. anyway you might like it. 

there was also a really good playlist at least for my taste and i thought it suited the mood of the vigil perfectly (ht mike rose) which is on spotify and apple music 

info for grace easter vigil tonight

info for tonight's grace easter vigil is now on the grace web site

share communion in your own home and resist the power of religious control

when christ dies on the cross the curtain in the temple is ripped from top to bottom. that curtain guarded the way into the place that only the priests could go. it is a sign that the religious power controlling access to god is ended. the way is open. in some mysterious way christ’s non violent resistance disarms the powers including the power of religious domination.

while in new zealand i read binding the strong man by ched myers. it is a brilliant commentary on mark’s gospel story of the life of jesus christ. i found it compelling. he sees jesus’ life as one of non violent resistance to the powers that oppress and dominate people. in the foreword to the twentieth anniversary edition hendricks describes it as nothing less than a project to rewild the church. i should have read it years ago.

there are two powers that jesus contends with - the imperial power of rome and the religious power of jerusalem.

myers tees up the narrative by saying that these two powers are highlighted in stories where people are oppressed by an evil spirit. the first is in the synagogue where an unclean spirit says to jesus ‘why are you interfering with us’? this is a pretty perceptive question because within the first few chapters of mark jesus has interfered with the way the religious world is controlled and organised by breaking laws of the sabbath, healing people, suggesting that god has come to those who the religious world deems unclean - touching lepers, eating with ‘scum’ tax collectors, touching a woman who is unclean through bleeding, blind beggars, gentiles and the list goes on. he messes with what is clean and dirty. within three chapters the heavies from jerusalem have been sent up to investigate and accuse jesus of being possessed by the devil. and so it goes on from there. jesus does not mince his words when he confronts the religious authorities about how they burden and oppress people. his stark warning to his followers is ‘beware the yeast of the pharisees’. this all eventually comes to a head in jerusalem where jesus turns the tables in the temple which is the heart of the religious ordering and system which is ripping off the poor, and while the disciples are admiring the building he says that within a generation it will be destroyed. and sure enough that is exactly what happens. as myers puts it “jesus now offers a vision of the end of the temple-based world, and the dawn of a new one in which the powers of domination have been toppled.”

the second story is where jesus crosses a lake and encounters a man who is oppressed by ‘legion’. myers says that can only be heard as a reference to roman military power by readers that somehow dominates this man’s life so that he is in chains. jesus frees him from this domination. jesus is ultimately executed by this state power. it’s hard to say how much they perceive him to be a threat. today is good friday when we remember christ’s death which was at the hands of the imperial state and the religious authorities who colluded together. but my own take is that the real anger and drive for it came from the religious authorities. it was their world that jesus threatened so much.

the opening lines in mark’s gospel are about a way - preparing a way. jesus life shows a radical alternative way. i have always found this way amazing and inspirational - i have often noticed how many people like jesus but are put off by the church. in my own clunky way i want to follow him in that way. and i have been stirred up by this notion that to follow in that way is to live in a way of non-violence, of activism, and of resistance to the powers of domination. it is a way that has at its heart a vision for a different kind of world (kingdom as jesus calls it) of peace, of cancelling debts, of love, healing and non judgement, and fairness for all that welcomes those who the powers exclude precisely because all are god’s children. god is not the preserve of the wealthy, powerful and religious.

i was thinking about these powers in relation to colonialism while i was in new zealand and i will come back to that in another post. but today i am thinking about religious powers of domination and control in the church and in particular the church of england of which i am a life long member and a lay pioneer minister.

in a previous post i suggested we need more imagination and less control especially as people seek to be creative online in how they worship and pray and do community. these are challenging times and as i said in a previous post there is a lot of good work and practice going on. but the lockdown has brought home to me just how far we stray at times from the way of christ in the church. it is the sharing of communion in particular that has vexed me this week. 

jesus instituted a meal with friends where bread and wine are shared and people have done that ever since in homes and churches to remember christ. jesus life was one where he was always in trouble over meals - he ate with the wrong people who were always welcome at his table, though he usually was round theirs.

fast forward to coronavirus and the church is holding online eucharist services with guidelines that the only people who can share the bread and wine in their homes are bishops and priests. everyone else can watch apparently! so for easter day for example which is a day when all are encouraged to take communion suggested activities are:

Some bishops and priests may wish to celebrate Holy Communion in their homes.

Practising spiritual communion as this is a day on which all ought otherwise to receive Holy Communion in church.

spiritual communion is explained here - and is for situations where you can't share bread and wine. in many cases i suspect and indeed i hope that those leading the service will not have it but use the absence of sharing bread and wine to reflect on this moment of separation. and some will choose not to have services of communion which is probably a good option if you want to obey the guidelines. the idea that just the priests would have communion i find unbelievable both in itself and that it could be in print in public - i did a double take to check i was reading it right. this makes it both exlusive and a rite of exclusion! surely the obvious thing to do and what everyone will want to do and i hope will do is to share bread and wine in their own homes to remember christ. it saddens me that the church has not got the imagination to say this is healthy practice. there is a regulation in the canons of the church (scroll down to b5) that gives discretion to ministers for unusual circumstances to lead worship that is different. for example they may...

on occasions for which no provision is made... use forms of service considered suitable for those occasions and may permit another minister to use the said forms of service.

we are in such an occasion surely! so i hope ministers act anyway.

the church has a lot of regulations about communion - what prayers, who can preside, where it can take place and so on. in grace we have found these frustrating and sought permission to use other prayers and write our own which we have done over the years. we have respected having someone preside who is ordained when we meet in st mary's church as we are part of the church of england. one curious regulation is that a place needs to be authorised if it's not a consecrated building like a church. so whenever we meet in homes we regularly share bread and wine in a simple informal way usually as part of a meal and concluded those ordained should not preside because the buildings have not got the permission - i know it's nuts. bishops are likely to have had to give permission for priests to lead communion from their homes online i suspect! i have written about grace's approach in the introduction to making communion if you are interested. the church of england says on the one hand that it values creativity, that the shape and integrity of worship is what is important and not the words in themselves and we need new ways of doing things but in practice it is still extremely controlled and locked down.

the church has various justifications through sacramental theology and other clever sounding ruses. but really it is an issue of control. these are things the church has constructed, made up, nothing more and i can't help thinking they are in direct opposition or at least massively out of kilter to the way of christ. how do you get from what he did to what the church is saying at this time? it's completely baffling. beware the yeast of the pharisees. the curtain in the temple seems to have been stitched back together. the central structures of the church of england have somehow created a scenario in which there is a priestly caste who control access to god because it is only through their magic actions that people can have communion, bread and wine to remember christ. if one of them is not in your home tough. it's absurd! the religious power of domination is alive. 

i refuse to collude with it. it’s power was disarmed by christ’s death on the cross. i will be happily remembering the story of christ and sharing bread and wine online with others in grace and in my own home with jenny. this is we note from the guidelines not going to be an official church of england communion. but we will be making communion. i hope there are homes and indeed vicars up and down the country who ignore the church’s guidelines on this. i get to go to various meetings in the church of england where the rhetoric is that the church is committed to mission, to lay ministry (that means people who are not ordained) and the vision of the church is to empower all of its people with a vision called ‘setting god’s people free’. how are we supposed to take that seriously?!

some years back at another time when i was bumping into the religious power of domination in the church of england in another way, i made an art installation called red tape in which i ring fenced the table with barrier tape and bound the bible in red tape and wrapped a dog collar in red tape. i couldn't help thinking about it again today...

from my experience of communion in homes over the years, a simple way to do it is to do so in a meal and share bread and wine either between courses or at the end. give space to tell the story of christ in some way and to remember his life. death and resurrection. invite participation and conversation, use one of the stories from the gospels, maybe one of the meals jesus is at. have a prayer of thanksgiving - the official church ones are online, you can find one you like from elsewhere - such as the iona community or grace, or someone can improvise one. if you improrvise it it helps to have an idea of the shape of those kinds of prayers. in our grace easter vigil we will be using a thanksgiving prayer for easter written by the st hilda community and janet morley which has really lovely words. then give some space to share and pray for one another. it's not hard!

holy week online

this week the church remember's the story of the passion - jesus' last week including the last supper, his death, and then through to the resurrection on easter morning. it will be so interesting to see what people do in their homes on their own and online connecting with one another in real time through technologies or by participation in shared practices and resources shared online. i don't intend to spend the week posting links but if i see anything that grabs my attention i'll let you know or by all means leave a comment. i am sure some of the links are now broken but anything i have linked to before can be scrolled through here. my advice for what it is worth is to pick something and linger with that rather than get overwhelmed with loads of things.

lots of churches are posting regular services online with links to songs on youtube videos and downloadable childrens packs and words and liturgy on youtube, or via livestream. so if that's your thing there's lots out there to suit all sorts of tastes. people have had to go on a steep learning curve with technology in some cases but huge effort is going into that. i have seen lots that is really well done. it's not the kind of thing i normally go to so it's not the kind oif thing i will be doing this week either. but for lots of people it's what they know and love.

in grace we tend to go for one thing in holy week and put some effort into that. this year we are doing the saturday night easter vigil which seems really fitting this year though we had decided to do that before the virus. there are two ways you can participate - it will be live on zoom - we'll post a link and expect that to be our more regular people or those in the grace diaspora but i think you can fit 100 people in zoom so we'll see who shows up. then secondly there will be a hashtag #GraceEasterVigil2020 . you can jump onto a flow by following that hashtag in twitter or instagram or the grace facebook page. the vigil is in four parts and we'll be doing all four of those between 10pm and midnight. but of course those links will stay online so you can visit them when you like and you could just choose the parts that connect. if you choose to follow that way we'd love you to participate by posting using that hashtag too rather than just consuming. we will post some more info on this on the grace web site later in the week so do have a look back there. it will include a few items to gather so you are prepared for example.

two other things have caught my attention. one is that tess ward has reworked a whole easter retreat and will be posting all sorts through the week. tess is an amazing writer who has a gift for crafting lovely liturgy and prayers so i have high expectations for that. see her blog for all the info you need

and then there is an easter vigil called rumours of hope that looks like it will be good - it sounds as though it will have a range of pieces of content to fuel your own prayer and reflection through the evening and night. i like it that is a church of england thing that is not just a broadcast of a service but something more imaginative and artful. i don't actually know anything about the context i should add. i got invited to be involved but as grace was already committed could not do both though i am sure there can be some mutual hashtag sharing.

anyway whatever you do i hope the story comes alive for you this week. i hope to get round to revisiting communion online but we'll see how the week goes as i am trying to do some writing and not get overly distracted!

i am adding this as a worship trick as it feels these are all in the spirit of those even though i haven't added many for a while.

 

who is this?

i was delighted to see mark wallinger's ecce homo statue is back on display in london. i loved it when it was on the fourth plinth in trafalgar square. it showed christ as a human size figure, looking like one of us and in the context of all the other pompous statues made a big statement. 

it's now reappeared at the top of the steps of st paul's cathedral - christ with eyes closed, life size, in front of the crowd at a time of trial with a crown of thorns made of barbed wire. you can go and stand next to him and have a selfie if you want (kind of weird thing to do?!). but again this is christ downsized from the pomposity of st pauls cathedral. it's sponsored by amnesty international. christ was beaten, tortured and executed as someone who spoke truth to power - in his case religious power. there are many many people tortured, imprisoned, and killed in the world today so i hope this statue serves to draw attention to those people.

when i took a photo of the statue on my phone i got chatting to a woman taking a photo. her opening question to me was 'who is this?' . i assumed she meant the artist but suddenly realised that she had no idea that the statue was a representation of jesus christ and indeed she had no idea who jesus was and is. she was american. so i tried to tell the story briefly. but i found it a wake up call that she is probably one of many who simply don't know the story of jesus christ. there are four stories of his life told by matthew, mark, luke and john. today, good friday, is the day when his death is remembered. why not read one of those stories of his life? we went on to discuss photography as it turned out she had just bought an expensive camera but had no idea how to use it so i gave an impromptu camera lesson...

if you are passing st paul's cathedral go and take a look - the statue is there until the end of may i think. i don't know how long it will be before they are forced to protect the statue but currently you can go right next to the statue. 

resources for holy week and easter

it amazes me that the artists connected to proost keep on producing wonderful resources. have a read of this latest proost update to tell you about easter resources old and new. 

i have been using ian adams 40 temptations resource during lent and he has now written a similar resource to use in the easter season focusing on the resurrection stories and dreaming of a better world - i plan to use it each day for 40 days - there are 40 reflections. it's called peace be with you. this is what ian says about it...

Peace be with you draws on themes and phrases from the stories told in the gospels about the resurrection of Jesus. From the time of their first telling those stories have been seen as invitations to allow the resurrection to reshape the way that life could be lived by reader and hearer. Peace be with you looks again at those invitations, and imagines them as gifts for us now, opening up the possibility of something new.

If you happen to be reading this in the Easter season, after the toughness of Lent, the space they offer may be welcome. But these invitations also come with a provocative edge. Can we find the courage to live in the spirit of resurrection when everything seems to gravitate towards death and destruction?

 holy week is a great chance to reflect on the story of christ's journey to jerusalem and passion and andy freeman has published a collection of reflections to use during that week - meeting the gardener

put down all your weapons

the last grace was close enough to low sunday (is there a low saturday?). and steve collins led a wonderful grace SENSEOFDOUBT inspired by the story of thomas for whom easter didn't happen. the outline of the service is here in the grace archive and includes some gems...

it was a reminder for me how sometimes simple can be very powerful - there was a slideshow with words and a fabulous soundtrack to accompany it and plenty of space - the tracks are listed and you can download the slides. one beautiful track i hadn't heard before (and got rebuked for shazzaming when i should have been meditating upon it!) was weapons by son lux which has the extraordinary line which i have thought about since and indeed used yesterday with pioneers at cms...

put down all your weapons
let me in through your open wounds

this was a prayer

We thank you Lord for the story of Thomas
showing us that faith was never easy
and that doubt never breaks your love for us

We lift up to you our demands
show me,
prove it,
give me a sign NOW
our doubts
may your peace be with us

We offer you
Our fumbling answers
when others tell us
you are not
proven
may your peace be with us

We offer you
Our pain
And reticence
When we hold back from rejoicing
Because others can’t
may your peace be with us

We ask you
To meet those
In need of peace
In need of blessing
In need of an end to their waiting
may your peace be with them

We do believe,
help us overcome our unbelief

am making the whole thing a worship trick - 58 in series 4...

open our graves

come now, disturbing spirit of our god,
breathe on these bodily things,
and make us one body in christ.
open our graves,
unbind our eyes,
and name us here;
touch and heal all that has been buried in us,
that we need not cling to our pain,
but may go forth in your power
to release resurrection in the world

this lovely prayer is by janet morley in all desires known, part of an easter communion, and is one i have come back to several times this year. happy easter! christ is risen

fear and dust, and very nearly a whisper: new resources on proost

i always love seeing what people are creating in worship that is soulful and heartfelt and from the bottom up. proost has always tried to give voice to artists and communities in this way. i personally have always favoured liturgy and ideas that come this way round rather than being created for general use (though that has its place too). so i am pleased to say that there are two new resources on proost both of which capture this feel and approach

fear and dust is a book of poems, prayers and hymns to a wild creator god from tim watson who has a couple of other books on proost. as you know if you know proost we love poets! the good news is it's volume 1 so there will be more to follow… it's available as a pdf.

very nearly a whisper is an album of ambient music from dennis hendricksen who i met on a visit to canada. he is new on proost and there is a sample track on the page if you want to have a listen.

you can of course subscribe to proost for a year which means you can access any of the content when you like, including lots of resources for easter for example.

 

in spite of us

lovely prayer from cheryl lawrie (as ever...)

In spite of our doubts,
may we recognise you in our midst:
wounded, bloody, and resurrected

in spite of our doubts,
may we know when we come face to face
with the love that is greater than all deaths

in spite of our doubts,
may we reach out to touch the wounds of the world’s pain
trusting that when grace and love surround them
they will become part of Christ’s resurrected body.

and in spite of our doubts,
may we live as though we are, too.

[worship trick 51, series 4]

happy easter - present to the presence

happy easter! christ is risen.

this is an image from jason miller who i have linked to before - see here for some easter artworks…

i also loved this take on rublev's icon from ric stott

and whilst it's not exactly an easter image this piece from banksy is rather good. i saw it online this morning. the story of the resurrection is one of presence (of the risen christ) and there are several occasions where when he appears to the disciples or mary (see john 20 - that's today's reading in many churches i am sure) and they don't seem to recognise him though he is staanding there in front of them. attention and awareness are foundational to seeing. this image shows up the challenge of being present to the presence in front of us or we might not see...

holy week resources

proost resources for holy week here - good stuff as always!

christine sine buzzed me an email with some links to her ever expanding resources around liturgy and prayer - have a look for maundy thursday | good friday | stations of the cross

new artists on proost - getting ready for easter...

if you are planning ahead for easter have a look at proost's resources for easter. there's some classics there and a few new things. 

on the subject of new it's wonderful to have a new artist or two on proost - steve leach (who is also training on the cms pioneer course) has an ep gardens with three electronic tracks responding to the three gardens of eden, gethsemane and paradise. 

restless: evening prayer for restless hearts also looks and sounds really beautiful - from tim snyder and aaron strumpel - both also new on proost! the sample track on this page is quite amazing...

beware of your ears close your eyes - maundy thursday event at union chapel free!

no idea exactly what this event entails but union chapel are curating a series of events in the run up to easter. this one caught my eye and it's free. i'll be heading along - spread the word. no need to book either - just turn up. see you there... the blurb says

This is a non-conformist exploration of the senses for Maundy Thursday. An invitation to come and experience a hypnotic spectacle dominated by stroboscopy and industrial and noisetechno frequencies combined with sounds of Union Chapelʼs Henry Willis Organ. This has never been done before!

Light controlled electronics: xname

Organ: Claire M Singer

this is a table...

last night we had friends round for a meal and conversation. maundy thursday is a day particularly to remember jesus' meals with friends and to share bread and wine at the table. we chatted about the various meals and tables jesus had and was round. i invited people to complete a sentence that began 'this is a table...' and that then became a prayer of thanks as we read them out and shared bread and wine to remember

This is a table of new expectations

This is a table where everyone can come to receive

This is a table for those who haven't met Jesus before

This is a table with the Lord of the harvest and catch

This is a table where the host is often in the dependent position

This is a table where we are reconciled

This is a table where there is safety and acceptance

This is a table which welcomes, invites, provides, unites

This is a table where uncomfortable things happen

This is a table that was the natural place to be

This is a table that was the place to meet people

This is a table where strength is restored

This is a table, this is our community

easter resources

proost has lots of resources for easter. you can search in the seasons section of the site under good friday or easter. or there are a bundle of links in the latest news update. if you wanted something to follow through holy week crucify this jesus has liturgies for each day beginning today...

i have linked to and blogged about lots of things on the blog over the last ten years. feel free to scroll through anything i have tagged easter.

i thought this letter from brian walsh was a rather delightful invitation to come home in holy week...

art in holy week day 8: the resurrection

[this is part of a series of blog posts on art in holy week - see also

• art in holy week day one: the lent cross delarosa
• art in holy week day two: raised in leeds
• art in holy week day three: the create project
• art in holy week day four: the easter story engedi arts
• art in holy week day five: soul of sheffield 
• art in holy week day six: stations of the king's cross
• art in holy week day seven: noesis ]

christ is risen!

happy easter. i have been blogging about art through holy week focusing on exhibitions people are putting on which i have found really inspiring. i really hope this is a trend that will grow. but i thought i'd change tack slightly today as the only exhibition i know of focused on the resurrection i already blogged about on day 2! so i thought i would put up an icon of the resurrection. i'm not by any means an expert on icons but this image is clearly a classic one that there are several versions of in various traditions (just google resurrection icon).

in the centre is jesus christ risen from the dead. he is standing on the gates of death or hades or hell and is literally pulling out adam, and eve is waiting to be pulled out - they represent all of humanity. around jesus are angels and characters from the scriptures such as john the baptist. below in hell there are broken chains and keys. christ's descent into hell has mant that he has broken the final enemy death and plundered hell and walked out with the key. death is defeated. this is an extraordinary image.

at the heart of the christian faith is the resurrection of jesus christ from the dead. it's an inspiring story that gives hope to those struggling and in darkness or literally experiencing hellish situations. but i think to just see it as an inspiring story of death and new life or simply as a metaphor misses the point. if christ has not been raised from death there is no christian faith. but if he has then everything has changed. [archbishop rowan williams in his sermon today makes pretty much the same point]. i wrote a song on the grace album quite a few years back that seems to go with this image...

where o death is your sting where is your victory
christ has plumbed the depths of hell and walked out with the key
this hope inspires me

in the midst of struggling recall the memory
christ has triumphed over death the final enemy
this hope inspires me

the dawning of a new age a new humanity
redemption of creation christ is the guarantee
this hope inspires me

if you'd like a listen i have uploaded it here -

And Death Shall Have No Dominion

 

art in holy week day 7: noesis

[this is part of a series of blog posts on art in holy week - see also

• art in holy week day one: the lent cross delarosa
• art in holy week day two: raised in leeds
• art in holy week day three: the create project
• art in holy week day four: the easter story engedi arts
• art in holy week day five: soul of sheffield 
• art in holy week day six: stations of the king's cross
• art in holy week day eight: the resurrection ]

noesis is an art installation at the public in west brom. i keep trying to summarise it but it gets a full explanation here of how it explores the themes of sacrifice and community - so go there to read about it! the red threads that hang round the cross shape have been woven by various groups in the community with pieces of leather sewn in with their thoughts or words.

andy morgan who is on the cms pioneer course and is involved in west brom network church has commissioned it. john todd is the artist. again like the other art works it is in public space - in this case an arts/community centre.

if you are in west brom go and have a look. the laughing sole which is a comedy club in birmingham pioneered by helen tomblin (who has also done a few modules with us on the cms pioneer course) just expanded to a second monthly venue at the public in west brom - the next one is on may 2. that sounds an exciting development too.

and if you are in the area wbnc are exploring starting a cafe church/community that will meet in the public - see here for more info