jonnybaker

pivot - a podcast interview

i stumbled across a podcast i was interviewed for last year which i realise i never listened back to. it's called pivot and considers faith and innovation, how the church can adapt and respond in the changing landscape she finds herself in. in it we discuss pioneering, fresh expressions of church, culture change. it's hosted by dwight zscheile and terri elton who are based at luther seminary in the usa. i met them when they were visiting harvey kwiyani in oxford as he did his phd there back in the day.

gather for the day in bristol - march 21

we are hosting a day in bristol on march 21. the focus is around pioneering mission with and in places where people are experiencing poverty. that experience has risen dramatically. pioneers love the edges and i know lots of people present in those spaces. 

we used to host what we called conversations days - exploring a theme with a range of presentations and workshops. i have always loved those. this is one of those only we are now using the name 'gather' as it seems to be what we are doing. somehow post lockdown the name has changed! part of the reason i love them is it is a chance to catch up with people pioneering who i have not seen for a while. but also the days have always been inspiring and challenging. this one will be no different. 

ash barker will be presenting on his book tour no wastelands. he is an absolute legend. i can't wait.

rosie hopley is a pioneer in bristol who has worked with people at the edges in a couple of social enterprise and charity projects. 

eunice attwood is a champion of people experiencing poverty - i was very moved and challenged when i heard her present on this

clean for good will be bringing a posse - this is an enterprise model that is good news for the cleaners working for them. they now have reached around the one million pound turnover mark which is exciting.

there will be more conversations too. and of course it's the gaps, lunch and so on that will be good too. we'll doubtless be going out for a drink afterwards so book a late train back so you can join us.

would love love love to see you there.

you can find out more and book here 

for goodness sake

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

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

last week in the usa the main reason i was there was to attend a consultation at princeton hosted by kenda creasy dean exploring the combination of social innovation and theological seminaries with a view to designing some training options that seminaries might be able to try out. it was actually quite special to be at that gathering because it was being facilitated by shannon hopkins and mark samson. when we got to design the pioneer training at cms back in 2010 i knew i wanted a module on missional entrepreneurship and it was shannon i asked to design and lead it and both she and mark have regularly been part of the team on that module. it is not a direct line but i think it's not unreasonable to say that the experience of those weeks has led shannon, mark and matyroshka haus and now goodmakers society and rooted good to keep innovating in that space developing various tools and workshops. so it felt like the consultation was at least in part the result of some ripples out from those early days. we now call that week make good and have seen people bring fledgling ideas that have become projects, enterprises, charities. if you have read pioneer practice clean for good, home cafe, sacred bean are some of the ideas that were brought to those weeks. if you haven't it's not too late!

missional entrepreneurship is a thread that has woven through my twenty years at cms. the first venture into thinking about mission entrepreneurship was actually via chris neal and bill bolton. together with them and shannon in 2007 we hosted a gathering on a boat in the thames in london and launched NET - the network of entrepreneurial talent which ran for a few years. 

we hosted a conversations day on the theme and subsequently mark and i edited an edition of anvil journal exploring the issues.

i like the idea of good. at some basic level we need good in the world. to participate in mission is to join in the healing of all things. it's about good - good news, good communities, good neighbourhoods, good life, good business. good relationships, good for the planet. one of the reasons  i like mission as a way of framing is that the 'why' or purpose is for good in the world. sometimes i find that the 'why' in the church can seem like it's church i.e. it's very focused on itself. but the point of church is for the good of the world not just as an end in itself. the other way mission tends to get collapsed or reduced is into evangelism - sharing the story of jesus christ with people. it's a great story and i have no issue at all with that. but in a post christian culture like britain it seems a no brainer that if you want to have anyone to listen to that story you have got to actually be good news and not just talk about it.

i am also interested in enterprise when it comes to pioneering because we need new imagination about how to resource faith, church, mission. it seems to me to be healthy and more resilient if you can have a range of income sources - some donation, some trusts, some income from enterprise and so on. 

enterprise can also be really good when it is helping others who have been in a difficult space at the edges - say prison or simply long term unemployed get back on their feet and develop skills and work. there are several pioneers who have started things in that way. 

i have really warmed up to the notion of enterprise for good. it's not easy to pull off but when it's done well it's a wonderful thing. there is room for a whole lot more! if you are have an idea you'd like to develop do look up our make good week and book in on that for goodness sake :) - the next one is in november 2023 at the wonderful pickwell manor.

change - last in the pioneer practice webinar series this thursday

on thursday it is the final in my pioneer practice webinar series. i remember last year the series i did took over my january and this year's been no different but it's been fun and so many people have turned out! i have three guests - ed walker, betsy blatchley and tina hodgett. we'll be exploring change both in terms of how you create change in the world but also how you navigate systems or the powers that be which seem resistant to change. i'll be interviewing the guests and doing some exercises - one of the exercises will be trickster's wheel of ruses that i have created for a photo group i'm in but it's so good i want to try it out on the guests! 

it's not too late to register and if you do you'll get sent links to the first three webinars to watch. hope to see you there. 

i apologise that i have not managed to get my act together for any other blog entries since starting the webinars but i'll get back on it including an exciting announcement.

build - webinar 3 this thursday

this thursday is the third in the webinar series on pioneer practice. the answer above is from a survey i did asking what tools help you in pioneering. build is this week's theme. i have three guests - one to talk about building a congregation, one a social enterpise based out of a church and one a business for good. they are idina dunmore, meg fry and steve baker. do join - you can register here. i keep getting asked if people can see previous weeks - the answer is yes you will get sent links to those if you are registered.

see - week 2 of pioneer practice this thurs evening

thank you so much everyone who came along to last week's webinar and especially the guests. the chat was buzzing! in the poll of which of 5 things best described those present in relation to pioneering the top answer was 'seeing and imagining new possibilities'. so i am delighted to say that 'see' is the theme of week two where we will be exploring how you see possibilities, come up with ideas and use imagination. i have four guests this week related to three projects. susannah baker and khadeja, sue steer, and anna hembury. come and hear their inspiring stories of practice. i am looking forward to it.

if you missed week 1 you are still really welcome. register here and you will be sent the webinar info the day before. and you will get sent a link to week 1 so you can catch up should you wish to though no pressure to do so. hope to see you there. the series is a partnership between church mission society and heartedge.

be you - pioneer practice webinar week 1 this thursday

i am really looking forward to the pioneer practice webinar series. week 1 is exploring the idea of be you (and as it's the first an intro to pioneering and how you might get started). i have three guests joining me. it will be informal, chat show style. it's free to join - register here and if you do register you'll get links to any weeks you miss. 

the series will follow the four themes i explore in the book pioneer practice - be you, see, build, change. it's a partnership between cms and heartedge.

webinar series is back in january - pioneer practice

last january i ran a series of four webinars just imagine exploring creativity and imagination which was a lot of fun. i am pleased to say i am hosting another series this january on pioneer practice. it's a partnership with heartedge and the guests and conversations will explore the themes of pioneer practice and the areas heartedge focus on. register here (it's free). the dates are

• 13 January: Be You
• 20 January: See
• 27 January: Build
• 3 February: Change

here's the blurb...

As a pioneer, you see something — a possibility, an idea, a way that things could be better or new of different. Then you make something happen out of what you see.

This webinar series explores over four weeks how pioneering happens in practice. Its focus is how things happen on the ground. Each week Jonny will have two or three guests and get into the gritty day to day of how they pioneer. It’s ideal for you if you have started something or if you have an inkling or an idea you want to explore and get started. It would also be really useful to attend with a couple of others who you might pioneer something with. If you are a church leader it would be great for you too and do think of people in your church who might have the pioneer gift, whether they know it or not, and encourage them to come along.

That idea might be starting a new Congregation — the Church of England, for example, is encouraging every parish to pioneer one. It might also be an idea related to Compassion in your community. It might be related to Comerce as a way of making good in the world through enterprise. Or it might be related to Culture. These are the four Cs of the HeartEdge network.

recordings will be made available for those signed up to the series so if you can't make a session you can catch up. hope to see you there!

register here

sacred bean eucharist and other follow up from prospect farm

thanks to anyone who came to the session in the long barn at greenbelt's prospect farm. here's some follow up info.

imagining mission with john taylor is here - i loved working on it. john taylor really sparked my imagination and we have tried to write in the same creative vein and i hope it will spark your imagination if you dive into it. each chapter ends with exercises on creativity you can try out.

pioneer practice is here - this is a mix of stories and very short practical articles - ideal if you have an idea to work on, and ideal for a group to use together to dream up something. it's full colour - there are sample pages on the web site. the discount code i gave out will work until friday. if you have forgotten or weren't there and want to know get in touch.

thanks to jo howie for taking part in the session and telling the story of sacred bean. go look at their web site and order some coffee! and as i said in the session we have added the wonderful sacred bean eucharist to getsidetracked - simply click on the page spread that says sacred bean eucharist which is in pioneer practice. i am sure jo would love to hear how you get on with that so do message me or her about it. i am making that a worship trick - remember those? it would be about 86 in series 4....

jo wrote that liturgy as part of a worship module at cms on the pioneer training essentially thinking how you might create a ritual/liturgy that reflected the culture of the community gathered around sacred bean. the training is wonderful - do have a look at the pioneer mission leadership training web site here. it's quite late for this year! but we have certificate, diploma, BA, MA, DTh options as well as simply picking modules to do. there are now quite a few options online as well. if you are interested for this year get in touch immediately! we also have hubs round the country offering training which is not accredited - again see the web site for those.

and thanks to ali for coming and sharing about the social supermarket and other adventures getting going in rotherham.

above all i hope it sparked your imagination around what you might be able to participate in or catalyse.

when two worlds collide

congrats to stephen radley on his unsung hero award for amateur photography 2021. he runs regular workshops and retreats on the theme of contemplative photography and mindfulness which he developed since leaving the military 5 years ago. i titled the post when two worlds collide because i am a photographer and part of what i like about photography is that it helps me notice and pay attention similar to what stephen describes - that's one world. the other world is pioneering and stephen attended the make good week we run a few years back to develop his idea for what has become soulful vision. it's exciting to see how it has developed. he has written a piece about it over on the pioneer blog.

happy second birthday out of the box cards

i am a day late but never mind! congratulations to jenny, daisy and grace on the second birthday of out of the box cards. they produce wonderful cards that are subversive and playful. jenny first brought the idea to make good in 2015, a week where we help people work on ideas to give tools to make them reality. it's such a joy to see how ideas become reality and then grow and develop. 

they have a new line of cards to give to someone who becomes a grandparent. if you have not come across them do check them out and sign up for their monthly news.

very happy with the findings of the impact of make good

in the cms pioneer training at undergraduate level students do a module on missional entrepreneurship which is a week long module called 'make good' where students come with an idea and explore and develop it through the week making a pitch at the end of the week. it's a really fabulous module. anyway we have done some research into it. we wanted to find out what was being started as a result of students doing it. i actually can't quite believe the percentage of people who have started projects - 76%. the other thing we were interested in was how students were making the connection between mission, theology and business. as part of the research we also looked at other courses who had run the module in durham common awards but i am afraid gdpr and all that made it pretty tricky. but we did at least have some comparison. and there are actually not that many places that choose to run this module. anyway i am pretty happy to find out that the learning is translating into tangible outcomes. there's a blog about it here on the pioneer site which has links to the full report and a one page summary and info graphic summary. the one pager and graphic are just based on the cms data.

candid beer launches today - another make good idea finds legs!

excited today for mark and jess bamping who launch their community hub - candid in stafford. yes mark loves beer and i am sure will brew as well as serve up decent local and creative independent craft beers. but the driver is community and rather than calling it a cafe or pub it's a community hub. mark brought the idea to our make good week a while back now and when he made his pitch he was coincerned about loneliness and thinking that men in particular will gather around doing stuff together (such as brewing beer) so it seems thayt this has developed into the design of the space and there being a room for groups and activities as well as a larger table to gather round. i was hoping to get to the launch but couldn't make it but will raise a glass of craft beer today to toast candid beer on their launch and hope to visit before long.

there is a make good week coming up at cliff college 13-17 may and there are a few spaces left so if you have an idea for a project or enterprise to make good in the world then sign up!

out of the box cards live today

congratulations to jenny, grace and daisy on the launch of out of the box cards today - the web site is now live and you can go order cards. i love the strapline creating intelligent and playful cards that expand horizons. the cards look great (and are currently filling our lounge!). the official launch is tonight. i have chipped in photography - the photo above for example - and will no doubt be taking some photos at the launch party. 

people often associate me with the word pioneer for obvious reasons seeing as i have written and teach in that area. but in an interview the other day jenny was described as a pioneer and she really is - she makes things happen! i always love it when ideas that have been brought to our make good week and developed as ideas come to birth often a few years later. this is the latest! 

they kickstarted - and what difference a card makes!

congratulations to jen and the out of the box team on reaching their kickstarter target in a week - amazing! can't wait to see how the business develops and it will be exciting when the first cards land. 

i loved this blog post from jen on what difference a card can make

the patriarchy is not going to smash itself. But that change needs to happen at lots of different levels – macro, micro and everything in between. We need change within structures, communities and individuals. We need legislation that protects equality for everyone, we need women and men who are modelling healthy lives and we need the transformation of hearts and minds. If we ignore the small things because we can’t influence the big things then we are missing out on being part of the story of change

out of the box cards kickstarts

out of the box is kickstarting today. go visit to read about it and watch a video which explains all. in a nutshell it's a new company designing greeting cards you would be proud to give your daughter, niece, friend's daughter with playful and positive messages rather than the clichés and stereotypes that seem to dominate. i am quadrupley excited because 

• i love the idea
• jen (my wife that is) had the idea and i am her no 1 fan
• grace my duaghter in law is part of the team
• it was first brought as an idea 3 years ago to make good, the missional entrepreneurship week we run and is the latest project to turn from idea to reality

 

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...

on innovation 4: get yourself a side project

like me i bet you have bought someone a present because you secretly wanted it yourself? if you live with that person it's quite a good strategy! anyway i bought jen a zine called the side project report - she is working on a side project so i thought she'd enjoy it and hopefully find a bit of practical wisdom and encouragement. she has now read it (and loved it) so it was time for me to sneak it away from her desk and read it. i couldn't put it down and i think i pretty much read every word. i would love to get a copy for every pioneer training at cms because it's so helpful whether you are running a project as a sideline or as a main thing.

it's published by the guys who run the do lectures which has been going nearly 10 years and was founded by the people who set up howies. their web site is really worth a look and you can order the side project and a whole load of other cool looking books from there as well as watch what look like some really interesting lectures. i'll be popping back. 

but in terms of innovation i think side project is a really interesting thing to pay attention to. it made me realise i always have some ideas spinning and usually am getting one or two going - i jotted down a list of a dozen things i have done over the years that are sideline type things - books, exhibitions, networks, proost. i am actually working with a couple of others on a zine publication right now called future present (watch this space). side projects can be a spare time ting that you fit around your main thing and the challenge can then be finding the time, but it is also the way i have got new things going within my work - start them on the side and let them grow until they can't be ignored. it was great to read something that said side projects are a brilliant way to get a project started. it also made me reflect how helpful that could be for pioneers. of course there are some people who will have a pioneer project that is a main thing - they manage to raise money or there's a paid role. but i suspect a large percentage of pioneer projects might better fit the idea of side projects. the challenge with sidelines is time of course and it needs determination to focus on doing what needs doing. but the big plus is that they don't have to bear the burden of putting bread on the table - they can run alongside other things and the best driver is passion or love not money anyway.i also think that there is very little threat in the idea of a side project - if it doesn't take off no problem. but if it does then that can be the time to give ore investment and resource to it. 

there was a really interesting (as ever) article by george monbiot in this week's guardian on volunteering and how in our changing world for many people meaning making may be associated with volunteering as much as with work. that combines perfectly with the notion of side projects.

there is some research, some stories and a kind of earthed practical wisdom in areas like time and money and  habits/behaviour (and what i think could be described as spirituality). 

i think i am going to be thinking for quite a while about side projects and i have arranged a catch up with someone next week where among other things we want to have a conversation about how long it's been since we did something creative so we need a new side project!

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.

on innovation [2] - the creative stance

my son joel studied at chelsea art college. i was really inspired by what i observed of the course he did - it was creative, assignments were stretching and nearly all done as teams, people from various sectors in the creative industries and arts would come and speak, students were encouraged to do real work alongside their training, and the graduate show was mind-blowingly good. i was also regretting having studied maths rather than art myself i think! he was there at the same time that i was designing training for pioneers and i remember thinking that i thought an art school or innovation school was more like what i hoped we could create than a theological seminary. of course we would teach theology, mission, ministry but the environment or air that students breathe needed to be risk taking, creative, free. so when i was last in the institute for contemporary arts bookshop in london i couldn’t resist buying the creative stance. this is a collaboration between art college teachers in london on what makes for a flourishing creative student who trains with them. through their reflection they have come up with seven behaviours and the book is laid out in a series of chapters on each behaviour with a short essay by an artist followed by a discussion on that behaviour with three lecturers often in relation to a particular course. i really loved the book. the seven behaviours are essentially a kind of formation for art students. they are:

rigour, risk, imagination, provocation, agency, resilience, and ambiguity.

i discuss these behaviours with rick lawrence on the podcast i blogged about a few posts back. but i’d like to reflect on them here thinking particularly about theological education because that was the discussion i was in this week - what’s the relationship between theological education and innovation (and by extension ministry and mission practice and innovation).

to take one behaviour, rigour has an essay by grayson perry in which he reflects on two internal characters - hobbit and punk. to be a good artist the hobbit is the character who puts in hours to develop brilliance in skill in a craft - in his case pottery. hobbit alone can make nice pots but in terms of art can be a bit boring. so he also needs punk who is the character who messes with things to make them interesting. this interplay between hobbit and punk makes for a creative approach to art that combines depth of skill with risk taking imagination and innovative practice. the essay is actually available in the latest edition of creative review and is free if you sign up. it’s totally brilliant! when asked what advice he would give to an artist student perry says - ‘turn up on time, be nice, and put in the hours’. you can see where i am going with this - this is so resonant with pioneers. i suspect they are more attracted to punk than hobbit. but in theological education (and in the church generally) i bump into a lot more hobbits than punks. but it’s a great idea to nurture both aspects.

i won’t elaborate on all the behaviours - you can get the book but here are a few quotes and ideas i jotted down that caught my attention.

curiosity is foundational. if you are not curious you’ll stay on a safe path. 

Curiosity is the substrate of creativity, overlaid by an appetite for risk, necessarily followed by determination

i fear that safety is a problem in theological education and the church - we are generally risk averse which is ironic because probably the theologians and saints we admire are/were curious and risk taking. but various traditions of theology have systematised it and made it about information and right doctrine rather than a quest that is creative in response to the tradition and context and the spirit. and i think there can easily be an atmosphere of anxiety and fear about getting things right rather than one of exploration and play. art school gives people the confidence to make a dangerous decision - does theology school i wonder?

risk is… 

the enemy of your own and other peoples certainty. A state of optimistic dissatisfaction, of relentless questioning. A preoccupation with quality without regard for the established order.

how do you involve students in risk? 

You show them things that they probably haven’t thought about before and that aren’t necessarily part of that central canon.

the authors suggest that art schools should be creating the kind of graduates that can rock boats rather than row boats, that question and push. and they lament that the curriculum is currently too related to industry because of pressures. has play been ruined because it has to be turned to money? we might say the same of ministry students who are under pressure from industry a.k.a. church growth. the authors suggest that playfulness should be applied to everything and every moment you’re alive… a way of being.

ambiguity is fascinating i think. it requires doubt and where there is doubt there is great space for imagination. art students need to learn to transgress rules and fixed boundaries and conventions forging new paths where no one has trodden before. this sounds like a mantra for pioneers and cross cultural mission. but i have not seen this in much theological education i have visited so far.

for a world that is changing and in need of change creatives need flexibility, adaptability, openness, vulnerability, resourcefulness, avoidance of monocultures (which are fragile rather than resilient). the church needs the same - it really does. 

and i found it interesting that the exact same challenge i described in the last post of people who remake the world in order to create solutions is nurtured in arts students. they

reshape the world to contain the artwork you make, to create a new reality - because it’s never been enough just to make the art

(substitute the word theology for art)

there is a lovely section where a lecturer from chelsea art college ponders the percentage of students who go on to be artists and make a life in it which is quite small. but he then lists what they do go on to do in a wonderful list of enterprises, community development, change agents, educators and so on. in other words a creative education enables them to have agency out of who they are to participate in making the world a better place. 

anyway you get the point. when you look at a formation that nurtures a creative stance there is so much for theological and mission education to learn. but the contrast with what is valued and in the air in theological colleges is stark. if we want innovation maybe we need students to breathe different air, art school air?!

this reminded me too of will gompertz's book think like an artist which i have blogged about before. in that he has a whole section on education generally and why it should be like art school which i loved. he says 

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. The future depends on us taking a different approach.

i couldn’t agree more.

(thanks to the baptist theological educators forum who invited me to reflect on formation and theological education with them earlier this year that enabled me to develop this particular sideways strain of thought)