jonnybaker

a day off!

had a wonderful day off yesterday - the weather is amazing at the moment - sadly probably global warming! but i visited two exhibtions and went to see massive attack in concert in the evening. one of the exhibitions was life death rebirth with bill viola video installations and michael angelo drawings. i'd actualluy seen a lot of the viola installations at various exhibitions over the years but it is amazing. i am convinced my heart rate was slower when i came out - i think we took getting on for a couple of hours going round. his work is very spiritual drawing on religious themes. i found the curators comments next to some pieces quite annoying though! one of things that was strange was how the view of spirituality seemed to buy into a negative view of the world and the notion of getting the soul out - it's kind of a platonic view of the world that has informed some bad what i call escaplogy theology over the years. the worst case of it was next to a drawing by michael angelo of the resurrected christ which was a really great drawing of a body bursting out with energy and the curator had sai something like a suprising embodied drawing of the resurrected christ - duh! what exactly did you think the resurrection is if not a body???!!! anyway that aside it is a fantastic exhibition. this photo is of the piece fire woman which is amazing - possibly my favourite piece. of course there are no photos allowed by i took this photo years back at an exhibition where i got thrown out for taking photos which is the only time that has ever happend to me.

massive attack were great as ever - i have no idea how many times i have seen them - a lot! but just as in the manchester international festival adam curtis was doing the visuals. it was a wide ranging set of visuals of life in our crazy world - once again he was opening up the idea that we are stuck in our own past rather than able to imagine a different future as we are fed things based on feedback llops - you like this so you'll love that. one memorable sequence was a series of projected slogans from politicians that sounded great in their own right but when projected together came across as hollow slogans which is what we have got used to. it was pretty bleak... but i found it also woke me up - it's so easy to be numb.

it's so great living in london!

pioneer hub starting in london

i'm pretty excited about this new partnership as two of my passions collide (london and pioneering!)

pioneer hub to start in london

labyrinth - a new design

it was a wonderful evening at grace with a new labyrinth designed by adam baxter and made in the afternoon from some cloth and gaffer tape. st mary's in ealing is a wonderful magical space for it and with candles flickering and a playlist of ambient tunes a prayerful meditative evening ensued... if you click on this link and scroll through you'll see some of the labyrinths we have made and run over the years. i think the first was back in 1998 or 1999. this labyrinth web site has lots of info if you're wondering about labyrinths

the table - next grace april 14

next grace we are delighted to welcome friends from the table in southall. the table is a fresh expression of church that fits perfectly into southall's context gathering around the table over food and conversation and hospitality. friends from the table will be coming and  helping lead grace and cooking up some food southall style - one not to miss. don't eat before you come!

because we'll be catering we could do with knowing numbers so let us know if you are planning to come (if possible).

be faithful to your dreams

had a lot of love for this photo on instagram so thought i'd post it here too! it's a piece of art by tracey emin that was part of the london lumiere festival

my light is your light

home community cafe launches

i was at the opening of home community cafe in earlsfield last night. it was wonderfully done and such a joyful celebration. this idea has been 3 years in the making. i got to share in the story because meg whose dream it has been and whose work has made it happen trained with us at cms on the pioneer course for a year. she brought this idea to make good, a module we run on missional entrepreneurship, 3 years ago. so it was wonderful to see this dream realised and it will be a great hub for community gathering and transformation i am sure. it was actually the same week that clean for good was brought to as an idea so it's been so exciting this month to have the joy of going to two launches of projects we have seen develop from idea to reality. well done meg!

we run that week in november and april each year so if you have an idea to work up come along - it's an amazing week.

clean for good launch

it was so brilliant this evening to be at the launch of clean for good. clean for good is an ethical cleaning company paying cleaners the london living wage and committed to treating them well. the idea for this was thought up by miriam goodacre and guy treweek when they were at st andrews by the wardrobe church in the city. they had noticed how poorly cleaners were being treated and figured that it would be good news to create a different kind of business. miriam brought the idea to the cms pioneer missional entrepreneurship week 3 years ago (now called make good) and from there a team have worked on the business plan, gaining investment, setting up a board and so on. they have their first managers in place and first cleaners on board with contracts up and running. we heard from a couple of cleaners who told tales of ppreviously being paid around 4 pounds an hour and working 72 hour weeks. through clean for good they now have a fair wage and a contract. so simple but so good. a fuller article is here

if you are in london then have a think about your company or church or whatever and ask yourself if you know #whoismycleaner and see how they are paid and treated. time to shine a light on this sector and do some good!

the photo above is a mix of the team who dreamed it up, the people running it and the cleaners. 

[update: good to see the guardian published a piece on it]

good - grace next saturday

Jeremiah 29:7: Work for the peace and prosperity of the city where I sent you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, for its welfare will determine your welfare.

Proverbs 11:11: Good people bless and build up their city, but the wicked can destroy it with their words.

What does good look like, in Ealing, in London, in the world? How does Grace support good and how do we support one another as we do good? What is God saying to us at this time? Join us for Communion, conversation and prayer.

grace retreat

did you know that there is an ignatian centre in london that hosts a retreat day on the second saturday of every month open to all? 

next grace we are joining them for the day - see here for info - so if you are planning on visiting grace next month it will simply be a cafe with a prayer space in the evening as the day is the main focus this month.

ecce homo

i already posted a photo on my phone of ecce homo by mark wallinger but i had to go back with a decent camera as i love the statue so much - here's a few photos... 

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. 

the radical eye

i finally got to the radical eye exhibition today and loved it - it was a surprise to find that elton john is a photography collector but it is an impressive set of photos. the exhibition is photos from around 1915 onwards through to the 50s - the modernist period. the frames are incredibly ornate which is quite fun. but it was a real treat to get up close to see work by the likes of edward weston, minor white, dorothea lange (and yes the migrant mother photo is there and stunning), man ray. the film of an interview with elton about his photos was really good too...

my head explodes with light

i love anthony gormley's work so it was great to visit his fit exhibition which is currently on at white cube gallery bermondsey. as ever he mainly explores the human form. it's fabulous and amzing that it's free to get in.

the photo above is taken from inside a long body shape tunnel that you walk down. because it's a phone camera it couldn't handle the light which makes for a pretty interesting photo. the photo is actually jenny's head exploding with light rather than mine but didn't make such a good title for it!

i loved a room of 500 plus figures on the floor making human shapes from blocks. this one is curled in the foetal position withdrawing, vulnerable filled with shame perhaps...

for the beloved one longs most

london lumiere was wonderful - a huge success, only troubled by its popularity. as ever it's a challenge to photograph in the dark but here's a few pics...

lumiere london

starting today and running for four days is a free festival in london with artists working with light - london lumiere. it looks great. i am in town friday evening so will check out a few - am a big julian opie fan so looking forward to his installation for example... the programme is here

margins to mainstream - fresh expressions conference nov 21

there is a fresh expressions conference in london on nov 21 - from margins to mainstream. it's focus is on how fresh expressions of church might move to being embedded in strategies in churches and dioceses which seems a good and important conversation.

[i confess i would prefer the title the other way round as i feel more focused still in trying to get the church to move from mainstream to margins but i do get the point!]

i'll be taking part in leading the opening worship and a seminar/workshop around pioneer ministry with dave male.

i see karen ward is taking part - long time no see - looking forward to catching up with her!

book tickets here

harry celebrates soho in this london fashion week promo

london fashion week now in soho - harry sounding very london in this poem!

easy to spot!

harry ran the london marathon today in 4:08 or thereabouts which considering he had a contraption to carry and had done less than ideal amount of training was absolutely amazing! he was raising support for the amos trust and also awareness. he carried a homemade sail with free palestine written on it. the height of it with his height was about the height of the berlin wall. the israel/palestine separation wall is higher but walls will come down eventually! for obvious reasons harry was easy to spot! there's a few photos here

if you're in london… rooted

i am heading to rooted next saturday evening in earlsifield at 8pm…

if you're in london maybe see you there? it's also open all week at various times. a few of the guys involved are training with us at cms - wonderful to see their creativity.