jonnybaker

cms twenty: doing the imaginative work

this is the tenth 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

in almost everything I have been involved in at cms there has been a quest that is more interested in the future than the past. the church has always adapted so it’s nothing new but although the church has the rhetoric of knowing she needs to change and perhaps wants to change it turns out she prefers business as usual really. i noted this when I reflected on what we had learned after 5 years and still think it’s true scroll down to the section 3 the church says it wants pioneers but.... i’ll come back to that question of systemic or adaptive change in another post as it interests me more and more.

i quickly found out that if you look to the usual sources through which leaders are trained they really are not set up to do this future faced thinking. the language and forms from one era or culture don’t make sense in the new. so the last twenty years have involved a lot of conversations, reading, writing, thinking, theologising ourselves - trying to find resources and ideas that will resource a different kind of imagination and practice. the blog and series of connections with others on a similar journey has been the site of much of that reflection.

i was pondering that process of reflecting and it has been a really wonderful part of the adventure. 

one area of reading and reflecting and noticing is in the direction of artists and writers and filmmakers who catch the zeitgeist and describe what’s going on in the wider cultural space. just before joining cms i did a masters degree and a large part of that was engaging with cultural studies drawing on thinkers like zygmunt bauman. there is so much to be learned there. it’s basic mission practice to read the culture. 

another is finding the treasures from the tradition that seem to help break it open afresh in the present. there is a rich vein of this but you have to dig them out. they often seem to be tucked away and half forgotten with dust on the cover. for me in particular this has included an engagement with cms own history, stories and especially some of its prophets - i am thinking of the likes of john taylor and max warren as well as stories of cross cultural mission and contextual, local and intercultural theologies from round the world. i have definitely found some of the gold I was seeking which was a fund for my own imagination. i have returned again and again to the notion that mission is ‘an adventure of the imagination’ which is how taylor describes it in the primal vision.

then perhaps the most surprising has been to find ourselves doing our own publishing in the area of pioneering, mission, theology, practice, church, spirituality and so on. we have not been the only ones of course - it’s been wonderful to exchange learning with those in fresh expressions for example who also got on a roll with publishing books reflecting and theologising about what was happening as well as those in other parts of the world exploring similar questions. i remember a lot of energy when we toured the country with mike frost and al hirsch to talk about the shaping of things to come for example. we have hosted annual conversations days since november 2013 reflecting on what we are learning about pioneering mission - i found the flyer above for that first one. that has led to publishing, editing or contributing to quite a lot of books. i have listed my contributions here - books like the pioneer gift, pioneering spirituality, future present, curating worship, imagining mission, mission on the road to emmaus, missonal conversations, pioneer practice, go between god (the foreword) as well as running proost for several years to self publish artistic expressions and liturgies from the emerging church including a couple of pocket liturgy books - grace pocket liturgies and making communion. proost doesn't seem to be in action any more so have put these two books here as free downloads - help yourself.

we also picked up the editing of anvil journal on the way, a journal in theology and mission which is themed each issue with two or three editions in each volume. anvil is free online. the team I am part of have been incredible in this regard and i owe a debt of thanks in particular to cathy ross whose enthusiasm for publishing has pulled the rest of us forward and enabled us to grow in confidence and think we might dare to write. i have loved that some of our students have published for the first time through the books we have edited. paul bradbury published an amazing couple of books - stepping into grace and home by another route, tina hodgett and paul created the pioneer spectrum which has taken on a life of its own. it’s a delight to have harvey kwiyani and joseph ola most recently join the team who are publishing in the space of mission, diaspora, intercultural theology, african christianity and decolonisation. i have no doubt there will be more to come.

if people ask me what I do ‘writer 'would never be a label on my list but looking back i do seem to have done my fair share! but for me I think it’s more about the necessity of doing the imaginative work and offering that into the wider conversation. in movements I suspect it is essential.

cms twenty: worship tricks

this is the fifth of a series of short reflections celebrating twenty years at cms

see also  1. gold | 2. emerging church | 3. blah | 4. new forms 

as well as being at cms twenty years i had another twentieth anniversary this year which somehow passed me by. that is how long i have been writing a blog. i was persuaded by andrew jones that i should write one and began on blogger and my first entry was in april 2002. one of the first things i started was a series of worship tricks. the name is a bit naff but they were creative ideas, installations, rituals, liturgy, videos that i came across that could be shared. back then search engines were not so good so having linkages was helpful. it also helped me catalogue things i could return to. there are 4 series - see the sidebar for links to them on the right. they have completely slowed down over the last few years (or decade even) but occasionally i add another. the thing that interests me about them looking back is that i have always loved creative, soulful, artful worship. i have published more in that area than anything else i think - alternative worship, curating worship, chapters in other books, labyrinth kit, the pocket liturgy series with proost, various albums and so on.

fresh expressions and pioneering (more on those in later posts in this series) rightly brought different start points from alternative worship - listening, being present, getting involved in community things. growing a community of disciples and finding ways to express worship come a lot later. so it interests me how i have carried that thread right the way through. i still think it's important - there is something magical about an experience or expression of worship that feels like it is on the inside of a culture, that you can be totally at home in. and at some basic level i think i have also been passionate about it because i struggle with expressions of worship that are done by the book or have blocks of singing with songs you can predict and make no connection imaginatively with the context, or that simply feel alien. the added value at cms has been learning from the global church and seeing places where indigenous expressions of worship and liturgies emerged as opposed to imposed western ones. the description of the mass with the masai in vincent donavon's christianity rediscovered blew my mind i seem to remember.

i haven't checked but i expect many of the links in worship tricks are broken or disappeared (and i have no intention to fix them) and the worship tricks are dated though no doubt some still ring true. but the delight of those creative moments and offerings is still there and i hope to stumble across many more going forward and i long for more people to have the courage to create. i have taught the worship module for pioneers at cms and that has been a great joy too seeing them explore what worship could look and be like in the communities they are among.

it has been incredible to be a part of a small creative church all the time i have been at cms - grace in ealing. there are so many beautiful prayers and liturgies and rituals that have nurtured my theology and faith that have then made their way into worship tricks, been shared at cms with pioneers, been picked up round the world. what a gift that has been. i have always thought the church's liturgy should be open source - downloadable, able to be remixed and uploaded for others to rework. i hope that's what people do with the worship tricks. the availability of communication technology has certainly made that possible though on balance i find the church still seems to prefer control to trusting its people and the creative process.

proost finds a new lease of life

it was so great at greenbelt to see proost in action. a while back aad, jon and i who dreamed up and ran proost, a small publishing company for grassroots alt worship resources, felt it was time to let it go and pass it on to someone or some people who could bring fresh vision and energy to it. it took a while to find but that person turned out to be andy freeman. it has proved a really cracking decision as he has done exactly that.

this year at greenbelt proost were running several events, a stand, and have a revamped web site. they also have published future present which i am involved in and which you can now order through the web site. and on top of that there is a new poetry colletion reaching for mercy. as with the first, learning to love, there are loads of poets.

the book is organised into themes and there is quite a community of proost poets growing now. i picked up the book at greenbelt and t looks great. i also have a poem in the book - it's possibly the only poem i have written (though i have written loads of songs over the years). and it amuses me to be able to say to harry now that he is not the only published poet in the family!

we didn't shout about the change in proost when it happened - it seemed better to just let it happen but it's great now to see it gaining momentum and being carried forward - way to go andy and the team involved in reaching for mercy.

the name proost came about because when we set it up we were in a pub drinking beer and aad (who is dutch) said 'proost' which means cheers and we decided that was a good name. so andy 'proost'!

 

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...

entering silence

if you follow the blog you'll know i have reflected on silence before (this post links to a series i posted) and even done a photography exhibition on the theme. but i was delighted to see space to breathe have produced a resource on entering silence that is available on proost. it's available free during lent and then you'll have to pay after that. so if you want a bit of guidance exploring silence then look no further - and i am making this worship trick 71 in series 4. 

proost bargain

if you have been thinking of subscribing to proost for a year, now is a good moment because there is a reduction to £45 - that runs until december 11 so be quick. that is real bargain - it gives you access to download all resources. you might also like to check out the new resources for advent.

calling poets + resources for lent on proost

if you are looking for ideas and resources for lent then have a look at proost - an update with links to old and new material is here . lent seems to have become a season for many groups to explore faith creatively. in grace this year we will be reading and discussing about henri nouwen's book life of the beloved to reflect on discipleship and what it means to follow christ in today's world.

one of my favourite ever resources on proost is the collection of poetry learning to love and i'm really pleased to say that chris goan who curated that is now pulling together a second collection - go and read his blog post about it to find out how to contribute.

apollo christmas - new movie on proost

there's a new movie on proost from jon birch - apollo christmas. the latest u[pdate from proost has links to various advent and christmas resources but here's what it says about this movie...

This week we launch Jon Birch's wonderful Apollo Christmas movie.  On Christmas Eve 1968 astronauts orbiting the moon made an amazing broadcast.  With incredible visuals, euphoric electronic music and the words of the three astronauts - this movie takes a different spin on wonder at Christmas.

discordant zine

discordant is a new venture, a creative zine or journal with a DIY ethos inviting contributions from anyone engaging with christianity and culture. it's part of the proost family. the idea is to participate so go and take a look and get involved. the first theme is wonder and you have until february to contribute. there is an example here you can download for free which also has a sampler of 6 tracks free too. love it!

proost - new resources

news from proost on new resources and old resources bundled together! i am a massive fan of si smith and have tried to get hold of his rage despair hope work for a long time so glad to see it finally land!

As October rolls into the beginnings of Winter so it's time for us to ramp up things here at Proost.

In the coming weeks you'll be seeing our Advent resources featured and you can look out for new material from Ian Adams amongst others.  We're also busy completing our first Proost Fanzine - a downloadable PDF or EBook sharing poetry, prayers, ideas and features as well as some surprises.  Watch out for more here soon.

So as this time we have some things to finish off and some features to share.

We've focused this summer on receiving and encouraging material from new artists.  Many of you have sent in material which we're looking through and hope to feature some of in the New Year.  We've also published some artists new to Proost.  Rage, Hope, Despair is the amazing multimedia resource looking at Job and created by Youthscape.  If you've not seen this yet do take a look as it's one of the most dynamic things we've ever hosted here on Proost.  It also features illustrations from Si Smith.  

We also featured new poetry from Kiwi Mark Laurent and we've been thrilled to hear your responses.  

Today we launch creations from two new Proost artists.  Openings by The Many is an amazing collaboration of music, prayers and ritual first premiered at the Wild Goose Festival in North Carolina, USA in 2016.  We are thrilled to work with Gary Rand and see this resource on Proost.  

We also are launching Poetic Justice by Rachel Edge.  Rachel contacted us in the summer and we loved her poems - she has a gift for the metaphor and creates a wonderful collection of poems which we think you'll love.  

Finally we were amazed by the recent UK reaction to our Box Sets of physical books and so have launched one more .... the Proost Poetry Box Set.  These four physical books feature some of the best of Proost poetry including our best seller Learning to Love and work from Chris Goan, Ned Lunn and Tim Watson.  Stock is limited so let us know if you want one.  Due to postal costs this is a UK offer only but if you're from outside the UK do email us at [email protected] and we can let you know costs of postage to your location.

 

rage despair hope

i am so pleased that finally rage despair hope has landed in proost as a downloadable resource. the artwork is a set of illustrations on the book of job by the amazing si smith.  i first saw the artwork and we used it a few years back at grace in 2011. it's been developed as a resource by the creative guys at youthscape - originally designed for schools it coud be used in loads of ways. we based an alternative worship service around it for example. anyway the resource includes the following

• a beautifully made 30 minute film about Job
• 22 high-res pieces of art work created by Si Smith and all of the audio files so each section can be used/presented independently if preferred. 
• Workshop resources to use with the material.
• A further 8 minute movie from the Lacey Theatre Company.

wonderful!

bring it down

i was excited to see an album from gav mart and martin daws out on proost - bring it down. gav is a musician and singer and martin is a wonderful spoken word poet. i love the blend of spoken word and music in this way. they have been touring so it's great to see they have put an album out. available here...

proost is on a roll this year with some great material - it's worth subscribing then you can log in to the back end whenever you like to download resources. don't forget if you are in the usa there is a us site here where you can pay in dollars.

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

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.

 

advent on proost - we who still wait

well it's a month to christmas which means the season of advent is almost here, that time of expectation and waiting. proost has a new resource we who still wait - this is put together by four artists. chris goan, ian adams, steve broadway and si smith have brought their collective creative wisdom together to shape a wonderful book. it's a book to follow the season with  photos, a reflection and a poem each day. download it as a pdf - more info is here.

proost actually have loads of great resources for advent that have built up over the last few years. search on advent and read this post looking to the star.

of course if you subscribe which is a bargain you can log in and download anything for a year!

don't forget there is a proost us site as well. 

but in silence ep by flock (aka harry baker and chris read)

greenbelt was wonderful (though a little damp on monday!) - the new venue was amazing. a highlight for me was the proost poets each morning. which i blogged about below but the ep of songs and spoken word which chris goan aptly described at greenbelt as sublime is now on proost here.

music out of the ground - worship trick

at last night's labyrinth at grace chris read dreamed up the idea of music out of the ground - at various points headphones were there to stop and listen. ipods (in plastic bags) were buried in the ground with a track set to loop. in fact all the ipods were playing variations on the same track - cello, guitar, vocal, spoken word. they were from a forthcoming ep that chris and harry baker are putting together of contemplative poetry/soulful music combinations - watch out for it on proost later this summer. anyway it's about time for a worship trick - so this is no 52 series 4. steve has a photo set here

the design of the labyrinth is the one at ealing common by mark wallinger

hello america i have news for you!

proost now has a us site at proost.us!

for years we have had this cool little thing in the uk called proost which is home to wonderful inspiring resources that have been produced from artists and communities doing creative things. this includes movies, books of authentic liturgies, music, experiences such as the labyrinth and so on. but to access the resources you no longer have to come to the uk site and negotiate foreign currency of pounds - it's all in dollars. 

the big deal (and you guys love both big and deal) is that you can subscribe for a hundred dollars for a year and that enables you to log in to the back end of the site and download anything you like. 

we have some friends in the usa but not enough! so if you know about us do spread the word - in many ways this is still a hidden gem. but thought you'd like to know...