Passion collections: Downloads and use

There have been 365 downloads to date from The Seed of Henry Shelton and Jonathan Evens collections of Passion meditations and images, the most popular being The Passion pdf. Use has been made of these collections, often during Lent and Holy Week, at churches including Cafe Church Kingsley, Churches Together in Cleadon, St Gabriel's Aldersbrook, St John's Seven Kings and St Margaret's Barking.

Churches Together in Cleadon used The Passion meditations and images for their Good Friday walk. Lay Anglicana used a Mark of the Cross image for their post of intercessions for the Second Sunday of Easter. Rev. Steve Santry used Mark of the Cross at Cafe Church Kingsley and wrote that its "stunning artwork and thought provoking words will open up the events around Easter in a new and imaginative way."

Newsletter No. 15 – January 2013

Christmas Exhibition: Incarnation

Wendy McTernan curated and organised an excellent commission4mission exhibition entitled ‘Incarnation’ at Wimbledon Library Gallery in December 2012. commission4mission's South London launch took place at a well attended Private View. We were encouraged by the interest shown by all who came both in the conversations that took place and in the works that were sold.

Those who came appreciated the look and feel of the show, our invigilators had several valuable conversations with those who came, we also made a number of new contacts and gained new members. Midnight Church by Elizabeth Duncan Meyer and Transforming Power by Caroline Richardson were amongst several works which sold. 

Those exhibiting included Harvey Bradley, Colin Burns, Christopher Clack, Ally Clarke, Valerie Dean, Elizabeth Duncan-Meyer, Jonathan Evens, Ken James, Sarah Ollerenshaw, Caroline Richardson, Janet Roberts, Francesca Ross, Henry Shelton, Sergiy Shkanov, Joy Rousell Stone and Peter Webb.
 

franciscan: The Gospel in Art

Three commission4mission members have written articles on the arts for the latest edition of franciscan, which is published three times a year by the First Order brothers and sisters and includes articles on Franciscan themes, as well as book reviews and news of the Society (http://www.franciscans.org.uk/franciscan-january-2013). 

The three articles are:

• ‘Facets of faith: the gospel in modern and contemporary art’ by Jonathan Evens
• ‘Father Andrew the artist: Plaistow friar, who never lost his boyhood enthusiasm for all things artistic’ by Steven Saxby
• ‘Re-imagining the gospels’ by Helen Gheorghiu Gould

The article by Jonathan features the work of Ally Clarke, Caroline Richardson and Sergiy Shkanov while Helen's piece includes interviews with Henry Shelton and Peter Webb. 

To order a copy of the magazine contact the subscriptions secretary using franciscansubscriptions@franciscans.org.uk. 

The Seed 

The Seed (http://seedresources.com/) has an expanding collection of over 40,000 resources to download and use throughout the Church year including Digital Worship resources and inspirational articles. The Seed and seedresources.com is a collaboration between the Leaders of Worship and Preachers Trust and Twelvebaskets Ltd. 

Among the available resources are two by commission4mission artists, both of which raise funds for c4m. They are:

• Mark of the Cross which features 20 poetic meditations by Jonathan Evens on Christ’s journey to the cross and reactions to his resurrection and ascension complemented by a set of semi-abstract watercolours of the Stations of the Cross and the Resurrection created by Henry Shelton.
• The Passion: Reflections & Prayers: Pictures, poems and prayers by Henry Shelton and Jonathan Evens enabling us to follow Jesus on his journey to the cross reflecting both on the significance and the pain of that journey.

New publications

Christopher Clack and Jonathan Evens feature in a new Dutch book entitled Jezus voor ogen (Eyes on Jesus) with visual meditations and word & image Bible studies for Lent. The visual meditations included in the book have all featured previously on the ArtWay website (http://www.artway.eu/artway.php?lang=en) and include the meditation which Jonathan Evens wrote on Christopher Clack's Descent II.

Jonathan Evens' new book, The Secret Chord, is jointly authored with Peter Banks of After The Fire, and is an impassioned study of the role of music in cultural life written through the prism of Christian belief. A website for The Secret Chord (http://www.thesecretchord.co.uk/) has news, bios, additional links, comments and views. The Secret Chord is available in paperback as well as a Kindle book. 

Member Profile: Gillian Barritt

Gillian Barritt is a ceramics artist whose work is expressive and sculptural. Her work reflects her Christian faith as well as capturing a love of Cornwall where she lives and was born. Gillian incorporates words with clay pieces which include scripture and also poetry. She also has an interest in recycled media like sea china and glass.

The Seed: Mark of the Cross and The Passion

The Seed has hundreds of resources for you to download and use throughout the Church year. Digital Worship resources and inspirational articles are available to download and read online. You can choose free weekly resource downloads from an expanding collection of over 40,000, with the option of purchasing more.

The Seed and seedresources.com is a collaboration between the Leaders of Worship and Preachers Trust (LWPT) and Twelvebaskets Ltd.

Among the available resources are two by commission4mission artists, both of which raise funds for c4m. They are:

Mark of the Cross features 20 poetic meditations on Christ’s journey to the cross and reactions to his resurrection and ascension. These meditations focus on the mark of the cross in his life and body and were originally written by Jonathan Evens as part of a community arts project in Hertford. They are complemented by a set of semi-abstract watercolours of the Stations of the Cross and the Resurrection created by noted religious artist, Henry Shelton.

The Passion: Reflections & Prayers: These pictures, poems and prayers by Henry Shelton and Jonathan Evens enable us to follow Jesus on his journey to the cross reflecting both on the significance and the pain of that journey as we do so. Their aim in these reflections has been to pare down the images and words to their emotional and theological core. The mark making and imagery is minimal but they hope in a way that makes maximum impact.

Member's update: Henry Shelton and Jonathan Evens

The Passion: Reflections and Prayers with images by Henry Shelton and words by Jonathan Evens is now available from The Seed as a pdf, powerpoint presentation and as individual images.

These pictures, poems and prayers enable us to follow Jesus on his journey to the cross reflecting both on the significance and the pain of that journey as we do so. With this series Henry and Jonathan have aimed to pare down the images and words to their emotional and theological core. The mark making and imagery is minimal but they hope in a way that makes maximum impact.

The Passion is the second series by Henry and Jonathan to be available through The Seed. The first, Mark of the Cross, was described by Steve Santry on Revster's Ramblings as "Stunning artwork and thought provoking words [which] open up the events around Easter in a new and imaginative way."

The Seed and seedresources.com is a collaboration between the Leaders of Worship and Preachers Trust (LWPT) and Twelvebaskets Ltd.

In 2010 Henry Shelton completed a commission for Stations of the Crown of Thorns at St Paul's Goodmayes. Parish priest Fr. Benjamin Rutt-Field wrote meditations for this set of Stations and has now published these together with photographs of Henry's Stations. Copies of this booklet can be obtained from Fr. Ben on b.ruttfield@btinternet.com.

In addition to Henry Shelton, other commission4mission members with completed sets of Stations of the Cross include Valerie Dean and Rosalind Hore. Valerie's Stations have a very clear and intense focus on details which are evocative of the whole, as can be seen from the photographs she has taken of the set which can be viewed here. Click here and here for photographs of exhibitions featuring Rosalind's Stations. Henry, Valerie and Rosalind are all keen to discuss ways of making these Stations available for any church that would be interested in having them. Contact Jonathan Evens on jonathan.evens@btinternet.com for more information. 

Newsletter No. 14 - November 2012

Completed commission: Wooden Reliefs

Peter Webb has recently completed our latest commission - two painted wooden reliefs for Dagenham Park Church of England School. The reliefs are heads of Christ and Mary Magdalene. This commission completes a circle for Peter as he first made wooden reliefs while an art teacher, as an aid in teaching Cubism to his pupils. The commission features as part of the brand new state-of-the-art school building with world class facilities into which the school has recently moved. This building, which was designed by Allford Hall Monaghan Morris, has been nominated for a British Construction Industry Award 2012 in the category of Building of the Year.

Christmas exhibition: Incarnation

commission4mission will launch itself in south London with a Christmas Exhibition entitled “Incarnation” featuring 15 artists working in a variety of media. The exhibition will be in Wimbledon Library Gallery, 1st floor, Wimbledon Library, Wimbledon Hill Road, London SW19 7NB. Opening times are 4 - 8 December, 9.30am-7.00pm (2pm on Saturday) with access through the Library. You are warmly invited to the Private View and Launch on Monday 3 December from 6.30 - 9.30pm or a Second Private View on Tuesday 4 December from 6.30 - 9.30pm. On Monday and Tuesday evenings from 7pm, the Gallery can be reached via a side entrance in Compton Road.

Peter Webb, Alan Hitching and Henry Shelton at All Saint‟s Woodford Wells

Barking Arts Festival events

c4m organised two events in October for the Arts Festival of the Barking Episcopal Area, run in parallel this year with the Woodford Festival. Mark Lewis, Francesca Ross, Peter Webb and others provided advice and opportunities to try creating portraits through drawing, painting and printing as part of the Big Draw event at St Mary's Woodford.

We also held an exhibition in the newly opened Atrium of All Saints Woodford Wells which included the 'Run with the Fire' digital art exhibition plus work by Elizabeth Duncan Meyer, Jonathan Evens, Alan Hitching, Mark Lewis, Caroline Richardson, Janet Roberts, Francesca Ross, Henry Shelton, Joy Rousell Stone and Peter Webb.

Together with Kathryn Robinson, Performing Arts Adviser for the Barking Episcopal Area, Jonathan Evens also organised a poetry evening as part of the two Festivals. This Celebration of Poetry featured the poetry of c4m members Alan Hitching and Jonathan himself, as well as that of Tim Cunningham, Jane Grell, Malcolm Guite and Jennifer Houghton.

The Passion: Reflections & Prayers 

Henry Shelton and Jonathan Evens have recently published their second collection of images and meditations on the Passion of Christ to raise funds for c4m. This collection is available initially as a double-sided A3 sheet containing all 14 images, meditations and prayers. The pair have aimed to pare down the images and words to their emotional and theological core. The mark making and imagery is minimal but in a way that makes maximum impact. The A3 format is designed for ease of devotional use and can be ordered (£3.50 + p&p) from jonathan.evens@btinternet.com. Their first collection - Mark of the Cross - remains available as a download from 12baskets (http://www.twelvebaskets.co.uk/view/178/store/pdf/mark-of-the-cross-pdf).

Member Profile: Richard Paton 

Richard Paton is a stained glass artist with 20 years in the trade who started Rainbow Glass Studios, based in Stoke Newington, North London, in 2001. In that time Richard has had hundreds of commissions which have required different techniques and designs to fulfil the very diverse briefs. These range from corporate work to individual commissions from the rich and famous through to work in Churches.

Members' update: Jonathan Evens

Jonathan Evens' book The Secret Chord, jointly authored with Peter Banks of After The Fire, is now available in paperback as well as Kindle. The paperback is being sold directly from Lulu - click here for the link. 

The Secret Chord is an impassioned study of the role of music in cultural life written through the prism of Christian belief.

If you're a Kindle user, then the bumper bargain Kindle version at just £1.95 is available by clicking here. If you're not a Kindle user but would like the online version then click here to download free software to run the Kindle version.

The website for The Secret Chord is also up and running with news, bios, additional links, and room for your comments and views. Click here to access the website.

Jonathan's commission4mission publications featuring his meditations combined with paintings and drawings by Henry Shelton are Mark of the Cross and The Passion: reflections and prayers. These publications enable us to follow Jesus on his journey to the cross reflecting both on the significance and the pain of that journey as we do so.

Passion: pictures, poems and prayers

Jesus dies on the cross

The sun is eclipsed, early nightfall,

darkness covers the surface of the deep,

the Spirit grieves over the waters.

On the formless, empty earth, God is dead.

Through the death of all we hold most dear, may we find life. Amen.

Jonathan Evens and Henry Shelton have published a second set of images and meditations on the Passion narrative. 

Their first set entitled Mark of the Cross (available in booklet, presentation, and individual images formats) has proved a popular download from the 12baskets site for user contributed worship resources.

This second set comes initially as a double-sided A3 sheet with all the images, haiku-like meditations and prayers laid out in sequence for ease of devotional use. 

These pictures, poems and prayers enable us to follow Jesus on his journey to the cross reflecting both on the significance and the pain of that journey as we do so.

Henry and Jonathan have aimed in these reflections to pare down the images and words to their emotional and theological core. The mark making and imagery is minimal but, they hope, in a way that makes maximum impact.

Each sheet costs £3.50, plus £1.20 p&p per purchase. To purchase copies, send a cheque made out to commission4mission to Rev. J. Evens, St John's Seven Kings, St Johns Road, Ilford, Essex IG2 7BB or email to jonathan.evens@btinternet.com for more information.