c4m artists update

Our most recently completed commission - etched windows by Henry Shelton and Richard Paton at All Saints Hutton - is to be dedicated this Sunday.

Janet Roberts is to have an exhibition at South Woodford Library from 3rd to 12th December.

Our next commission - a holy water stoup by Mark Lewis at St Margarets Great Ilford - has been granted a faculty.

Congratulations: Helen Gheorghiu Gould

Our congratulations to Rev. Helen Gheorghiu Gould, who was ordained as a priest yesterday by the Bishop of Barking at St John the Baptist Epping.

Over the past year, in addition to her responsibilities in the Epping District Team Ministry, Helen has been revising commission4mission's constitution prior to our application for charitable status. Helen's proposed new c4m constitution will be discussed at our AGM on Wednesday 20th July at Holy Trinity and St Augustine of Hippo Leytonstone.

We wish Helen every blessing and pray for her in this new stage of her ordained ministry and as she continues to integrate the visual arts into that ministry:

God our Father, Lord of all the world,
through your Son you have called us into the fellowship
of your universal Church:
hear our prayer for your faithful people
that in their vocation and ministry
each may be an instrument of your love,
and give to your servants now to be ordained
the needful gifts of grace;
through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Art for Easter Sunday and beyond

The panoramas above show the colour columns that Robert Enoch installed at St Paul's Harlow from Easter Sunday onwards. Robert's installation is the first initiative in what we hope will be a developing relationship with the church from which a range of arts initiatives may develop. In the next development Robert and Jonathan Evens will contribute to an arts-related service at St Paul's on 3rd July.

Also on display from Easter Sunday has been Adam Boulter's The Resurrection at St Mary Aldermary. Adam's modern reinterpretation of the Stations of the Cross enabled reflection and prayer prior to Easter Sunday but without the 14th resurrection station, which has been on display from Easter Sunday onwards. A podcast of Adam talking with Ian Mobsby about the display can be downloaded from here. In this podcast, Ian and Adam explore the importance of art in spirituality, and the tradition of stations of the cross.  

Dedication of completed commission

Memorial windows designed by Henry Shelton and etched by Richard Paton will be dedicated at All Saints Hutton on Sunday 27th March.

The windows which are set within a screen and depict symbolically a variety of saints have been commissioned in memory of Patricia Harries and will be dedicated by the Archdeacon of Southend during an 11.15am Service of Holy Communion. A small reception will follow the service.

A further commission for windows in the opposite screen is also under discussion.

Commission dedication: 'The Baptism of Jesus'

The dedication of our third completed commission – the painting ‘The Baptism of Jesus’ by Rosalind Hore will take place on Sunday 2nd January 2010, 10.00am, St Edmund’s Church, Reddings Lane, Tyseley, Birmingham B11 3DD.

Rosalind Hore’s painting sees water, fish, cross, crown, dove, fire and light – all the signs and symbols of his future ministry – swept up together to coalesce around the baptised Jesus. Vigorous movement and vibrant colour combine to depict the glory of the Son who is here commissioned by the Father and empowered by the Spirit.

The painting has been donated in memory of Revd. Phil Evens, a former Vicar of Tyseley and father of Jonathan Evens, and was chosen by the congregation from a selection of works by commission4mission artists.

Revd. Steve Simcox, Vicar of Tyseley, says, “I think this painting will be very special in St Edmund’s Church. We have mounted the painting … so the prominent thing that is seen as you enter the church is the painting.”

Ordination: Revd. Helen Gheorghiu Gould

Many congratulations to Helen Gheorgiu Gould who was ordained deacon today at Chelmsford Cathedral. Helen will serve her title at St John the Baptist, Epping.

Upcoming events

Peter Webb will be exhibiting at the 76th Annual Exhibition of the National Society of Painters, Sculptors & Printmakers at the Menier Gallery from 17th - 28th November. The National Society was formed in 1930 to meet a growing desire among artists of every creed and outlook for an annual exhibition in London which would embrace all aspects of art under one roof, without prejudice or favour to anyone.

Jonathan Evens will be speaking on The Art of Life at the annual 'At Home' Service of the Mothers' Union and Women's Fellowship at St Margaret's Barking. The service which takes place at St Margaret's on Monday 2nd November at 2.15pm will include a collection for the work of commission4mission.