Creative Spirit
How we explore our spirituality through creativity.
Following on from our Exploring Spirit series in the Autumn, Creative Spirit will run for five weeks on Monday evenings beginning 10th March, 7pm – 8.15pm in the Old Crypt at St John’s Waterloo.
Breathe, our meditative service, will run at 6pm – 6.45pm each Monday before Creative Spirit. More information at the bottom of the page.
John O’Donohue, the Catholic author and theologian, wrote,
‘there is nothing in the universe as sensuous as God. Nature is the direct expression of the divine imagination. It is the most intimate reflection of God’s sense of beauty.’
The Divine imagines, the Divine creates, and the Spirit of the Divine is creative and ever creating, not only in the beginning, but always. It is no wonder, therefore, that we can meet, learn of, and experience God through creativity and through the lives of creative individuals.
Each week we’ll focus on a different creative lens, with input and time for discussion. A passage from the Bible will be used each week to aid our thinking, and even though this series is rooted in the Christian tradition, we enjoy and appreciate dialogue and ideas from many different places.
The series is free, but please sign up via Eventbrite here
Any questions, please email Georgia at georgia@stjohnswaterloo.org
Week 1 – Monday 10th March, 7pm – 8.15pm
Art and the spirit – Rev Giles Goddard
The session will look at how great artists have communicated spirituality through the centuries, and how we can respond to their work today. We’ll be looking at how people around the world speak of the divine through art, and specifically at the work of artists such as Michelangelo, Caravaggio, Rothko.
Ezekiel 1:28
28 Like the bow in a cloud on a rainy day, such was the appearance of the splendour all round. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord.
When I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard the voice of someone speaking.
Week 2 – Monday 17th March, 7pm – 8.15pm
Music – Dr Shanon Shah
Is music an aid to spiritual devotion, or is music itself sacred? Is it more useful to ask how humans have attempted to express the sacred musically, or should we instead contemplate on how the Divine communicates with us through music? This session explores these questions through a mix of sharing, listening and, hopefully, making music together.
Psalm 150
1 Praise the Lord!
Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in his mighty firmament!
Week 3 – Monday 24th March, 7pm – 8.15pm
Imagination, wonder and story – Rev Georgia Ashwell
Imagination and wonder evoke greater and deeper engagement with the world, with self and with God, opening us up to new thoughts and ideas about who and what God might be and what it means to be human. Storytelling is a tool by which our imaginations and sense of wonder can be fuelled – an art that is now so often giving to us in the medium of film.
In this third session we’ll be looking at how Jesus the storyteller used stories to provoke and evoke his audience. Today the world of film has exploded onto our screens of all sizes, is this just easy escapism, or is film a method by which we can engage more deeply with God and self?
Matthew 13:3
Once upon a time a farmer was sowing grain in their fields…
Week 4 – Monday 31st March, 7pm – 8.15pm
Poetry – Rev Grey Collier
We will be thinking about how religious and non-religious poetry can help us connect with God, as writers and readers. Poets, poetry lovers and those who find poetry bewildering are all welcome.
Song of Solomon 4
4 How beautiful you are, my love,
how very beautiful!
Your eyes are doves
behind your veil.
Your hair is like a flock of goats,
moving down the slopes of Gilead.
Week 5 – Monday 7th April, 7pm – 8.15pm
If it is drawing, then draw – Chris Clarke
A practical session introducing the creative process and how that process can lead to a spiritual dimension.
Romans 12:6-8
6 We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; 7 ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; 8 the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness.
Breathe
Running alongside Creative Spirit, in the atmospheric and sacred space of the Old Crypt, will be our Breathe series. Breathe is a short meditative service open to all. We will reflect on spiritual writings from various traditions, and using music, poetry and silence we will create space for contemplative connection with the spirit.
Monday evenings from 10th March to 7th April from 6pm to 6.45pm. No need to book, just turn up.
You are very welcome to attend Breathe and Creative Spirit together – there is a 15 break for refreshments in between – or to come to one or the other separately.
Programme of events
St John’s Waterloo, the church on the IMAX roundabout at Waterloo, is a historic Grade II* church that reopened in October 2022 after a major restoration by Eric Parry Architects.
It is one of the most inclusive churches in London and provides the best new performance, event and meeting spaces on the South Bank, fulfilling its commitment to be here for everyone. St John’s produces a year-round programme of arts and culture, including the annual Waterloo Festival, and is co-home to the academy-orchestra Southbank Sinfonia. It also runs the award-winning churchyard garden and offers a variety of community projects such as Room for You, English Conversation Classes and the monthly Film Club.
Vicar: Can Giles Goddard
Curates: Georgia Ashwell and Grey Collier
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