Lent for Everyone Mark Year B

Love Unknown by Ruth Burrows (Continuum £9.99)
The Archbishop of Canterbury’s Lent choice is always popular and thought-provoking.   Last year’s Barefoot Disciple by Stephen Cherry and 2010′s Our Sound is our Wound by lucy Winkett were sell-outs. This year’s book is another interesting and intelligent book. it is written by the Carmelite nun known in particular for her Essence of Prayer and ‘the Interior Castle’ explored.
In this book, the author gives the Contemplative’s perspective on moving from being ‘religious’ to being a true disciple. She is especially concerned for the young. “Unless a real love for Jesus is awakened in their hearts, unless they have been helped to see something of the sheer wonder and beauty of the contents of the faith in which they are instructed, how can they withstand the atheism of our materialistic society?”

The Way of the Desert by Andrew Watson (Bible Reading Fellowship £7.99)
The annual BRF Lent book is another popular choice.
Bible Readings for Ash Wednesday to Easter Day, based on the story of Exodus and the wanderings in the desert from Egypt to the Promised Land.  What was the point of it all?
Added to this are insights from the New Testament. Jesus spent 40 days in the desert – the first ‘Lent’.  What did he do?The author sees the relevance of the desert for us today.
Watch Andrew Watson introduce the book on Youtube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agt-dxi6QRw

On Retreat: a Lenten Journey by Andrew Walker (Continuum £9.99)
This book can be used by individuals or in small groups. There are chapters for each of the 5 weeks of Lent, and also for Palm Sunday and Easter Day.
“A retreat offers a chance to nourish the soul, but for many people the traditional retreat experience is prohibitively expensive or time-consuming.  On Retreat builds on the annual opportunity that Lent gives us to look afresh at ourselves and at God, and leads the reader on a journey of personal prayer from Ash Wednesday to Easter Day.  Andrew Walker invites us to explore a world of spiritual possibilities in the everyday, and so develop a deeper relationship with God and a reconnection to daily living, reinvigorated and hopeful”
On Retreat is our Book of the Month for February, and is available for just £8.99 if you mention this email.

Light breaks forth  (DLT £5.99)
Another book which follows the lectionary readings, from a number of spiritual writers.
“…each one of us has our own small but vital part to play in the great drama of Lent and Easter. In these forty days, shadowing the wilderness experience of Jesus, our lives, like his, are at a turning point. Do we choose the way of hope, love and justice, or the way of possessions, competitiveness and power?”

The Nail by Stephen Cottrell (SPCK £6.99)
Seven chapters, each focusing on a different Gospel character, and giving seven individual’s experience of the Crucifixion. Each character considers who killed Christ, and who was responsible.
There is a Bible passage and prayer with each reflection.
The book can also be used for group study, or adapted for use as a Good Friday liturgy.
Another book by the author of the popular Do Nothing to Change your Life, Hit the Ground Kneeling, and the Easter books Things he Carried and Things he Said.

Love Set Free: Meditations on the Passion According to St John by Martin L. Smith (Canterbury Press £7.99)
A short book of meditations on the fourth Gospel showing how in the Christian mystery love must be ‘set free’ from all the complications with which we constantly entangle it – the desire to possess, the need to control, narcissism and so forth.
The author is known among other things for the popular the Word is Very Near You.

Stations of the Nativity, the Cross and the Resurrection by Raymond Chapman  (Canterbury Press £12.99)
A newly published combination of enlarged editions of Raymond Chapman’s popular Stations of the Nativity and Stations of the Resurrection.  It includes a new section on the Stations of the Cross. Illustrated with woodcuts by Eric Gill and David Jones

The Heart’s Time: a poem a day for Lent and Easter by Janet Morley  (SPCK £9.99)
A different one, this, but proving extremely popular.
A day by day Lent book offering a poem appropriate to the themes of the season for each day, along with a short reflection from the editor and a couple of questions to reflect upon.

We also have lots of old favourites, and previous year’s BRF, Cafod and Mowbray selections, as well as other books which could easily be used as a Lent book, such as Nicholas Holtam’s The Art of Worship with or without the accompanying CD of choral music from St Martin-in-the-Fields.

This year we are will be selling a few of the Real Easter Egg – the only one of the 80 million Easter Eggs sold which mentions Jesus!  It retails at £3.99 and tells the story of Easter on the box.  What’s more, it’s FairTrade.  Orders taken.

Do you need palm crosses? Paschal candles and/or transfers?  All in stock.  Email bookshop@sarum.ac.uk or phone 01722 326899 if you would like anything to be put to one side for collection, or posted to you.

We also have a good selection of children’s books  for Easter – some with stickers, some of crafts.  Give a book of the Easter story rather than (or as well as!) an Easter Egg!   Many of these are on ’3 for 2′ at the moment, ie buy 3 and the cheapest is free.  Do get in touch if you would like a selection on ‘Sale or Return’ to offer after church one Sunday for adults to look at over coffee.  It may be the only chance many people have to see these kinds of books.

Finally, we have a great supply of Easter Cards.

The event was extremely well attended, with over twenty people coming to hear Bryan discuss the book and his motivation in writing it.

The event was so successful in fact, that we have now sold out of ‘Plain English’ but we can order copies for anyone who may have missed out. Thank you to everyone who came along to support Bryan, and the bookshop.

Plain English has its roots in the language spoken by the English 1000 and more years ago. It is a beautiful language, found in the King James Bible, the works of Jane Austen, and in the speeches of Lincoln and Churchill, which fosters clear thought and speech – a language for those who like to say much with few words.

The aim of this book is to help readers find plain English words for what they want to say. After first setting out the story of English, it then offers the reader one hundred words to get started with (‘shorten’ rather than ‘abbreviate’, ‘speed up’ instead of ‘accelerate’, ‘drive home’ rather than ‘emphasise’, and so on.) The main body of the book lists more than 10,000 plain English words, and a list of some 3,600 borrowed words with suggestions about English words we might use instead.  The author aims to help readers think about the words they use, and in doing so speak and write more clearly.

by Andrew Walker

“… Walker’s work can be highly recommended.”

Church of England Newspaper.

The power of art to heal and console is expressed in a new exhibition of work in a range of media including sculpture, paintings, glass and photography at Sarum College until 8 May 2012.

In this sculpture, entitled Flight, artist Charlotte Mayer says she tries to capture the true freedom that the human spirit seeks.

The therapeutic value of art in physical, mental, and spiritual healing has been recognised since the Middle Ages. The earliest hospices, such as that at Isenheim with its famous Grünwald altarpiece, were dominated by large and often exquisitely painted crucifixions, a present reminder of Christ’s sufferings.

Art gave comfort and strength to those who were overtaken by disease and cared for by religious foundations with only the most rudimentary medical help at their disposal. These carers followed Christ’s instruction to ‘heal the sick, feed the hungry, and let the oppressed go free’ which was, and remains, a cornerstone of Christian life.

Sculpture entitled One, by Elizabeth Herstroter.

Participating artists are: Sally Fawkes & Richard Jackson, Elizabeth Herkstroter, Charlotte Mayer FRBS, Ruth Oaks, Keith Rand ARBS, Tracey Sheppard FGE, Will Spankie and Ryan Tabor.

In addition, there is a display of paintings by members of Freedom from Torture’s art therapy group. For details, visit the Freedom from Torture (formerly The Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture) website.

Sculpture entitled Into The Light Blue, by Keith Rand ARBS

On Wednesday 22 February (6pm for a 6.30pm start), there will be a presentation  of poetry and prose by members of the Freedom from Torture’s Write to Life programme.  The evening will be held at Sarum College and costs £5, with all proceeds going to Freedom from Torture. Further Details

The Art of Healing exhibition is free and open to the public until 8 May 2012.  Opening hours are 9am to 5pm, Monday to Saturday (closed Sundays).

Contact Sarum College

All photos in the gallery link and above are by Ash Mills Photography

Aled Jones of the BBC’s Songs of Praise visited Sarum College earlier this month to film a programme about 21st century hymnwriters and discover what makes a modern classic.

The programme aired on BBC One at 5pm on Sunday 29th January 2012. View the show on the BBC iPlayer until 4 February 2012.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01bljdx/Songs_of_Praise_21st_Century_Hymn_Writers/

Read more about how and why producer Rowan Morton-Gledhill created the programme 

Tidal Wave, by Uvindu, an award-winning journalist and freedom of expression activist in exile from Sri Lanka.

Members of the Write to Life group will give a presentation of poetry and prose at Sarum College at 6.30pm on Wednesday, 22 February.

Write to Life is Freedom from Torture’s therapeutic creative writing group. Established in 2000 by award-winning playwright Sonja Linden, it is now run by film-maker and novelist Sheila Hayman who wanted the writers to have opportunities to tell their stories.

“The Write to Life group has many purposes – assuaging survivor guilt, rebuilding self-respect, giving voice to the voiceless and, above all, taking control of calamitous and destructive memories – all intertwine powerfully,” Hayman says.

“As one writer put it, the rapt attention of an audience is like a mirror in front of her, reassuring her that, after all the horror and degradation, she is still, powerfully and triumphantly, alive.”

Write to Life’s 20 members read at a variety of festivals and, through their writing, work to correct misconceptions and myths about asylum seekers and refugees.

The evening costs £5 and is open to the public. All proceeds go to Freedom from Torture (formerly The Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture).

Write to Life Poster, click to enlarge

The presentation evening is part of The Art of Healing exhibition at Sarum College, which includes a display by the Freedom from Torture art therapy group.  Further details

“Creative writing and painting are parts of our therapy in helping to rebuild lives broken through mental and physical trauma – our clients have been through unspeakable experiences: their capacity to survive and their determination to rediscover their former skills and uncover new talents is an inspiration to all,” says Keith Best, chief executive of Freedom from Torture, who will give a brief introduction to the work and challenges of the charity.

“You will not and cannot forget them – their stories leave a lasting impression of both the depths of depravity to which humanity can sink and the magnificence of the human spirit which can soar above the adversity so that the torturers do not gain the victory.”

For more information on the Write to Life group, or Freedom from Torture in general please visit their website www.freedomfromtorture.org

This exhibition presents ten such collectors, whose lives span the sixteenth to the twentieth centuries. As well as placing on display some of the most splendid, distinctive and—in a few cases—unexpected items held in the Library, it allows us to observe the changing motives, fashions and tastes of book-collectors over the course four hundred years. 

Admission is free and the exhibition runs until 16 June 2012.

Finding enough material to create a programme on people living today who write and compose traditional hymns drawing solely from the Songs of Praise’s existing archive was a challenge, says producer Rowan Morton-Gledhill.

The series usually broadcasts either traditional hymns from past centuries or works which were destined to be accompanied by a group in worship style. But Morton-Gledhill’s efforts to introduce modern hymn writers and their works over the last decade have paid off and the programme is “packed with music,” she says.

“My colleagues and I had interviewed some of these hymn writers, so we were able to re-use brief comments from interviews going back as far as 2003,” says Morton-Gledhill. “I felt very moved to hear the integrity, faith, creativity and humanity which prompts both professional and part-time hymn writers to add to our rich heritage across Anglican, Nonconformist/Methodist and Catholic Church traditions.

“It was the relevance of traditional worship to the the 21st century, and a desire to reflect and emphasise the ecumenical nature of sacred music in both Songs of Praise and the Royal School of Church Music (RSCM) that prompted me to film the links at Sarum College and to interview RSCM Director Lindsay Gray. Both institutions comfortably blend the best of both ancient and modern.

My only regret is that this was a one-off programme and not an entire series, as inevitably some great British hymn writers, such as Christopher Idle, had to be left out due to lack of suitable congregational music archive.”

The selection of modern classics featured on the programme includes the following:

* Christ Triumphant (Michael Saward) to Guiting Power (John Barnard)
* Living In The Light (Brigid Pailthorpe) to Godmanchester (Peter Moger)
* We Cannot Measure How You Heal
* O God, You Search Me (Bernadette Farrell)
* The Lord Bless You (John Rutter)

The programme airs on BBC One at 5pm on Sunday 29th January 2012.

The local arts group Sarum Artists is holding an exhibition at Sarum College entitled, A Flawed Pearl.  It runs from 6 -20 January 2012.

The premise for A Flawed Pearl exhibition is that something/someone does not have to be perfect, beautiful or important in the traditional sense to be all those things and more.

With paintings in a variety of media and a sculpture of mixed media, some work will reflect that beautiful things are often less than perfect and that imperfect things are beautiful. Some things are just necessary, a part of our life and we have to value them for that. At a time when it seems that our society places a lot of value on having the best of everything, maybe its time to consider that life isn’t, nor should it be, like that.

Sarum Artists are a group of former Fine Art students from Wiltshire College. As a group and individually they exhibit mostly in Wiltshire, Hampshire and Dorset.

The exhibition is completely free and is open to all.
Open times: Weekdays and Saturdays 9-5.

Sarum Artist Contacts
Moira Ross Chairman
07788437225
mo@moiraross.com

or

Ray Brotherton
01722 414299
rayb@mypostoffice.co.uk

Contact Sarum College