Kester Brewin

Violence of Heaven [ 1 ] I opened the first post with the story of Christiania – a ‘micro-nation’ in the centre of Copenhagen that has been going since the early 1970s. Seen as a ‘social experiment’ by the generally left-leaning governments of Denmark, it is now under increasing threat from more right-wing administrations, as [...]

[ Laws and Packaging 1 ] [ Laws and Packaging 2 ] I the previous two posts I’ve been trying to set out something of what it feels like being a stranger in the US. The stranger is at the boundary – neither fully in nor fully out – and can thus help those who [...]

[ Laws and Packaging 1 ] I am a stranger in the US. But, as Georg Simmell says, perhaps strangers can offer insights that natives can’t see. Not that these things aren’t also problems in the UK. But that’s for some other stranger to point out. The first thing that’s hit me each time I’ve [...]

I think the time is right to drop the curtain on ‘Signs of Emergence’  / ‘The Complex Christ’ / ‘Der Jesus Faktor’ and move on. The idea of this blog has been to give some space to extend the ideas presented in that book, and, personally, I feel that’s been successful. But you shouldn’t keep [...]

“We turn from the light to see.” Don Paterson, The Book of Shadows. Technorati: Paterson

I went to see The Long Road at the Soho Theatre on Tuesday night. It’s a new play by Shelagh Stephenson based on her experience of working with Synergy Theatre and The Forgiveness Project in some of the UK’s toughest gaols. It’s been directed by Synergy founder (and brother of Jonny) Esther Baker, and follows [...]

I’ve been reading some Yeats recently. In his short play, Calvary, Jesus is confronted by Judas as he walks with his cross: Judas: I betrayed you because you seemed all powerful. Jesus: My Father, Even if now I were to whisper it, Would break the world in his miraculous fury To set me free. Judas: [...]

Thanks so much to Shane and his people for sending me a copy of his new book, written with Chris Haw, Jesus for President. It’s gorgeous to look at and hold, fabulously designed, and perfectly balanced between seriousness and playfulness… starting with the title. Why can’t every Christian book be like this? I just hope [...]

A bill regarding the use of human embryos is currently passing through parliament at the moment, and, naturally, causing a huge amount of debate. One piece on the BBC caught my ear the other morning – a Bishop was asked what he thought about the creation of so-called ‘saviour siblings’: human beings created for the [...]

Thanks to Helen of Urban Practitioners for sending me this article in The Guardian a couple of weeks back about Jaime Lerner and his radical environmental policies that have transformed the Brazilian city of Curitiba. I say environmental in the truest sense: he is an architect by trade, and is concerned with the built environment, [...]