I interviewed Gavin Mart, who is coming with my Church Mission Society tutor, Jonny Baker (and director there) about their national tour, ‘Pioneer Practice‘, which is coming to Portsmouth on Saturday the 18th February.
Gavin Mart, singer and storyteller, ‘Pioneer Practice’ workshop leader.
How would you define the word, ‘Pioneering’?
Pioneering is the practice of people going into new spaces and uncovering new ways of doing things. And sometimes it’s revisiting old spaces in new ways. It’s reimagining the way that we do things. It’s having a go, an idea.
Who is this event for?
This event is for people who are interested in thinking about new ways of doing things. Whether that is fresh ways of reimagining what the church might look like, or perhaps somebody is interested in having a go at a new community focused project, or is interested in social entrepreneurship, or perhaps none of the above.
You might find yourself reading this and thinking, you know what, I just really like, thinking about things differently and spending time with people who perhaps feel like they don’t fit into the normal way of doing things.
So the event is for those people looking to find out something new, perhaps to be part of a discussion and approach things with an open mind. It’s for people who enjoy poetry, music, and song writing as well as listening to experienced people like Johnny Baker!
It’s an event that could appeal to somebody outside of your normal networks or somebody that doesn’t necessarily go to your church meeting. It won’t be too exclusively ‘Christian’. You might like to invite somebody to come along to this – it’s a bit different, someone can just see what it’s all about, dip their toe in without feeling like it’s going to be too hardcore.
What will the day feel like? What will happen?
The day will feel like an interactive discussion, we’ll be looking at some approaches to pioneering praxis. So we’ll be looking at ‘be you’, ‘Change’, ‘build’ and ‘See’.
Those are the chapter headings for Johnny’s book, ’Pioneer Practice’. We’ll be having a workshop about those themes.
And my role is to creatively interpret some of those ideas through song and poetry. I bring a kind of different approach.
It’ll be interactive. It will have workshop sessions, and a musical session as well bolted on at the other end. It’s very easy going, pretty flexible, and inclusive. So yeah, great to see you around.
The Dream Police by Gavin Mart
The Dream Police are coming for you
You’ve been dreaming, haven’t you?
They’re coming
They’re coming
They’re coming with men
They’re coming to keep you from dreaming againThe Dream Police are hunting you down
You’ve been planning to leave this town
They’re coming
They’re coming
They’re coming with signs
They’re coming to tell you to stay in the linesThe Dream Police are laying the law
You’ve been saying that you think there’s more
They’re coming
They’re coming
They’re coming with tools
They’re coming to teach to you to follow the rulesThe Dream Police are all in your head
– Gavin Mart
You’ve dreamed them with words sad people said
They’re coming
They’re coming
They’re coming but wait
They all disappear just as soon as you wake
Book your place on the ‘Pioneer Practice’ workshop
Sound good to you? Could you be a pioneer?
The event is taking place in St. Luke’s Church in Portsmouth, 3pm to 6pm for the workshop and then 6pm for a meal (food will be available to buy from a fantastic food van with delicious fresh food), networking and performances from Gavin and open mic. Tickets are £15 for the day and evening and £8.00 for the evening only.
You can find out more and book your ticket for the event by clicking the button below.
The Joy Factory 