Diversity
We celebrate diverse and marginalised voices as we engage with our context and times. We acknowledge privilege and seek to learn from those outside
Safe Space
We aim to create safe places for people to meet, support and encourage one another. This means trying our best to contain difference, whilst working for justice
Creative Hubs
As well as collaborating across disciplines, we are developing ways for artists of the same discipline to support each other.
Recent Blog Posts
- Lent day 4, Jesus is condemnedWe are grateful once again that we have been given permission to share work from our friends The Many, who define themselves like this; Drawing on indie pop and gospel influences, The Many makes music to help give voice to faith and doubt, questions and fears, laments and longings, music that speaks to a non-violent God, a Jesus who is with us and for us, and to a Spirit that can’t be easily defined or controlled. It’s music for a movement of resistance to hatred and division, for reconciliation and restoration, and music that always reminds us “we are on this earth to love.” These are our kind of people. Not content with making music alone, they also weave poetry with video and art, making powerful and beautiful combinations. One such is their stations of the cross resource. You can see the whole thing here, but we will be using some of them individually as this season of lent unfolds. Today our focus is on the first station of the cross, in which Jesus is condemned. The art above is by Daniel Callis (born in Long Beach, CA) is an artist and educator living in Southern California. The many offer this prayer as…
- Lent 3, waiting with Tim Watson
Today we are grateful to our friend Tim Watson for this stunning poem of anger and hope. Lenten Waiting 2025 We wait in the dark While tech bros and oligarchs Tear the world apart Ransoming nations For minerals and gold In a story so old It plays on repeat Century after century . We wait in the dark Marked by ash crosses Counting our losses as Yet another dream dies Another fire extinguishes With no sense we’ll survive . We wait in the dark Lighting candles in shadowed parks Taking night walks Looking for signs Reading – praying – hoping For something that will spark . We wait in the dark Terrified of the foundations we’ve laid Too ashamed to change our ways The trajectory stays the same: World-ending flames Unless Messiah comes to save us and Lift us out of the mire Take us to some place higher Where a deity with beard will draw near . We wait in the dark Too sated to challenge the narrative To break up the systems of greed To turn to something more earthy With Messiah on hands and knees Planting seeds Whispering about the dark Never extinguishing light No matter the… - Lent day 2. Hold on…
Hold on. Hold on. My dear friend, hear comes the dawn. I think I will always remember the first time I saw this little clip of people singing on the streets of a besieged Minneapolis, where – in the face of a wave of heavy handed, violent and aggressive arrests of people of colour – ordinary Minnesotans came together to walk the streets and… sing. In the face of oppression, people have always sung songs. Think of the American deep south during the Jim Crow era, or Apartheid South Africa, or the pop culture of East Berlin. How else can those without power once more express the power of community and connection? Hold on my dear friends. Here comes the dawn. - Proost lent 2026 begins- Ash Wednesday poetry…Today, the Proost lent journey begins with a daily post. The first is a lovely selection of poems read by Emily MaGrath and Steve Page. As ever, you can connect with this via Spotify, Youtube or Apple podcasts, or click below;
- New podcast out- resilience in faith based communities with Josie GwinAfter a couple of months silence, the main Proost podcast feed has another offering, this time with Josie Gwin, whose day job is with a charity working to support recovery and resilience in communities, particuarly after major events and disasters. You can read more about the Resilience Resource here; Josie has crammed a lot of things into her life – fire fighter, equine therapist, Police chaplain – and most recently has been undertaing a Phd at Edinburgh University using the Iona Community as material for a deep dive into how faith spaces might support – or hinder – resilience in members. I really enjoyed this conversation and think that you will too. Josie is a great communicator and has a breadth of knowledge that plugs directly into our hopes for Proost, and how informal, non-hierarchical organisations (particularly in the arts) might have important things to offer as we continue to navigate instability and change. You can listen on Apple, Spotify, or Youtube – just search for Proost Podcast Here is the spotify link
- Proost lent, 2026- contributions please!!!
Lent is almost upon us once again. Like last year, Proost will be marking the lent journey with a daily piece of creativity- a poem, a song, a video, a prayer, a dance, a piece of music, a piece of art. We have a wonderful back catalogue that we will dip into once again, but even more, we love to connect with creatives who might want to take part. We are looking for pieces that help us all make connections between our faith story and the times we are living through. At Proost, we think we need our artists more than ever to challenge us, to disturb those colonial hierarchies and places where we have too often been complicit with powers that are anything but benign. Let this Lent journey be part of a conspiracy towards goodness, for the sake of our human and non human neighbours. If you are considering contributing (and we really hope you do!) then email it to us at hello@proost.community! Please feel free to attach whatever images, audio files, or video you would like to offer and we will do our best to include them. If your files are too big, we’d recommend using WeTransfer!
What we do
- Community podcasts exploring art and spirituality
- Connecting and supporting creatives
- Artistic collaboration
- Creative workshops and meetups
- Digital spaces for collaboration and connection
- Publishing
Tune Into Our Latest Podcast!
Chris Goan
Community Organiser and Podcast Host
Chris is a half-English, half-Irish man who lives in Scotland. He is the author of several books of poetry and, after a first career in social work and mental health services, now makes a living through making ceramic art. He also writes a long running eclectic blog called this fragile tent. Chris has a long history with Proost as a poet and the editor of a couple of poetry collections. Chris is married to Michaela and has two adult children and now a little grandchild. He also grows vegetables.
Rob Hewlett
Community Organiser and Podcast Host
Rob first came across Proost many years ago through the Labyrinth set. Sometime in 2023, he started making tentative enquiries as to whether Proost had any life left in it, and once he started chatting more earnestly with Chris, things started to develop.
He is married, lives in Jersey and has two grown-up sons. He works in a second-hand shop for a social enterprise providing work and training for people with disabilities and long-term health conditions.
Cameron Preece
Community Organiser and Online Community Facilitator
Cameron is the Admissions and Recruitment Coordinator at Nazarene Theological College and a passionate poet based in Manchester. With a BA and MA in Theology, he has a keen interest in the intersection between poetry and prayer and the Hebrew poetry of the Bible. He loves playing piano, photography, anything to do with organising and tidying, and tinkering with computers. Cameron joined the Proost community after feeling seen by the podcast and has a deep curiosity about how poetry can inform and transform spiritual experience.
Looking for ways to explore creative spirituality?
Proost is a creative community that explores and expresses the divine through art—whether in words, visuals, music, or beyond.
We embrace imagination as a way to encounter the sacred and the good, crafting spaces where faith, justice, and creativity meet.
