We are a vibrant community of like-minded and differently-minded artists encountering one another and the divine through creativity. We champion art and artists of all kinds who explore spirituality through their work. We create spaces for diverse voices and perspectives, fostering authentic connections and meaningful dialogue.
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.
Lead us from death to life, from falehood to truth. Lead us from despair to hope, from fear to trust. Lead us from hate to love, from war to peace. Let peace fill our lives, our world, our universe. Peace peace peace. So we say during our Iona Community liturgy each time we meet. It always give me pause, because peace is not wafted down from heaven like some kind of miasma – it requires the consistent work of love. It is so easy to get sucked into cycles of seperation which start to sow the opposite into our lives. So easy to let the screens shield us from the humanity of the other or the visceral toxification of our planet. What does peace making look like to you? In an age of yet another imperial war, we rightly focus on the big picture, but it is only the small and local that most of us can access or influence. But perhaps this is the point- we start where we are, in the mess of our ordinary. Love is not abstract, it is above all things, local. Blessed are the peace makers… Blessed are those whose find themselvesNo longer vindicatedBy…
Today, another poem from Steve Page. Heaven is a concept many of us struggle with – it is one of those abstract ideas that has perhaps been too often abused by institutional, colonised faith structures. This poem might just set you free from that kind of heaven. Coronation heaven You said no heart has imagined, but you gave a few hints of a massive mansion, a river and a fruit tree with 12 varieties, sprouting monthly. You said we couldn’t imagine what you’ve got prepared, but I can’t imagine anything beats a Coronation Chicken sandwich, with Branston, on a warm summer’s afternoon with friends and laughter and Monty’s head resting hopefully on my knee. You called it paradise and you mentioned wine. If that comes with a new body – one that doesn’t protest to a fine Merlot then that’ll be fine with me. That would be paradise. That’ll be heaven indeed. So long as you don’t forget the Coronation Chicken and the pickle. [1 Cor 2.9 … no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him.] You can grab yourself one of Steve’s wonderful books here.
a prominent UK politiion declared that there is no such thing as Islamophobia. The complexities behind this hubristic and clearly partisan statement are not the point of this post, but it will have escaped none of us that bombs are raining down on places where they worship in different ways to us. Scratch the surface (or don’t even do this) and the lie of that politician is exposed repeatedly. Those in power in the US have named their enemy. They know what the enemy looks like, and it something like the photo above. What is the call of Jesus when religion gives cover for war? When the death of the other is seen as an acceptable political price to pay? When casual racism echoes in the corridors of power and no-one calls it for what it is, out of fear of offending the racists? Part of my answer to this involves listening again to the voice of the other. As a poet, I have long been drawn to the Sufi poets- mostly writing over a thousand years ago, before England was really England, and when the USA was just a distant nightmare to the people of what came to be…
Today we point you to this lovely resource from our friend Tim Watson. It is simple, beautiful and profound – 40 thoughts/ideas/actions for reflection during lent. Here is one of our favourites to give you a flavour;
I (Chris) am on Skye just now, where we will be setting up a pop up gallery space and visiting my son-in-law’s family. They live on a croft, just along from Saint Maelrubha, second most venerated Scottish saint after St Columba himself. Maelrubha was another Irish monk, who made the journey over here 100 years or so after Columba, setting up a monastic community in what is now Appelcross, just over the water from where I now sit. In fact, legend has it that when he came over to Skye to spread the gospel, he did so by sailing over on a flat stone. Here a tall rock is remembered as his pulpit and a holy well still bears his name. The tradition of holy wells as palces of veneration and suplication is much older than the Christ story. Around the well that bears the name of Maelrubha archeologists have dig neolithic polished axes, perhaps left by earlier worshippers as a way to persuade their version of the divine, revealed to them in th elive giving sweet water. Scholars also trace other forms of knowing through the stories that come down to us from Celtic folk memory – ones which…
We have just heard that Si Smith’s set of now iconic images entitled ’40’ are now available again. You can get the whole set on this link. (If you would like the poetry that Chris wrote to go with the images, then drop us a line!) As a taster, above is another image from the series, along with the accmopanying words below; Find me O my father Make me. Take me back to you My throat is cracked But thirst is more For you My stomach craves A food that feeds only this; My soul. So I walk Desperate Close to falling Stumbling To you
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
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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.
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