Proost Revival: Exploring Faith, Art, and Spirituality’s Future

The Proost revival project is taking place in a very different context to the Proost that was – you don’t need me to tell you this. We have explored some of these differences via our podcast, for example, this one with Dr Katie Cross. Proost #1 was an organisation at the edges of Church, gathering material from activists and people who had the gift of not fitting in. This edge is now much harder to map, particularly as we see a diaspora of people who have left Church- although as Katie points out, the spiritual quest is very much continuing.

There are many voices inside and outside calling for a new evolution of the structures, doctrines and theological contructs of faith. Here at Proost, we want to engage with this process through art. One such voice is John Philip Newell, whose latest book starts like this:

"Search and you will find." - Matthew 7:7

We are living through a time of immense transition as old systems of authority and belief are questioned. A new vision of reality is trying to be born. Earth and humanity need healing. The way we have lived on this planet is unsustainable. And the way our societies are plagued by racism, injustice and violence is wrong. We need change. Religion as we have known it has failed to adequately address the most urgent challenges of humanity, including the threatened plight of Earth. These challenges are not just ecological, and political, and economic. They are also spiritual. That is why there is a quest of soul today for new depths of wisdom to guide us into well-being, both individually and together.
Something new is emerging. We need to listen to the stirrings of the Spirit within us and within the body of Earth, and change. The good news is that our spiritual traditions have changed in the past and can change again. In Christianity, for instance, there was the Great Schism of the eleventh century that reflected the distinctness of East and West in the unfolding life of the church. Or there was the Great Reformation of sixteenth-century Europe that spawned massive protest for change and questioned old hierarchies of domination. Similarly, there was the Great Awakening of eighteenth-century America that gave birth to more personal expressions of faith. Today we are in another era of change, perhaps the most important we have ever faced in the history of our religious inheritance. It can be called the Great Search. We are seeking healing as an Earth community, and we are longing for a new sense of home spiritually. Vast numbers of us have left the four walls of institutional religion. Others are choosing to stay.

We are living in a time of immense transition as old systems of authority and belief are questioned. A new vision of reality is trying to be born. Earth and humanity need healing. The way we have lived on this planet is unsustainable. And the way our societies are plagued by racisim, injustice and violence is wrong. We need change. Religion as we have known it has failed to address the most urgent challenges of humanity, including the threatened plight of earth. These issues are not just ecological, and political, and economic. They are also spiritual.
John Philip Newell