This is a blog post about my cartoon in today’s Church Times. Unfortunately it would be unfair of me to post it here given that the Church Times have paid me to draw it and so it is right that they have exclusive first use of it. The link is here, but it is subscriber only, and I’m aware that the extract above will be too small to see as it is long and thin. Apologies, therefore, to those for whom this post will be meaningless.

This isn’t an apology (which was what I originally entitled it), more of an explanation. I felt in hindsight, having submitted the cartoon, that some clergy might feel that I am getting at them and criticising of the organising of lots of Lenten things. This was not my intention. The cartoon is perhaps saying something about the vast range of Lent resources and activities that are available – are there too many? But in truth the cartoon is probably more about how someone like me, whose job it is to think about Christianity all day every day, keeps their belief alive. The danger is that one becomes overwhelmed by worthy activities and spiritual messages. The suggestion is that, for me, the best Lenten fast is possibly to fast from Lent itself.

I don’t know, what do you think?

Posted by Dave at 10:48 am on February 26, 2010 and filed under Cartooning, Church, Religion, Spirituality.

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This is a new cartoon that hasn’t appeared anywhere else. I know, unheard of.

You don’t need to tell me that the steps are a bit funny. I know that the steps are a bit funny. But you quite often find that underground bunker churches have funny steps.

Large and high resolution versions for subscribers and those wearing the incorrect spectacles here: CartoonChurch.com » Cartoon » We are safe here.

Posted by Dave at 7:59 pm on January 8, 2010 and filed under Cartoons, Church, New CartoonChurch cartoons, Religion.

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I’ve just added five new cartoons to the main CartoonChurch site. They are free to look at, or if you’d like to publish them in church literature and other such places, licences are available.

I have added some of these to the Facebook page too and will be adding the last couple in the next day or two. I don’t want to overwhelm Facebook users with too much excitement all at once.

The new cartoons are as follows:

1. Church architecture How congregation members resemble it
2. Fixtures and fittings that you may have observed during the services
3. The Laity How to recognise them
4. The organ recital We have good news to share
5. After-service coffee This is the time when newcomers can get to know the congregation

Posted by Dave at 1:25 pm on March 17, 2009 and filed under Cartoons, Church, New CartoonChurch cartoons.

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A couple of my cartoons have been posted on the Church Times site today:

From today’s Church Times newspaper (and available to non-subscribers on this occasion only): Church House: A brief glimpse into the inner workings

And, from today’s Church Times blog, drawn in the office around lunchtime: How personal disorganisation is splitting the Anglican Church

Posted by Dave at 5:53 pm on January 30, 2009 and filed under Cartooning, Church, Church Times blog.

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Just a sneak preview of part of a cartoon from a project I finished a week or two ago. I’ve done a set of youthwork-themed cartoons to go on a set of seven postcards which are part of a campaign to encourage churches to think about the way they employ youthworkers.

The ‘We love our youthworker’ campaign isn’t launched until next year, but I think the postcards were available at the recent Youthwork conference in Blackpool and Eastbourne, so some youthworkers will have seen them. This info has been posted on the Schoolswork site, which is why I’m posting about it.

Early in 2009, Youthwork the Partnership and Amaze will be launching a brand new project called ‘we love our youthworker’. simply brilliant! It’s a campaign to encourage churches to think about the way they employ a full-time worker. It’s based on a set of seven promises that churches commit to follow:

1. we will pray and support
2. we will give space for retreat and reflection
3. we will provide ongoing training and development
4. we will give a full day of rest each week
5. we will share responsibility
6. we will strive to be an excellent employer
7. we will celebrate and appreciate

Each of the promises has a little card with a purpose drawn cartoon from Dave Walker of Cartoon Church. Very funny. The reason for the project comes from the belief that keeping full time workers positive, productive and living balanced lives makes for great youthwork. And that’s an important step towards building God’s kingdom among young people. more details will follow shortly…for now, do get in touch if you’d like more info or a set of the postcards.

No doubt the full set of cartoons will appear online somewhere at some point.

Posted by Dave at 1:49 pm on November 28, 2008 and filed under Cartooning, Cartoons, Church.

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One more cartoon for now. You can see the large version here along with the link to the high resolution printable version. There’s no charge if you want to print it out for the door / wall of the church office, but if you’d like to publish it in your church magazine or elsewhere I’d appreciate you buying a licence (for church use) or getting in touch. If that’s OK of course. Thank you!

I’ll post a few more soon. I have a new ftp programme (the one that enables me to upload things to the internet) and it has taken me half the day to tweak the dials, find the passwords, find the passwords which will enable me to find the passwords and work out whether it can make the tea and do the washing up.

Anyway, hello to anyone who is reading from a church office. Hope your day is going well. My advice would be to keep this page* open in another window in case the vicar comes in and finds you casually browsing cartoons when the noticesheet isn’t yet finished.

*Open invitation to bloggers: See whether you can fill that page.

Posted by Dave at 3:19 pm on October 1, 2008 and filed under Cartoons, Church.

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See a larger version of this cartoon here on CartoonChurch.com. I thought it was about time I uploaded a few more. This is another one from the first book, the Dave Walker Guide to the Church. Perhaps I’ll upload some from the new book before too long.

Posted by Dave at 3:07 pm on October 1, 2008 and filed under Cartoons, Church.

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The Diocese of Oxford has produced a document entitled ‘Welcoming those with Autism and Asperger Syndrome in our Churches and Communities’. The document includes some of my cartoons – they are existing ones with occasional minor modifications rather than new material. You can find the document as a downloadable .pdf via this page: Asperger Friendly Church?, which includes an interview with Ann Memmott, Advisor to the Oxford Diocese on autism and Asperger syndrome.

My understanding is that there are plans for guidelines for the Church of England as a whole. On a related note, from the Church Times earlier this year: Act on autism, Church urged.

As an aside: I am aware that there is a lack of crispness in the cartoons in the document. This is something I am aware of, and I’m hoping that it is something that can be addressed.

Posted by Dave at 10:03 am on September 30, 2008 and filed under Cartooning, Church.

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[Click on the photo for a larger version on the Flickr website]

I’ve just been to the launch of ‘What am I doing here?’ at Church House and am sitting in the Methodists’ canteen. Aren’t the Methodists great.

The book has some of my cartoons in it. I gave a short speech and was videoed a bit. I will not come across well on the video. The picture above is of me signing some books with Hilary Brand, the author.

There is a press release about the book on the Church of England website which I have reproduced below:

Church launches a guidebook to churchgoing

26 June 2008

A cartoonist and an author have joined forces to create a fresh guide to churchgoing – published by the Church of England this week – which has already won praise for its no-nonsense approach to explaining the Anglican faith.

What Am I Doing Here?, produced by Church House Publishing, uses the main weekly communion service as a basis for explaining why people go to church, and what happens when they do.

Broadcaster and editor of Private Eye, Ian Hislop, is among early fans of the book’s ability to communicate simply what going to church is really about. He comments: “Most books nowadays explain why people don’t go to church anymore. It is good to find one that explains why people still do.”

Accompanied by illustrations from cartoonist Dave Walker, the pocket-sized book guides readers through each of the key parts of the Holy Communion service, demystifying what happens and why.

Written by Hilary Brand (Christ and the Chocolaterie; The Sceptic’s Guide to the Bible), the book serves as an ideal resource for churches to offer people who have recently started attending church, perhaps through contact with Fresh Expressions, Back to Church Sunday, or other mission initiatives.

It follows research (pdf document) that recently revealed three million people (six per cent of the adult population) would come back to church if they received a personal invitation.

The Rt Revd Nick Baines, Bishop of Croydon, is convinced that the book’s down-to-earth style will help explain what the 1.7 million people who attend a Church of England church each month get up to, without resorting to theological jargon: “Written from the perspective of an ordinary ‘person in the pew’, this book is a wonderfully direct, simple and informative guide to what goes on in church and takes us on the brief journey we make when we worship together.

“It debunks some of the myths about church – for example, that only ‘self-righteous’ people go to church. Church is for all people – the ragbag of saints and sinners that we are – and Hilary Brand’s simple clarity and Dave Walker’s cartoons should make it a more welcoming place particularly for those who don’t go to church, but might like to.”

Over its 72 pages, What Am I Doing Here? highlights key parts of the Holy Communion service, including:

• Wonder and wow factor – how worship begins with finding and expressing gratitude for all that God has done
• Admitting and acknowledging – recognizing and ‘owning’ the fact that we are responsible for messing up, and that we need God to forgive us
• Receiving and renewing – the need for gaining strength, comfort and delight in remembering and reenacting the Last Supper, the ultimate demonstration of God’s sacrifice for the sake of humankind.

What Am I Doing Here?, priced £4.99 (ISBN 978-07151-4161-8), is available from Christian bookshops, or by mail order via the web.

My own page about the book is here.

Posted by Dave at 1:27 pm on June 26, 2008 and filed under Books, Church, Religion.

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I’ve just heard that ‘What am I doing here’, the book I’ve contributed cartoons to is now available. It is published by Church House Publishing – the page on their website is here.

Church House Bookshop contacted me this morning to say they have it in stock – see this page. They do mail order. It should be available in lots of other places as well – the ISBN number is 9780715141618 if you want to order or search for it somewhere.

There are about 8 cartoons I think – one for each of most of the chapters. I’ve posted one below. I’ll admit that at first I was hesitant to do the cartoons for this book as I was stressed with other things at the time, but when I read the manuscript I said yes. It goes through a typical Anglican communion service and explains why we do what we do. I think it could be a really useful book to (for example) give to newcomers who are not used to church services and all the strange things that happen in them. I’ve posted the publisher’s description below.

Have you ever wondered what church is all about? Ever found yourself in a service wondering what on earth is going on? And what the point of it all is?

Whether you’re completely new to church or have been coming to church for a while, this little book is here to help you!

With a down-to-earth style and subtle humour, What am I Doing Here? takes you through an Anglican Holy Communion service, demystifying what happens – and why.

Subjects covered include:

* What are you doing here?: The need to meet your maker
* Worship: The need to celebrate and count our blessings
* Confession: The need for accounting procedures and a clean slate
* Sermons: The need for wise words and challenging questions
* The Creed: The need for a basic belief system
* Prayer: The need to engage with the wider world and ask for help
* The Peace: The need to live in right relationship with others
* Holy Communion: The need for strength, comfort and delight
* Being sent out and the after-church chat: The need to share the journey

Hilary Brand is the best-selling author of Christ and the Chocolaterie and The Sceptic’s Guide to the Bible. As an ordinary pew-dweller rather than a church leader, she’s in an ideal position to empathise with newcomers.

Dave Walker is one of the best-known Christian cartoonists in the UK. He runs www.cartoonchurch.com and contributes the weekly ‘Dave Walker Guide to the Church’ cartoon in the Church Times.

Posted by Dave at 12:31 pm on June 13, 2008 and filed under Books, Cartoons, Church, My books, Religion.

4 Comments

I’ll post this up on the site tomorrow in a high res downloady version. Unless anyone asks me not to.

Posted by Dave at 10:40 pm on April 30, 2008 and filed under Cartoons, Church, Religion.

13 Comments

Ben Edson has been causing the evolution of a worshipper cartoon to evolve. The interpretation will follow in a few days.

Perhaps other people would like to undertake the creation of their own evolution. I have uploaded the high resolution original of the 2008 version of the cartoon (with Emergent Guy) for you to download and photoshop. Or of course you can use the original original. Let me know if you do something with it.

The 2008 version of the cartoon originally appeared in Christianity Today – see my previous post.

Please note that you still need to get in touch as per usual if you want to publish it in a magazine or somewhere. Thank you!

Posted by Dave at 10:35 pm on February 24, 2008 and filed under Cartooning, Church, Religion, Spirituality.

8 Comments