Hello friends,
It’s been a while since we last sent out a SEARCH newsletter, but this isn’t because things have gone quiet. In fact, quite the reverse! It’s been an exciting time, with lots going on.
As we’ve said before, whether we like it or not, we find ourselves in interesting times, with the rate of change often feeling utterly overwhelming. If our churches and all our various and associated ministries are going to continue to serve our wider communities, we have to face this change head on, rather than burying our heads in the sand, hoping that if we just keep doing the same things that we’ve always done, everything will be ok. As the American pastor and leadership thinker Tod Bolsinger puts it in his book ‘Canoeing The Mountains: Christian Leadership in Uncharted Territory’, the choice facing us is:
“Adventure or die”.
SEARCH is here to support those who want to step out into that adventure (what we are now often calling “rewilding the church”)! We don’t pretend to have any easy answers (as there aren’t any!) but we have been trialling a number of different ways that we can better support and resource leaders and churches and projects, including:
Coaching:
We’ve been giving one-to-one “coaching” conversations to leaders, providing confidential spaces for deep, prayerful, critical reflection and learning, as well as offering support for leadership teams, to help them reflect on how they might work on their culture, vision and strategy. About some recent coaching conversations, Kate said:
I really valued the space to reflect and the process of the coaching sessions. They were very deep and got to core motivations within me. By understanding the motivations in the context of my somewhat intuitive drivers, it enables me to act in a way which is less random and more self aware.
“Slow Down With God” Prayer & Action Courses:
We’ve co-created and hosted two courses, a “Bring Your Question To God” course with Nicola Bown at St Mary’s in Cottingham, and a “Praying With Jesus” course with Steve Benford at St James’ in Sutton. Both courses supported people to explore how they might delve deeper into their lives of prayer and then take that out into the world.
(We also host the Church Urban Fund’s courses “Growing Good” and “Know Your Church, Know Your Neighbourhood”, as well as the “Unlock Emotions” course designed by Cathy Westby for Unlock).
Group Spiritual Direction:
We’ve been trialling a process of group spiritual direction, called ‘Faithfulness Groups’, where people gather regularly to support one another to discern God’s leading in their lives. About the Faithfulness Group process, Liane said:
Meeting with a small group of people with the intention of deeply listening to one another is such a life affirming thing to do. The group has a strong code of conduct which might sound restrictive, but actually is what helps it to be such a safe space. We follow the same pattern each time we meet, it is an intense experience, but to be held in such love, and to be able to hold the space so mutually is a really precious gift.
Guidelines for Faithfulness Groups – Inward Light
Communities of Practice:
We are also hosting regular group gatherings for mutual support and critical reflection, including the 'Outer-Estates' gathering and the 'Liberating Leadership' group, to support deeper connections and reflection among leaders across the city.
Alongside all these offerings, SEARCH is also actively looking to grow three streams of work in the years ahead, which are about:
1) New-Monastic Community:
The monastic tradition is a treasure trove of ancient wisdom about how we humans can live lives together that are grounded in prayer and place, balanced in work, rest and play, and fruitful in service through hospitality and loving action. We are actively exploring how we can support “new monastic” experiments here in Hull, seeing how we might best live out some of this ancient monastic wisdom, not behind monastery walls but here, today, in Hull, immersed in the hustle and bustle of city life.
2) Food Systems:
Our global food systems are broken, depleting soils, polluting the earth and leaving half the world stuffed while the other half starves, and we see this broken food system playing out in our own city. We are looking to encourage churches to reflect more deeply on how they can play more of an active role in the transformation of our food systems and we are collaborating with those across the city already doing exciting, innovative work.
3) Community Organising:
With engagement in our broken political system at an all-time low, there is a desperate need for our communities to come together, to organise effectively, and to take concrete, empowering action on issues affecting them - what is sometimes called participatory democracy! We are looking to support more community organising here in Hull, drawing on the good work of Community Organisers UK and Citizens UK nationally.
If you are interested in finding out more about any of our work, please do get in touch.
We also continue to host our ‘Christian Prayer and Meditation’ session every Wednesday, 1.30-2.30pm at Hull Minster, for anyone wanting to practice contemplative prayer alongside others. As always, all are welcome!
And to sign off, here is a lovely quote from the Quaker book ‘Advices and Queries’:
Live adventurously. When choices arise, do you take the way that offers the fullest opportunity for the use of your gifts in the service of God and the community? Let your life speak. When decisions have to be made, are you ready to join with others in seeking clearness, asking for God’s guidance and offering counsel to one another?
much peace,
Sam, Chris and Fiona
