A Work In Progress: With Spring Comes New Growth - photos are at the end this time

It’s been a while! Apologies that I “went quiet” a bit over the winter! In all honesty, there’s part of me that’s still processing the fact it’s now 2023, let alone nearly 4 months in!

What’s happened since my last general update in September?

I moved into Waverley Abbey House October 1st;
We welcomed pilgrims from the Netherlands and South Africa on October 2nd, and the hosted one of our quarterly Jazz events that evening;
I went to Belfast for the 24-7 Prayer International Gathering at the end of October, followed by a 2 day retreat for members of the Order of the Mustard Seed;
My ongoing regular work of childcare, Ancient Paths, etc continued;
In November we had a couple move in for two months, while they waited for a house sale to proceed. This couple is Jason & Bev Clark who had recently moved to the area to take up the leadership of Waverley Abbey College;
In November we also had Charlie Kang move in on a “trial” basis as he continued to discern his involvement with the vision here;
November and December had a few other short term “pilgrims” as well as, unfortunately, numerous colds and illnesses for the entire house (ah, the joy of community living - and working with toddlers);
Over Christmas we all had a short break, scattering to family and friends.
In January, Charlie confirmed that he would be joining our “Residential Team” here and, in reality, this entire experiment “began”.

Since the beginning of January there has been some significant “shifts” within both the Residential Team dynamic and the behind the scene practicalities of formalising relationships within the new Waverley Abbey Trust organisation.

Within the wider Waverley Abbey Trust (WAT) organisation, we had a new CEO, Dave Wesson, join us in January. This in itself was a strategic decision by the former CEO Mark Markiewicz (who has stayed on through a lateral move into Fundraising & Development), to ensure we would have the best person possible in the role as we continue to work out what needs to be done, established, re-visioned and developed in order to see the wider vision of developing a “modern day monastery” in this place.

Dave has spent the first three months of this year learning about, listening to and assessing what is already established here as well as what will be needed to expand to the full potential of “what could be”. He then, in consultation with the new Board of Trustees and the strategic steering group, recently introduced the beginnings of a 5 Year Strategic Plan which is aimed at enabling the diverse, over-arching vision to be achieved.

In a “nutshell”, the over-aching Vision is to create, as a I said, a “modern day monastery”, which will function as a Motherhouse community for both the 24-7 Prayer Movement and the Order of the Mustard Seed monastic Order.

I find that many people’s concept of a monastery or convent is of a place where men or woman have “retreated” to, to avoid or runaway from “the world” and society. Often I find that people see the idea of monastic life as a “soft” option for people who want to avoid “real life”.

In reality, especially within the Celtic tradition,

“Celtic monasteries were very much in, if not wholly of, the world, colonies of heaven which pointed to the values of Christ's Kingdom while being rooted in their local environments and cultures, preserving popular traditions and serving peoples’ needs.” - Ian Bradley

The lifestyle of prayer and community at the heart of monastic life enabled them to engage with needs throughout the society around them, by becoming places of hospitality and healing (welcoming pilgrims and travellers as well as becoming some of the first hospitals aimed primarily at the poor); places of education and learning (often becoming some of the first schools); and places of industry and enterprise as they farmed land, brewed beer, and provided employment for craftsmen of all kinds.

All these are aspects of the vision and ‘strategic plan’ for what we are building at Waverley. “Rebuilding” the heritage of practical, spiritual service in our local area as well as for the international family of 24-7 Prayer.

In my “small picture” part of it all, life in the house as part of the residential prayer community being established at the heart of this monastic expression, looks a lot like “normal life”, continuing with the projects I’ve been involved with for the last year or so.

The Ancient Paths course I coordinate is coming to the end of our third year running it, with the question of whether we run it again next year or allow it a year off as we continue to figure out how it might fit with the wider range of courses offered. My involvement with 24-7 Communities work is ongoing, continuing to help host our monthly Touchpoint Zoom meetings, coordinating guests from around the world to join us on our Friday morning prayer Zoom time, and facilitating a Learning Cohort for the 24-7 Leadership Pathway. In March I was also able to spend a weekend visiting one of the 24-7 House of Prayer communities in Cheltenham, building relationship with, and hopefully encouraging, them through my visit!

As a prayer community ‘living in’ at the House, we have also begun to host Morning and Evening Prayer times for the students, staff, and guests, based around the prayer practices of Lectio Devina (divine reading) in the morning and Examen (a way of reflecting on and releasing the day) in the Evening.

Alongside this I’m continuing with my “Lara Days” on Tuesday and Thursdays, although I am now discussing with Chris & Becky the possibility of discontinuing this, from July onwards.

It will be a loss, both in income and because I enjoy my time with Lara, but it also feels like the right time to transition. Lara will qualify for ‘free’ nursery access soon after her 3rd birthday in September, and I feel I need to begin to shift my focus more towards Waverley and things happening here.

I’m not completely sure of how this will work out practically, as I continue to try and balance what percentage of my time I can give to Waverley versus the cost of living in one of the more expensive areas of England! But I’m also hoping that my massage qualification might be able to get “dusted off” and brought into play, so we’ll see how the possibilities develop!

So, it has been a very full six months or so! I remember I used the words “year of consolidation” in my Christmas letter to friends and family. I feel in some ways I may have misjudged the pace of that, as in many ways it feels as if it’s been a ‘winter of consolidation’, of continuing to adjust to living in community after several years of my own, autonomous space; of continually adjusting our rhythms and routines as a residential household as we discover our strengths, weaknesses, and capacities; of continuing to work out the practicalities, joys and challenges of hosting guests and pilgrims from all over the world, in the limited space of the residential wing; and of continuing to balance (or try to!) aspects of life, work, ministry and rest, when in many ways they’re all rolled into one!

Looking forward, I have the joy of a short visit home to Canada for my Dad’s 85th birthday in April, then various family birthdays (including my own!), Wildfires Festival and the King’s Coronation in May, before ending my time with Lara in June! Come July & August we’ll be hosting various events and retreats at the House, but I’ll aim to do another update before then!

As always, thank you to all who’ve read this far, and for all your love and support!