Monkfish Abbey is a church with a difference
Tips for building generous “soul-care” communities, from Rachelle Mee-Chapman, “urban abbess” of Monkfish Abbey:
* Make the table your altar.
Eat simple meals together regularly and enjoy the conversation. Anchor your celebration with a simple ritual of breaking bread or saying grace. Try having a “question of the night” to get conversations going.
* Find a rhythm to live by.
Follow the seasons as anchor points for celebration and reflection. Make an annual practice of celebrating spiritually oriented holidays.
* Dance in the overlap.
Emphasize the places where your belief systems and faith practices coincide, and celebrate those.
* Embrace experimentation.
Try different practices, celebrations and rituals, and then lean into the ones that feed you best.
* Practice dialogue instead of debate.
Learn to listen to each other’s beliefs and practices. Create a culture that doesn’t require people to be on the same page religiously. Be open to learning from belief systems other than your own.
* Sink into story.
Know your family’s holy stories and find culturally current ways to celebrate age-old tales.
HT to MoLak Jedi
Telling Stories, Asking Questions, Learning Lessons
Wow. Neat church. I hope to plant churches that value many of the same things they do…