FOUNDING GUARDIAN’S ANNUAL REPORTON 2014

The Great Emergence

In 2014 something dawned on me. Our first twenty years feels like womb formation. Nowwe are experiencing the great birthing. We are part of it only when we abandon ourselves to the mysterious, divine process. This year was a constant flow of inspiration and connectivity – everything was sparking.

The Big Picture

Freed from other duties I thought, prayed and communicated what I sensed is God’s direction for us in relationship to The Great Emergence.Thus the talks on Seven Future Routes at our Annual Gathering in June and at the USA’s National Retreat at Santa Fe in August.While Down Under in January I began to plan with Australian members a five state tourfrom January 20 – May 23 2015to ground Australians and churches in our Way of Life, aided by the book Celtic Spirituality in an Australian Landscape which I worked on with Brent Lyons Lee. Please pray for this.

Ambassador

I gave various public addresses, for example in Denmark (March), Oxford Festival of Prayer (July), Clonmacnoise Summer School Ireland (August) the William Temple Lecture at Blackburn Cathedral (September). I have also worked with church leaders who are fired up with Villages of God.

Raising awareness of Aidan and Hilda

Hilda of Whitby: a spirituality of now (BRF) was launched in March to good reviews. In Whitby, where our leaders and locals seek to turn a vision into a reality, this inspired fresh people. It was the basis for the St. Hilda’s tide retreat there and of an Anglican/RC Colloquy at the Anglican Centre,Rome that drew insights from Hilda after the Whitby Synod for church leaders facing schism today. Aidan of Lindisfarne: Irish Flame Warms a New World (Wipfand Stock) was published in August. I have begun to encourage well-wishers to buy, promote and study it in groups.

The Little Things

Last year I tried harder ‘to do the little things well’, and so to layfoundations for better longer-term outcomes. For example, I sustained the monastic hours of prayer on Holy Island, a daily prayer tweet with the new address #praycelticdaily, theweekly blog, an ever-growing email network, personal meetings with visiting members, guests, pilgrims; I renewed Norfolk contacts with my former church at Bowthorpe, the E. Anglia group and at a Norfolk Broads wedding blessing.I devoted time to detailed forwardplanning that shouldenable participants in events to move intoon-going engagement with our Way of Lifethrough good information and courses. E-studies have been up-graded and a new course on Creation is ready with Brenda’s help from the shed office.

Testing

After six weeks of pain and reduced mobility polymyalgic rheumatism was diagnosed and I am on steroids treatment until February. I told God that if I recover I will not live the same way as before. Everything I did before, however inspired, was a means to an end. Now, once a day I will learn just to ‘be’. My greatest joy? A voyager who says ‘Can I come for a chat and a cuppa’. RJS January 2015