Soul making: the forgotten ministry and mission o f the church?

1. Dr Terry BiddingtonDean of Spiritual LifeLecturer in Practical Theologyterrybiddington@winchester.ac.uk Soul making: the forgotten ministry and mission of the church?

2. Some definitions.spirituality: the ‘collage of things’ that is my effort at conscious daily living in the presence of God/eternity, the ‘bigger picture’; all those varied practices that help maintain, direct and challenge the conscious, and perhaps unconscious, relationship between myself and what is Other to me: be it ‘God’ or ‘divinity’ or, indeed, every category of thing that is ‘other’ than me, or ‘different’ from me. practices of prayer: the ‘means by which I open myself to that which is not me’intercession: holding something up to God;worship (wor-th-ship), giving value, praise, adulation;silence, meditation and contemplation; imagining how things might be ‘other than they are’ (God, otherness/alterity) being transformed/transfigured, changed opening oneself up to risk/danger, prayer as precariousness (preces=prayer)

3. Soul making: “involves a willingness to cultivate a certain disposition towards the world and to other people: an attitude of receptivity and openness." [See the earlier presentation] “Soul making also has to do with following questions into the mystery and respecting Things Invisible.” Alan Jones, Dean of Grace Cathedral in San Franciscoministry: opportunities for soul makingministers: those who know things about soul makingWhat opportunities are there for soul making and spiritual nurture in your context?

4. The Institution’s External Performance• Strong commitment to social responsibility• Employees and management actively involved in the local community• Aesthetically pleasing and spiritually nourishing buildings and spaces• Desire to communicate with and relate to customers and external service providers by drawing on the spiritual values of the institution• Use of spiritual imagery/language in marketing and PR• The institution is well-regarded• Involvement in the spirituality in the workplace movement. • https://www.alchemyformanagers.co.uk/topics/BwqXMmys5gmsZXMx.html Sue Wilson Spirit at Work

5. The individual’s performance• Developing a sense of personal and collective meaning and purpose• Having clarity about one’s individual contribution to the whole• Able to communicate one’s potential to contribute and have the sense of being heard by those concerned with the flourishing of colleagues, the team, and the wider institution• Enjoying seeing oneself and others contributing and making a difference• Feeling connected with others and the sense of sharing a journey/building something together• Able to be oneself with integrity and authenticity• Able to give of one’s best• Having an awareness (reinforced by others) of personal value: per se and within the larger whole …• … so as to create a ‘truthful performance’

6. A possible starting place:What is the spirituality of your church?How is spirituality on the agenda, as an active part of community life?What are the practical ways in which spirituality is addressed?for men?for women?for the time rich and time poor?for the elderly, sick and dying?for the wider community?for young people?

7. young people: exploring silence/stillness learning to contemplate exploring identity; embodiment; relationships space to ask the hard questions: unconditionally creativityadult people: life-work balance; play and creativity un/employment relationships meaning and value learning to meditate; refreshment in stillness embodied experience: the whole gamut! living with sickness/disabilityelderly/disabled/dying: maturing, ripening; sowing seeds letting go, living a good death

8. Soul making: the forgotten missionWhat are the spiritual needs of those who don’t come to church? Task: responding to the thirst spirituality & the longing for re-enchantmentThe world has changed, however.People don’t join groups as they used toChurch – as patriarchal/patronising authority - has lost its appealPeople are happier to seek for their own solutions (Mind, Body, Spirit fairs!) If they don’t like a solution they’ll ditch it!But people still need/accept help on the journey

9. • listening to the stories that are told• seeing how God is already at work in the community (without the church!)• organising hope in the community• engaging with popular forms of spirituality• being guide/interpreter of the spiritual• generating a sense of wonder, enchantment and delight• generating a desire for connectedness with the spiritual • using the church building as a valued and functioning sacred space• finding the sacred spaces in the community• engaging and responding to the sacred• understanding God is the everyday• naming divinity• opening your church up and ensuring your efforts don’t just collapse back into the usual religious tradition and practices; church must change too!