Seven Sacred Space – The Wholeness of God’s Missions

A Stewardship Perspective

The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it Ps 24:1

7 Sacred ‘spaces’

CellChapelChapterCloisterGardenRefectoryScriptoriu

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7 sacred spaces – evolved by monastics

Cell

Chapel

Chapter

Cloister

Garden

Refectory

Scriptorium

• Being alone with God

• Corporate worship

• Communication, consultation, decisions

• Connections & surprises in community

• Physical work & feed the community

• Eating and hospitality

• Making learning available to others

They share a way of eating, talking, meeting, labouring, studying, deciding and praying designed to sustain and feed their charism

Thinking in context!Cell

Chapel

Chapter

Cloister

Garden

Refectory

Scriptorium

•Personal stewardship

•Stewardship as a church

•Stewardship for church committees

•Stewardship as we encounter others

•Stewardship in the workplace

•Stewardship in our hospitality and entertaining

•Stewardship of our study and sharing of learning

Why notice the 7 spaces?1. 7 Sacred Spaces is for all of life – not just monks

They occur in universities, conference centres, older houses

With practice you can spot them and their absence They occur in us and in our communities

2. Those living by them, and their variety, offer balance to living and resistance to distortions

3. They help cultivate virtues and highlight vices

4. They help us re-imagine church

5. They assist in reshaping discipleship

Church - more than the worship spaceJedburgh Abbey

A new lens through which to view and appraise where we are?

How to Use the Discipleship WheelThis is a chart which should be used before and after a

period of study or reflection to demonstrate whether there is a measurable difference for participants and hence whether the materials we are using are fit for purpose.

The chart can be used by individuals for personal reflection or indeed as a tool within a parish setting to consider how the parish itself supports the exploration of such areas.

Take time to consider levels of activity in each area at the outset of training.

Using the key provided and what you know about seven sacred spaces plot your position on a scale of 1-4 (1. being minimal involvement and 4. being highly engaged).

Using the same chart but perhaps using a different colour consider what changes there have been in each area after the course of study is complete

The Seven Sacred Spaces

Joining the Circles

A re-monking of the Church & Society?

I sense that the renewal of both the Church and Society will come through the re-emerging of forms of Christian community that are homes of generous hospitality, places of challenging reconciliation and centres of attentiveness to the living God.Brother Samuel SSF Mission and Community British & Foreign Bible Society 1998

Monastic life may seem utterly out of tune with the spirit of our times, yet if we are entering another Dark Age, it may be to the wisdom of such a way the Church of today needs to turn …

The spaces are about ‘greater spiritual clarity as well as more authentic humanity’Encounters 43 p. 5