well - having had all the necessary conversations - i can now finally announce (although most people reading this will already know about it) that hOME - our fledgeling Christian community - will be de-coupling from our mother church this September and learning to stand on our own two feet a bit more. St Aldates has given us a start in life and has incubated our egg. but it now feels like it's time to move on. the egg is hatching and so the mother hen is getting off.
we still have the full support of the Bishop and the Diocese and we will be relocating in Oxford. we are in conversation with another church about the possibility of some sort of partnership and a mutual sharing of resources but it won't be the same kind of relationship we've had with St Aldates.
I'm really excited about the future possibilities and this move feels really right although it will put a strain on our resources and may involve me finding some other work. we'll see.
so, those in our community who feel the missionary call of the great missionary God to go with us will be getting into our coracle and heading out in a couple of months time. and we'll see where the Holy Spirit takes us.
4 comments:
glad you are feeling excited - all the best with the changes
Could just be that I need to have a proper surf and read round the hOME site to understand what's going on. But, I hope you won't mind me posting some questions that immediately come to mind upon hearing your news.
I remember somewhere around Wycliffe (was it a private conversation we had or one of those Tru sessions?) you explaining that you saw hOME as a congregation that needed to be rooted in the life of a wider church so as to find and know its place within the whole family of God (all ages). Has that feeling changed, or has hOME changed (in terms of its demographics)? If hOME is becoming a church in its own right, what kind of understanding does it have of the family of God (as a gathering of all ages)? If it's still a congregation targetting a specific demographic, how can it stand alone from the wider setting of a church?
I'm expecting to face these questions in the future, so it's a privilege (does some of the work for me) to draw on your thinking! Whatever the answers, very excited for you.
blessings for the journey...
thanks for the comments and other messages of good will.
tim, to answer your question....hOME will still be rooted in the wider family of God in Oxford due to the fact that we will remain part of the Oxford diocese.
but yes i think it is true to say that hOME has changed in some important ways..it has evolved as we have gone on. i think at the beginning we were very focused on a demographic ('young adults') but increasingly i see us as being a church for those of a particular mindset (postmodern for want of a better word). and that mindset can be found in people of any age (although it is probably to be found most often in young adults). so we have recently been joined by a woman in her fifties (I think...it's rude to ask a lady!) and i am confident that some other older types will find their way to us, and i'm very cool with that.
does that answer your concerns?
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