Anvil journal of theology and mission
Kairos: a mission movement and community in Yorkshire North & East
by Liane Kensett
The journey of the Kairos Movement began just before COVID-19 hit. Leslie Newton (chair of the Methodist Yorkshire North & East District), Andy Lindley (Methodist Presbyter then located in York) and I (lay worker based in the Hull area) were wondering together what the Methodist Church across our district might look like in the future. Here, like Methodism in churches everywhere, the season of what has been is clearly coming to an end.
As Leslie reminds us in his book,1 Methodism emerged in the 18th century with a real sense of movement as new communities started with very contextual small groups, and as this evolved it became a movement of real transformation. As with many things, we like to duplicate and then standardise what ‘works’ and over the years Methodism has become an institution, and then in many ways has become stuck. However, people within the institution have earmarked significant money to explore what new places might look like for new people, and so we decided to make use of that and start an exploration of what new thing might be waiting to grow in Yorkshire North & East.
Encounter Encourage Explore
We named our new endeavour the Kairos Movement and hoped that reflected a sense of divine movement at this time. We then discerned some guiding principles. It was to be an endeavour guided by encounter with one another and the divine. It would be a community where we would encourage one another and where we could explore what that might look like in everyday life.
Our movement consists of an organic network of small groups, drawing people together with an itch to explore different spiritual practices, ministry or interests. Initially, all our gatherings were on Zoom, which enabled us to meet from across the district, and was part of most people’s lives anyway due to COVID-19. As time has gone on, many of us have fallen out of love with Zoom and although still relying upon it, we are gradually working out a balance of connection via social media and physically gathered meet-ups.
We reflect a lot on what the natural world teaches us through the mycelium network (incredibly tiny ‘threads’ forming a vast fungal network that enables nutrient absorption, ecosystem recycling, and symbiotic communication between all land plants and soil) as we connect with those rooted in the different physical and faith communities across the district. Together we are figuring out how to support and encourage one another as we experiment with how to live a dispersed community life.
The Kairos Movement has certainly done a lot of shape-shifting since its conception. Many of the mini experiments have had very short seasons, such as the regular ‘Zoom lounge’ we thought might act like the workplace ‘water cooler’, offering space for casual, passing relationships to grow. It didn’t, so we stopped it.
The Kairos Community, as we now call the intentional faith community, has become part of the New Streams Circuit in Yorkshire North & East, a circuit that is an incubator as well as providing a home for New Places for New People in our district. The Kairos Movement, its core community and network of small groups continue to provide both a haven and a space embracing a more progressive, inclusive faith for individuals with and without other places of faith belonging. New Streams is overseen by Andy, and the Kairos Community by Liane, but we continue to work and seek the Spirit for wisdom together and with an expanding core team.
The Kairos Community doesn’t have a building, and physical gatherings often involve being outside (often in the rain for some reason), as we try and meet up in different places across the district, joining in with what is already going on. Usually there are very small numbers at any one thing, but we do try and get as many of us as possible together for a day in the summer and a weekend in the winter.
Many of those who find their way to us have been hurt and burned out, and/or are in some kind of faith shift from a doctrinally conservative Christian faith. We are grateful for the diversity of small groups as people can select and become involved wherever is most helpful for them at any one time. The priority is for everyone to be seen, heard and valued as they explore their own identity, meaning and connections; we aim for each of us to grow deeper roots grounded in the divine story of love we find in the way of Jesus. We draw on a breadth of ancient and modern faith practices. Groups vary from contemplative prayer to a physical gathering that is constantly “being interrupted”.2
We have steered away from stating a set of beliefs, as each one of us acknowledges what we believe might change from day to day, and we treasure what doubt and questioning have to teach us. We aim to be pilgrims alongside those at different stages of spiritual growth, not always anticipating progression. For those who find us, we feel we are responding to a cultural and spiritual shift from linear logic and hierarchy to a more sustainable, intuitive, holistic interconnectedness which are expressed in our shared values. These values grow out of our Christian and Methodist heritage (see Wesley’s manifesto).
In our human hunger for meaning, we recognise the need for ritual3 and have noticed a rhythm to our collective life is emerging. In some places it is embedded in the local community and offers opportunity for deep connection, such as the Fridays@ group in Hull where we are collaborating with CMS and a local community-based charity to host a reflective conversation space. Or in Co-create, our monthly online “Awe and wonder bring and share” where we each bring something: a poem, picture, song or thought that has been inspired by the theme and offers a glimpse of the divine.
Virtual Campfires offers a space to intentionally explore values-based reflective practice, to celebrate and commiserate as those responding to the call to build community in new and different ways across the district. From a podcast for young families to outside church to ideas of cold water swimming, mentoring young people as a visual storytelling community, creating space for families with additional needs and celebrating neurodiversity, there are inklings and glimpses of opportunities to be and share love. And in our monthly Zoom, we walk alongside one another in our explorations of these passions.
If it sounds like we are all highly productive people with an agenda to constantly make and do, I think I have given a false impression. Rather than always being the ones who lead and organise, we try to join in with what is already happening, and encourage one another to be active participants in our dispersed local communities, but also to learn how to ‘be’ and to have a healthy rhythm of life.
Our gatherings are usually participative, with mutual sharing of insights and stories in response to blogs, videos, podcasts or people active in their ministry. Out of deep conversations that emerge as we hang out together, we are discovering a shared spiritual journey and figuring out how to be a co-created community that gently supports and shapes our lives. It often doesn’t look like much at all, just a couple of people getting together over a cuppa, a card sent in the post to someone to let them know the community are thinking of them, or a small group turning up at a local Pride march.
Alongside our weekly mailing, our community and each of our groups have their own WhatsApp group, where we continue the conversation and strengthen relationships. We are currently building a rhythm of prayer and meditation throughout the week using Zoom or WhatsApp, something that builds a collective framework alongside our independent and dispersed lives.
I hope this gives a glimpse into the journey we are on with Kairos. We are currently finishing all our physical gatherings by speaking one-sentence blessings over one another, so here is my blessing for you. What blessing will you say into the circle?
“May we share a hope that does not fade and embody love that cannot be lost; in the darkness, vulnerability and unorganised mess of real life, may we find and share Light.”
Find out more on our websites: www.newstreams.org.uk and www.kairosmovement.org.uk
About the author
Liane Kensett is a pioneer with the Methodist Church, co-leading the Kairos Movement in Yorkshire North & East, and a mental health chaplain in the NHS.
