There’s something about gathering in a 12th century monastery that gives one perspective.
Perhaps it’s the sense of history; the reminder that we are brief visitors on this earth. That our time, like vapour, will soon disappear. Paradoxically by the same virtue this is our time, and this brief moment is our responsibility.
It was in this context that leaders and influencers from across the UK convened at Coombe Abbey for the City Vision ReUnion conference.
Lord Wei opened with a birds-eye view: The national and international context is simple – the structures and governance that have developed over the last five decades are crumbling and whatever happens with Brexit, things will never be the same again. It’s the role of the Church, the Ekklesia, to stitch and weave the separated elements, remain and leave, together.
Then to cities. As we know a city is an unwieldy entity which is why it’s important to find a simplistic way of viewing a city without losing the key elements that we need for both strategy and focus.
Thanks to over 40 years of working on complex client projects Tony Hodges, founder of City Vision, was able to introduce the model that the conference worked with for the day. Each element of this was informed by a key speaker with lived experience in the field. It was then over to the delegates to wrestle with the information and opinions they were given as we sought to apply it to our cities and places of influence. Key areas covered were Discipleship, Prayer, Civic Leadership, Volunteer Hours, City wide celebration, Crime & Safety and Leader Intimacy.
To find out more and if you are interested in the materials produced on the day please contact us. In the meantime, consider these questions that we were faced with on the day:
How true is it that we as a church gather often and achieve little?
What does it look like to live like Jesus in the place where you work and live?
What are the big industries in your city and who is praying for them?
We look forward to seeing you at our next gathering.