Seven Sacred Spaces: Portals to Deeper Community Life in Christ
Digital Logos Edition
Overview
Too often people’s understanding of and engagement with ‘church’ is reduced to corporate worship, when it is so much more. George Lings identifies seven characteristic elements in Christian communities through the ages, which when held in balance enable a richer expression of discipleship, mission and community.
In the monastic tradition these elements have distinctive locations: cell (being alone with God), chapel (corporate public worship), chapter (making decisions), cloister (planned and surprising meetings), garden (the place of work), refectory (food and hospitality) and scriptorium (study and passing on knowledge). Through this lens George Lings explores how these seven elements relate to our individual and communal walk with God, hold good for church and family life, and appear in wider society.
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- Reads like a traveller’s guide – an invitation and companion to an adventure and way of life
- Draws from the wider riches of monasticism, and from the author’s experience within the Northumbria Community
- Helps the reader to evaluate and reimagine how faith can be integrated into every area of life, personally and communally
- Oh, I see – my own story
- Enter the seven sacred spaces
- Cell: being alone with God
- Chapel: corporate public worship
- Chapter: making decisions
- Cloister: planned and surprising meetings
- Garden: the place of work
- 8 Refectory: food and hospitality
- Scriptorium: study and knowledge
- Why we learn from monasticism
- The seven sacred spaces and life
- The seven sacred spaces and mission
- The seven sacred spaces and discipleship
- Stories of journeys through this portal
- Making your own journey
George Lings is as perceptive and prophetic as ever, as he explores what the ancient idea of the seven sacred spaces means for us today. Whether you are thinking about your own life or your church community, this book is worth reading. There is a wealth of practical experience in this book which can bring change and transformation for you and your church.
—Revd Dave Male, director of evangelism and discipleship for the Church of England
In this extremely helpful book, George Lings explores how sacred spaces and intentional forms of Christian community can be re-harmonised with the needs of the contemporary world. His use of the seven spaces is a useful way to explore the significance, possibilities and opportunities under the guidance of the Holy Spirit to reimagine how the church can be contextualised and buildings brought back to life.
—Ian Mobsby, assistant dean for fresh expressions in the Diocese of Southwark, guardian of the New Monastic Society of the Holy Trinity and interim pioneer rector at Christ Church Southwark
This book is knowledgeable, quirky and inspirational. The seven sacred spaces are drawn from their monastic roots to provide a framework for discipleship, Christian community and wider human well-being. As someone who has long inhabited the seven sacred spaces in his own discipleship, George Lings enthuses about their potential, illustrating it from the experience of a variety of contemporary expressions of church.
—Sally Gaze, archdeacon for rural mission and leader of the Lightwave Community, Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich
- Title: Seven Sacred Spaces: Portals to Deeper Community Life in Christ
- Author: George Lings
- Publisher: Bible Reading Fellowship
- Print Publication Date: 2020
- Pages: 232
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Logos Reader Edition
- ISBNs: 9780857469342, 0857469347
- Resource ID: LLS:SVNSCRDSLFCHRST
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2024-10-04T15:38:45Z
Canon Dr. George Lings has been a banker, student, vicar, writer, mentor and researcher. From 1997 to 2017 he led Church Army’s Research Unit specialising in fresh expressions of church and gaining a PhD. In 2017 he was awarded the Canterbury Cross for outstanding service to the Church of England. He now serves as a companion of Northumbria Community, vice-president of The Bible Reading Fellowship and consultant to a number of individuals and dioceses.