A Kairos movement, inspired by the way of Jesus, for those who are hungry to live differently and aching for a transformed world. The Kairos Movement has gathered momentum, we’ve encountered significant numbers of people who are spiritually open and seeking but simply do not find existing church models accessible or attractive. Just as urgently, those within the church, who are seeking more from it. Our aim is to connect those interested to recognise, navigate and grow spiritually from where they are. The Kairos Movement is a network of people meeting together on-line and in person to explore a creative, balanced way of living.
As the Kairos Movement officially begins we have appreciated time to build up relationships and to plant seeds of ideas and recognise potential for how we move and be as a dispersed community.
As an expression of the Methodist Church we stand on the shoulders of those who go before us as we respond to revolutionary changes happening in our society and in our world.
We are living in an emotionally challenging time. While some of the world is embracing the digital revolution, increasingly affluent, mobile and able to communicate, inequalities are growing, some are being left behind, stuck and voiceless. Tension and fear makes us all vulnerable and very tired.
As we work out how to live in this time the Kairos movement choose to be a network of hope, remembering how hope has been summoned in the past, how those who lived before us saw changes to voting systems and responses to the prison and the mental health treatment, the introduction of a National Health system, social care. We remember from those who campaigned and worked so hard in the past that hope becomes a reality when we hold onto our dreams and hopes and live them out in community.
Frederika Carney writes, “That is our task today: to dream and hope for a better world. The Berlin Wall came down and Communism collapsed in Russia without a gunshot because people were sitting around kitchen tables and living rooms, dreaming and hoping, which led to action and change. As old solutions begin to crack and die, new ideas are born and start to bloom. Wherever there is death, there is birth.”
As the Kairos Movement we believe that now is the time to focus on flourishing as people of hope. We are living through a digital revolution that is changing our world in ways that make it unrecognisable. Climate change that threatens any sort of future and on going divisions appear to be getting deeper. When we feel overwhelmed by the changes, our faith reminds us to network together. To learn new ways to relate and be community. As we recognise the realities of the difficulties around us, we hope to learn from one another and those who have gone before us in how to act with outrage, deep concern and action in compassionate ways that bring hope.
We are experimenting with a rhythm of life and network of community inspired by the loving revolution of Jesus which has carried on in both amazing and devastating ways for over 2,000 years. We are not ignoring the damage that has been done in his name in the past, we are seeking out people of wisdom and inspiration from the peaceful Jesus tradition to help us grow our own wisdom, peace and self awareness as well as learning from those who have not taken this route.
It all feels quite messy and hard to define at the moment, but there is definitely a movement of hope and love that we are a part of. Our core value is that we seek the flourishing of individuals, families and the communities around us. We hope that our offering of a spiritual rhythm, spaces for retreat, spiritual direction, small groups where you know and can be known by critical friends, and the growing network of people living out this faith might be a useful part of the picture of hope in our generation, and that our shoulders might be strong places for the next generation to step on from.