Love God. Love your neighbour.
Baptise. Make disciples.
Nobody could accuse Jesus of lacking clarity. There it is, in the DNA of every church for the last 2000 years. If we’re not doing the above we should look ourselves in the mirror and say is this really church? Are we disciples or distracted? A few Christians in hiding in North Korea , an orthodox church on a Greek island or a mega-church with plasma screens and Stetsons in the southern USA
But the two billion of us on the planet are doing it differently. Just as the Old Testament psalms don’t have original tunes prescribed, the New Testament church doesn’t have a defining culture or methodology, and each church has a unique beauty and character that sets it apart, and a unique context and challenges to face. So we’ve been asking a question to help shape our next few years together; what is God doing here at Malmesbury Abbey? Who are we?
We meet in 12th century beauty. We’ve inherited a breathtaking place or worship and mission from the generations which have gone before us. We love it, we’re less excited by the utility bills, but we are grateful for our turn to be stewards of an icon of the Christian faith I the South West. 12th century beauty. But we are also passionate about being a grace-filled 21st century church. Movement not monument; revival not relic. And three clarifying core values have emerged from my conversations and reflections, which say an awful lot about us, draw together our passions and actually find their roots in the monastic tradition.
‘This is what the LORD says: ‘Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.’ Jeremiah 6:16
If we look back to through 1300 year history of the abbey we will find Hospitality, Stability and Creativity. If we look around us right now, these three values are still forming us. Who can I welcome in Christ’s name? How can I grow as I follow Christ? What is the Spirit doing among us? Three questions that really matter to each of us. A few answers follow
For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me. (Matthew 25:35-36)
Hospitality was right at the heart of the early monastic communities—as Benedict wrote in his Rule ‘Let all guests be received like Christ...let fitting honour be shown to all.’ The kitchen was kept close to the altar. Hospitality is an attitude that allows people to receive the love of Christ and then potentially belong to His community.
Key Areas & Developments in Hospitality
Welcome Teams, Bookshop & Stewards
Sports Ministries (2004, 2009)
Diverse Spirituality, multiple Congregations (2005)
Healing in the Streets (2008)
New Toilets & Crèche (2009 & 2010)
Abbey Café (2012)
New Website (Summer 2013)
Alpha (September 2013)
Clearly a key development at the Abbey in 2012 was our great new café with astonishing cakes, now officially approved by the diocese (the facilities that is, not the cakes.) Clare and the team offer a warm welcome to tourists and local people, working alongside Pam and her faithful team of stewards opening the doors to 60,000 visitors each year.
Sunday is also hospitable by design, and less calorific. A deliberately diverse, multi-generational culture of worship and ministry that helps people of all shapes and sizes to meet and adore God - you will find worship that inspires you, and possibly worship that irritates you too.
With congregations totalling around 350 people we perpetually encourage everybody to get involved in mid-week small community life of some sort, whether it’s Bible study or basketball, Café Theology or Women Alive. We also have new groups up and running for those inquiring about faith and those new to our church. Later this year we will be studying ‘vocation’ together so that people can find deeper belonging in our community through serving others.
We want the Abbey to be a place where you’ll encounter a culture of warmth, joy and honour; where implicit in loving God is loving your neighbour. And where, in the midst of a culture of hospitality, many will find opportunities to grow deeper in faith and wholeness in Christ.
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Stability
Yet the house did not fall because it had it’s foundations upon rock. (Matthew 7:25)
Stability. Not a particularly exciting word, but when you consider images like building a house upon rock (Matthew 7:24-27) or a flourishing tree planted by streams of water (Psalm 1:3) you start to get to the heart of it. With a decent appetite for theology and life transformation, St Aldhelm, the first inspirational Abbot of Malmesbury, built Abbeys and churches on the foundation of a community shaped and inspired by the Bible. His pioneering street evangelism and church planting had stability and longevity.
Similarly we’re working together to build an Abbey for the 21st Century and beyond. Sowing faithfully in prayer that the generations that come after us may reap (please join us every morning at 9am), and preserving and developing our 12th century building so that the church in the 22nd century won’t be meeting in a ruin (yes, we need architectural stability too.) We’re committed to a sound financial foundation at the Abbey, but we’re not ungenerous and find that we grow through working in partnership with charities like Music for Autism and Tearfund (in southern Uganda
Key Areas & Developments in Stability
Biblical teaching & Discipleship
Ongoing Financial & Property Oversight
Prioritising Emerging Generation ministries
Refresh women’s ministries (2010)
Resonate 19-29 group (2011)
4-5 New small groups (both 2012 & 2013)
Daily Morning Prayer at 9am (2012)
Discipleship Series (2013)
New Youth & Children’s leaders (Sept 2013)
Community of St Aldhelm, London
However Stability is primarily about the formation of people, equipping people to follow Jesus, to live holy, good lives. Small community life is crucial. Two new homegroups, plus Creative Response and Café Theology emerged at the end of 2012, and two new homegroups are currently forming. Beginning in May we have a teaching series (Re)Discovering looking a significant areas of Christian discipleship and in September 2013 our next Alpha course begins for those enquiring or new to the Christian faith.
Developing new leaders and ministries for the future and putting resources into the emerging generation is a priority as we build for the future. This dimension of our life together is about to get a whole new injection of energy as John Monaghan joins the staff as curate in June and Revd Alice Monaghan, Sarah McGrory (Youth Minister) and our new Children’s Minister are commissioned in September.
In the beginning God created (Genesis 1:1)
Imaginative. Innovative. Inventive. Risk-taking. Pioneering. Brother Eilmer that is, flying off an earlier version of Malmesbury Abbey 1000 years ago. Perhaps we are made in his image. Since the first breath of the Spirit over creation, God has been firing the imaginations of humanity. That there might be a dull church anywhere at anytime feels wrong. The Lord is here; His Spirit is with us.
Key Areas & Developments in Creativity
Holy Week Festival (2007)
Advent Carol service (2007)
Malmesbury Abbey Skate (2009)
Anglican Chaplaincy (2010)
Music for Autism (2010)
Creative Response (2012)
The Malmesbury Nativity (2012)
BBC Easter from Malmesbury Abbey (2013)
The Malmesbury Passion (2014)
At Malmesbury Abbey the journey has been substantial, imaginative and life-giving, as the Spirit has used the courage and creativity of the Abbey community to reach far beyond our immense stone walls. And that Abbot Aldhelm was a creative evangelist, songwriter and poet seems to authenticate our skateparks and our art, our drama and our liturgies.
Our creative spirit has also birthed new partnerships: establishing a pioneering chaplaincy at Malmesbury CE Primary School, working with the URC and the May Moore Trust for a genuinely life-enriching Holiday at Home for the Elderly, 5 years of partnership with Christian Skaters UK on the skatepark, 3 years work with the Orchestra of St Johns on the Music for Autism project for local schools, and last Easter the Abbey Choir working with the BBC as a special Easter service from the Abbey was broadcast across Wiltshire.
With a foundation of stability and a culture of hospitality, perhaps creativity is inevitable as the Spirit brings new life to a growing, Christ centred community. Life to the full.
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