Godsend Minnesota Road Trip

After the January 25 Godsend gathering at St. Mark’s Cathedral in Minneapolis, the Rev. Dr. Michael Moynagh and Canon Blair Pogue traveled all over Minnesota, meeting with small groups of Episcopalians interested in learning how to share their faith with spiritually curious friends and neighbors. Meetings took place in St. Paul, Woodbury, St. Peter, St. Cloud, Ely, and Duluth. Dr. Moynagh also met with a couple of people wanting to start New Christian Communities or to add a “spiritual extra” to outreach
ministries over Zoom.

At each gathering Dr. Moynagh or Canon Pogue led the group in a ten-minute Soul Space exercise, followed by a conversation about it. How did group members experience Soulspace? Would something like this work with the group of people they work with or know who don’t go to church? How might they do it differently to fit into a specific context (for example, one participant said the people she knows outside the institutional church wouldn’t like anything that smacked of a liturgy. It would be best to start with a lit candle and silence). Dr. Moynagh also shared how something like a knitting or book group could be complemented by a short Soulspace offering during or after the group meeting, depending on what group members are open to, that could be added to over time. For example, a group might move from lighting a candle, silence, and a short passage from scripture to adding a discussion after the scripture reading.

Participants in some of the groups talked about their fears of being perceived as a fundamentalist, or baggage around the word “Christian,” but acknowledged that many people are searching for meaning right now. As he discussed The Missional Journey of people wanting to start New Christian Communities, Dr. Moynagh stressed that we are not manipulating people. The most important things we can do as followers of Jesus is to listen to people and engage in acts of “intentional love.”