Rooted in Hope – Lived in Community

The Iona Community has been experimenting with the power of faith-based intentional community since1938. We do this through welcoming guests to share a ‘common life’ with us at our residential centres on the Scottish islands of Mull and Iona. And we do this, as a dispersed, global Membership community, through meeting monthly in one another’s homes. We pray, sing, listen, laugh and learn with one another about what it means to work for the justice and peace of Christ’s gospel today.

Founded in a time of war and the rumour of war, we boldly assert that in the face of all that is fractured in our world, there is hope in community. There is the hope of new life nestled deep within all that is wrong. This is not a naïve hope. This is an active hope, that points beyond a fingers crossed optimism. This is an active hope that calls us to transformation.

Drawing on her experience of a life lived in Christian community, Ruth will help us gently to explore the fractures facing our world today. We will dig deep into Scripture and other sources of wisdom, including rich resources from the world of conflict transformation, to reveal hope beyond optimism. And we will look at models of intentional community to learn from one another about how to live now for the good of all.

Due to the unpredictability of border crossing into and out of the USA currently, the hosting team has agreed that Ruth should participate through zoom with other members of the Iona Community holding the space in person. This is still an in-person retreat.

We wanted to share this note with you from Ruth Harvey:

“Unpredictable border-crossing may be an inconvenience for many of us. I’m sorry, and frustrated that the way of our world at the moment has meant I can’t join you on site this October, although I’ll be there on line. For many thousands more, however, this uncertainty can be a matter of life and death. And this injustice should enrage us. 

As we gather in community at Kirkridge to share wisdom and inspiration from our collective experience of intentional living, so we will draw on our incandescent rage that begs to differ with the political ‘truth-tellers.’ And we will work and pray together to convert that into incandescent courage and outrageous hope, rooted in the story of the one who followed the way of self-sacrifice over the way of self-promotion.”

NOTE: Scholarships are available for this event! To inquire, email lydiawk [at] kirkridge [dot] org with the amount you can pay. We will do our best to cover the rest.