At the beginning of August Peter Chester and Rev Simon Howells introduced the Seven Sacred Spaces – which have been practised in abbeys & priories for over a thousand years – and began to explore how much the community(s) of St. Laurence might reflect those spaces. The spaces are:

• Cell: individual spaces for our interior life to be nurtured by God
• Chapel: spaces where the community gathers for devotion & contemplation
• Chapter: spaces where decisions are made
• Cloister: spaces where we meet & engage with each other, and with fellow travellers.
• Garden: spaces for our community’s working/volunteering life
• Refectory: spaces where we share food and hospitality
• Scriptorium: spaces for engaging with living theology and learning together

Following that session several people raised the question of “So what?“. What might the seven spaces mean for our future?

• How effectively are we reflecting each of the spaces?
• Have we got the balance right or are we neglecting some?
• What might it mean to take these concepts further, for us as individuals, for us as church and for us in our interactions with the wider community?
• And, what about another space, Infirmary, caring for the sick and broken?

This session will continue to explore and dig deeper into the Seven Sacred Spaces and begin to reflect on ways forward for us together and as individuals.