ANGELA YOUNGMAN speaks with those behind the new Kairos movement within the Methodist Church in the UK…
Norwich, UK
It was while carrying out his role as minister-in-charge of a circuit of churches in the UK-based Methodist Church that Yorkshire-based minister Rev Andy Lindley says he found himself encountering people who were not sure how they fitted into church.
“People are asking questions about how they can express their spirituality, while allowing flexibility,” he tells Sight. “People are going to one church for worship, somewhere else for a messy church, volunteering elsewhere.”
These encounters led to the recognition that there “needed to be a way for people to join together and measure the quality of their spiritual journey”.
Rev Andy Lindley and Liane Kensett, co-enablers of Kairos. PICTURE: Courtesy of Andy Lindley.
COVID lockdowns gave Lindley time to explore how such issues could be addressed and out of his contemplations came the idea for the Kairos Movement, a new initiative working under the umbrella of the Methodist church which he says “aims to liberate from and connect with people outside the traditional church structures”.
“The name Kairos, is based on the Greek word, which suggests a significant moment of time, in our case one imbued by God’s active presence,” says Lindley. “I certainly was somewhat liberated by COVID slowdown, to read, to reflect and to shape and experiment with the concepts and new ways of being that have become the Kairos movement.”
Kairos logo.
“I had a sense that there was a need for something different. People were interested in following the way of Jesus but did not always have the time to attend services and listen to sermons.”
– Liane Kensett.
Lindley went on to discus the concept with the Yorkshire district chairman, Rev Leslie Newton, and a lay colleague Liane Kensett, who had trained as a deacon but preferred to work as a lay preacher.
“I had a sense that there was a need for something different,” says Kensett. “[P]eople were interested in following the way of Jesus but did not always have the time to attend services and listen to sermons.”
With Newton’s help, a proposal was created which was subsequently put to the annual Methodist Conference in mid-2021 with the result that a new ‘circuit’ (numerous circuits operate within each of the 30 districts in the UK Methodist Church) was created.
“Kairos is part of the Methodist Church in Britain,” explains Newton. “It is unique in that it is boundaries are the [Methodist] district (and beyond in an online sense), so it overlays the other circuits within the district. My role is to be an encourager of the movement. At the moment I am the superintendent of the circuit – so I chair the official trustee meeting and that liberates Andy and Liane to be able to offer their distinctive and passionate ministries.”
Lindley and Kensett describe themselves as co-enablers of the movement – which operates under the tagline, ‘For those hungry to live differently the Jesus Way’ – rather than overall leaders.
“Kairos is a bit of an experiment, it changes a little bit all the time,” says Kensett. “My work is more of one of responding to what is happening, the need for wellness, of mental well being and the need to explore and respond to ways in which people can flourish. A lot of what I do is partnerships, for example I co-ordinate days combining Kairos and a local church.”
Lindley adds that the aim “is for people to have a monthly gather on a wider basis, and also use Zoom”.
“We are exploring other community-facing software platforms such as Slack and Circle. We held a Lent activity where people had to hunt for activities and reflections within a virtual city. The monthly gather is very flexible. We may go for a walk and a talk as a social activity, while others may join us for lunch afterwards. People share stories, have some deep talks, and it leads into a short time of prayer. The focus is on sharing rather than worship.”
People participate in a Kairos activity session. PICTURE: Courtesy of Rev Andy Lindley
Apart from a monthly gathering, there are groups of varying size ranging from prayer groups of three people to interest gatherings of 70 or more. Some meet over the internet using Zoom.
Divine Focus is one such grouping. This is a gathering of people who use their cameras and resultant photographs as a spiritual tool. None are professional photographers, but they all recognise the way images can evoke feelings, help articulate thoughts and spirituality. Each meeting involves a pre-chosen theme and associated Bible text and participants share six photographs reflecting the theme, then discuss the thoughts behind those images and pray, focusing on the idea rather than the quality of a picture. Typical themes have included ‘temptation’, ‘soaring like eagles’ and ‘hidden treasures’.
York-based Anne Atherton felt called to offer meditation and contemplation sessions to Kairos, having been attracted to it by the way in which Kairos is opening up a wider way of accessing God and exploring the Spirit.
“I left the church eight years because it was not offering me what I was looking for,” she says. “I was looking for a deeper, spiritual relationship with God and went to study at a spiritual centre in York and eventually trained as a spiritual director. I am able to offer sessions that are more contemplative and meditative.”
Lindley believes that Kairos follows the spirit and the ethos of Methodism.
“At the end of his life, John Wesley bemoaned the fact that the Methodist Church was becoming institutionalised and formal in its structure,” he says. “In a sense, what we are doing is reviving the energy of the early Methodist mission.”
Newton adds that Kairos is “actually a deconstruction of the scaffolding of much within the Methodist Church and a going back to what was key for John Wesley”.
“Growing spiritually through small groups and mutual encouragement, and being passionate and active in transforming the world.”
Liane Kensett and Rev Andy Lindley leading a Kairos session. PICTURE: Courtesy of Andy Lindley.
Local church leaders have responded positively to Lindley’s initiative.
“[P]eople are interested in what we are doing,” he says. “They recognise the need for someone to do this. They are thankful we have created something for those people who feel disenfranchised. It is helping those people who may have been considering leaving the church, or who might have walked out of the back door. They are now having conversations that they couldn’t do before.”
He says the movement is “attracting a range of people including disenfranchised people, people on the fringe, people who might be thinking of leaving the church, people who are exploring spirituality”.
“We have attracted environmentalists and people with natural spiritual explorations. We even had someone in Beijing contact us recently, who took part in one of our virtual sessions. She had studied in the Netherlands, and was now working as a solicitor in China.”
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Newton says he believes the attraction of Kairos is two-fold.
“For some people who have found that their experience of more traditional church has not been satisfying…this may be that they have struggled to form a sense of deep community, that they have not found that the church has been encouraging of them nurturing and using their gifts, or equipped them to be able to grow closer to God, and to serve God more fully in their lives.”
“For other people who have not had any [recent] experience of church…Kairos can offer a gentle, but committed, way for such people to begin to explore their own spiritual journey, to find guides along the way, and to join in with the desire to see the world would be very different to how it is. I think the combination of both ‘breathing in’ (growing spiritually) and ‘breathing out’ by getting involved in world-transforming stuff (little or large) within a community of encouragement and healthy accountability is a good combination.”
Collaborations are taking place.
“We go where people are open to us,” Newton says. “In one church in our region, the church had set up a community garden. They wanted to involve the garden spiritually but didn’t know how to do so. By linking up with Kairos, they connected with people who brought the skills to do that task. Another church is involved with artists in a studio. Open days offer an opportunity to talk to people who come along.”
Although Kairos is very much in its infancy, Lindley recognises that potential issues over the number of participants may arise in future.
“I do have a slight concern over what we will do when we get too large, but will see what happens. The whole thing is very organic. We are not going to turn people away, but will encourage them to find contacts locally as well. We need to let grow organically. We are already finding that people who are spending more time online in work, don’t want to be online in the evening as well. It is a new reality we have to wrestle with.”
