The Minster
As a church we want to be like a monastic movement – where missionaries are sent out and return to a secure base or ‘Minster’.
‘Minsters’ were large churches connected to monasteries. They were the centre of monastic communities, and, as such, were at the heart of monastic movements.
Monasteries were both a community of people (usually monks) bound by vows to live a religious life together and the place where they lived.
In the same way we are working towards our ‘Minster’ being a community of people in a particular place
At the heart of the monastic life was an individual’s call to God . When a monk took his vows, the monastery and its people then became his new family or community. Within that family and belonging, each monk was given tasks which served the rest of the family - cooking, gardening, tending the sick, cleaning, mending, illustrating manuscripts, worship, small businesses.
This was the place where they belonged, where they grew spiritually, from which they were sent out on mission and the place and community to which they returned for rest, refreshment and nourishment – both physical and spiritual. They worshipped God and served the life of the community to which they belonged and the communities to which they had a ‘missional’ calling.