Motherhood and God : the home as holy ground
This small group began in an attempt to offer women a chance to explore their experience of motherhood within the context of their faith. It is an opportunity to stand back from our parenting and from the often intense detail of the emotional and practical demands of being present to our family's needs. We meet in the evening once a month and begin by catching up, sharing with each other the shape our day has taken. The evening is then given to reading or listening to some material as a starting place for our thinking. We aim to look at some of these questions through discussion, prayer, reading and reflection on our practical experience of being mothers. Everybody's experience is valid as it is the raw material in and through which we can discover more of how God is present in motherhood and motherhood is present in God. Following our discussion we end the evening with some quiet, reflective prayer.
Some of the areas we have (and continue) to explore together are:
- how do we support our children to creatively navigate the opportunities and challenges presented to them as they grow up in an ever changing social and faith context?
- how are we are shaped as women by the journey through different phases of motherhood?
- how are the language and images we use for God helping to form our relationship with him?
- how might we find time and space to pray in the midst of family life?
- are there ways to create meaningful family practices and rituals within the church year?
- has our present day culture shaped our approaches to raising children and how might these fit with or be critiqued by our framework of faith?
- what can we teach our children about God within our homes, and within our church communities?
- what are the stages of faith development from toddlers to teenagers and does this affect how we help our children grow?
- how can we explore and deepen our own call as women to follow God and offer our gifts and abilities in service in the world, home and church?
- within our busy lives, how do we hold 'creative conversations' between vocation, work, family responsibilities and our important relationships?
The Motherhood and God Group has regular monthly meetings and in addition to these we organise occasional Quiet Days for more in-depth discussion and to provide space for prayer and refreshment.
For more information please contact Revd Bridget Macaulay Email: vesseltrust@gmail.com