The Searching Spirit Centre
Exploring meaning and purpose in crisis times
These are times of crisis and breakdown, when it’s hard to find a sense of meaning and purpose in our own lives, or in the bigger picture. This is a vision for a place to help people searching at the level of spirit or soul, for a higher purpose that’s beyond personal and material concerns.
OUR VISION
A place in rural Mid Wales which enables deep connections between people, land and spirit: a centre which offers a safe, supportive space for guests to explore their spiritual path and purpose in this time of unravelling and regeneration.
A small core community, welcoming searchers to stay for 1 week to 6 months; rooted in Nature, growing some of its own food. Guests will be part of the community, with space and support for spiritual exploration and learning, and helping with the market garden and cooking.
We aim to offer guests an experience of practices from several spiritual traditions, such as Christan prayer, Buddhist meditation, Sufi singing, Celtic Nature contact, spiritual ecology, without any establishment dogma. For more on possible role models for spiritual community, see this blog.
We also aim to help guests learn skills they may need for the uncertainties ahead: how to strengthen communities under pressure, how to adapt as stability erodes, as well as food growing and craft skills. Whilst there’s plenty to worry about in today’s world, our hope is to find strength and joy in our connection with each other, with Nature, and with the sacred: to nourish a belief in positive change, and to help make it a reality.
MORE DETAILS
Core community: we hope to form a resident group of around 8-12 people who will co-create and evolve this vision. They will need the skills to run a residential centre, grow food, and support our guests in their spiritual exploration. The residents may live as a cohousing community, i.e. with private accommodation alongside shared spaces.
The place: our preferred location is a largeish house in Mid Wales, e.g. 8-12 bedrooms, with 4-20 acres of land, including a couple of acres for food growing, and some woodland, plus cottages for the resident community, or outbuildings which could be converted. One scenario would be to rent a property for a few years, with an option to buy. We aim to accommodate up to 16 guests.
Guests and programmes: we hope to welcome a wide diversity of guests, and to evolve our programmes by running pilot groups in the first half of 2025. Here’s an indication of four formats which we are considering:
- Searchers’ Week: a 6-day residential, loosely inspired by Findhorn Foundation’s highly successful Experience Week. Aimed at young people and others at a fairly early stage in their spiritual exploration.
- Community Catalysers: a 2-week programme for people wanting to bring a spiritual dimension into work raising the resilience and adaptation capacity of local communities (see more here).
- Praxis Enquiries: 3- or 4-week groups, modelled on the Life Itself Praxis Hub in France, with visiting leaders, aimed at deeper exploration.
- Interns: we hope to offer a couple of internships for young people to live, work and grow with us, for 6 months.
WHAT NEXT?
A small group is forming, and we’re looking for a few more people who’d like to be actively involved in growing this vision to reality, as well as advisors, supporters and partner organisations. We are aiming to run a few pilot programmes in 2025, and are exploring possible locations for the Centre in Powys, Mid Wales, If you’re interested in joining us, please contact Alan Heeks: , 07494 203014. Those involved so far include:
Alan Heeks: founder of Magdalen Farm Trust, Seeding our Future.
Justine Huxley: founder-director of St Ethelburga’s, and Kincentric Leadership.
Liam Kavanagh: Climate Majority Project, and Life Itself.
Simon Lockett: pioneer priest, started Golden Valley Pilgrim Way.
Will Beharrell: founder of Fathom Trust