Written by Cara Wightman and the Renew Wellbeing Team at Cathcart.
Renew Wellbeing Cathcart was just launched on Thursday 28th October 2021! Before the launch there has been significant journey and a stirring of the Holy Spirit amongst several people about the need to pray and the importance of looking after our own wellbeing. This was fuelled even more by Lockdown. A small group met together for months before Canopy 2020 to pray and support and chat through the possibilities of creating a safe space for people.
Canopy 2020 introduced us to Ruth Rice and Renew Wellbeing. The concept of Renew Wellbeing was one that we felt would work in our local context. Three local churches already worked together with Cathcart Youth Ministry Partnership and already had established joined up thinking. The three churches are Cathcart Baptist Church, Cathcart Trinity Church of Scotland and Cathcart United Free Church. Joined up thinking prompted conversations and a realisation that each partnership church wanted to do “something” for our community. This “something” was about prayer, being together, drinking coffee and making things.
March 2021: several people across the partnership church’s attend the online training and read Ruth Rice’s book: Slow Down, Show Up and Pray. We decided to do a trial run at our weekly Summer holiday club café. Every Friday morning and afternoon in July we had the Jungle Java café in the gardens of a church. The café was for parents/carers of young people at the holiday club and for the local community and created a much needed opportunity to connect again in person in a safe outside space. The café also had a pop up prayer gazebo which created an opportunity to use the rhythms of prayer. The prayer space was hugely encouraging and for those who chose to engage with it found it to be incredibly special and helpful to them.
September 2021: a core team met to work through the online training and work out how to do Renew Wellbeing in our context. Ruth Rice has been incredibly supportive throughout the whole journey and we are delighted to have officially launched our Renew Wellbeing space to the public.
So far we have had two sessions and these have been a great blend of some the things that the partnership churches did before lockdown like The Shed Project and the working in the garden and also having a safe space for people to try new skills like learning to crochet a poppy. The rhythms of prayers have been integral to this time as they give it meaning and allow people to pause and be still. We are looking forward to how the Renew Wellbeing space develops as we launch our Renew Wellbeing Youth space this month and continue exploring new times and spaces in the future.
Psalm 104:33 & 34 (NIV)
‘I will sing to the LORD all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live. May my meditation be pleasing to him, as I rejoice in the LORD.’
