A new approach to faith, church and ministry

This week on the Spiritual Misfits podcast I (Will) chat with Simon Nixon about his journey of changing faith and the exploration of new approaches to ministry, church and leadership.

After 15 years in pastoral ministry Simon went on long-service leave — and with a little time and space began to find his beliefs shifting… 

In our conversation we explore what that looked like — and discuss one of the positive outcomes, the formation of a new community called Fireside (another space seeking to create safe refuge for spiritual misfits.)

I believe the Church at large is in a significant time of transition. I believe we’re going to see more decentralised and organic expressions of faith communities in the years to come. 

Many of us, including Simon and I, have benefited from digital access to a range of voices and thinkers who have helped us see faith afresh. 

But what does it look like to pair our access to voices who may be far away from us with flesh and blood communities in our local neighbourhoods?

Simon and I are both interested in this question, so we explored some thoughts around the landscape of what that might look like.

Simon’s also studying counselling at the moment and one of the things we touched on was a concept in the counselling space called ‘unconditional positive regard’ — it provides a beautiful lens for thinking through community formation, which we discuss also in the latter part of the conversation.

Listen here or via the podcast player below: episode title — ‘Simon Nixon on a new approach to faith, church and ministry’

Simon Nixon on a new approach to faith, church and ministry – Spiritual Misfits Podcast

After 15 years in pastoral ministry Simon Nixon found his beliefs and approach to ministry radically shifting. We explore what that looked like in this conversation, and talk a little about one of the positive outcomes: the formation of a new community called Fireside, another safe space for spiritual misfits.The Church at large is in a significant time of transition. I believe we’re going to see more decentralised and organic expressions of faith communities in the years to come. Many of us, including Simon and I, have benefited from digital access to a range of voices and thinkers who have helped us see faith afresh (and I hope that for listeners of this show that’s also what’s taking place here). But what does it look like to pair our access to voices who may be far away from us with flesh and blood communities, in our local neighbourhoods? Simon and I are both interested in this question, so we explored some thoughts around the landscape of what that might look like. Simon’s also studying counselling at the moment and one of the things we touched on was a concept in the counselling space called ‘unconditional positive regard’ — it provides a beautiful lens for thinking through community formation and we explore this a little in this conversation also.  Sign up to our mailing list:https://spiritualmisfits.com.au/Join our online Facebook community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/spiritualmisfitspodcastSupport the pod:https://spiritualmisfits.com.au/support-us/Send us an email: Spiritualmisfits@outlook.comView all episodes and access transcripts at: https://spiritualmisfits.buzzsprout.com