From 19 to 21 March a group of thinkers and dreamers met at the monastery town of New Norcia to reimagine ABM for the next 25 years – or more. This was part of an ongoing process, as we took time to prayerfully reflect on where we have been – and where God is calling us, as a church and as ABM/AID.

We were blessed to have ABM/AID staff and Board members, accompanied and encouraged by Perth’s Archbishop Kay Goldsworthy, Wollaston College Warden, Meg Warner, and Deputy Warden, Christy Capper.

New Norcia, the only Benedictine Monastery town in Australia, proved a perfect venue for the retreat. With its own complex and long history of mission, good intentions and acknowledged failures, it reflects something of the long history of ABM. Any human institution in the service of God needs to be able to reflect, repent and revision, as time, culture and priorities change. If ABM is to continue to serve the mission of God as part of the Anglican family, we need to be refreshed by prayer and led by the Spirit, as we make plans for the future.

The three days were a time of deep conversation and dreaming. Conversations went on well into the evenings and there was a very real sense that we were ‘held’ by God’s deep and abiding love.

It was also a great opportunity for us to renew our commitment to the ‘West’. ABM is conscious that the geography of mission relationships looks different from the West of Australia. The Diocese of Perth has a mission partnership with the Diocese of Eldoret in Kenya. Through the mission partnership a project has begun which seeks to improve independent livelihood opportunities for people living with a disability by offering training, mentoring, and small revolving low-interest business loans.

Please pray with us, that God will guide ABM into a future in which we are able to serve the whole Australian Church as we pursue valid, grounded and contemporary expressions of the Gospel.