Wild Cat Two – Beginning Again!
After the six month pilot of our new Wild Cat Course, between Lent and the Dormition, I felt a little more confident when we started again in September 2024 with a combination of existing and new members. This time we were setting off for a full year of monthly meetings, hoping to make our way through the three core texts of the BCP catechism: the Creed, Ten Words (Commandments) and what we were now calling the Beloved’s (Lord’s) Prayer.
However it became increasingly clear that plans would have to be changed in response to the needs of the group. Meeting at Brooking Church in the winter was too cold and damp for contemplation & study. Also trying to enquire deeply into three complex texts in 2 hours a month was unrealistic! So by 2025 we had shifted fully onto Zoom and were focussing on the Creed only.
Some folks stepped amicably back, others amicably stayed and, having made it through ‘forming and storming’ as a group, we now settled into ‘norming and performing’ and began to more thoroughly enjoy learning together. I won’t go into any details here, for as film lovers know ‘what happens in fight club, stays in fight club’ to use a more recent metaphor for the containment of a mystery school!
Yet I will say that everyone expressed finding a greater sense of depth and freedom in their understanding of themselves and Christianity – being able to freely question and come to one’s own (and often temporary) conclusions within a supportive and diverse group was a big part of this. So it felt very special and authentic at the end of our first full year, when one of us was baptised and many members also chose to renew their baptismal vows.
