Announcing The Seeking Heart: A Contemplative Approach to Mission and Pioneering
Published by SCM Press in January 2025
I am thrilled to share that my new book, The Seeking Heart: A Contemplative Approach to Mission and Pioneering, is set for launch in 2025. This journey has been a labor of love and dedication for nearly a decade, beginning as a PhD research study and evolving into a refined exploration of spirituality, mission, and contemplative practice.
In writing this book, I have immersed myself in the lives and spiritual landscapes of the "Spiritual But Not Religious" (SBNR) while continuing my own practice of contemplative Christian spirituality. Alongside this, I have actively participated in the life of new missional communities, particularly those shaped by the principles of new monasticism. My involvement with the Society of the Holy Trinity—a collaborative network of missional new monastic communities across various countries—has profoundly influenced the themes and insights of this work.
The Book’s Vision
At its core, The Seeking Heart seeks to promote a more contemplative way of becoming and being Christian in today’s post-secular world. The book begins by exploring the identity and aspirations of spiritual seekers who identify as SBNR. From there, it offers a contemplative model of missional engagement that invites these seekers into a deeper encounter with God.
This model emphasises an immersive and experiential approach, drawing on the Christian contemplative tradition. Practices such as meditation, prayerful dialogue, wisdom sharing, lectio divina, and other ancient spiritual disciplines guide seekers and readers on a journey through the stages of awakening, purgation, illumination, and union. This pilgrimage mirrors the traditional Christian spiritual pathway of seeking God while opening new avenues for engagement with contemporary spiritual seekers.
God’s Kenosis, Our Theosis: The Heart of the Model
The theological foundation of the book is encapsulated in the phrase, God’s Kenosis, Our Theosis. This reflects the profound outpouring of God’s self-emptying love—kenosis—through the Holy Spirit, which sustains all life and calls us into deeper communion. Following Kathryn Tanner’s concept of "weak theosis," the model emphasises participation in this divine love. From there, it envisions the journey toward "strong theosis": becoming "in Christ" and fully united with God. This path of human and Christian becoming is not merely intellectual but deeply rooted in the transformative cultivation of inner landscapes and heightened states of spiritual consciousness.
A Resource for the Contemplative and the Missional
I hope this book will serve as a valuable resource for contemplative prayer groups, new monastic communities, and anyone seeking to integrate the gifts of the Christian contemplative traditions into their faith, practice and missional work. It is an invitation to explore how contemplative practices can nourish not only personal spiritual growth but also our engagement with a world longing for meaning, connection, and divine encounter.
The practices I describe are drawn from the rich wells of Benedictine, Franciscan, Ignatian, and Carmelite traditions, each offering profound depth and transformative potential. These traditions, with their emphasis on silence, stillness, discernment, and radical openness to God, provide the tools for creating spaces where seekers can encounter God’s presence and love.
An Invitation to Journey Together
Ultimately, The Seeking Heart is an invitation: an invitation to rediscover the contemplative depths of the Christian faith and to see mission not as an activity to be done but as a way of being to be lived. It calls us to embody the kenotic love of God and to walk alongside others as they, too, seek the heart of God.
I look forward to sharing this book with you and to hearing how it inspires your own journey of faith, mission, and contemplation. Together, let us continue to explore the path of awakening to God’s love and presence in our lives and in the world.
Where to purchase the book from?
From the UK Publishers: SCM Press Amazon UK
From Europe: Smith & Son Paris Amazon.fr Amazon.es Amazon.de
From the USA: Westminster John Knox Amazon
From Canada: Amazon.ca
From Australia: will be available once published in January, info to follow.
From New Zealand: will be available once published in January, info to follow.