Newly hallowed Members of the Iona Community, June 2026. Credit: Iona Community/J.Love
“As a community of faith, we live within a framework of hope.
We recognise that the context in which many of us live can seem to be, and for many is, hopeless. And yet we choose life, we choose hope. We remain convinced that the community we seek must be lived out in the community that we practice.
Our hope is in a living God who chose a time and a place to live alongside us in creation, to stand with us in our suffering, and who models what it means to speak out and speak up for all with no voice and little power. So we choose to find hope within the despair.”
From the Introduction to the Iona Community Strategic Plan, 2024 – 2029
Amongst all the anniversaries available to us for celebration, the mid-point in a Strategic Plan may not be the most alluring. Yet here we are! So dear friends, let’s light a candle to celebrate the mid-point of our 2024/2029 Iona Community Strategic Plan in the belief that there is hope in strategy.
This plan draws on the wisdom of our years; the vision of our Members, partners, friends and supporters; and the experience of our staff and trustees. It relies on the ingenuity and the determination of all of us to see it through. There may be times and reasons why we might want to avoid this commitment. Naming one struggle for each of our Strategic Goals is not a challenge:
- ‘community empowerment’ in the face of increased individualism may feel a distant dream;
- ‘justice and peace’ at a time when there are 65 active state-based armed conflicts globally may seem pointless;
- ‘care for creation’ might appear futile when UN bodies can lose a quarter of their funding for this work overnight.
- ‘youth at the heart’ is a mammoth struggle when so many young men in particular are ‘not in education or employment’ (NEET)
- ‘sustainable resources’ appears a distant dream when the spending power of the least is overwhelmed by big tech and even-bigger-money.
Looking around at the faces of Members hallowed earlier this month, pictured above, I am delighted to stand shoulder to shoulder radiating hope in the face of despair. Giving thanks at our Annual General Meeting for the lives of the 14 Members who have died in this last year, I am galvanised to live, with hope and courage, in their memory.
And imagining the many who will catch a glimpse of the holy, restless, incarnate God of hope through sharing in community both ‘gathered and scattered’ I confidently pray that our strategic plan, in all its detailed glory, may remain a beacon and a light pointing to our living, incarnate God who chooses to live alongside us now and always.
USA North East