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EP#45 A Church Listening for the Spirit with Avril Baigent

Leaving Egypt Podcast

In this episode Al Roxburgh and Jenny Sinclair meet again with Avril Baigent. In an earlier episode (#05) of Leaving Egypt, Al and Jenny discovered Avril’s involvement with the movement known as Synodality. This is a process initiated by the late Pope Francis across the Catholic Church, enabling Catholics at all levels of the Church to come together in processes of listening to one another and to the Holy Spirit. Centred on an ancient method called “Conversation in the Spirit”, Synodality is slowly enabling fresh spaces within the Church for discerning how the Spirit is calling us to join with God. Sharing real stories of deep transformation through her own experience of this global movement, Avril is clear that this process is no “add water and stir” quick fix for ailing parishes. It takes time. This process takes us deep into encounter with one another and has the potential to resolve difficult decisions, overcome power imbalances and resolve painful conflict. And not only within the Church, it also takes us into deep, listening relationships with the people in our neighbourhoods and local communities. It is in these engagements that discernment emerges as we hear the Spirit through the other. Avril Baigent is co-director of the School for Synodality where she promotes the ancient Catholic practice of 'walking together with the Holy Spirit’. In addition, as Director of Pastoral Development at the Diocese of Northampton, she is embedding synodality in the life of the diocese, promoting lay vocations and helping local Catholic communities to imagine their futures together. Avril has also recently completed her PhD youth ministry at Durham University, and helps out in her parish as a musician and children’s liturgy leader. We hope that you are enjoying Leaving Egypt. We would invite you to join the Leaving Egypt community on Substack by becoming a paid subscriber: https://leavingegyptpodcast.substack.com/subscribe Links For Avril Baigent: https://www.schoolforsynodality.org.uk/ https://pastoralministryoffice.org/home-copy/staff/ https://northamptondiocese.org/chaplaincy/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/avrilbaigent/?originalSubdomain=uk For Alan J Roxburgh: http://alanroxburgh.com/about Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alan.roxburgh.127/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thecommonsnetwork Books Forming Communities of Hope in the Great Unraveling: Leadership in a Changing World (with Roy Searle) Joining God in the Great Unraveling Leadership, God’s Agency and Disruptions Joining God, Remaking Church, Changing the World: The New Shape of the Church in Our Time For Jenny Sinclair: Website: https://togetherforthecommongood.co.uk/from-jenny-sinclair LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenny-sinclair-0589783b/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/T4CG Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TogetherForTheCommonGoodUK Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/t4cg_insta/ Get full access to Leaving Egypt at leavingegyptpodcast.substack.com/subscribe