Festival & Formation
Reflections on young adults and faith, as inspired by my time at Craig Lodge, Scotland
I often say Pentecost is my faves; there is something so energising and encouraging about it! This year, a very dear friend of mine invited me to celebrate it in a particularly special way by suggesting we go to the Stronghold Festival together; a Catholic charismatic festival in celebration of Pentecost, as hosted by the community at Craig Lodge, Scotland (in the highlands!!).
I adore the wilderness of Scotland, I’ve been wanting an opportunity to dig deeper into my curiosity around charismatic ‘stuff’, and it’s a Christian community - so of course I took up the invitation!
Some Background…
Craig Lodge has its origins rooted in the ongoing Marian apparition and visions emerging from Medjugorje, Bosnia-Herzegovina. A House of Prayer, for the past 30 years it has been “a place of hospitality, healing and spiritual revival… with a special care for the formation of young people” and with “a vision that all people have the opportunity to encounter the saving love of God”1.
To set the scene a little, Craig Lodge/the Stronghold Festival is VERY Catholic charismatic: testimonies, prayer ministry, physical healing, people (about 1/3 !!) being slain by the spirit… and then the cultural components of near-constant worship music (undulating between super loud and emotionally tinkly), hands in the air, and “Praise God” being used as punctuation.. and the Catholic pieces of daily rosary, daily Mass and 24/7 adoration… it’s really quite something!
Of course I have so many reflections bursting out of this experience - seemingly so distant from my silent walks and gentle Taizé services, but nonetheless striving for communion with the same Spirit. However, the purpose of this blog is to primarily explore Christian communities as places of social and spiritual transformation, so this is what I’ll focus on in this blog! (Though please be in touch if you are curious about the other facets of my experience!).
Community at Craig Lodge
Always a House of Prayer/community, Craig Lodge has recently launched a new project/missional stream which they call ‘Mission House’; a 9-month formation programme for 18-30 year-olds, to equip, move, grow and empower “spirit-filled evangelizers for the renewal of the Church”.
These 9 months are characterised as a time to live and grow into a life of: prayer, community, mission, study, service and worship, as outlined here2. Whilst their language is bolder and more evangelical than my own, I find they articulate the power of community rather well in saying:
“The communal dimension of the year will allow each missionary the opportunity to build bonds of friendship that will last a lifetime, whilst experiencing the Gospel dynamic of living in common. This common living will assist a genuine growth, both in human and spiritual development. Living and working together each missionary will experience the joy of having others alongside themselves who desire the Kingdom of God above all else and are able to encourage one another on the path to holiness.
With deep roots in their life of prayer and the strength and confidence gained from living in community, the missionary will go out to proclaim the good news…”
Craig Lodge takes ~5 young adults/missionaries a year who pay a subsidised cost of £2000 which they are encouraged to fundraise. Craig Lodge encourages donors to sponsor places to cover remaining costs.
Such years of formation are a relatively common framework of young adult Christian community which I had yet to experience, so I was deeply grateful for some insight into how this is done at Craig Lodge.
Fruits of Formation
“By their fruit you will recognize them.” ~Matthew 7:16
I must say, I was deeply impressed by the Craig Lodge missionaries3, and how masterfully they seemed to be vessels of the Spirit: there was an evident and tangible dive joy about them; let’s just say the prayer/prophetic ministry I received from them spoke to me powerfully; and whilst I did not experience this myself, they were confident in faith and the power of prayer for physical healing. They truly were reminiscent of the New Testament letters and Acts of the Apostles…
This sets off a whole other trail of thoughts on how we’ve tamed the Church, and no longer seem to actually believe in the Holy Spirit and the living God which we profess… but coming back to community, it was evident to me that the fruits of community spiritual formation are great and utterly life-inspiring.
Festival Fruits
It was interesting to contrast the fruits of 9-month formation, with 3 days of festival. The language of ‘spiritual revival’ is a one which floats around Craig Lodge, and the Stronghold Festival did indeed seem to bring that to its 100+ or so participants. Testimonies were shared at the end of the festival, and whether people had bold charismatic, or slightly gentler, experiences of God, it was evident that people had found the extended weekend spiritually awakening in some way (myself included).
The question - which came up in various conversations, talks and sermons - is how long does this awakening, this revival last? Can it withstand the return to everyday life, and ‘duller’ parish life?
I can’t speak for everyone, but my personal impression is that such events are incredibly helpful spiritual top-ups and help people hang onto faith; critical work given how easy it is to lose faith in our increasingly secular contexts and dwindling parishes.
However, I’m not convived that such events hold enough to sustainably revive the Church, with it being difficult to transfer the experiences had at such festivals back into everyday life. I believe this is where sustained community living comes in, providing a critical and empowering sense of belonging in which people can grow into their God-given identity, inspiring and supporting faith, healing and/or vocation (depending on the context)4.
Limits of Formation Years
Many of the young adult festival go-ers were participating in, or had already completed, a “mission year” with various mission bodies (e.g. NET ministries) whereby they travelled around Catholic schools sharing their faith as part of a community of young missionaries (groups of ~5 - 15).
I had a great conversation with someone who had completed such a mission year in Ireland, in which she shared the limitations of such mission years too. She remarked that whilst some people flourished in the confines of the mission year and mission team, post-mission year they found themselves rather lost, unable to make their experience relevant to the rest of their life. I have heard similar concerns expressed about the participants of the Community of St. Anselm - another fully immersive young adult experience.
I know that this is not the case for all participants of such immersive communities, and for some, the intensity and immersion is an incredibly powerful catapult onto other things. However, it is a limitation/risk worth taking note of and it got me thinking about the benefits of communities compatible with working/student life (which, whilst less intensely immersive, provide more obvious ongoing integration with ‘normal’ life. Such communities also require significantly less resourcing and financing).
Mono-Denominational vs. Ecumenical
In listening to the news, I heard mention of the film “Club Zero” about a teacher who manages to convince a group of students that they can live on light alone (no food). It creeped me out (!), but also got me thinking on the relationship between community and radicalisation.
I find it fascinating and necessary to expose myself to beliefs and experiences different to my own, spiritually as well as otherwise. I fear that in mono-denominational settings (as most of our faith communities/congregations are!), beliefs and ideas can more easily be normalised without critical thought or exposure to alternative viewpoints, and I appreciate ecumenical communities for their wider outlook and increased diversity.
Closing Remarks
I am deeply grateful to have witnessed the powerful way in which the Spirit moves at Craig Lodge, and for the reminder and inspiration that the Spirit can move similarly in all places and people.
The charismatic component of the trip was striking to say the least, and I shall appreciate continuing to ponder the events of this Pentecost weekend in my heart, soul and mind.
To close, I wish to draw your attention to this Pentecost sermon, as preached by Demarius:
It beautifully touches on the presence and work of the Spirit, and its universality across both charismatic and higher church contexts. The sermon also speaks of the relevance and importance of young adult community for the Church today. It was a surprisingly fitting sermon to listen to on returning from the festival…
Tomorrow I embark on the final leg of my community travels, travelling to the distant lands of the South West for a month… I’ll update you when I can!
With blessings,
Lakshmi 🌻😊
As taken from the Craig Lodge website: https://www.craiglodge.org/about
I don’t overly recommend watching the video as it makes everyone look frighteningly serious, when in fact they are beautifully joy-filled people!
The word mission/missionaries here is used to denote the sharing of the Gospel in a Spirit-led way and not in the sense of insensitive colonial evangelisation. Though where people draw the line of insensitive evangelisation is an interesting question (and one which feels more acute given my interfaith family background).
I don’t think community living is the only thing which holds this power - conversion experiences and significant life events can have similar effects for example - but I do believe community is something we can offer to assist people on their faith journeys in meaningful and lasting ways, whilst also contributing to a wider witness of love/social transformation.