From North Devon to North Carolina, a variety of groups have introduced Soulspace in different ways. See how it's worked out in five communities on both sides of the Atlantic.
Bradworthy Benefice, Diocese of Exeter
In Milton Damerel, a collection of hamlets in north Devon, the parish church was ‘non-operational.’ The Rector of the Benefice, Mark James, and some lay people planned a re-launch on Palm Sunday 2025. They discovered Soulspace and thought it might work better than the celebration service they had in mind.
At 4.30 pm they welcomed 14 people, five churchgoers, five who didn’t attend church, and four who came on special occasions. With Soulspace as a framework,
- they sat at cafe-style tables at the back of church,
- opened with some gentle music and a prayer,
- used a few images and questions to spark conversation about community and the church’s role in connecting people,
- heard the story of the lost sheep,
- reflected on questions about the story (eg ‘What draws your attention in this story?’),
- connected with the world through a table activity focused on: Who or what do you care about deeply right now? Where is the world hurting and how might light reach that place?), and
- gathered their thoughts up in a prayer.
Afterwards, they had tea and continued talking. They decided to repeat Soulspace once a month, and put alongside it Evensong - a ‘mixed ecology’ of church!
Already, after the second Soulspace, there have been notable spin offs - a ‘Friends of [the church]’ group, the beginnings of a gardening group, the core of a PCC, offers of help.
Mark is toying with the idea of developing a version of Soulspace for isolated farmers - perhaps monthly in-person and weekly online.
’As a model, Soulspace works brilliantly,” Mark said. ‘It gives me a steer, but there is space to move around in. There is so much material you can draw on, and the name itself works well.’
Holy Trinity. Aldershot, Diocese of Guildford
On 7 April 2025, Alan Hillier, Community Outreach Lead at Holy Trinity Aldershot, contacted the Church of England’s Church Support Hub to say thank you for the Soulspace material.
Holy Trinity had been using Soulspace at their Wednesday Fellowship Meal, which starts with Christian reflection, for several weeks in place of a Bible study.
‘We felt that Bible Study required skills in literacy with which our guests (primarily from the street community) might struggle. Soulspace in contrast is more reflective and experience based and is therefore more inclusive.’ It also connects with guests who do not attend church, about a quarter of the total.
‘We're planning to introduce Soulspace into Brunch Club,’ a cooked breakfast on Saturdays, ‘as an optional extra in a separate area after the meal.’
Laundry Love, St Cloud, Episcopal Diocese of Minnesota
For several years, Laundry Love has met every other week in one of a mid-sized group of midwestern American towns. Folks gather to do their laundry, paid for by local churches, and to have lunch together. Some of those involved wanted an opportunity to discuss issues of life and spirituality and so Nancy, the founder of Laundry Love, started Bread and Blessings in the local library.
In February 2025 she introduced Soulspace into these library gatherings. They have used the Comfort, Joy, Peace and Connecting liturgies. One person adapted a couple of these themes to recognize that people in the group have some knowledge of Christianity even though they are not regular churchgoers.
‘It is working perfectly!’ Nancy wrote. She loves the themes. ‘The suggestions and links are helpful and we have used several of the musical offerings…Soulspace makes it easy to form a beautiful, simple “service”. One person said he enjoyed it because it was “earthy.” He felt he could ask questions and stayed behind to ask about the Trinity.’
St Mary’s Risborough, Oxford Diocese
Sue Hughes, a curate, leads Play Cafe in a rural parish. She tried the 10-minute version of Soulspace before Christmas 2024. Two women and two children joined her. One woman was a mother and the other a helper. One loved it, the other was so moved she was reduced to tears.
In her second session (in the New Year), she had three mothers and four children. She said, ‘I am loving using these resources and maybe able to add in some ideas over the next few months as the toddler group I am using it with - at the end of the play session - has been with small children joining us.’
She has used Soulspace intermittently since because she is feeling her way about how to accommodate the children. In March she was planning to encourage older children to watch a video on her laptop while the adults did Soulspace.
Watch this space!
St Paul’s Episcopal Church, Sacramento, Episcopal Diocese of North California
The Rev Rik Rasmussen had been wondering how they could spiritually feed the 50 or so recipients of the church’s Sack Lunch programme. In December 2024 he introduced Soulspace and called it ‘Feeding our Spiritual Side.’
They met in the sanctuary when the lunches had been given out. ‘That didn't work! When we started packing up the sack lunch table people just left.’ So they moved out of the building into a pop-up canopy on the sidewalk and now meet earlier. Nineteen of their volunteers and un-homed neighbours attended ‘last Saturday.’
After a few weeks he asked if people would welcome individual healing prayers and anointing with unction. The answer was yes. So now the short service, which he changes every week:
- ‘starts with an opening prayer and candle lighting,
- ‘followed by a reading from scripture - usually the Gospel, or part of the Gospel for the next day.
- ‘Then a time for silent prayer/meditation while I go around and offer healing prayers.
- ‘We conclude with a closing prayer and a blessing.’
For Lent they are using resources from a group called A Sanctified Art, modifying some of the prayers to fit their context.