Nomad Extra 16: Simon Hall and Revive

Nomad found themselves in Leeds again recently and so thought they’d catch up with Simon Hall for a little Nomad Extra bonus interview for you. Simon is a founding member of the Revive community, which started out as a group of young, arty adults, looking to do church and mission differently.

The thing that really stood out for me, as Simon was telling us his story, was how over the years the community has adapted to many internal and external changes. They started out with a vision, but they weren’t slaves to it, and they’ve allowed God and each other to shape and reshape community life.

I’m the sort of guy who likes a plan, so I felt really challenged by Revive’s flexibility and openness to change.

I’ve often been guilty of limiting the Spirit’s role to that of Comforter, but I’m increasingly seeing that a key part of what the Spirit does is to act as the Unsettler. It’s the Spirit who keeps us on our toes, keeps us moving, changing and adapting, if we remain open to him. 

In response to this, I’ve built in a weekly prayer slot where I lay everything before God, all my plans and agendas, and try and be open to the fact that God might want me to change something, or indeed give everything up, and do something else.