Greetings Sophian friends!
I hope this note finds you well, and that you’ve enjoyed a good Christmas season! I’ve got some news I want to share with you.
In July of this year, we are going to be moving! After much deliberation, we’ve decided to take the plunge and head “back to the land” (yeah, you all knew we were just hippies in disguise, didn’t you?)
In the summer, we will be packing up and moving to an off the grid organic farm near Cochin (20 minutes north of the Battlefords). There, the Ternier – Burns family has graciously offered to take us on as greenhorn homesteaders, and show us the ropes of low-tech small-scale organic gardening, farming, woodscraft, animal husbandry, and seed-saving. We will be helping out with their CSA (community-shared agriculture) project, and living as simply as possible. There is no power on the farm apart from solar, and no running water … it is truly going to be an adventure!
We’re planning on going out for a trial year, leasing our house in Saskatoon, and then evaluating if we are crazy or not. If it goes well, we may very well relocate permanently.
We’re pretty excited about this move, but of course the negative side means saying goodbye to our life here in Saskatoon. We’ll be back and forth on a fairly regular basis, but still, a move like this means that relationships will morph and change.
One of the changes is that our Sophian grove will be drawing to a close. We will try to have at least one more full moon ceremony before we leave, to celebrate the community which has been built over the past few years. One thing I’ve learned over several decades of communal experimentation is that small groups have a life-cycle of their own, and that is OK! There is a time to call the circle, and a time to let it go.
That said, if there is anyone in the grove who is feeling called to take on leadership and continue the Sophian gatherings, please let me know!
I’m looking forward to connecting with you before we move, and please send prayers/good energy for us as we prepare for this major transition!
Peace and Blessings in Sophia,
Shawn, Janice, Christopher, Rowan, and Robin
Ecumenical Companions of Sophia 