A powerful retreat for SOMA Trustees
“A Long Obedience in the Same Direction”
Recently, SOMA UK's staff, National Leadership Team and Trustees gathered for two days of prayer, reflection and discernment near Oxford. Here's what they've been saying since.
The moments that stayed
Ask people what they'll carry home from the retreat, and most of them go straight to the prayer.
One trustee described watching as the National Leadership Team prayed for the trustees, and the trustees prayed for the leadership team in return. "It felt like a moment the body of Christ was working as it should," they said. "Each part working for the other."
Another will remember morning prayer: the rich, slightly surprising combination of an extended time praying in tongues alongside the familiar collects and Scripture readings of the Book of Common Prayer. "A powerful combination," they reflected simply.
There was also a fifteen-minute stretch of crying out to God together, a style of prayer gifted to the group by brothers and sisters from India. And for at least one person, the lasting memory will be something quieter: listening to Bishop Abraham's story, and then getting up at 5:15 the next morning to see him off.
Beautiful surroundings in the Oxfordshire countryside.
What God seems to be saying
The retreat carried a growing sense that SOMA is entering a new season, one that will ask for more faith, more humility, and more dependence on God rather than strategy or effort.
One trustee reached for Eugene Peterson's phrase: "a long obedience in the same direction." The call, they said, is to keep close to the Holy Spirit, hold a bold vision, and trust God for the resources needed for an expanding work. "We need to keep bringing olive branches of hope back to the UK."
Another trustee sensed the word "humble" running through it all: "as we humbly learn from one another and humble ourselves before Jesus."
There was real excitement too, particularly around the growth of META Youth and the expectation of reaching 15 missions this year. Stories of young people putting their trust in Jesus and stepping out into mission brought a fresh sense of expectancy. As one trustee put it, reflecting on their own experience of going abroad at twenty-one: "I pray with confidence that those who go out with META have a similar transformation experience."
And there was a strong shared sense that storytelling matters more than ever. As SOMA grows, the ability to tell what God is doing, clearly, compellingly, and often, will be key to drawing more people in.
The honest bit
Not everything at the retreat was easy to sit with.
The Easter Appeal is coming in lower than hoped, and more than one trustee named it plainly: "a reminder that we still have a long way to go in building a sustainable ministry and that we will need to trust God for every new initiative." One trustee is praying specifically that God would double the number of monthly givers to SOMA. Another was stretched by the challenge of resisting self-reliance: "I was challenged to make space to discern what God is actually leading us into, rather than rely on our own ability."
That honesty felt important. It's the kind of tension between effort and faith, between what we can plan and what only God can provide, that has marked SOMA's ministry for decades. As one long-serving trustee quietly observed: "It's very satisfying to see how the Lord keeps providing for the work of SOMA, even if it demands a continual tension between effort and faith."
We left grateful. And expectant.
Could you help?
As SOMA UK continues to grow, we are currently looking for:
🔹 A Trustee with responsibility for Safeguarding 🔹 A Trustee with responsibility for Finance
If you have experience in either area and a heart for the global church, we'd love to hear from you.
And if this story has encouraged you, would you consider becoming a monthly supporter? Even from £3/month, a "buy me a coffee" donation, you help make this work possible. Find out more at somauk.org/easter.
