THE HEART OF LIFE CENTRE, MOVE TO MALVERN, COVOID-19, REPORT
The Director of Heart of Life, Paul Beirne, makes a report on what has happened at Heart of Life, the first months of 2020.
HEART OF LIFE
Centre for Spiritual & Pastoral Formation
__________________________________________________________________
The Vicarage
St Georges Anglican Church
296 Glenferrie Rd
Malvern 3144
Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Website: http://heartoflife.melbourne
On 3rd of October, 2019, at the Transitus of St Francis liturgy, I was informed by the Franciscan Provincial that the lease on the premises we were occupying was not being extended and we would have to evacuate the premises in the near future. He informed me, however, that a space had been set aside in the restructured St Francis monastery for Heart of Life, and he invited me to view this space the following day, an invitation which I accepted. Several members of the Heart of Life staff also inspected this possible new location, and in the end, in consultation with the MSC Provincial and Provincial Council, we made the decision not to take up the Franciscan’s offer. This meant that within a very short window of time we had to find a new location for Heart of Life, pack up all our belongings, including the Library, clear out the premises, and move to a new location in time to welcome returning and new students on 7th February, 2020.
Without going into the complexity, or the drama, of this challenge, we did manage to find a place to move to—The Vicarage, at the rear of St Georges Anglican Church in Malvern. We were made to feel very welcome by the Wardens and Council members of St Georges who made every effort to accommodate their new neighbours, and to make us feel at home. There was one codicil to the agreement however, which offered a significant challenge--the lease of The Vicarage would be for just one calendar year, a duration during which the St Georges Council would be planning a future development of The Vicarage. Consequently, Heart of Life’s search for a permanent home continues.
In order to make the move from St Paschals, a rallying call was sent to the graduands from previous years, who were very generous with their time and efforts. They came, packed, discarded and cleaned—we could not have done without them. Special mention must be made to the St Paschal’s Library Manager, Miranda Fifield who, together with Associate Librarian Nick Gellatly and Library Officer Ben Ross, who packed the Heart of Life Library into dozens of catalogued boxes, helped stack them onto the moving van, and installed them meticulously in what became the Heart of Life Library on the first floor of The Vicarage. An amazing effort indeed, which further establishing our close operational link with the St Paschal Library.
In the midst of all the activity of packing, moving and relocating, and in coordination with the MSC Provincial Chris McPhee, a Heart of Life Summit was convened on 23rd January to consider the future of Heart of Life, or indeed, whether or not it had a future at all. One consequence of the challenges that Heart of Life faced was that, as Director, I cancelled the intake of new students who had applied for Part Time 1 of the Siloam course, on the grounds that, it is a two year course, there was no guarantee that Heart of Life would still be in existence to offer them the second year of their course in 2021. Things were that serious. As Director, I also compiled a seven-page Position Paper which outlined the past, present and possible future of the institution, which contained the very real possibility that Heart of Life would not be in existence after the current year.
The meeting comprised the MSC Provincial, members of the MSC Provincial Council, members of the MSC Formation Team, and representatives from Heart of Life and was ably chaired by Rev Dr Peter Bentley from WellSpring Spirituality Centre who is also a lecturer at Heart of Life. The outcome of the meeting is summarized as follows by the Director:
“The Heart of Life Summit concluded at 4pm. There was unanimous agreement among participants that the day had not only been worthwhile, but had outlined a blueprint for the future of Heart of Life that is encouraging, practical, and far-reaching, built around 9 very specific recommendations. It also outlined key decisions that have to be made by mid-2020. I think it is safe to say that the attendees at the Summit were energized by its discussions and outcomes, and, even with challenges ahead, are united in confidence about the future.”
The move was completed on Thursday 6th February, the day before the students were arrived. Orientation was completed the following week, and classes began the Monday after that. The staff of Heart of Life, confident that we had managed to at least subdue if not to tame the whirlwind, began to relax a little in the knowledge that we had at least 4 months until the next phase of the search began.
“Phew” we sighed collectively, “What else could possibly go wrong?”
Then COVID-19 struck!! We closed everything down at The Vicarage on 23 March, vacated the premises, and now all teaching, learning, supervision and communication is conducted via ZOOM.
What does the future hold for Heart of Life?
Watch this space!!
Director
