Six paths into faith

Each path below comes with both self-service resources (things you can do under your own steam) and Minster-led routes. They are an invitation rather than a checklist.

You do not need to belong to walk these paths. None of the resources below requires you to commit to anything. Use what helps; ignore what does not.

1. The questioning, intellectual path

For the reader who wants to know whether Christianity is historically credible and intellectually serious. You may have a scientific or academic background, or simply be allergic to vagueness.

2. The contemplative, experiential path

For the reader drawn by silence, beauty and stillness. You may have come to the Minster for a concert, or sat for ten minutes in St Katherine’s Chapel and noticed something settling.

3. The sacramental, liturgical path

For the reader drawn by ritual, rhythm and the church year. The shape of a service speaks more directly than its content; the discipline of returning week by week is itself a form of belief.

4. The communal, relational path

For the reader for whom belonging precedes believing. The people you have met at the Minster seem like people you would like to know better, and you wonder whether that itself is the beginning.

5. The serving, justice-seeking path

For the reader who finds God less in argument and more in service to others. The only theology that interests you is the one that does something.

6. The doubting, hesitant path

For the reader carrying past hurt, scepticism or simple uncertainty. You stopped going for very good reasons, or never quite started, and are not sure the question is open in any practical sense. We are very glad you are reading this.

How do I take a next step?

If something has caught your attention and you would like to take a small next step, the simplest thing is to speak to any of the clergy or lay ministers in person after a service, or by writing to the Parish Office. We are not specialists in particular doors, and we will help you find one that fits. The clergy and lay ministers are pictured on the digital display screens at the Minster.

When you’re away from Beverley, it is also worth being a “church tourist” — dropping into a service in a tradition different from your own and noticing what surprises you. There is more on this, and why it nourishes, in Different flavours of church.

Is there a wider pilgrimage worth knowing about?

Three particular kinds of going-further-afield are worth knowing about.

A retreat. The Diocese of York runs Wydale Hall, on the edge of the North York Moors, for individual quiet days and longer weekends. The Bar Convent in York, the oldest living convent in England, also welcomes individuals for quiet days and short stays. The clergy and lay ministers all go on retreat from time to time and will gladly suggest a place that might suit you.

A residential course. Cursillo (a four-day Christian renewal weekend often hosted at Wydale) and the Diocesan Pilgrimage are both worth knowing about for those seeking a more intensive exploration of faith in community. Many in the Minster community have found Cursillo at Wydale to be quietly transformative.

A Christian festival. Greenbelt — the long-running festival of Christian art, faith and politics, held each August Bank Holiday weekend at Boughton House in Northamptonshire — is the largest gathering of its kind in the UK and is famously generous to those exploring faith from outside the church. Walsingham, Iona and Taizé itself in Burgundy each host pilgrim communities that many find life-changing.

Section 6 of 26 in the Companion