Geoff O'Donoghue elected new leader of Lay Community of St Benedict

The Lay Community of St Benedict (LCSB) has elected Geoff O'Donoghue as its new Leader. He succeeds Adam Simon, who has served in the role for six years.

Geoff has been a member of the Lay Community for more than 25 years. Together with his wife Jenny and their three children he has experienced the Community as a source of welcome, prayer and support through the changing seasons of family life.

As leader, Geoff is committed to the Community's distinctive character as a welcoming, ecumenical community for people of all ages and abilities, seeking to live Benedictine spirituality in the circumstances of everyday life.

For Geoff, joining the Lay Community was a kind of homecoming. His childhood was shaped by a rhythm of prayer and service, and the Psalms have remained an anchor throughout his life. An older priest once gave him a simple rule: 'Pray, serve, and leave the rest to God.'

"Coming into the Lay Community brought prayer and service back into a rhythm and structure for me," says Geoff. "I have come to see how important a rule of life is in holding prayer and service together."

Geoff is particularly keen to strengthen connections across generations, building on LCSB's work with young people and young adults, while developing greater support for members experiencing bereavement, loss and change. He also hopes to widen the Community's reach and encourage a membership that reflects more fully the diversity of the communities in which its members live and worship.

"If we want to reach young people, we need to meet them 'heart to heart', in authentic conversation and genuine relationship," Geoff says. "That is where radical hope lies."

Geoff takes up the leadership as LCSB begins a year focused on 'Listening to what it means to be human', inspired by St Benedict's invitation to 'listen with the ear of your heart' and Pope Leo's Magnifica Humanitas. The Community seeks to explore how Benedictine wisdom can help people respond to the realities of contemporary life through prayer, relationship and service.

Looking ahead, Geoff sees the Community's role as one of building hope and unity through prayer, welcome and service.

"What I know for certain is that the foundation for any success and the future health of our Community lie in God's hands," he says. "I pray that what we build through our shared prayer and community will be of service to each other and to the wider world we encounter in our daily lives."

LINK

LCSB: www.lcsb.uk