The Simple Rule is a tool for friends who wish to share the journey of faith and exploration for a time. It provides a framework to deepen your conversation with God through every aspect of life. The Simple Rule is an agreement to explore that conversation by  pursuing…

• The Way of Love
• The Way of Oneness
• The Way of Simplicity
• The Way of Soul Friendship

These are the 4 Streams of the Simple Rule. Using the Simple Rule for a season means making an agreement with friends to open up the flow of those four streams in your own life. The Simple Rule begins with a question to a friend:

“It is my intention to grow in the way of love, the way of oneness, the way of simplicity and the way of soul-friendship. Brother/Sister, can you and I help each other do these things?”

The Way of Love is about:

• Love for God – a desire to enjoy our connection with the Source of the Cosmos
• Love for People – made real in friendliness, kindness, generosity, hospitality, solidarity, aid, and justice

The Way of Oneness seeks…

• To know God more and more truly
• To keep learning and exploring new territory
• To learn to apply Jesus’ teachings 
• To allow ourselves to be guided and changed by the Spirit of God
• To explore whatever tools may support and expand our conscious connection with God 

The Way of Simplicity means to live a life that is; not greedy, sustainable, healthy and slow enough for me to…

• Love and Serve my Family/Household
• Be available to others  in my Natural Network
• Enjoy serving others with my own resources and abilities 

The Way of Soul Friendship is about sharing the journey with friends who are:

• ready and willing to talk honestly, to be real and non-judgemental, hearing each other out, and learn from one another
• hungry and thirsty for truth, reality, and the discovery whatever is possible
• willing and able to re-examine old beliefs and assumptions and think afresh

If you are hungry for these things then The Simple Rule gives you a framework and tools for:

• friends sharing the journey of faith beyond current faith community structures
• a small fellowship group within a community of faith
• a group-house or clustered community
• a basis for spiritual coaching or mentoring

FIRST STEPS…

1) FORM A SIMPLE CELL

Choose friends who share your same hunger for the 4 Streams of the Simple Rule. As a guide to best size for a Simple Cell, 3 is a great number for depth and openness. 5 is a great number for a conversation. A group bigger than 8 will struggle maintaining a single conversation. Single gender cells often facilitate deeper sharing. 

2) SET A TIME FRAME

Establish how frequently you are able to meet, according to your needs and circumstances. If you are able to gather physically, every time you meet together gather around a meal. Talk, pray and contemplate together. I have learned that regularly eating a full meal together is the most powerful way of progressively deepening relationships within a small cell. Make a finite commitment in terms of continuing with the cell. I suggest trying out the Simple Rule for 12 months and then reviewing.

NB It is normal for a close community like a Simple Cell, to struggle at the 18-month mark. This is because that’s when you really begi to encounter each other’s edges! It’s helpful to know that 18 months to 3 years is very often the period when an intentional fellowship like a Simple Cell does its best “soul-work” and makes the most significant progress. 

3) VERBALISE THE AGREEMENT TO SET YOUR INTENTION TOGETHER BY VERBALISING THE SIPLE RULE AGREEMENT

4) GET HOLD OF THE SIMPLE RULE TOOLKIT & PUT IT TO WORK

The Toolkit is an evolving hard copy resource providing simple tools, exercises and strategies for strengthening the 4 Streams in your life. It includes disciplines drawn from the breadth of the Christian tradition, from ancient to postmodern, East to West. 

PS…throughout history, peer-to-peer, friend-to-friend rules of life like this are often found by post-institutional believers, seeking simpler ways of connecting with God, more meaningful ways of belonging to one another and more intentional ways of shaping life around spiritual teachings. You may therefore have friends on the edge of or beyond the world of faith communities who would be interested in sharing an explorative journey with you on the basis of the Simple Rule. Many powerful spiritual movements were initiated when small groups of believing friends made these kinds of “agreements”, “rules of life” or “covenants.” The term “rule of life” has its roots in Christian Monastic soil. For stories of some amazing historical movements that began this way within the Christian tradition, take a look at the“Simple Rule Inspirations.” 

“Be yourself as God intended you to be and you will set the world on fire!”

(Catherine of Siena)