God52 moves out

Hello all. Over the last few days, I’ve been completely overwhelmed by the response to, and interest and participation in, God52 – my little New Year’s resolution project. The truth is that I started off doing this for myself, and wondered if maybe a handful of my friends might be up for doing it with me. It was never intended as a solo pursuit (although that would have been fine) but I also wasn’t trying to start something of any great size or momentum.

But clearly there’s something in this idea, for this blog has been inundated with visits, and I’ve had literally hundreds of indications from people – most of whom I don’t know – that they’re going to join in too. Which is great. And maybe it’s a sign that God is involved in this, which is really, really exciting.

What this influx of people means is that the ‘project’ (for want of a better word) is changing shape. I asked if anyone wanted to write a guest blog for this site on the subject of the first God52 challenge; I was inundated with offers. Immediately, it didn’t feel like this was just going to be about me setting challenges – but also about a whole range of diverse voices getting involved, grappling with and talking through the issues raised by trying those challenges. Completely organically, it’s becoming a community project.

So for two reasons, I’ve given God52 its own blog site. I’ve pretty much explained the first reason already – it makes more sense if there are going to be lots of voices on there for it to be a dedicated site, rather that another person’s blog. I’ll still lead and host it, but it will hopefully feel much less like my ‘thing’.

The second reason is that, now I’ve realised the potential of this idea to bring people closer to God and each other, I don’t want that to get confused or conflicted in any way. I’ve picked up a couple of comments from people who were (lets use the word) concerned that this was a great big profile-building exercise for me, and that honestly couldn’t be further from the truth. I’ve also noticed that while lots of people have got excited about God52, few influential leaders, and none of the really well-followed people on social media have got behind it. I understand that they probably hold a similar concern, and I do respect that. So – I’m hoping that in moving it off my site, and moving the attention away from me, those people and others might feel more comfortable in getting behind something which really seems quite exciting and potentially important.

Anyway, enough of that self-important tosh. The new site is now live (and I promise I’ll make it look prettier soon) – from today you’ll start to see some wonderful articles appearing from a whole range of people who are going God52. I’ll still blog occasionally about my experience here, but from now on all the challenges will be set on the God52 blog.

Click here to visit the new God52 blog.