Good day to you! You might have noticed that spiritual experience is surging among younger generations, with much of that interest occurring outside traditional religious settings—whether that’s people delving into alternative or occult spiritual practices, or burgeoning curiosity around things like alien activity.

Kristi Mair has been researching and pondering this area of things for a while now, and next month she’ll be leading a day for those in some form of pastoral ministry, called The Unseen Realm: Satan, Spirits, and Spiritualities, which looks at both a theological framework for engaging this area of things, as well as some of the practical outworking of this framework.

It’s hosted by Yarnton Manor in Oxfordshire, and though it’s not officially an invisible castle event, it will be quite on vibe with what we do. If you can’t make that date, feel free to contact us about Kristi teaching on similar topics for your church or organization.

Click on the button below to find out more details, or scroll down for an outline of the day’s schedule.

Info & Booking

Schedule:

9.30 am – Meet for coffee/tea and pastries

10 am – Session 1: The cosmic architecture: a biblical and historical-theological consideration of the cosmic order

11 am – Break for coffee/tea

11.30 am – Session 2: The agents of (dis)order: an overview of God’s (often) unseen creatures within the cosmic order

12.30 pm – Community worship

1pm – Lunch

2pm – Session 3: The activity of unseen creatures: contemporary spiritualities and reflections regarding responses

3pm – Q&A with a cuppa

3.30pm – Finish

Thanks so much for being part of this unfolding project. If you missed our latest podcast episode, about the best books we read lately, you can still catch it on video (here) or in audio format on all the usual platforms, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Castbox, Pocket Casts, or wherever you listen.

If you know somebody who might find invisible castle useful or intriguing, why not share it with them, using the share button below.

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We love books! And reading is a key part of how we’ve grown and been formed as followers of Jesus. To mark the start of the new year, then, Kristi and Luke sat down to chat about some of the things they’ve read over the past twelve months; what they’ve enjoyed and how it all intersects with their faith. Some of the books are Christian books and others are not. We hope you enjoy listening to it—we had fun recording it!

You can have a listen for free on the usual platforms, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Castbox, Pocket Casts, and most other places you listen. Just click on the links in the previous sentence to listen.

The video version (below) is also available exclusively here. Just click on the video to watch:

We’d love to hear your thoughts and reflections once you’ve had a listen or watch!

If you know somebody who might find invisible castle useful or intriguing, why not share it with them, using the share button below.

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East of Eden, by John Steinbeck

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In., by Will McPhail

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Divine Comedy, by Dante Alighieri

Kristi mentioned more than one translation of this. Three are listed here:

The first one, pictured below, is the 1867 verse translation by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. It has illustrations by Gustave Doré, which Kristi says assist ones reading of it:

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This second one is a very recent translation by Clive James, which Kristi says is super-accessible by virtue of being rendered into everyday contemporary language:

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And this third one is the J.G. Nichols translation which Luke read. It has been published in three volumes (Inferno, Purgatory, and Paradise—available here), the third of which was sitting on the table during the podcast. Nichols prefaces each canto of the poem with a short description of what is about to happen. His translation is also available in a single volume edition, which also features pictures from Gustave Doré:

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Elizabeth Elliot: A Life, by Lucy Austen

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Also mentioned…

We also mentioned, in passing:

• Amy Peterson’s article on Elizabeth Elliot entitled ‘Van and Bets, and the things we sacrifice to be acceptable’.

• Elliot’s biography of her husband, Jim, entitled Shadow of the Almighty.

• Elliot’s novel, No Graven Image, appears to currently be out of print, but is widely available secondhand.

• Seymour: An Introduction by J.D. Salinger.

• Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck.

• C. Stacey Woods and the Evangelical Rediscovery of the University by A. Donald MacLeod.

• Uncanny: The Origins of Fear by Junji Ito.

• Tokyo These Days, Volume One by Taiyo Matsumoto.

• Confessions by Augustine of Hippo is available in Kristi’s preferred translation by R.S. Pine-Coffin, as well as in a newer one by Henry Chadwick.

You can find publisher or bookseller links for each of those by clicking on the relevant underlined words in the list above.

If you know somebody who might find invisible castle useful or intriguing, why not share it with them, using the share button below.

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Some of the worst and best experiences we’ve had in ministry have been in seeking to collaborate with others. It can be messy, and bring out all kinds of unwelcome things in everyone involved, but it can also be quite beautiful when it comes off.

Dave Benson and Luke Cawley have both spent much of their adult lives designing and developing projects and contexts where diverse groups of Christians can work together towards a shared goal. In the latest episode of the invisible castle podcast, they chat about their experiences, convictions, and some of the practical approaches they’ve found most helpful for collaborating with others.

It’s available for free on all the usual platforms, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Castbox, Pocket Casts, and most other places you listen. Just click on the links in the previous sentence to listen.

The video version (below) is also available exclusively here. Just click on the video to watch:

We’d love to hear your thoughts and reflections once you’ve had a listen or watch!

If you know somebody who might find invisible castle useful or intriguing, why not share it with them, using the share button below.

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This has all ended up being quite timely. Over the past week, with the media spotlight on the death of a public figure known for being a vocally professing Christian, the question has risen to the surface of what it looks like for Christians to be public about their faith in a healthy and attractive way. And especially how we do so in settings where many people may disagree with us or have completely opposing views.

In the latest episode of the invisible castle podcast, we discuss a public faith—why we need to be public, what the pressures are on us and others to keep it private, and what in practice it looks like to do so in our current pluralistic settings.

Dave Benson and Luke Cawley, who feature on this episode, bring a wealth of firsthand experience in this area to the conversation, as well as their own respective academic studies in the area of public theology. It wasn’t recorded in response to the events of last week, but does speak into some of the questions underlying current conversations. Hopefully it’s one you find helpful!

It’s available for free on all the usual platforms, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Castbox, Pocket Casts, and most other places you listen. Just click on the links in the previous sentence to listen.

The video version (below) is also available exclusively here. Click on the video to watch:

We’d love to hear your thoughts and reflections once you’ve had a listen or watch!

And… if you wanted to check out some stories of Christians living out their faith in a range of tricky situations, you might take a look at Luke’s book Campus Lights: Students Living and Speaking for Jesus Around the World. Available directly from the publisher, from Blackwells, Eden Books, Barnes and Noble, your local Amazon site, and most places you buy books. The Spanish version, Luces en el campus: Estudiantes que viven y hablan de Jesús en todo el mundo, is also available via Amazon.

If you know somebody who might find invisible castle useful or intriguing, why not share it with them, using the share button below.

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We are slightly belated with this episode, as Luke’s mother sadly passed away last month, and his focus has understandably been elsewhere the past month or so.

A few weeks before she passed we had a recording session for the invisible castle podcast, which we are finally able to share with you. It’s all about the relationship between doubt, certainty, and faith, as well as some of the practical ways we can help others in these areas.

Three of us—Luke Cawley, Kristi Mair, and Dave Benson—are on the sofas for this one, and it made for a rich conversation. We hope you enjoy it!

It’s available for free on all the usual platforms, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Castbox, Pocket Casts, and most other places you listen. Just click on the links in the previous sentence to listen.

The video version (below) is also available exclusively here. Just click on the video to watch:

We’d love to hear your thoughts and reflections once you’ve had a listen or watch!

If you know somebody who might find invisible castle useful or intriguing, why not share it with them, using the share button below.

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Creating safe spaces for newcomers to explore faith is, in our experience, crucial. We need relaxed environments free from pressure and manipulation, and yet rich with opportunity to consider and encounter Jesus. The latest episode of the invisible castle podcast explores the how and why of developing these kinds of safe spaces.

We are especially delighted that Dave Benson, of the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity, is part of this and three more upcoming episodes. You can see him sporting his stylish Pope Francis t-shirt in the video below. Kristi took a pause for this one, but returns next month with both Luke and Dave.

We hope you enjoy this episode; we loved recording it! It’s available for free on all the usual platforms, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Castbox, Pocket Casts, and most other places you listen. Just click on the links in the previous sentence to listen.

The video version (below) is also available exclusively here. Just click on the video to watch:

We’d love to hear your thoughts and reflections once you’ve had a listen or watch!

If you know somebody who might find invisible castle useful or intriguing, why not share it with them, using the share button below.

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This is what we think: It’s not enough to simply show people that the message of Jesus is true. We need to also help them experience him as both someone beautifully attractive and also tangibly present in the lives of people they know.

In the latest episode of the invisible castle podcast, Luke and Kristi chat about their own journeys to faith, and the role these three elements—truth, beauty, and embodiment—can play in our communication about Jesus, so we can better lean into the ways people actually come to faith.

We hope it will be a fascinating conversation for you to join! It’s available for free on all the usual platforms, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Castbox, Pocket Casts, and most other places you listen. Just click on the links in the previous sentence to listen.

The video version (below) is also available exclusively here. Just click on the video to watch:

We’d love to hear your thoughts and reflections once you’ve had a listen or watch!

And, if you’re enjoying the podcast, you might want to consider grabbing a copy of Luke’s new book, Somethingism: Exploring Our Sense of More, which is out now from the Good Book Company, and available most places books are sold.

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If you know somebody who might find invisible castle useful or intriguing, why not share it with them, using the share button below.

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The book is entirely on theme and vibe with invisible castle, modelling a fresh approach to communicating the Christian faith to those around us, especially among emerging generations.

Here’s the blurb:

Most of us have a sense that there may be more out there than only what we can see or touch—not necessarily a God but something. You could call this intuition ‘somethingism’.

Drawing on the author’s conversations with hundreds of spiritually curious people, this book is an invitation to begin exploring that sense of something more.

You can read this book by yourself, with a friend or over four sessions in a group. There are questions to fuel reflection and discussion.

The hope is that the book is one Christians can give to their curious friends, and also that it will provide those already following Jesus with a fresh approach and language for how they speak of their own faith.

It’s available direct from the publisher in the UK, US, Australia, and New Zealand, as well as via all the usual suspects such as Blackwells and Barnes & Noble, and both in Kindle physical form from your local Amazon site.

An audiobook version, read by the author, is also available via various outlets, including Audible, Apple, Kobo, Spotify, and local Amazon sites (including UK and US).

Click on the relevant link in the previous two paragraphs to preorder near you, or on the buttons below.

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Here’s what people have to say about it so far:

We hope it’s a book which proves helpful to you and those around you. We’re looking forward to hearing what you think.

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Also…

If you haven’t had a listen yet, don’t forget to check out the latest episode of the invisible castle podcast, where Luke and Kristi discuss how we approach our questions about the Christian faith. The audio version of that is on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Castbox, Pocket Casts, plus a bunch of other places.

The video version is also available for free exclusively on our site. As fresh episodes release, we’ll continue posting them here and on those other platforms.

If you're subscribed to invisible castle (it's free; you just enter your email), then we'll let you know whenever a fresh episode drops. And we definitely won't spam you!

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We’re excited to let you know that the second full episode of the invisible castle podcast has just arrived. This month our conversation is entitled '...first we need to grapple with our own questions...', and it’s all about how we wrestle with our own questions, as well as those of others.

It’s available for free on all the usual platforms, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Castbox, Pocket Casts, and most other places you listen.

The video version is also available exclusively on this site. Just click on the video below to watch.

We’d love to hear your thoughts and reflections once you’ve had a listen or watch!

If you know somebody who might find invisible castle useful or intriguing, why not share it with them, using the share button below.

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Reports of spiritual experience are on the rise across the UK and Europe. But what are we to make of these, and how might Christians respond?

Kristi has written an introductory briefing on the topic for the Cambridge Papers, entitled ‘Dark Spiritual Encounters and Hidden Dangers: The Enduring Wisdom of Classical Theology’. You can read or download it for free, here.

Here’s a snippet:

Not long ago, an article in The New Statesman described Gen Z as ‘the witchcraft generation.’ On one social media platform, TikTok, #witchtok has gained over 45 billion views. There are over 8.9 million posts on Instagram under the hashtag ‘#witchcraft’, which range from sharing lessons on how to become a witch, identify familiars, protect one’s home, all the way to ‘lessons from the Devil’. Alternative spiritualities, such as witchcraft, are on the ascendant, and so are their attendant practices: veiling, drying herbs, candle divination, hexes, moon rituals, tarot cards, potions and spells, rituals and sacrifices, charging crystals, and so on. Two women interviewed for the New Statesman article explain how they have not left their religious upbringings behind (one a Protestant home, the other a Catholic one); rather, they are seeking to expand their repertoire of extra-ordinary experiences through witchcraft. Contemporary spiritualities may not provide an exclusive spiritual alternative, but offer the appeal of a melee of seemingly non-competing ‘faith’ commitments. The cauldron continues to bubble.

Across a broader sweep of cultural influences and personal experiences, it is possible to observe an increased interest in spiritual phenomena in the Anglosphere. In the United Kingdom, Uncanny, a BBC podcast hosted by Danny Robbins, relayed real-life experiences of unexplained paranormal events by guests from across the nation, and became the second most popular podcast in 2023. In the United States, a TV series – The Curse of Skinwalker Ranch – is now entering the fifth season of its investigation into unusual events at a ranch in Utah. The Paranormal Files is a YouTube channel with over one million subscribers. The podcast Blurry Creatures provides a space for Christians to share their experiences of unknown, and often uncharted, phenomena: hybrid creatures, so-called abduction accounts, demonic influences, encounters with dark spirits and ritualistic Satanic cult practices, and UAP sightings, to name a few. In the wake of the Netflix series, Lockwood and Co., a paranormal investigation hotline was created to receive accounts of ghostly activity and a survey in the United Kingdom discovered that one-in-five people claim to share their home with a ghost. This increase in documented experiences of spiritual activity is not limited to a particular generation. Some seek portals through which to connect to the currents of spiritual entities and activities; others find themselves unwittingly shaken by spiritual intruders who demand attention. Paranormal experiences are no longer deemed fringe events.

She then goes on to explore this all in conversation with classical Christian theology. It’s freely available for you to read over on the Cambridge Papers website.

Read Kristi's paper

And, if you haven’t listened to it yet, don’t forget to check out the first full episode of the invisible castle podcast. Now available for free on all the usual platforms, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Castbox, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Red Circle, and most other places you listen.

A video version is also available exclusively to all free subscribers (including you) here.

If you know somebody who might find invisible castle useful or intriguing, why not share it with them, using the share button below.

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We just wanted to let you know the exciting news that the first full episode of the invisible castle podcast has dropped, and is now available for free on all the usual platforms, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Castbox, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Red Circle, and most other places you listen.

We loved recording this opening conversation, which is entitled ‘to be alive is to experience God’, and which explores some of the surprising ways a clearer understanding of Jesus reshapes our apologetic practice.

The video version (below) is also available exclusively to all free subscribers (if you’re reading this article, then that includes you; just click on the video).

We’d love to hear your thoughts and reflections once you’ve had a listen or watch!

If you know somebody who might find invisible castle useful or intriguing, why not share it with them, using the share button below.

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The following originally appeared in the invisible castle resource Beyond Monologue: Preparing Interactive Talks, available here. We are including it here for the benefit of those listening to the upcoming audiobook version of Beyond Monologue, in case a written version of this section is helpful to them.

reading group questions

There are numerous ways you could discuss Beyond Monologue in a group. One would be to spread it across a number of leadership/preaching/staff team meetings, at whatever pace seems fit. Another would be to devote one evening, morning, or day to it.

If you spent a day on it, then you could hold it at a location where everyone will have space to sit and quietly read the introduction and the ‘why’ section (chapters 1-7) in the morning, and the ‘how’ section (chapters 8-13) in the afternoon. Participants could do the exercises in the eighth and twelfth chapters during this afternoon reading time. After each reading session, you could have a discussion time.

Below are the outlines for two discussion sessions, each lasting approximately sixty minutes. Every session requires that participants have already read the relevant chapters.

The timings are obviously flexible, and you could remove, add, or adjust questions as you feel fit. But, hopefully, it gives you a helpful starting framework to use in your setting.

Session One: The ‘Why’ Chapters (1-7)

Part One: Our Experience (20 mins)

Share the story of your own journey to faith. What was the process, and what were the key moments of crisis?

What part did talks or organised events play in all this? What else was important?

What was the interplay between the talks and events, and everything else?

Part Two: Our Practice (20 mins)

Think about the six factors Luke identifies as driving his interactive speaking approach:

1) Conversion as process in community (ch. 2).

2) The distance of many contemporary people from the Christian faith (ch.3).

3) The contributory nature of current communications technology (ch.4).

4) The need for continuity; letting people make steps to more of the same, not leaps into something else (ch.5).

5) Events as changing rooms, not just catwalks; calling for places where storylistening can happen, and people find they and their stories belong (ch.6).

6) The non-verbal symbolism of our events (ch.7).

Were you already taking any of these factors into account before reading Beyond Monologue, and how has your reflection on them affected your practice?

Which of the six factors do you think you or your Christian community have most overlooked?

Why do you think you or your Christian community tend to overlook this?

Part Three: Our Reflections (20 mins)

Does Luke’s proposed response to these six factors address them adequately? What other adjustments, aside from those suggested by Luke, would you want to make to your current evangelistic practice, in light of what you read here?

What other questions did the first seven chapters provoke, which you would like to discuss?

Session Two: The ‘How’ Chapters (8-13)

Part One: Our Worked Examples (30 mins)

Share with one another your worked examples from chapter twelve, and provide one another with feedback on them.

Part Two: Our Practice (30 mins)

What aspect of formulating a good question came most naturally to you? And which one was most challenging, and why?

How well does this approach integrate with your existing speaking style? Are there any further adjustments you might need to make when employing it?

When will you have an opportunity to use this approach? Is there anything, aside from the talk, you would need to adjust in the organization of that event—room layout, seating, or something else?

What other questions did chapters eight to thirteen raise for you, which you would like to discuss?

Order 'Beyond Monologue'

Welcome to our latest update. It’s been a while, but we’re excited to share the news that we’ve begun recording our first series of podcasts, which we hope will launch in March 2025.

This opening series is aimed at anyone helping others consider why they should take Jesus seriously as an option for their lives, and why they might begin following and trusting him. We’re calling this series ‘apologetic practice’, and in it we propose ten propose key emphases for engaging the ‘why’ question.

Each episode during this series, we’ll explore one of these ten emphases in a conversation between the two of us (or one of us, and a guest co-host), which we’ll upload as a podcast, in both audio and video format.

You can discover more by watching our short entrée episode, (above) or by listening to the audio version on our site, on Spotify, Pocket Casts, Red Circle, Amazon Music, or on Apple Podcasts. If you have other suggested platforms for the podcast, please do let us know!

The video version of the podcast will also be available for free exclusively on this site to all subscribers to invisible castle (if we emailed this update to you, then that’s you!). As fresh episodes release, we’ll continue posting them here and on those other platforms.

If you're subscribed to invisible castle (it's free), then we'll let you know whenever a fresh episode drops. And we definitely won't spam you!

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Though we had originally pencilled in October 2023 for launching these, we’ve decided to push them back until later next year, while Kristi focuses on the final stages of her PhD in Philosophical Theology, from the University of Birmingham.

Luke describes Kristi’s research as ‘ground-breaking’, while Kristi calls it ‘exhausting’. Once the PhD is done (and please pray for Kristi in that!), it’ll be easier to focus on producing quality content here.

In the interim, though, we wanted to update you on a resource we’ve developed, and a couple of events in which we’re involved, which may interest you.

Resource: Beyond Monologue

The first thing we wanted to highlight is a short book, Beyond Monologue: Preparing Interactive Talks, we’ve produced, which reimagines how we engage people with the story and message of Jesus through our public events.

Beyond Monologue draws on Luke’s experience speaking to university student audiences around Europe, as well as in other contexts such as his church. It blends theological and cultural reflection with an actionable approach to developing interactive evangelistic and apologetic communication.

Various groups have adopted Luke’s approach. The UK university Christian Union movement, for example, now uses it in the majority of their evangelistic events weeks. Luke is increasingly being asked to provide training on this, and so it seemed like a good moment to make some of this material available in print as the first invisible castle publication; Beyond Monologue.

The book is designed for anyone involved in organizing or speaking at outreach events, and is especially well-suited for being used as the basis for a group discussion, including among preaching and leadership teams.

At just 140 pages, it makes for a brisk read. And initial reviews have been encouraging. Tim Adams, the General Secretary of IFES calls it ‘a gem of a book… that will help you clarify the purpose of your event, prepare well, and deliver an interactive talk that engages, inspires and influences your audience’. Dave Benson, of London Institute for Contemporary Christianity (LICC), says that it ‘leads the way’ on thinking about interactivity in evangelistic speaking.

The physical book is available worldwide, exclusively through our own little online store, which you can visit here. The Kindle version is available via all non-UK Amazon sites, including those for the United States (here) and Australia (here).

Bulk buy options are also available for purchases of multiple copies, further driving down the cost. Several Christian organizations have made purchases for all their staff or personnel at reduced rates, which we are happy to help arrange, and we’d also be open to discussing translation with anyone interested in reproducing it locally.

Order Beyond Monologue

First Event: Biblically Woke? A Better Conversation.

London, UK. March 9th, 2024

The first little pilot project we’re helping develop is a collaboration between invisible castle and The London Institute for Contemporary Christianity (LICC). This one-day event is aimed primarily at those in their twenties or among the student generation. It’s not for ministry specialists, just for anyone trying to follow Jesus today.

We’re creating a structured collaborative context, kind of a ‘mission lab’, where the focus isn’t on listening to talks, but together engaging in a guided process of cultural and theological reflection and discussion. The aim is that we can better discern together both how to live as disciples of Jesus in this current cultural moment, and how to engage conversationally on tricky topics.

This first event together focuses on how we engage with contemporary questions of justice. Both Luke and Kristi of invisible castle, as well as Dave Benson and Matt Jolley of LICC, will be involved in facilitating the day.

It’s scheduled for Saturday March 9^th, in a central London venue, not far from Covent Garden. You can book a place via the button below.

Book for A Better Conversation

Second Event: Nomadland

Lee Abbey, Devon, UK. April 3rd-7th, 2024

Alongside the above, we both remain available to speak on a range of topics, both providing training and also speaking at outreach events. We’re also discussing hosting some smaller invisible castle events, possibly next year. More on that in a future update.

But one event which may interest you is happening at Lee Abbey, in Devon, next April 3^rd-7^th. Lee Abbey is a beautiful retreat centre in the South West of England, overlooking a stunning coastline.

Luke will be leading a week there entitled Nomadland: Living Missionally in a Constantly-Shifting Culture. The description for the week reads:

‘Our culture seems to be in constant state of flux and evolution, and it’s easy to feel like we’re running several steps behind in our attempts to engage people around us with the story and message of Jesus. During our week together we’ll explore the challenges and opportunities of our present moment, and some of the ways we can respond — both as individuals, and also as communities; in word and in action. We’ll begin developing a plan for recalibrating our own lives so that we can continue to partner effectively with God in his mission to the people and places around us.’

The week is aimed at anybody looking to better orient missionally in their own context. Lee Abbey residential weeks normally include morning interactive teaching/training sessions, and then afternoons and evenings free to hang out and explore the local area, or pray and reflect. Activities are also arranged for your kids, if you have any. So it’s a good chance to blend vacation, retreat, and your own development as a participant in the mission of God where you live.

Nomadland isn’t specifically an invisible castle event, but it has some of the same vibe, and you’d be welcome to join for the week. You can book in via the button below.

Book for Nomadland

Thanks so much for being part of this unfolding project, and for your patience as we move towards some more regular written and recorded content.

If you know somebody who might find invisible castle useful or intriguing, why not share it with them, using the share button below.

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The Kindle version is also available in (including in the UK, the US and Australia). Visit there to buy, or scroll down to find out more.

We’ve also written a number of books for other publishers, which you can discover in the ‘Our Books’ section of this site.

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About the book

Beyond Monologue: Preparing Interactive Talks reimagines how we engage people with the story and message of Jesus through our public events. It describes an innovative approach, blending speaking with discussion, which has proved fruitful around the UK and the rest of Europe — both in the university campus setting, as well as in the local church.

Drawing on years of experience, and full of stories, as well as reflections on culture and scripture, this is a vital resource for anyone involved in outreach events as either a speaker or organizer.

Beyond Monologue is also ideal reading for preaching and leadership teams looking to refresh their practice in this area.

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What readers are saying

‘A gem of a book... Whether you are new to public speaking, or looking to sharpen your skill, Beyond Monologue is a treasure trove of lessons and ideas that will help you clarify the purpose of your event, prepare well, and deliver an interactive talk that engages, inspires and influences your audience.’

Tim Adams, General Secretary, International Fellowship of Evangelical Students (IFES).

'Theological praxis at its best, providing scripturally-informed practical guidance, drawing on Luke Cawley's vast experience as a missional practitioner. If you are involved in public proclamation of the gospel, then this is essential reading.’

Kristi Mair, Lecturer in Philosophy, Ethics and Apologetics, Oak Hill College.

‘In the beginning was the conversation.’ So Erasmus translated John 1:1 in 1519. Out of the loving communion of Father-Son-Spirit, new life is always born. In the intervening half millennia, we’ve seen a rebirth of inter-activity in the humanities and arts, in education and sciences, even rediscovering the form of the church and how we make disciples. But what about preaching the gospel and evangelistic addresses?

On this, Luke Cawley leads the way ‘Beyond Monologue’. Heralding God’s word clearly is critical. But unless you bring this into divine dialogue with the cultural world your hearer inhabits, and draw out their personal story with well crafted questions that land in their everyday life, it’ll fall on deaf ears or leave them still born. Jesus modelled a better way to walk with disenchanted and disoriented people as they slowly stumble toward Emmaus.

Out of Luke’s extensive experience speaking with university students, he brilliantly explains why the time has come for a better conversation, especially in a Web3.0 world that respects everyone’s agency and freely invites them to wrestle. And he patiently guides every presenter to make natural bridges for a sceptical crowd to try Jesus on, and continue the journey with like-minded pilgrims. My heart jumps just picturing these buzzing rooms full of curious outsiders finding their own authentic way to faith through real community. Please, read and innovate. No gimmick, it’s right and it works. Enough talk. It’s time for new life to be born with a fresh dialogue-driven apologetic.'

Dave Benson, Director of Culture and Discipleship, London Institute for Contemporary Christianity (LICC).

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About the author

Luke Cawley is the Director of Chrysolis, a small non-profit which helps churches and organizations develop innovative projects engaging the people and culture around them. He has written or coedited several books, including Campus Lights: Students Living and Speaking for Jesus Around the World (Muddy Pearl, 2019), a journalistic account of God’s work in universities across the globe, and The Myth of the Non-Christian: Engaging Atheists, Nominal Christians and the Spiritual But Not Religious (IVP, 2016) — a practical guidebook to contextualised apologetics. Luke is also the co-creator of invisible castle, and on the leadership team of a growing local church in the South West of England.

Where to order

Beyond Monologue is available for order via our online store.

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Details

Publication Date: September 2023

Length: 140 pages

ISBN: 978-1-3999-5694-9

Imagine a friend or sibling who goes missing. Years are spent searching for them. Dangerous quests undertaken. Finally, on a remote mountainside, they appear — not bedraggled or withered. But more vibrantly alive than you ever remember. You enquire of their life. They reply that they have married and live in a castle more beautiful than any other. Only it is imperceptible to most human eyes.

Unsuccessfully you seek to prise them from this delusion. To bring them home safely from their invented life. But to no avail. When you part that evening it is with sadness and a sense of futility. The wounds of loss not healed, but reopened. Wearily, you begin the long walk home.

As twilight encroaches, and mist falls, you pause for breath and before you emerges an unexpected vision. Later you will recall:

‘I lifted my head and looked once more into the mist across the water, I saw that which brought my heart into my throat. There stood the palace, grey — as all things were grey in that hour and place — but solid and motionless, wall within wall, pillar and arch and architrave, acres of it, a labyrinthine beauty. As she had said, it was like no house ever seen in our land or age. Pinnacles and buttresses leaped up — no memories of mine, you would think, could help me to imagine them — unbelievably tall and slender, pointed and prickly as if stone were shooting out into branch and flower.’

Then, subtly and swiftly, it fades.

‘Perhaps it was not real. I looked and looked to see if it would not fade or change. Then as I rose (for all this time I was still kneeling where I had drunk), almost before I stood on my feet, the whole thing was vanished. There was a tiny space of time in which I thought I could see how some swirlings of the mist had looked, for the moment, like towers and walls. But very soon, no likeness at all. I was staring simply into fog, and my eyes smarting with it.’

This is the story of the invisible castle. In C.S. Lewis’ final novel, Till We Have Faces, from which the narrative and two quotations above are drawn, the character who sees the vision — Orual — pushes the experience to one side for a while, files it as illusion, and assumes her lost sister deceased. As a result it is to be years before they meet again.

It’s a powerful echo of the ancient words ‘Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near’ (Is. 55:6). But here is the twist: We all live in God’s world and in a reality contingent on him. And so he is always near and the invitation to call on him remains ever-open.

the art of seeing reality (Kristi)

Yet this response calls for seeing. And that requires having eyes to see. Till We Have Faces is a reimagining of the Ancient Greek myth of Psyche and Cupid. According to Lewis, the original version of the myth (transmitted by Apuleius) lacked the ring of truth. A myth must, first and foremost, be true. So, Lewis set to re-working the myth.

One of the greatest changes Lewis made was to the palace (we prefer ‘castle’). It went from perceptible in Apuleius’ version, to imperceptible in his own—‘invisible’, if you will. After all, why should those searching so easily find the palace in which their erstwhile sibling resided? It was too easy. At the stroke of Lewis’ pen, the palace was shielded from sight.

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, the author of my favourite book, Le Petit Prince, writes:

And now here is my secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.

That which is essential is often invisible; that which is valuable is often difficult to find. Here, at invisible castle, we present the art of seeing reality so that the heart ‘can see rightly’.

seeing reality today (Luke)

We learn the art of seeing reality not only for ourselves. But also that we might help others. Our life, lived in God’s world, is permeated by fleeting visions of something more than we can see or touch. In my first book I recall being at the Burning Man festival and meeting with a young woman called Kate.

I write:

She told me that she had never been a part of any organized religion and her upbringing was entirely secular. Throughout her childhood, though, she had a growing awareness of something good and beautiful beyond the physical. This sometimes found expression in art or dance, but was always hovering in the background.

When she got to university, Kate fell in with a group of people who would spend long hours having deep discussions about life. It was the first time she had been part of a community which was willing to talk at length about big questions of existence and meaning.

Kate also took classes at college where she learnt to dismantle received ideas and interpretations of culture. This confirmed her previous intuition that there are more possible ways of understanding reality than those with which she had been presented thus far. Perhaps, as she had thought for so many years, she really was surrounded by a spiritual reality.

There was no dramatic turning point for Kate, but the years since college have been an ongoing process of ‘opening up to an ever-present spirit of love, or of goodness and opening [my] heart to this power that’s waiting for us, that’s all around us;. She said she sometimes calls this spirit ‘God’ and it was a source of ‘very big acceptance and gratitude… it’s not like I’m seeing beauty and feeling a love based on what I see. It’s just that suddenly it’s there.’

Others find this sense in other subtler ways — through art, through the love of friends and family, or simply as something which hangs in the background of their existence. To speak of Jesus to someone like Kate, then, is to give a face and name to these intuitions. The invisible castle took on flesh and walked among us, and to all who received him he gave the right to become children of God.

who we are (Kristi):

Both Luke and I have invested decades of our lives sharing the story of Jesus, both directly with people seeking to make sense of their fleeting sense of more, and also in helping those already following Jesus to invite friends to explore the castle which need not be invisible. You can read more about us here.

We have been practitioners and teachers. We’ve penned books; I’ve written about truth, Luke about contextual apologetics, and about movements sharing Jesus around the world. Together we edited a book exploring the wide contours of life with God. More publications are to come. We are also each involved in developing fresh initiatives in a range of settings across the UK and Europe.

As we have done (and continue to do) these things, we have been in regular conversation with one another, reflecting on how to recalibrate our approaches for the constantly-shifting culture. After our first joint publication in 2020, we began discussing other possibilities for making our reflection more widely available, and in mid-2022, sipping coffee in the courtyard of the British Library, we settled on starting here — with some short digestible articles.

who is invisible castle for? (Luke)

The invisible castle is aimed at anybody active in engaging others with the story of Jesus. It’s especially geared towards those who interact with Generation Z and below; students, twenties, those emerging into adulthood. If you interact with these demographics — whether in a paid or voluntary capacity, or simply as a friend or relative — then invisible castle is for you.

We care about this age group, in part, because it is the one with whom we both most regularly interact. But we also write with an eye towards them because we believe that the dominant received models of communication, including many of those categorised under the heading ‘apologetics’, can undermine our best intentions and even work against us when engaging with these groups.

This doesn’t mean we offer invisible castle with a dismissive wave of the hand towards anyone else. We routinely learn from and listen to all kinds of perspectives, and integrate them into our own ever-evolving teaching and praxis. But we do wonder if perhaps there is space to explore a fresh way of seeing and of helping others to do the same.

what’s next? (Kristi & Luke)

Each month, hopefully beginning in early 2024, we’ll send out a couple of these updates; one an original article, and the other highlighting a book or resource which has caught our eye, or a commentary on some recent event or trend.

We’re also working on our first physical invisible castle publication, which should hopefully be available by the end of the year. Over time we’ll announce more, including in-person training and events, and possible other media.

The idea, though, isn’t to grow something huge, but to quietly offer another perspective for interested friends and connections, and to be available to help you with what you’re doing in your setting. So please do get in touch if you think we can be of help to you.

We’re hopefully launching in mid-2024. Subscribe now to be part of it from the beginning.

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