Communal Living as Spiritual Practice: Friendship, Formation, and Renewing the Senses

Can we find freedom in a world of endless choice—or is deeper liberation found in the people we refuse to leave?

In the first of a three-part Lectern Dialogues series, John Vervaeke is joined by Elizabeth Oldfield and her husband, Christopher Oldfield, for a conversation on intentional communal living as a spiritual practice within a Christian orientation.

Elizabeth and Christopher share life with their children and three other adults in a small London home shaped by a shared rule of life: collective prayer, hospitality, study, play, administration, and the daily work of formation. They distinguish committed community from casual cohabitation, exploring how proximity, conflict, repair, and shared rhythms can cultivate deeper friendship and fellowship.

The conversation connects intentional community with John's work on the philosophical Silk Road, renewing the senses, dialogical selfhood, attachment, participation, and the critique of modern individualism. It also takes seriously the risks of self-deception and toxic religion, asking what discernment and faithful communal maturation require.

Guests

Christopher Oldfield is a philosopher affiliated with the Faraday Institute for Science and Religion in Cambridge. His work explores wisdom, metaphysics, personhood, participation, and the sacred.

Elizabeth Oldfield writes and speaks on spirituality, community, and relational life, examining how shared practices can restore connection with one another and with God.

Resources

Christopher Oldfield: https://www.chrisoldfieldphilosophy.com/

Elizabeth Oldfield on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabeth-oldfield-5a5b6216/

Plato, The Seventh Letter: http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/seventh_letter.html

A Hidden Life: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5827916/