I’ve been re-arranging furniture since I was six. 

In my earliest childhood memories, I am adjusting rooms in my parent’s home.  Whenever mama was away I’d take advantage of daddy’s agreeable personality and start moving things.  Mama would come home to find the living room rearranged, the mantle redecorated, the patio layout reshuffled, or the bedrooms switched around.  I couldn’t help myself.  I loved to play with function and design.  I still do.  

Then, fresh out of seminary and serving as a full-time associate pastor I was directed to lead a Bible study.  I was assigned to a barren classroom in an ancient part of the church building. The walls were cinderblock with a patchwork of wallpaper from the nineties covering one area.  The chairs were decent but the set up was for a classroom not a 34-week long intimate walk through the Bible. 

I scrapped the planned logistics and moved the group to my parsonage living room.  

The change in group dynamics was immediate.  They eased into the study more quickly, conversations sprang up organically, and a sense of warmth and joy pervaded the space as we learned.

This simple shift in environment changed my approach to ministry and life.

Christian Feng Shui Basics

Since that first ministry experiment, I’ve altered every space I teach, meet, and preach in to make it more energy aligned with the Spirit.  Sometimes this means a simple cleansing ceremony, an invocation prayer, or anointing.  Other times I shift furniture, add lamps, or sensory elements such as plants, candles, or white noise. 

After learning some of the basics of Feng Shui I began sharing my insights with others.  Before I knew it, I was advising individuals, couples, and families on what they could do to alter and bless their spaces to make them more inviting of God’s Spirit and better aligned with their goals and calling in life.  

Then, my parents asked me to help them with their new home.

Feeling Unsettled

Mama and daddy (M&D) moved to Huntsville after 35 years in the same house.  Six months into life in their new garden home they were still “feeling unsettled”, like they “had barely unpacked.”  After taking them through my intention setting process I developed an overall design plan with options for them to choose.  There was still a great deal of work that they alone could carry out but I facilitated it through goal setting, encouraging check-ins and guidance.

Here is my Christian Feng Shui Process:

1. Set Intention: The most important and essential step in the process. Do an initial intake (if the clients are a couple, family unit, or group meet individually first.) The goal is to understand the daily routine of each person as well as their deepest desires and frustrations with their space and life.  Then meet the individual/couple/family/group for a follow-up discussion and identify a specific intention.

ex: I met with M&D individually.  They had frustrations with and hopes for their new home.  Individually, they had assumptions about the other’s frustrations and hopes.  I met with M&D for a debrief and they were pleasantly surprised when I revealed their mistaken assumptions and aligned goals.  We set a clear intention: at the end of the Feng Shui process they would “feel settled and their home would be and elegant and inviting space for guests.”  

2. Develop Design Plan with Options: Take the intention established and create a list of priorities with the client. After research and planning present a design that has options.  

ex. With M&D we prioritized the need for curated displays, increased lighting, and a refined layout then I presented options to carry out the plan.

3. De-clutter Homework:  This step can be the most overwhelming to a client.  Set priorities and a manageable schedule that works with the lifestyle and personality of the client(s).  This step will most likely include emotional ups and downs including frustration, pride, anger, joy, grief, guilt, and shame.  It is essential to move out elements that are to be given or thrown away in an ethical and intentional way.  The goal is not minimalism.  The client(s) need to remove any aspect that is not useful, beautiful, or essential to their life.  Emotional support through this stage is important.  Breath prayer and scripture is especially useful at this stage.  

ex. With M&D I created tasks for them to work on in a descending order of importance.  For the more difficult and emotionally challenging assignments I was present to get them started and help them through.  M&D identified a couple of meaningful charities who received specific donations to aid their work in the world.  

4. Final Walk Thru : There have likely been epiphanies for the client(s) during the de-clutter work.  Before implementing the final design it is important to walk thru the space and confirm the intention set at the beginning is still the meaningful end-goal.  More than likely, the intention will remain the same but priorities within the design might shift due to realizations made by the client during decluttering.  

ex.  M&D knew that they wanted a hospitable and elegant home but after de-cluttering they realized that they had held onto furniture that really didn’t meet their priorities for their new life in a new town.  This meant getting rid of some pieces and adding new ones to the design project.

5. Design Implementation: Send the client(s) away and work with a team to put the final design in place.  This can take a couple of days or can be an extensive multi-week process working with expert designers and contractors to implement.  By this point, months of behind the scenes work including purchasing, receiving, building, creating, and commissioning has taken place. Also, don’t overlook cleaning needs, especially: windows, corners, and architectural.

ex.  M&D left home for nine days while I worked with a team to implement the design plan.  A key element that tied the home together was the investment in a piece of art by a local artist (Susan Clanton) for the living room, it is the first thing that greets a guest’s eyes when they enter the home as well as an artistic interpretation of the welcoming intention set by the clients.  

6.Homecoming: This is the BEST part!  Welcome the clients back into their space and walk them through the changes.  If the process has been successful then there is a sense of joy and peace that pervades this return.

Ex: M&D were greeted at their front door as if they were guests entering for the first time.  They were happy and at some points overwhelmingly surprised and pleased.

7. House Blessing: Christian Feng Shui is the process of recognizing, celebrating, and embracing the Spirit of God’s breath in and throughout all spaces.  A house blessing is the visible ritual that celebrates the gift of God’s presence.  It can be as simple as saying a word of gratitude at the entrance to a full liturgy led by a pastor/priest.

Ex: I invited a priest from M&D’s home church to lead a blessing liturgy in their home.  While I do home blessings I felt it important that I be the daughter and not the pastor in this moment for my parents. A small group accompanied M,D, and the priest through the home as we prayed.  

I’m still learning about Feng Shui and the ways that it can merge with the Christian tradition to guide and empower our day-to-day lives.  Of this much I am sure, Feng Shui is an ancient practice that can encourage and support our journey. 

Application:

1:  Take some time to reflect on a space in your home.  Write down your daily routine in that space and ask yourself if there are any ways you could improve that routine, bring greater joy into the space, or facilitate your day-to-day tasks within it?  Then, implement one idea from your reflection time in that space.

2: Follow steps in 1 with a friend and share and dialogue with them about your experience.  

3: Identify a common space in your home, work, life that needs some work to make it more inviting and peaceful.  Contact me and we can create a plan to implement meaningful change in your space.

Blessings Y’all,

RevWren