Church Army Mission Community
www.camissioncommunity.org.uk
This has been very much a focus for this period as the month began with a combined Cluster gathering with people from Rochester, Canterbury and Chichester dioceses. We came together to hear from Sister Debbie Orriss who is newly appointed as Community Guardian for the South. Just over a year ago the Church Army became ‘a dispersed community of evangelist rooted in the Church of England’ (Acknowledged Mission Order). We are still working out what this actually means on the ground and what it looks and feels like. As well as this time in Crowbrough I also travelled later on in the month to The Wilson Carlile Centre in Sheffield for a Cluster Facilitators Conference.
This chimes in with a great book by Simon Reed, ‘Creating Community’ that picks up new monasticism and explores how this could inform the local church. Reed offers a three fold model to help create communities.
a) Rule of life
b) Rhythm of prayer
c) Soul friends
What is even more fascinating is the way this links in with Archbishop Justin’s three stated priorities:
a) the renewal of prayer and the religious life,
b) reconciliation
c) evangelism
On prayer it was a delight as ever this month to have a Quiet Day at Holy Trinity Monastery. One of the things I have found myself doing which may be something you would also find useful is to go prayerfully through my diary. I still work from a filo-fax style and so keep two years of appointments going back a year and forward a year. Plus I have a collection of cards and prayers and names and addresses.
Some of these people I haven’t seen in years and some have died, I bring them all before God and pray a blessing upon them. I also ensure I have pen and paper to hand to note ‘things to do’ and then park them!
St Peter’s ad Vincula -
Jane and I had another great time as I lead them through a Service of the Word, this time focussed on Giving Thanks. To help concretize this I invited them write something for which they were thankful on a paper chain which we then joined together and hung up in celebration.
This was a very busy day because in the evening we had Love Beyond.
I was responsible to see that we had our
Soul by the Sea display there. www.soulbythesea.org
This ‘Show’ was amazing and almost beyond description. They are now open to invitations for 2014, so why not get in touch? It would make a great Hope 14 initiative. Tell them I sent you!
A bit of travelling this month. Not only to Sheffield but also to London a couple of times. One was in support of my good friend Tim Hill, licensed a Reader at Southwark Cathedral. The other was to hear a John Stott Lecture. I was really frustrated not to make it for the first of two lectures. The host for this evening were A Rocha www.arocha.org.
The theme explored God’s redemption of the whole of created order and our call to partner with God in this enterprise. We have a duty of care for the creation which even now God is re-creating and will be fully revealed in fullness of time Rev.21.2.
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