The Revd Dr Nicholas Buxton (you might just remember him as Nick with the long hair, one of the retreatants on the 2005 TV series The Monastery) is a priest in Newcastle upon Tyne and the author of a very readable book about ‘Meditation and modern life’ called The Wilderness Within.  Reacting to an article on Anglican-Quaker relations, he recently wrote of a predecessor of his who 100 years ago introduced the practice of silent prayer and went on, as Canon of Winchester Cathedral, to write an account of his encounters with Quakerism, published as The Fellowship of Silence in 1917.  In it he relates how he once met someone in church who did not otherwise attend services, but came to the silent-prayer meetings and had brought no less than 30 of his colleagues in a nearby office with him!

Nicholas Buxton comments:

“A century later, when many mainstream church congregations are in decline, and yet interest in mindfulness and meditation has never been greater, I find it enormously encouraging to know that we have an authentic tradition of contemplative spirituality that can – and does – engage people who might not otherwise want to have anything to do with the church.  Perhaps we should be making more of it.”

The article (link?) which spurred this reaction, entitled Following the Quanglican Way, was in the Church Times of 7 October and tells of people who hold to both Quaker and Anglican traditions, best-known of which is probably Terry Waite.  Of those who move between the two, it says that ‘it is observable … that the general  direction of travel is towards the simple and contemplative: the flow is downstream, to Quakerism.’  Many Anglicans have also been drawn by the Quaker belief that action is more important than doctrine, ‘evident from the earliest anti-slavery campaigners … through to current Quaker leadership in addressing the challenges of climate change.’

There are of course Quaker meetings at Charlbury, Burford and Chipping Norton and they are open to anyone.  But you don’t need to be a Quaker to feel drawn to silence and contemplation.  We all know the urge to get away from the freneticism of everyday life and we know that as Christians we need to seek periods of retreat where we can be quiet with God, just as Jesus did.  Archbishop Desmond Tutu practises a daily period of an hour or more of ‘quiet time’ and he once said, when asked how he could keep this up in his hectic schedule,  that he was far too busy not to have a couple of hours of silence every day!

‘Be still and know that I am God.’  Much of our working life and leisure time is filled with words, as well as noise and distraction, not least with a variety of screens at our beck and call at every moment of the day.  We might even feel that the same could be said of our worship, cluttered as it is with text and activity.  The more contemplative tradition is associated with monasticism and a vocation to life-long single-minded devotion.  But it need not be so.  We all can, and maybe should, seek out time to be quiet and to listen.  This may mean meditating or practising mindfulness or praying silently, and it can be done on our own or together.

The silence, said the Abbot of Worth Abbey (hosts of that TV series), is ‘like a wonderful spiritual bath, which we invite you to get into to relax your spiritual muscles, so that you can start listening to God, listening to other people, and listening with the ear of your heart to your own deepest self’.  For the non-church-going as well, as Nicholas Buxton’s book will tell you, meditation enables you to take a step back from yourself and put things in perspective, or even ‘to connect with reality’:  ‘Meditation is seeing things as they really are, rather than as we think we want them to be’, and so ‘belongs at the heart of life.’  It is about being and not constantly doing.  It is about stopping and not constantly moving.  It is about listening and not constantly talking!

Some of us see regular silent meditation as a desirable discipline but one we constantly put off.  To attend a meeting along Quaker lines, where the emphasis is on silence and listening, can offer a set period and place which we can commit to.  For that reason a group of us meet once a month at Ascott Church for a Mid-Month Meditation (a small step towards a midweek or even daily meditation).  It lasts less than 40 minutes and starts with some sentences or a poem as a jumping-off point;  but it is essentially a time to sit quietly, clear the mind, pray or listen to the birds in the churchyard.  Quaker-style, someone might offer a shared thought inspired by the moment, or there might be a full 30 minutes of silence until the meditation bell gently brings the time to an end.

The MMM is not a service, nor necessarily a Christian event, though it takes place in a church.  It is therefore open to anyone who might care to walk in and sample it.  We’d love you to join us – and maybe bring 30 neighbours or colleagues with you, perhaps not all at once!  We currently meet on the third Wednesday of every month at 6.15pm at Ascott Church.  Other times and venues could obviously be considered.

David Soward

Nov 6^th 2016

This report seeks to review who we are and how we express that following my extended period of illness. It is written with a sincere desire to find ourselves in a healthy, sustainable place, where we are able to fulfil who God is calling us to be. Please consider the headings that follow, which are the priorities we have identified for ourselves through PCC and Joint PCC meetings, Away Days, conversations with others and looking at who we are. Are these still right? Do we need to add anything? Do we need to change anything?
We express who we are as the people of God in this place through the priorities we have, the things that we do and the way that we are within our communities. I have also created a list [albeit not necessarily exhaustive, though certainly exhausting to read!] of the things that we are involved in as a benefice. Please consider these things, what these things say about us, what our priorities are within those. What might be added, what might be stopped, what might be changes, and what those decisions mean for how we express God’s love in this Benefice. At our JPCC meeting, we will be discussing these things, so please do speak to your PCC members if there are things you would like to feed into this.
• Strengthening our personal faith in God; Father, Son and Holy Spirit
• Ensuring our congregations are attractive and welcoming,
relevant and all pervasive hubs within our communities
• Growing and reaching out to all generations
• Sharing ministry together, using our God given gifts and passions
• Making a difference in the world

When I look at these priorities, I am particularly struck by Sharing ministry together, using our God given gifts and passions. I am very grateful for the way in which so many have stepped up and into different areas of ministry over the past years, and particularly over the last few months. I am sure we are all very grateful for what each of these brings to the life, mission and ministry of this benefice. I hope that they will be an inspiration to others and that we would continue to flourish as we each take our part, bringing the unique gifts we have been given.
Please do join me in thanking them all.

In other news:
Our new Bishop, Stephen Croft, is arriving imminently. There will be a service of welcome in Dorchester Abbey on 9th October, which will make that a bumper day with two Harvest Festivals as well, but do get along if you can. As well as praying for +Stephen, do also remember +Colin in your prayers as he comes to the end of two years of fulfilling two roles.

As we come to the 5th anniversary of me being your Vicar this Sunday, and think back to our first Away Weekend where we hoped and dreamed about where we wanted to be in five years time, I am reminded of how much we can be grateful to God for. Perhaps it is time for new dreams.
With love, Kate

Vicars Report Autumn 16
Marriage enrichment
Afternoon tea
School in church
Food bank
UB services
Hope Street
Good Friday walk
Away days
Lent lunch
Baptisms
Vicars discretionary fund
BCP services
Playhouse
Weddings
Worship group
Coffee Club
Supporting Christian Aid
Maundy Thursday supper
Holy Communion Services
Community carols/harvests…
C.A.K.E.
Lay led services
Home groups
Old Prebendal Holy Communion
Fetes and fundraisers
Day Centre communion
Shoe Box
Tall Trees Holy Communion
Confirmation groups
Home communions
Sunday Worship services
Tall Trees Songs of Praise
Greenbelt
Marriage preparation
Confirmations at Cathedral
Marking significant national moments
Day Centre Songs of Praise
Pastoral team
Midday prayers
Supporting bereaved
Church presence on village rotas
Celebration services – all souls, weddings,
baptisms
Mothers Union communion
Christingle – children’s society
Discussion about admitting children to
communion
Lent courses
RE day at school
Administrative structure of Benefice
Harvest produce
Advent courses
Juice
MU meetings
Carol services
Assemblies
Funerals
OPH coffee mornings
Good Friday family service
Harvest lunches
Baptism preparation

On the Sunday of the bank holiday, we were, as ever, taking part in a communion service in a field. But that isn’t where the differences end between this communion service and our typical service in the Wychwood benefice.  The Archbishop of Canterbury was participating in the service, though not leading – that was done by a group of children, in a move inspired by the Old Testament reading for that morning, ‘one day they will live in peace and a little child shall lead them’.  Add to that the fact that the sun was shining down on all 12,000 of us sharing in the communion and it becomes a pretty special thing to be part of. Here is a link to the liturgy from that morning for you to look at. The cantor response was a particular high point of the service, which was full of joy and hope.

http://www.greenbelt.org.uk/communion-service

Graham Stacey