21-25 August 2017 Flowering is a beautiful way to describe how the spiritual life deepens and matures, and even ‘buds again’. It’s something celebrated in poetry from George Herbert to Edwin Muir and many others, and there will be…
A Newly Qualified Spiritual Director
For the last six months I have been driving down to the Benedictine Abbey of Douai, just outside Newbury, every Tuesday (except when I was undergoing surgery)to attend the Introduction to Spiritual Direction. The course is set up by the…
St Mary’s Bookclub Choices
St Mary’s Book Group meets regularly to discuss ethical, religious and spiritual books. If you are interested in joining this group then please choose from the three books below: The Greening What if a Book Could Answer All Your Deepest…
Festival of Prayer 2017
The Festival of Prayer takes place this year on Saturday 9th September from 10 am to 4.35 pm at Cuddesdon church and Ripon College. The day consists of workshops on different aspects of prayer and spirituality such as: Celtic prayer,…
Breakfast Discussion: Would the world be more peaceful without religion?
Notes for the discussion held on 25th June 2016 at St Mary’s Garsington. A tangled history Religion and war: the two have often been intertwined throughout history. From the Crusades in 1095 right up to the present day, we’ve seen…
Discussion: Will ‘facilitated conversations’ lead to good disagreements within the church?
Notes from the discussion held in St Mary’s Garsington on 25th October 2104 The Church of England is about to enter a period of ‘facilitated conversations’ around the issue of same sex relationships following the publication and recommendations of the…
Discussion: What does prayer mean to you?
Archbishop Justin’s Priorities On taking office in March 2013, Archbishop Justin announced three priority areas for his ministry over the coming years. The renewal of prayer and the Religious Life Reconciliation Evangelism and witness 1. The renewal of prayer and…
Walking the Rectory Labyrinth
Jonathan has mowed a labyrinth into our lawn at the Rectory and we are offering a number of afternoons over the summer to enable you to walk it. There are many ways to describe a labyrinth: a path of prayer,…
Breafast Time at St Mary’s
BREAKFAST TIME AT ST. MARY’S CHURCH Come and join us on the fourth Sunday for breakfast and discussion, starting at 9.30 a.m. with Coffee/Tea and Croissants followed by an informal discussion at 10 am. The following topics are: 25th June: …
Breakfast Discussion on Voting in the Election 2017
On the 28th May at the regular St Mary’s Breakfast Time Discussion there was a debate about the extent to which our Christian principles should guide our voting. Below are the notes which were handed out. How would you answer…