close
Sustaining the Sacred Centre - Looking back on 2010
A YEAR OF LIVING FAITH: Sustaining the Sacred Centre
“Remember that Living Faith is an invitation, an offer, an encouragement, intended to help give shape and direction to the church's mission. It's not a requirement or a demand, but a gift, a tool, for a holistic approach to our missional task.”
Bishop John, Diocesan Synod November 2010
During a year focusing onSustaining the Sacred Centre, what has happened? The answer is “lots of things”, including:
- Quiet Days and retreats – including two especially for churchwardens in Bucks
- Courses and events on aspects of prayer in the Vale of White Horse and Wycombe deaneries
- The Living Faith Bible Study course - studied by 330 people in one church alone (St Andrew’s, Oxford)
- One church (Littlemore, Oxford) produced a booklet of readings that have nourished members of the church through the years… another (St Margaret’s, Oxford) a collection of prayers for Lent.
- An Art Course in Lent in Charlbury
- Six Days in Lent – a Bucks initiative to encourage clergy and busy laity took an extra day off in Lent for refreshment and enlivenment
- Training events and sermon courses, new forms of worship and prayer groups
For many churches it's been a case of 'But we do this anyway'. Yes of course, and here's a chance to affirm how important the inner life is, and how there's always more of God to enjoy.
Resources on offer:
- 20 things we might do in 2010 to sustain the sacred centre in the Door
- Prayer: A Simple Guide – nearly 40,000 distributed
- Living Faith Bible Study Guide
- Prayer walks and podcasts
- Heaven in Ordinary: a DVD on creativity in ordinary places
- Spirituality advisers/groups in place across the diocese
- Bishops to lead Quiet Days and courses.
Still to come:
- A mini-theme on pilgrimage in 2011 alongside the “Making Disciples” priority, both locally and further afield.
“Ultimately our spiritual well-being is up to us and God, but itis the heart and soul of our life as Christians, and really deserves the highest priority.”