We are excited to announce that our latest Momentum, prayer letter and our residential programme (yes!) for the Summer will be coming through your letter boxes by the end of this week. Obviously, we will have limited in-house numbers as we navigate through the Covid restrictions. Our residential bookings will open on Saturday 1st May.
Meanwhile, we will continue with our online programme of events and just to highlight some in May that are available to book:
Tue 4 to Thu 6 May: Felicity Lawson leads ‘Walking with Jesus – Adventures on the Emmaus Road’.
Tue 11 May: Mike will be leading an online Singing morning entitled ‘Finding your voice‘
Wed 12 May: We will be having our Scargill Forum (7:45-9:30pm)
Fri 14 and Sat 15 May: Phil will be leading two separate Quiet Days, with repeat material.
Tue 25 to Thu 27 May: Margi and Di will be leading a week on ‘Enneagram 3‘.
Fri 28 to Sun 30 May: We are very glad to welcome Donna Worthington to lead a Pentecost Retreat weekend.
Watch out too for news of our online Half Term event during the week beginning 31 May.
We are obviously still looking for new Community, so please do check our website for further details.
Here is Di’s latest reflection – enjoy!
Mary Sitting in a Wood by Louis Ginett
The other day I went up to Morning prayers, there I found the table beautifully covered with daffodils and large pebbles/stones. Blue and brown fabric fell down, alongside the potted tree from the Morning room, and across the floor in front of the table in folds playing with the small gems, candles and more pebbles. We were to look at Psalm 15 – Who May Worship the Lord?
For me, and I am sure for many, Psalm 15 presents a conundrum. David describes the man ‘who may stay in God’s temple’, who may ‘live on the holy mountain of the Lord’. Now please, have a quick read because who do you know that fits these credentials? Definitely not me!
So I chose to sit at the back, hiding behind a pillar facing the Taizé cross. As I sat and faced the cross there in front of me was God’s greatest gift – Himself. There was the gift of GRACE. I knew that although I cannot perfectly live up to these standards, Jesus has, and because He has, I can, through him. I leant against the pillar, the wood was warm and surprisingly comforting, I felt at peace.
After prayers, I googled paintings of sitting by trees and found Mary Sitting in a Wood. I was drawn to the dappled light, the hint of Spring (so like Scargill), the open coat and Mary lost in her sewing, at peace and untroubled. Is there a soft cushion by her back? I do hope so, it would be rather nice if there was. Here is a beautiful painting giving substance to my thoughts, a reminder of that rare morning; of feeling cocooned, loved, accepted and forgiven.
Watchman Nee wrote ‘For rightness is not our goal. The test of our actions is not, ‘Are they right or wrong?’ But always and only, ‘Is the divine blessing upon them?’
The divine blessing is surely upon Mary sitting in a wood and I feel certain it is upon us all, if we, with the help of the Holy Spirit and encouragement from each other, follow the example of Jesus, and seek to live the pathway of love and the kingdom.
Please be assured of our love and prayers, and we very much look forward to seeing you either on Zoom or in-house.
Phil, Di and the Scargill Community
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Hugh Warwick is an ecologist, author and leading expert on hedgehogs. As part of our A Rocha partnership we at Scargill have started a hedgehog project, and we approached Hugh for some advice. He was not only very helpful for the estate here, but if you have a garden at home Hugh has some great tips for being hedgehog friendly. Chloe is our lead on the A Rocha partnership. This is the first of some exciting blogs with an ecological theme – do look out for more.
Dear Friends
This comes with much love and Easter greetings to you. There is much to share with you as life begins to open up for us again. When I think of Easter I think of Psalm 18:19 ‘He brought me out into a spacious place, He rescued me because He delighted in me.’ The Resurrection encounter is an invitation to adventurous living!
The first thing to share with you is that we are delighted to say that we will be able to welcome Day Visitors on Saturdays and Wednesdays starting on Saturday 17th April. Please check the website here on how to book and the structure of the visit- the dates available and further details will be updated during the coming week. It will be lovely to see you again.
At the beginning of June we will be opening for a limited number of residential guests, watch out for details in the new Momentum that comes out at the beginning of May.
As we look to welcome people back through our doors, one area that we would value your prayers and support for is the need to grow Community again. We are particularly looking for community members who may want to do a gap-year and there are also other opportunities for joining community. It may be that you know people who could be the missing piece in our Scargill jigsaw. Please check out for more details here on our website or email Di on di@scargillmovement.org
We are continuing to offer our online programme, and have published details to the middle of May. Here are links for events over the next couple of weeks, do check our website for the full list.
Fri 16th to Sun 18th April We welcome back Andreas and Anna Anderssson, through the wonders of Zoom, as we explore ‘Resurrection Encounters’.
Tue 20th to Fri 23rd April ‘Enneagram 1’ led by Margi Walker and Diane Stone (note closing date is early on Wed 14th April).
Sat 24th April ‘Quiet Day’ with Mike Leigh and Shaun Lambert looking at ‘Pathways to Stillness’
And, of course, if there is anything that you would like us to pray for then do email at prayer@scargillmovement.org
There is a lot going on, so please have a good look at the website!
Here is Di’s latest reflection on Masks – enjoy!.
Here is a snapshot of a few of the masks we have at home. Last summer I made some and some came for the Community at the house. And I feel a completely irrational delight and sense of achievement whenever I go out, mainly shopping, and my mask coordinates with my clothes, I hate to say outfit as that is certainly not me!
There is a sadness at the death of Prince Philip and as I write a COVID restricted funeral is being discussed! And so we all continue to wear our masks, probably for quite some time. Whether we’re aware of it or not we will use our eyes to communicate our thoughts and feelings every single day. You see we naturally speak with our eyes – we stare, we wink and we roll them, our eyes can show fear and surprise, joy and sadness, laughter and tears. Our eyes speak volumes about who we are and how we feel. Although if you’re anything like me you will try to hide some of your emotions, especially the negative or angry ones!
When we meet people, whether they are wearing a mask or not, Phil and I are very different. Phil will find out many details and points of interest whilst I would have had a lovely time chatting about this and that, but learning nothing! I used to think this was because I didn’t ask the right questions, possibly quite so, but perhaps there is also a time and place to listen and enjoy another’s company without intruding. You see, when we left Kensal Rise for North Yorkshire we were given a beautifully framed set of blessings by John O’Donohue, personally penned in green ink from ‘Benedictus: A Book of Blessing’. It is there in our kitchen just by the door. The blessing I am frequently drawn to, and often challenged by, says:
Remember to be kind To those who work for you, Endeavour to remain aware Of the quiet world That lives behind each face.
‘Endeavour to remain aware of the quiet world that lives behind each face’ has perhaps become an even greater challenge now with us all wearing masks. Here we are being asked to try, to strive, to attempt to understand that what we see or hear is not always the full picture. To be aware of, is not asking us to find everything out about a person, only to recognise that what we see or hear is not all the story and so to tread gently in our relationships. We are to be driven by love and grace, not inquisitiveness; with a generosity of time, embracing silence, accepting there will be unspoken words and thoughts. It is the generosity of the heart, it is companionship.
Sr Jane once said ‘God respects each one of us as a mystery and we must do the same.’
With love and prayers from
Phil, Di and the Scargill Community
After the Second World War there was a turn to community inspired by God’s Holy Spirit, and communities and retreat centres like Lee Abbey were set up. Some believe there will be a similar turn to the kingdom and early church value of community in our post-pandemic lockdown world, as many reassess their priorities in the light of the shaking of all our old certainties.
Scargill Movement as a vibrant international community of all ages set in 90 acres of God’s beautiful creation offers the hospitality and the generosity of the kingdom to guests coming on retreat looking to experience wellbeing, healing and transformation.
We are now asking God’s Holy Spirit to lead to us those called to join community in this new season as we move forward on the road map to recovery along with so many others. If that is you, and your heart is being moved to explore the more of God’s life in all its fullness then follow this link and send us an inquiry.
