Dear Friends of Scargill,

We are delighted to announce that our new Programme and latest Momentum magazine is launched today (3rd November)– going live in the morning (during office hours).

This publication opens bookings for new events from March 2026 to the end of  August 2026, as well as having lots of lovely articles and updates from the life of Scargill. 

Our website events pages are now live, coinciding with printed copies of our publication starting to reach your doorstep. When the programme is released, do put in your booking requests via the website (rather than by ‘phone) to help our lovely Admin Team deal with your booking requests in the order that they are made, and we thank you in advance for your patience as we work through each booking in turn.

Also do look at our website for online and in-house events (November 2025 to February 2026) that still have space – we would love to see you!

Our online events allow you to join us from the comfort of your own home:

Also check out below Di’s latest reflection on being real, and living out of a heart of love. Enjoy!

Yesterday, morning prayers were focused about love. Later that afternoon sitting in my office, looking out the window (a rare occurrence), I was faced with this sign that has been there for years and I said to myself ‘I have had enough, for now, of sitting quietly with Jesus, of resting with God, the time for action has come!’. Now, I haven’t moved completely away from embracing contemplation and marching around being busy isn’t on the agenda either, but BEING REAL IS.

This sign encompasses much of what I believe God is asking of us. This is a ‘way of life’, a pathway to follow, with ‘WE’ at the centre!  Challenging perhaps the me, myself and I culture that stops us from looking out to others, looking out for others. And although Christian families can be a base for extending hospitality and supporting other families and individuals in need within their community, this sign is for all and it seems to sum up the Stone family, the very extended Stone family and I pray always will.

I can fully embrace many of these statements. Maybe allowing myself to have FUN and be REALLY LOUD is a little less natural to me. I am very happy to embrace the noise and fun of others – in fact it’s good for me to do so. And to be honest HUGGING has not been a favourite pastime of mine although over the years, dare I say it, I have begun to ’almost’ enjoy giving and receiving them.

Have you noticed WE DO FAMILY, WE DO LOVE lie at the bottom of the list, have you noticed all these words are in capital letters and have you noticed LOVE is the largest word on the sign? Is this because love encompasses all that has been written or is it because, as I heard the other morning, LOVE must be in all we do and say? – probably both.

At the beginning of 1 Corinthians 13 we read the very familiar words: ‘If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.’                                                                                                                                                  
We go on to read, ‘Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonour others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.’ And I would like to add ‘love asks us to be real, to accept our and others’ mistakes, to say sorry and give forgiveness, to have fun and be loud, to do hugs and to be family to others.’

Now, no one wants to be a clanging cymbal or a resounding gong, so let’s get out there, let’s meet our neighbours, lets draw them into the love of God, let’s be real and let’s extend our families with LOVE.

With love and prayers from Phil, Di and the Scargill Community 

We are delighted to announce that our new Programme and latest Momentum magazine is launched today (28th April)– going live in the morning (during office hours).

This publication opens bookings for new events from September 2025 to the end of February 2026, as well as having lots of lovely articles and updates from the life of Scargill. 

Our website events pages are now live, coinciding with printed copies of our publication starting to reach your doorstep. When the programme is released, do put in your booking requests via the website (rather than by ‘phone) to help our lovely Admin Team deal with your booking requests in the order that they are made, and we thank you in advance for your patience as we work through each booking in turn.

Also do look at our website for online and in-house events (May to August 2025) that still have space – we would love to see you!

We would like to highlight the following upcoming on-line events for you to join from the comfort of your own home:

Wed 21 May – Online Quiet Day

Sat 7 June – Online Quiet Day

Fri 20 to Sun 22 June – More humour, more wholeness, more healing? Adrian and Bridget Plass

Thu 17 July – Online Quiet Day

With love and prayers from Phil, Di and the Scargill Community

We are delighted to announce that our new Programme and latest Momentum magazine is launched today (18th November)– going live in the morning (during office hours).

This publication opens bookings for new events from the end of February to the end of August 2025, as well as having lots of lovely articles and updates from the life of Scargill.

Our website events pages will be made live to coincide with printed copies of our publication starting to reach your doorstep. When the programme is released, do put in your booking requests via the website (rather than by ‘phone) to help our lovely Admin Team deal with your booking requests in the order that they are made, and we thank you in advance for your patience as we work through each booking in turn.

Also do look at our website for online and in-house events (November 2024 to February 2025) that still have space – we would love to see you!

We would like to highlight the following upcoming on-line events for you to join from the comfort of your own home:

Online Quiet Day (for December) -Sat 30th November led by Annie Naish (one of our chaplains)
Online (hybrid event) ‘Doing it Yahweh’ – Mon 9th to Thu 12th December led by Dave Hopwood and Phil Stone

With love and prayers from Phil, Di and the Scargill Community

We hope you are enjoying our latest Momentum magazine/Programme, covering events September 2024 to February 2025, and are making plans for when you can next connect with us either online or in-house. Here is the Momentum/Programme as a PDF.

Forthcoming online events with spaces available for you to join us:

Friday 21st to Sunday 23rd June The Bass Note led by Adrian and Bridget Plass
Wednesday 10th July Online Quiet Day (Free and Donation tickets available)
Wednesday livestream services (4:30-5pm) – (on our Youtube channel) same link to catch up later

As a community, we recently enjoyed welcoming our guests of all ages for our Paddington themed May Half Term, and are looking forward to welcoming guests for all sorts of events and groups over the Summer.

Joining the Scargill adventure as a residential community member
As Summer approaches, the community will be welcoming some short-term summer workers amongst us. There are also a number of community member departures scheduled before September, as folk come to the end of their time with us and move on to new things.

We would welcome applications from folk for a shorter or longer stay, and there are gaps opening up across a number of teams – is God calling you or someone you know to be a part of the Scargill Community?

Please pray for God to send us the right people to join us for the Autumn, and join the adventure of living and serving on this Christian community. You may know someone who you think would both benefit from and contribute to the residential Scargill community. Do ask them to be in touch with us to enquire about joining – see here.

Phil and Di sabbatical
Phil and Di are now two-thirds of the way through their sabbatical. Di shares here some reflections on their recent trip to Italy and the life of St Francis of Assisi. Enjoy!

Diane writes:

During this mid-section of our sabbatical, we travelled to Italy with Jo P to visit two linked religious communities – Bose, the main house in North Italy, where we been many times and one of their three small houses which happens to be in Assisi! 

Our journey started by car then plane, coach, bus, train and taxi!! It felt very much like being on a pilgrimage – as indeed it turned out to be with a few days later and another day’s travelling we arrived in Assisi. Along the way we were also reading Chasing Francis – a pilgrim’s tale by Ian Morgan Cron. It is in the genre of WISDOM literature with a delicate balance of fiction and nonfiction, pilgrimage and teaching, focusing on the life of St Francis.

The story opens with these words:

 “In the middle of the journey of our life
  I came to my senses in a dark forest,
  For I had lost the straight path.
  Oh, how hard it is to tell
  what a dense, wild and tangled wood this was
  the thought of which renews my fears!”
  From – Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy – Canto1 lines 1-6

Now I have never read The Divine Comedy and probably never will but these words spoke to me. I felt very much like the main character, floundering in the unknown, the where, when and why-for not yet clear, a new way of being community – will we be able to stay the course?

Thankfully we were in a beautiful place, full of peace and quiet and as I began reading there was this quote from Anne Frank.

‘The best remedy for those who are afraid or unhappy is to go outside some where they can be quiet, alone with the heavens and nature and God, because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple beauty in nature’

Not only were we encircled by the beauty of the surrounding countryside, there was also the incredible artwork in Bose, the frescos of Assisi filling many of the churches we visited as well as the beauty in the simplicity of the few unadorned churches, water fountains and fields. I also discovered that every confessional has a cross impregnated in the screen separating the priest and the individual. You’ll be pleased to know I checked in every church we visited! And I became truly excited about the idea that Christ is there in the centre of their conversation reminding me that he is also ever present with me and all the conversations and interaction I have each day.

Ian Morgan Cron also reminds us Francis loved God, the world and all that is in it, passionately. He was convinced that how we live together is what attracts people to faith. His way of evangelising people was through the example of his own life….” It is no good walking anywhere to preach unless our walking is our preaching” in other words we need to ‘walk the talk!’ That Christ is present when we offer radical generosity and open hospitality – eating together, praying together, embracing all – doing life together which has always excited and energised me and I know it will continue to.  It seems to be in my DNA!
Chasing Francis concludes with these lines from Dante’s Divine Comedy:

By that hidden way
My guide and I did enter to return
To the fair world: and heedless of repose
We climbed, he first, I following his steps,
Till on our view the beautiful lights of heaven
Dawn’d through a circular opening in the cave:
Thus issuing we again beheld the stars.

Our journeys are full of new chapters and mine now continues with the hope of Dante’s stars and the assurance that where ever we go our home will be a house of peace, a house of welcome, a house of laughter and a house of prayer, for all.

With love and prayers from

Phil, Di and the Scargill Community

We are glad to announce that the new Scargill Programme (covering new events both in-house and online from March to August 2024), combined with our latest Momentum magazine, will be available to book online from Wednesday 8^th November (from after morning coffee) – please place booking requests via the website if possible, as our ‘phone lines will be busy. 

Our lovely Admin Team will be working their way through your requests in order, and will respond to specific requests as soon as they are able. We hope that you enjoy our new publication as you read,  browse and start to make plans to come to visit us. We look forward to welcoming you through our doors or seeing you online at one of these programme events.

Momentum is packed full of articles for you to enjoy and includes updates on our Phase 7 Building project which has been progressing well since April.

We are still looking for new members of the Community who can be a lead on worship and youth – Job Descriptions are here. Please do pray with us for the right people to join the Scargill adventure.

This month, Di has been reflecting on ‘faith’. Enjoy!

Diane writes:
Evening Prayer liturgy:
Opening prayer
God the fulfiller of enduring promises,
God the sharer of abundant love, and giver of eternal life
   We remember Your faithfulness
God, who calls all life into being – the earth, sea and sky are Yours
Your Spirit enlivens all who walk on earth
   We remember Your faithfulness
We praise and thank you this day
  We remember Your faithfulness
Our prayer is one and simple
    May God’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven,
God’s righteousness and beauty echo through the universe

A while back in morning prayers I heard a quote from David Pawson ’It is not the faith we start with but the faithfulness we finish with that is important.’ I was intrigued and challenged by these words, placing them on my desk and mulling over them. Then recently we had cause to have been given a courtesy car and I was horrified to find no brake handle to firmly hold onto when wanting to release or apply my brakes. NO! All I had to do was apparently rely on a button that shone, presumably to reassure me, and another that said AUTO HOLD. Hence the most uninspiring photo to look at.

But it does highlight my apparent complete lack of faith in technology. I found it really hard to believe that those two buttons were going to keep me safe, I honestly felt scared avoiding at one point to drive it. But that was silly, so, yes, I did embrace the technology and even began to rest and relax when stopping or parking. Alas, just as I began to ‘enjoy’ driving the car, in fact only yesterday, we had to return it – I had survived, Phew!! And it was such a joy to use a handbrake again.

So why was it so difficult to have faith in the light and the button – perhaps because it was trust I was lacking rather than faith. Which did get me thinking once again about faith. Merriam-Webster defines faith as “belief and trust in and loyalty to God.” So, there is a link between the two words but recent research has prompted some to argue that New Testament faith and belief in Jesus should be understood in terms of faithfulness, loyalty, and commitment to him and his teachings, rather than in terms of belief, trust and reliance.

Faith is important because faith frames who we are, our existence, our values, our hopes, and our dreams. Faith is the quiet calm before a storm as well as the anchor within it. You see Faith is a gift from God, an absolutely gratuitous gift. It is the establishment of God’s relationship to his people. A relationship our evening prayer reminds us of with the refrain ‘we remember His faithfulness’.

The Old Testament is full of examples of God’s faithfulness. We are all very familiar with Noah’s rainbow and whilst writing I saw the most beautiful double rainbow. A visual reminder that God’s promise to Noah is not simply part of an ancient story or merely a symbol of hope, it is a living example of God’s faithfulness. It is an assurance that God has not forgotten us and that he continues to work in this world. Also, I read an article (https://www.pastorwoman.net/podcast/episode/2… Posted by Christine on November 11, 2022) about faithfulness’ through the eyes of Caleb. Christine talked about Caleb, one of the twelve spies, along with Joshua who were sent to ‘suss out’ Canaan.  They were the only two who brought back a good report [because they trusted God!!]  Joshua and Caleb ‘through Eyes of Faith’ saw no reason to delay but to immediately go and take the land.  Caleb was a man who remembered the God who was faithful, and on that basis, plus God’s promise, he trusted him.  And that trust readied him for action.  We too have the choice to either see with eyes of faith what may seem impossible for us to accomplish or see with expectant eyes of faith what is possible for us, us only to accomplish – an interesting thought!

This reflection has strengthened my resolve to seeing faith in the terms of faithfulness, of moving beyond being something I think to including an attitude of action. James’ letter is all about the works of faith, in fact faith is the centrepiece of his argument. In 2v14 James writes “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works?” And a few verses later he firmly answers his own question by stating, “So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead”. Well, that’s quite clear! 

What makes faith a living and a saving faith is what you do about it. We must not stop at a faith that involves mere mental consent. Our faith is meaningless unless it produces the confidence in God that would cause us to act … to take on giants in the land.  

So let me finish as I started with our Evening Prayer liturgy:

Closing prayer
May Your kingdom come O Lord, on earth as it is in heaven,
May our words proclaim it, our actions reveal it
May Your kingdom come through us, this day and every day
May we feel its heartbeat of love

With love and prayers from

Phil, Di and the Scargill Community

We pray that you had a wonderful Easter Day.

We are glad to announce that the new Scargill Programme (covering new events both in-house and online from September 2023 to February 2024), combined with our latest Momentum magazine, will be available to book online from Monday 17th April (from after morning coffee) – please place booking requests via the website if possible, as our ‘phone lines will be busy. 

Our lovely Admin Team will be working their way through your requests in order, and will respond to specific requests as soon as they are able. We hope that you enjoy our new publication as you read,  browse and start to make plans to come to visit us. 

We very much value your prayers as also on Monday 17th April Phase 7 of our building work begins, the main focus being the Marsh Lounge.

In the Programme, there is one weekend that we would love to highlight – that is the Coronation Renew Refresh Restore weekend (Friday 5th to Sunday 7th May). We had a group booked for this weekend, that subsequently cancelled,  so that gives us an opportunity to open our doors to anyone who would like to come for a relaxing weekend – to watch the coronation, enjoy the Dales and share in the life of the Community. We would love to see you.

Here is a prayer that I wrote for a church weekend, which I have now adapted for us all:

Risen Lord Jesus,We bless you that you have come to bring us transforming life,Brimming over, generous, a life that cannot be contained.Come Holy Spirit and fill us afresh with this lifeSo that together we can live the love and compassion of the Father.We ask this in your glorious name. AmenWe look forward to welcoming you through our doors or seeing you online.

With much love and prayers

Phil, Di and the Scargill Community