David Bosworth reflects on the Priory and 
how the Ecumenical Spirituality Project began

It all began over a pint of beer in the "Ship Ahoy" at Willen, Milton Keynes, in the south of England not far from London.  I was on sabbatical from my work as a Methodist minister, staying at the Society's Willen Priory in May 1997. My wife Linda and I ventured out one evening to the pub with the Society's Director Christopher Myers, and the Provincial for England, Rodney Hart.   

"What would it take, for a couple like you and Linda to work for a few years for the Society of the Sacred Mission?" came the question.  My initial response was,  "A salary and somewhere to live". 

Months later, and with the approval of the Methodist Church in England to act as "a Minister in Another Appointment", Linda and I started work at Durham Priory in September 1998.

Our remit was to establish and develop an "Ecumenical Spirituality Centre" in the under-resourced north-east of England

The nature of the work, building on what had been established by Jonathan Ewer beginning in 1984, was seen as to:

• Develop, administer and host a program of quiet days and workshops.

• Care for guests.

• Develop work with small groups (including training).

• Develop ecumenical links.

• Offer counselling, mentoring and spiritual accompaniment.

• Preach, teach, offer training and lead retreats outside the Priory.

• Establish and develop a team to sustain and foster growth.

• An annual programme of 35 - 40 quiet days and workshops, under an overall theme of "Sharing our Spiritual Treasures".  They are led by women and men, lay and ordained, from various denominations and traditions, and sometimes from no religious connection at all.   
  
  Participants at each day number up to 50 and average around 20. A twice-yearly programme advertises the breadth of opportunities to reflect and engage with what is offered.

• "Friends of St. Antony's" now number over 150. They offer encouragement by their prayer, general support, financial contributions, and practical help in things like administration, cleaning, gardening, hosting quiet days and workshops, and in the Priory library.

• The Priory has become a base for the North-East Prayer Guides Network, an ecumenical group committed to working together in a shared ministry of prayer guiding in, ideally, ecumenical settings.  About 60 women and men, lay and ordained, make up the Network.

• Training opportunities include:

   -  working in the area of teambuilding and facilitating
       small groups.

   -  an introductory course in accompanying others in
      prayer.  Over 300 people, from six denominations,
      have trained at the Priory and at Ushaw Roman
      Catholic seminary.

    -  an ecumenical course in spiritual direction held at
       Ushaw College, now in its second year, embracing   
       to date over 50 people, lay and ordained.

     -  a short course in supervision is hoped will give rise
        to a more substantial course in the future.

• The opportunity to offer individually-guided retreats for those staying in the Cottage, the Priory's small secluded guesthouse behind the main buildings.

• The setting up of an ecumenical team of spiritual directors, linked to the Anglican Diocese of Durham, but also meeting the needs of anyone seeking accompaniment.

• Increasing links with the formation training at Cranmer Hall and the Wesley Study Centre (part of Durham University) and the Ushaw College.

• The development of a team to sustain, stimulate and extend the work on in the future.

An overview indicates that we are successfully offering in the spirit of the Society ...

• Generous hospitality;

• A safe place to talk about and explore faith;

• The encouragement and empowerment of others through training opportunities;

• Imaginative and creative worship through our various events - something that increasing numbers of those on the inside and on the edges of the Church are seeking;

• A strong commitment to inclusivity;

• A place of quiet and reflection in a peaceful and beautiful setting in Durham City.

What then are some of the marks of the spirituality that under-girds the work and life of the Ecumenical Spirituality Centre?

• An spirituality that seeks to nurture a growing awareness of God in life and the human experience, both individually and relationally.

• An inclusive spirituality that seeks to integrate relationships with God, with self, with others and with the environment, and which resists exclusion of people for any reason - be it class, status, race, gender, sexual orientation, or any other.

• An empowering spirituality, one which seeks to affirm others and encourage their blossoming as they discover ways of living out something of their giftedness in the settings they find themselves.

• An integrated spirituality which seeks to hold in harmony both the reflective, contemplative dimension of life through prayer, recollection and review, together with the active - through the struggles of life to discover what it might mean "'To act justly, to love tenderly, and to walk humbly with God" (Micah 6.8).

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