Spirituality | stpeters

Following Jesus Christ and making him our path is at the heart of all we do. This year in community therefore works with Bishop Roberts' three priorities.

PRAY

GROW

SERVE

"People reading The Rule are often surprised at how much this obscure Sixth Century monk understood the way communities grow and individuals tick.

In this year in community you will learn more about Saint Benedict and how to live a radical Christian life of stability and daily conversion to Jesus."

Rev Daniel French

In the year here in Salcombe the concept and practice of community is explored through reflecting on how..

(1) we worship together

(2) enjoy meal times

(3) find a common mind

This is done with the help of supportive parishioners and local Christians working with us. Together we pray, study the Bible, look afresh at the traditions and see how we better serve the local community.

In this we can say that the Holy Spirit has guided us into marvellous things.

Rod Dreher on Resisting Soft Totalitarianism

recommended reading

For those who want to read a bit more around discipleship and community living these might be good start.

Finding Sanctuary

Christopher
Jamison

Weidenfeld & Nicolson

(2008)

Have you ever wondered why everybody these days seems so busy? Here Christopher Jamison offers practical wisdom from the monastic tradition on how to build sanctuary into your life. This was part of a BBC reality show.

No matter how hard you work, being too busy is not inevitable. Silence and contemplation are not just for monks and nuns, they are natural parts of life. Yet to keep hold of this truth in the rush of modern living you need the support of other people and sensible advice from wise guides. By learning to listen in new ways, people's lives can change and the abbot offers some monastic steps that help this transition to a more spiritual life.

In the face of many easy assumptions about the irrelevance of religion today, Christopher makes religion accessible for those in search of life's meaning and offers a vision of the world's religions working together as a unique source of hope for the 21st Century.

The Benedict Option

Live Not by Lies *

Rod Dreher

2017

2020 *

In 2017 the New York Times called the Benedict Option the most significant religious book of the decade, and it certainly has lived up to that claim in the past four years. Dreher's gripping read invites orthodox Christians to a spiritual 'call to arms', to deepen our churches sense of community mindful that resist secularity requires a strategic retreat, an period of exile.

In 2020 this theme is extended with Live Not By Lies - a Manifesto of Christian Dissidents. The first half of the book explores the heroic lives of believers in the Soviet Union while the second part examines how this may be put into action.

Humble Pie

Carlo Bonomo

2004

Morehouse Publishing

Take a quick look around – politicians, entertainers, sports figures, and even our own circles of family and friends: Humble pie is not on the menu. It’s a me-first society that turns pride into a virtue and humility into a vice.

But Christians – especially those who follow the Rule of St. Benedict – are encouraged to embrace humility as a virtue that leads them closer to Christ. And in this upside-down Benedictine world, we reach humility not by descending to the depths but by climbing, joyfully, to the top of a ladder.

In this honest, funny, touching book, Carol Bonomo, a Benedictine oblate – a person vowed to live according to the fourth-century Rule – reconciles the conflict between the world’s call and Benedict’s more gentle admonition as she examines the twelve rungs on Benedict’s ladder against the backdrop of the liturgical year. From the first rung, obedience, during Advent, to the twelfth, constancy, during the feast of All Saints, Bonomo studies what it means for a contemporary Christian to climb the ladder of humility that leads to perfect, fearless love.