‘Pools of Grace’ at Minsteracres Retreat Centre
In early June, Dr Sarah Bachelard arrived from Australia to lead ‘Pools of Grace’ the ‘Gathering’ at Minsteracres. The weekend was enriched for those attending by the addition of a selection of workshops on offer. Father Jim Caffrey shared the story of setting up a Contemplative Parish in the middle of Dublin, so relevant but profoundly challenging following the recent revelations of sexual abuse in Ireland and the subsequent large drop in church attendance. Paul Golightly introduced the work of Capacitar which helps people recovering from trauma. This fitted well with Terry Doyle’s session on reaching out to refugees, the homeless and people ‘on the margins’. Greatly appreciated were the body workshops and times for contemplative walks, led by Chris Hurley.
Keeping to the whole concept of a shared ‘Gathering’, below are some reflections on people’s experience of their time spent with Sarah:
Minsteracres was a wonderful setting for the recent WCCM gathering. The sun shone, the views were beautiful, the hospitality warm and welcoming. The programme contained a good mix of talks from Sarah, workshops, free time, meditation and opportunities to meet or re-connect with other meditators.
Diana Ohlson.Sarah’s talks were very “meaty” with lots of ideas, references and practical examples relating to her experience of, and reflections on contemplative church. I have problems with church for various reasons and initially wasn’t sure I was interested in the content of the talks but as the weekend went on, I was drawn into Sarah’s ideas and experiences of a different way to be church. Most particularly her ideas around the importance of discerning and listening in the development and practice of her church stuck with me, qualities that are so needed in all aspects of life today. I was also struck by the congruence and openness Sarah showed as a person, reflecting the importance of discerning and listening as she talked and responded to questions.
There was a good selection of workshops available- I would have liked the opportunity to attend them all- but after the very thoughtful talks I chose two body-based workshops which gave me practical activities to incorporate into daily life.
The social/ mealtimes were a great opportunity to network, listen to very different experiences of life and church, have some conversations we might not have in daily life and have some laughs.Most importantly the shared meditations were an opportunity to participate in the practice that had brought us all together in the first place and which is central to all that we do through WCCM. Minsteracres has an air of peace and calm about it, and this atmosphere permeated our meditation and activities and helped to make it such an interesting and enjoyable weekend.
Angela Foley.Sarah Bachelard’s retreat was a truly transformative and enlightening experience. Through her deep understanding of contemplative practices and her compassionate guidance, Sarah created a sacred space where participants could delve into the depths of their spiritual journey.
The retreat was a beautiful blend of teachings, discussions, and contemplative practices that allowed us to explore the rich tradition of contemplative spirituality within the context of the church. Sarah’s insights and reflections on the importance of silence, stillness, meditation and prayer in our spiritual lives were both profound and inspiring. Throughout the retreat, Sarah gently encouraged us to slow down, listen deeply, and connect with the divine presence within and around us. Her presence radiated a sense of peace and wisdom that created a nurturing and supportive environment for all who attended.
I left the retreat feeling deeply grounded, renewed and inspired to continue on my own contemplative path. Sarah’s retreat was a true gift, and I am grateful to have been part of such a transformative experience. Thank you, Sarah, for your dedication to the contemplative journey and for sharing your wisdom with us.
Cinzia AngiusI attended ‘Pools of Grace’ with a semi-professional hat on as I am currently undertaking a PhD studying Contemplative Teachers within Protestantism. I must confess at the outset to being a practitioner of Centering Prayer, which of course no one noticed during the meditation period! Different forms of meditation were endorsed by Sarah when she told us that the inclusive and ecumenical Benedictus Community in Australia, which she leads, does not prescribe which meditation method her members practice during the fifteen minutes period of silence in the weekly service, though Christian Meditation is what they teach.
There was no room for personal complacency however, as from the very first talk I was challenged in my thinking around what contemplative practices can bring to help renew the church. In her opening remarks on the topic of ‘The Gift and Call of Contemplative Church’ Sarah said, ‘We’re here to listen together to God’s call – not to rescue the Church’. It may be a relief to us all that having a Messiah complex is not on God’s agenda for us as contemplative practitioners, but using her own experience of contemplative community in Benedictus, Sarah also gave much food for thought. While renewed access to the contemplative has enabled many people to come back to faith, and meditation practices can sustain us through personal and collective times of fragility, she reminded us that as we face climate catastrophe, economic precariousness, cultural polarisation and racial discrimination, ‘we need an individual response, but we mainly need a collective response’. Her challenge to each attendee, who would be travelling back to their own communities (whether religious or social), was to be part of a ‘maturing’ church people, a community who, because they are individually contemplatively attuned, are deepening in their commitment and responsibility to the whole. I was reminded that our meditation practice is of course a tool for us to be in the presence of God, and a response to God’s love and call, but as Sarah said so beautifully, ‘the deeper our prayer, the deeper our concern for the world.’
Diane Jackson.
Sarah Bachelard’s UK Tour
Immediately following the Weekend Gathering Pools of Grace at Minsteracres Retreat Centre, Sarah Bachelard travelled, together with Sue Clarke and her husband, on a short tour to give a series of talks about The Call of Contemplative Church at Leeds Minster, Birmingham, Chepstow, Bath Abbey, Salisbury, and ending with a final day at the Meditatio Centre in London. The talks that she offered were: Soul in the System, exploring the idea of ‘mysticism as resistance’, challenging the idea of meditation being thought of in any way as only a means of building resilience; and Poetry, Contemplation and the G Word looking at the blocks that can arise for people feeling uncomfortable concerning inbuilt notions around the use of the word ‘God’, and what that word has come to mean to them. Sarah used the wisdom of poets and scripture to find more satisfying ways to understand its meaning in contemporary spiritual seeking and experience. At the Meditatio Centre, in her talk entitled Shouting, Cancelling, Signalling: Christ and the Anxieties of Speech, Sarah explored how contemplative practice makes possible difficult forms of the exchange of challenging ideas, and helps us to follow the example of Christ, to break down the ‘dividing walls’ that so often exist between us.
Altogether Sarah spoke to around five hundred people on her tour, and set going many different discussions and thoughts about how to share more widely the gifts contained in her talks, so relevant to people’s spiritual seeking at the current time. Sue Clarke made the interesting observation that at Salisbury, where the session was held in a non church setting, there was a more open and lively interactive discussion prompted by Sarah’s talk. A moving account involved an atheist who attended one of the sessions, feeling slightly unsure about what they were opening themselves up to listen to. By the end of the evening, they had been brought to tears, and noted that what Sarah was saying will… ‘build a revolution’.
Comments on the Tour included:
‘The visit of Sarah Bachelard to St. Mary’s Priory was particularly beneficial for the member churches of the Severn Wye Ministry Area, as they are in the early stages of developing contemplative prayer groups, following a very good attendance for the WCCM introductory Course during Lent. Sarah’s challenging approach to the concept and use of the God word, and the imaginative use of contemplative poetry, elicited a variety of interesting and deeply personal responses from those attending the talk. It has led to a continued dialogue in the local churches and the setting up of new Meditation groups.
Rev Christopher BlanchardIt was a joy and privilege to welcome Dr Sarah Bachelard to share a couple of talks in Leeds Minster following her national conference. We were very encouraged by the number of people attending the talks from across West Yorkshire, and the engagement online of our You Tube channel. Sarah is a wonderful communicator and offered us a lot to think about. She speaks out of a rich experience in Australia and many of us were encouraged that we might embrace some of her practice in our own communities. We were touched by Sarah’s graciousness and her vulnerability in sharing from her own context and experience and commend her books to anyone who would like to explore them.
Rev Paul Maybury