Hundreds Flock to the Festival

On Saturday the 7th July the eighth Festival of Prayer took place in glorious summer warmth at Ripon College Cuddesdon and All Saint’s church.  Over 250 people from across the diocese and beyond gathered in the church to here the keynote world renowned Iona community speaker John Bell.  In his usual refreshing style of storytelling, John helped us dwell on the many images we have of God and how he draws us to know him more fully throughout our lives.

For the rest of the day participants were invited to choose from a wide variety of workshops on prayer and spirituality lead by a number of leading speakers in their fields.  These included: Tim Stead who introduced Mindfulness, Sally Welch, author and former Spirituality Adviser, refocused our eyes to the sacred around us in nature, Venerable Olivia Graham, Archdeacon of Berkshire, delved into the spiritual depths of the Beatitudes, Michelle Eyre from Discovering Prayer spoke on prayer in everyday life, Jo Gallant of Pelagos revealed the relevance of Ignatius spirituality for today, and much much more.

Our grateful thanks go to everyone who lead worships and gave of their time and expertise in this wonderful event to support the life of prayer and to all those who came on the day.  Special thanks go to Karen Laister and the BRF team for handling all the booking, bookshop and along with Andrew Meynell and Emma Pennington organise the day.  Thanks too go to Juliana and the team at Ripon College Cuddesdon who look after us so admirably.

The next Festival of Prayer will be held on 6th July 2019 with Pete Greig from 24/7 prayer speaking.  Places are limited and we usually sell out three months before the event, so make a note of the date and watch this space for when bookings open.