On Sunday 12th July, churches around Britain will celebrate Sea Sunday and support the work of the Mission to Seafarers. You can find a short video of their work hereSt Nicholas, amongst other things, is the patron saint of sailors and so, here in Studland, we shall have a brief service of hymns, readings and prayers all connected with the sea and seafarers. This will be a relaxed informal service at which we hope everyone will find themselves at home, and not all at sea!
When Augustine came to the British Isles in 597 AD he found an already established Christian presence, particularly on the geographical fringes of the mainland (Ireland, Scotland, Northumbria, Wales and Cornwall). Influenced by missionaries from the Irish Monastic communities, these Christians had developed a particular approach to faith, which we refer to today as “Celtic”. Celtic Christians held a deep love for nature, sensing God’s presence in all things. They saw the world as a place where the divine was intimately woven into the fabric of daily existence, In our service on Sunday 17th May we hope to follow the Celtic example of creating a “thin space”, a bridge between the Earth we inhabit and the Heavens that Christ enters at His ascension. Moving from, ground to horizon and sky, we bless the soil, the fields and the crops. We ask that the risen and ascended Christ would fill all things and ground His work in our hands
Gulnar Eleanor "Guli" Francis-Dehqani, the Bishop of Chelmsford is an Iranian born British citizen. Her wise, compassionate and moving address to the Diocesan Synod on the War in Iran can be found here.
Each Thursday in Lent a group of us have been meeting at 11:30 in the church hall to take part in "The Prayer Course", a series of sesssions on prayer based around the Lord's Prayer. In week 1 we thought about "Why Pray" and learnt three simple rules about prayer: Keep it Simple; Keep it Real: Keep it Up. The following week we thought about "adoration" and were given the acronym "PRAY" Pause, Rejoice, Ask, Yield. This week we shall consider "Petition". Why should we ask God in prayer? The sessions start with a 20 to 25 minute video and then we discuss and reflect on what we have seen and look at the helpful resource sheets that come with the course. In true Studland style we follow each session with something to eat! Usually we have light lunch of soup and bread.If you have time, do come and join us...or maybe just study the course by yourself. In any case, just pray: keep it simple, keep it real and keep it up!
