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The Northumbria Community in the USA Upcoming events in the USA Concerning Making Donations to the Northumbria Community in the USA Your donations will be deposited in our American account and will be fully tax deductible. And they will be greatly appreciated! We periodically wire money over to the NC in England so your funds will be helping the entire Community. However, we watch the exchange rate and transfer larger sums at once in order to cut down on the processing fees incurred with single checks. Please note this information only relates to donations made to the Community in general and not to purchases made through Cloisters. So that's the announcements out of the way...now, here's that story... |
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We have recently seen the US edition of 'Celtic Daily Prayer' published in the States, and this has given an opportunity for many people on that side of the water to find out more about the Community. We are currently in the process of setting up administrative structures to 'cope' with this - whilst ensuring that we can continue to put relationship first. Not an easy task! This page has a lot of words, and you will need to be quite determined to get through it all... but as there are more and more people in the USA who are asking questions about walking the journey in Community, we thought we should try to give some indication of 'where we are up to' in our thinking on this. So here it is! |
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| We freely confess that this huge interest has taken us by surprise. We did not anticipate such a response even with the recent publication of our Celtic Daily Prayer, and it has caused us to stop and think and pray about what this means because the simple truth is that being a ‘monastic’ Community based in the UK, we do not have the resources and systems in place at the moment to even begin to cope. In this we are seeking to be true to the very heart of our Community ethos in being both available and vulnerable. | |||
| This huge interest in itself highlights a major difficulty for us because in acknowledging and welcoming this interest as a God initiative from kindred spirits, we also long to retain the rather anonymous, raw and ragged style of our journey thus far, as a vital part of the Community’s ethos as it grows and develops. |  |
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| This commitment to anonymity rather than popularism, to being relational rather than functional, to being descriptive rather than prescriptive, is extremely important to us and we are very concerned that the Community does not become institutionalised, uniform or overly organised to the detriment of simply living the life in everyday ordinariness. | |||
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We can readily address these issues at our Community Weekends, held regularly at the Nether Springs here in Northumbria. These are weekends specifically convened as the central factor in beginning the process of becoming a Companion in Community, not least because they are held in the context of home, history and heritage. | ||
Because the Nether Springs is the Mother House of the Community, being a focus for its spirituality and an expression of its life, the psychical dimension of place, ambience and just being 'at home' has been a crucial aspect of the discernment process. How can we relate this to those living in the USA? It may be of course that some would be able to travel to Northumbria for such a weekend (as very many have) but it is simply not feasible to expect all to do so. How then do we respect and validate this huge interest? This is the question we are prayerfully reflecting on at the moment. |
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The Way Forward. We have already made significant steps in seeking
to respond. Although we do not have as yet any formalised groupings or
communities, we do have scattered pockets of individuals and families
(primarily in New Hampshire, others in Minnesota) who have been to the
Mother House in North East England, and have become Companions in Community.
Some of these folk have had a long history with us and are key people
in any future developments in the USA. |
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Becoming a Friend Northumbria Community. If this describes something of your own heart, then we would be glad to accept you as a Friend of the Northumbria Community; as a Friend, one who already thinks positively about us and supports the work we seek to do. This is a first step in the ongoing process of discovering what it means to be part of the Northumbria Community in North America. We would ask that you contact the office at Hetton Hall, either by email (office@northumbriacommunity.org) or regular mail: Hetton Hall, Chatton, Northumberland NE66 5SD, England, UK and request an information pack which will be sent to you via regular mail (so, be sure to include your address). We ask that you carefully read through the material and if you are still inclined to pursue us, please complete and return the database form (included in the packet) via regular mail to the office in England. This enables us to comply with data protection legislation in UK! As a Friend you will receive regular mailings of our Prayer Guide, our Newsletter ‘CAIM’ and receive any relevant ongoing information related to the life of the Community. We would ask you to make a contribution towards the cost of such regular mailings. Information on how to do this will be on the database form. Because you will now be on our database, we will be able to put you in touch with those who are overseeing the development of the Northumbria Community in the USA and you will have access to the Forum (a place to enter into discussion with others) on our web site. Many of you have inquired if there is a faster, less cumbersome way to complete this process. The answer is - undoubtedly! However, we have intentionally designed the process for becoming a Friend in keeping with the ethos of our Rule. A Rule of life helps us to stay connected to God in the present moment by noticing the now - by becoming conscious of God in what we are already doing. Our part is to remain available, to listen, to observe, to act, to be. This enables us to remain spiritually alive – mindful of God’s presence with us. Mindfulness is to be aware of what is going on. We ask that you hold the essence of these values as you consider joining us on this journey. Be mindful of God in this process and look to what He is doing in your heart as you discern your ability to say ‘Yes’ to this Community. |
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If you want your dream to be, build it
slow and surely. from Donovan's music for the film 'Brother Sun, Sister Moon' |
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