Scargill Walking Weekend Report

The centre, Scargill House, is set in the beautiful surroundings of the Yorkshire Dales. It is an ecumenical Christian centre, which provided a place of welcome, peace and worship for all attending our joint CPW weekend. We enjoyed shared worship, with no sense of compromise or alienation, on the contrary, enhanced by our different church traditions- unity in practice. Gabriela, Henriette and Matt, along with the community of Scargill, facilitated a joyful weekend focused on Presence, Connection, Awareness and Grace, in a context of meditation and the beauty of nature. The opening prayer for all was ‘May you know and experience connection with God, the land, and community while you are here.’

A choice of two beautiful walks, one for the more intrepid, the other more gentle, facilitated the practice of mindfulness, with some silent walking enabling us to be aware of the sounds of nature, and aware that we are a part of that same nature. This followed an inspirational talk by Matt Stoney, who used his local knowledge of the development of the valley through the millennia, with references to poetry and art, to emphasise the interdependence between humans and the natural world-Connection. In the evening, Henriette spoke about, and encouraged us to practice, Awareness. Her sessions incorporated a wealth of poetry and spiritual writings to enhance our experience.

Coming together in community was fun and enlivening, whether meeting with old friends, or making new ones. Across the age range, two young children aged 1 and 4, as well as a teenager, all fitted in very well alongside the ‘seniors’. As well as the talks, prayer, meditation and walking, everyone enjoyed a social evening, CPW style, magnificently hosted by Luke- full of shared music, poetry, readings and art!

The theme of mindfulness/meditation was central to the weekend. Some of us had had the pleasure of Rev Henrietta’s leadership in a previous CPW walking holiday in the Gower Peninsula, and it was a privilege to enjoy again her gentle guidance and encouragement towards meditation, helping us to believe that we can all meditate- even just by staying aware when our minds are full of distracting thoughts.

I found several pointers from the weekend for future pondering—appreciating the strength of authentic shared, ecumenical worship and community; celebrating female leadership in worship; the significance of shared fun in socialising, poetry and music, eating together and friendship; the enjoyment of nature for all, whether fit or less able; inspiring discussion and speakers; inspired liturgy and worship; encouragement to meditation and prayer. Thanks to Gabriela and Henriette for making this CPW experience a shared one, with a positive collaboration that hopefully can be repeated in the future.

Finally, Gabriela summed up the experience of the weekend using the letters CPW : Community, Prayer, Welcome.

Thanks to Gabriela, Henriette, Matt, Luke , and the community of Scargill House, for a great weekend, CPW+.

~ Anna Gibson