Contemplative prayer what is it? Being with God.

...I want to commend a particular sort of prayer. Important though the Offices, prayerful reading of the scriptures, and receiving communion are, there is no substitute for just being with God. For that, we simply need to find a place and time of quiet for the Spirit to search our deepest selves. Finding time to do this might be hard, and the process of being completely still for a few minutes can feel unbearable. It can seem anything but quiet at first.
Prayer begins with a racket, the noise of all the different parts of us wanting to be heard. That won’t be comfortable. We have to cultivate the discipline of sitting quietly and waiting while all those bits and pieces of ourselves crowd in on us, and plead for our attention. If we can sit that out, we shall begin to hear through the clamour a great river, springing from our innermost depths, sweeping away superficial influences. Prayer will then enable us to become aware of the deepest longings that rise from our hearts, the voice of which we are generally not conscious.

by kind permission of John Inge (the July '22 Church Times)

We hope that you will be inspired by this definition of contemplative prayer. Contemplative prayer, also referred to as "silent love"  is about being aware of God's presence, a practice which has its roots in the earliest part of Christianity.

The selection of resources below will support you towards your journey on contemplative prayer.  We will augment these resources with some online talks and sessions in the next few weeks.  If you are interested in contemplative prayer please contact us at the Parish Office

From the Diocese of Leeds: https://www.leeds.anglican.org/prayer-spirituality/resources

Contemplative prayer practice: https://anglicanprayer.org/resources/Contemplative%20Prayer_2017.pdf

Seeds of silence: https://www.seedsofsilence.org.uk/organisations.html

Contemplative Outreach: https://contemplativeoutreach.org.uk/

Quiet gardens in the South East of England https://quietgarden.org/find-gardens/uk/england/south-east/

Safeguarding

    If a child or adult is in immediate danger or requires immediate medical attention, call the emergency services on 999. If there are concerns about their immediate welfare, don’t delay: call Children and Adult’s Social care on 0345 050 7666 or the MASH Out of Hours Emergency Duty Team: 0800 833408. Also please inform one of Parish Safeguarding Team.
    For other safeguarding concerns please immediately inform our Parish Safeguarding Officer, Alison, on 07884 074812 or her Deputy, Sarah Jane, on 07506 515 952 or Pauline on 01993 648136. You can also email concerns to safeguarding@witneyparish.org.uk
    If you are unsure or worried about how serious a situation is, contact the Diocesan Safeguarding Team on 01865 208295 or safeguardingreferrals@oxford.anglican.org. For enquiries outside of operational hours, contact Thirtyone:eight on 0303 003 1111.

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Contact Us

Contact details

Please contact the Benefice Office if you have any enquires for the five churches in our benefice: St Mary the Virgin, Church Green Witney Oxfordshire OX28 4AW | 01993 779 492 | office@witneyparish.org.uk 

Church addresses 

St Mary the Virgin Church Green Witney Oxfordshire OX28 4AW 
Holy Trinity Church Woodgreen OX28 1DN 
St John the Baptist,
Curbridge 2 Church Row, Curbridge Witney OX29 7NU
Hailey Church
Middletown Hailey Witney OX29 9UB
St Kenelm’s Church
 Minster Lovell OX29 0RR (updated 23-09-21)

Safeguarding concerns: safeguarding@witneyparish.org.uk