The School of Faith 2012
Introduction from the Revd. Canon Leonard Doolan
Introduction to the 2012 School of Faith
Fr. Harry Williams, sometime chaplain of Trinity College and a member of the community of the Resurrection at Mirfield was a radical thinker for his day and a controversial churchman. He died in 2006. He grappled all his life with the challenges of faith and his sexuality.
In a book published in 2006 in his honour a series of essays were brought together under one publication called Living Free (Mowbray). One of the essays, simply called Change, reveals Williams’ deep doubts about the ability of the institutional church to survive in the long term. He challenges the assumptions of the church in terms of its dogmatism and imperialism, and he is highly critical of the ‘organizational’ developments within the church in response to decline.
He offers an alternative vision for the church, one which will be familiar to some exponents of ‘Fresh Expressions’ of church, or as some call the movement ‘emergent churches’. Williams proposes that the church needs to focus on being ‘schools of contemplation’.
So I think that the churches will in due time cease to be so much concerned with services and most of their other religious paraphernalia and will become schools or centres of contemplation. To date we… realize contemplative prayer is not for a spiritual elite, but that almost everybody has within him (sic) to contemplate; but that in most cases, the potentiality has remained dormant through lack of teaching and practice. Living Free p37.
We might have a constructive debate about some of Williams’ conclusions about the church, but what he says about ‘schools of contemplation’ might be equally true of schools of faith, such as the one we offer here based in Cirencester.
Scripture, spirituality, movies, pilgrimages, contemplative groups, art history and more – all this is part of the programme in 2012. George Herbert, priest and poet, says in the 3rd stanza of his poem The Church Windows,
Doctrine and life, colours and light, in one
When they combine and mingle, bring
A strong regard and awe: but speech alone
Doth vanish like a flaring thing,
And in the eare, not conscience ring.
I hope the School of Faith will help to contribute to that kaleidoscope of doctrine and life, colours and light.
Leonard Doolan, Vicar of Cirencester.
To see the courses, seminars, talks and planned visit to Bruges, together with an evaluation form and booking form please click this link School_of_Faith_2012
