Patrick Comerford
We are continuing in Ordinary Time in the Church Calendar and this week began with the Sixth Sunday after Trinity (Trinity VI). I am back in Stony Stratford this morning, having spent much of the week at the High Leigh Conference Centre at Hoddesdon in Hertfordshire, taking part in the annual conference of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel).
Before today begins, I am taking some quiet time this morning to give thanks, for reflection, prayer and reading in these ways:
1, today’s Gospel reading;
2, a reflection in connection with this week’s USPG conference;
3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary;
4, the Collects and Post-Communion prayer of the day.
Matthew 10: 16-23 (NRSVUE):
[Jesus said:] 16 “I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. 17 Beware of them, for they will hand you over to councils and flog you in their synagogues, 18 and you will be dragged before governors and kings because of me, as a testimony to them and the gentiles. 19 When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you at that time, 20 for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. 21 Sibling will betray sibling to death and a father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, 22 and you will be hated by all because of my name. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. 23 When they persecute you in this town, flee to the next, for truly I tell you, you will not have finished going through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.”
This morning’s reflection:
I have spent much of this week at the High Leigh Conference Centre on the western fringes of Hoddesdon in Hertfordshire. The house was once the home of the Barclay family, and during the week, I have been reminded of that family’s Quaker roots, their social conscience and generosity, and their later commitment to the life and mission of the Church of England.
With its beautiful Victorian façade, extensive parkland and landscaped gardens, High Leigh could easily provide the location for a television period drama. Its tranquil and spacious setting makes High Leigh popular, yet delegates at conferences also find the time and space to relax and unwind and for reflection.
High Leigh was originally built in 1853, and was bought in 1871 by Robert Barclay (1843-1921), a successful banker and committed Christian. He was born in Walthamstow, Essex, the son of Joseph Gurney Barclay and Mary Walker Barclay. Over the generations, his ancestors had married into many other prominent banking families, and he was responsible for merging 20 banks into Barclay’s Bank.
Robert Barclay’s ancestors were Quakers, but he was an Anglican, and his family also played key roles in the life of the Church of England. He married Elizabeth Ellen Buxton (1848-1911), a granddaughter of the 19th-century reformer and anti-slavery campaigner, Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton, and she too had many Quaker ancestors in the Gurney and Fry families. They had a large family that included CMS missionaries.
Much of the original 19th century manor house at High Leigh and its period features remain unchanged, including the Woodlands Lounge and the Oak Room.
High Leigh is also known for its gardens, covering 40 acres of beautiful countryside in Hertfordshire, with parkland that is dotted with formal areas, woodland, lawns and ponds. Some of the house’s most prominent outdoor features were created by the Pulhams, a family of landscape gardeners who owned Pulham Manufactory in nearby Broxbourne. It is thought the Pulhams themselves worked on the design and installation of many of the pieces in the garden at High Leigh.
When Robert Barclay died in 1921, the house was sold to First Conference Estate of which he had been a director. First Conference Estate, now known as Christian Conference Trust, was founded in 1909 with the express purpose of providing affordable facilities for various missionary and other Christian societies. The Hayes at Swanwick in Derbyshire was opened in 1910 and High Leigh opened in 1921.
One of the curiosities of USPG’s charters is that ex-officio incorporated members of the council include the Lord High Almoner. The office was held from 1946 to 1953 by Edward Sydney Woods (1877-1953), Bishop of Lichfield (1937-1953), whose wife Clemence Barclay (1874-1952) was a daughter of Robert Barclay of High Leigh. She was born at High Leigh, and they were married in Hoddesdon in 1903. The story is told that Bishop Woods had the distinction of being one of two survivors of a German air raid by hiding under a dining table with Ann Charteris, the future wife of Ian Fleming.
Today’s Prayers (Friday 12 July 2024):
The theme this week in ‘Pray With the World Church,’ the Prayer Diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), is ‘United Beyond Borders.’ This theme was introduced on Sunday with reflections on this week’s USPG conference by Rachael Anderson, Senior Communications and Engagement Manager, USPG.
The USPG Prayer Diary today (Friday 12 July 2024) invites us to pray:
We pray for all those who feel lonely and excluded. Who feel like they are on the outside looking in. May we do more to be welcoming and understanding that we are all equal in God’s eyes.
The Collect:
Eternal God,
who made Benedict a wise master
in the school of your service
and a guide to many called into community
to follow the rule of Christ:
grant that we may put your love before all else
and seek with joy the way of your commandments;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Post Communion Prayer:
Merciful God,
who gave such grace to your servant Benedict
that he served you with singleness of heart
and loved you above all things:
help us, whose communion with you
has been renewed in this sacrament,
to forsake all that holds us back from following Christ
and to grow into his likeness from glory to glory;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Yesterday’s reflection
Continued tomorrow
Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition copyright © 2021, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
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