COMERFORD WAY: Patrick Comerford’s online journal on Anglicanism, theology, spirituality, history, architecture, travel, poetry, beach walks ... and more
The High Leigh Conference Centre in summer sunshine … the venue for USPG’s conference, ‘For Christ is our Peace’, next week (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
Patrick Comerford
I am sorry that I am going to miss this year’s USPG Conference, which has the theme ‘For Christ is our Peace’ (Ephesians 2: 14), reflecting on the Church’s calling to be agents of peace in a world marked by conflict.
The conference takes place at the High Leigh Conference, near Hoddesdon in Hertfordshire, from Tuesday to Thursday next week (2-4 June 2026). Through Bible studies, workshops, keynote speakers and shared worship, the conference is looking at peace through the lens of Just Peace – not simply as the absence of conflict, but as God’s healing and reconciling presence.
USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel) is one of the oldest mission societies in the Anglican Communion. The USPG conference each year is a way of connecting with others who care deeply about faith, justice, and the Church’s role in the world today. This year’s conference, ‘For Christ is our Peace’ is an opportunity for people who want to explore what it means to follow Christ faithfully in a time of global uncertainty and division.
The fireside chats over three days next week year will also provide perfect spaces to build relationships, share perspectives, and be encouraged by others who are passionate about justice, reconciliation and transformation.
The speakers at the USPG Conference next week include:
• The Most Revd Alba Sally Sue Hernández García, Primate of La Iglesia Anglicana de México (Anglican Church of Mexico) and Bishop of the Diocese of Mexico
• Bishop Lusa Nsenga-Ngoy, Suffragan Bishop of Willesden in the Diocese of London, the Church of England’s lead bishop for interfaith engagement and a prominent advocate for an inclusive, courageous Church
• Dr Jude Lal Fernando, Associate Professor at the Irish School of Ecumenics, Trinity College Dublin, and Director of the Trinity Centre for Post-Conflict Justice
‘For Christ is our Peace’ is the theme of the USPG conference in High Leigh next week
As geopolitical tensions, regional conflicts, and deepening social divides shape our world, the conference will reflect on what it means to follow Christ faithfully today.
Through the lens of Just Peace, the conference will examine how Christian discipleship calls us not only to reconciliation but also to challenge and transform unjust systems that create division, deprivation, damage and destruction. It will consider how faith and hope in the risen Christ can reshape our understanding of peace – not as the absence of conflict, but as healing and reconciling presence in the midst of it.
I have attended the USPG annual conference most years, whether in High Leigh or at the Hayes Conference Centre in Swanwick, Derbyshire. I was a trustee of USPG for six years, a director of USPG in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, and I include the ideas in USPG’s prayer diary, Pray with the World Churchn, in my prayer diary on this blog most mornings. So it is a personal disappointment not to be at the conference in High Leigh next week.
One of the things delegates often value most about USPG Conference is that it’s not only about what happens during the event itself: it’s about what we carry home afterwards – the questions we keep asking, the learning we keep sharing, the ways we continue to live out our faith with courage and compassion. As one person said after a recent conference: ‘The conversations do not end here – they’re encouraged to continue.’
Bookings for next week’s conference are still possible HERE. Day tickets are also available for the programme on Wednesday (3 June).
The High Leigh Conference Centre at Hoddesdon in Hertfordshire … the venue for the USPG 2026 Conference next week (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
‘Believe in God, believe also in me’ (John 14: 1) … an image of Christ the Pantocrator in the Church of the Ascension and Saint George in Panormos, near Rethymnon in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)
Patrick Comerford
Easter is a 50-day season, beginning on Easter Day (20 April 2025) and continuing until the Day of Pentecost (8 June 2025), or Whit Sunday. This week began with the Fourth Sunday of Easter (Easter IV, 11 May 2025), and the calendar of the Church of England in Common Worship today remembers the life and witness of Caroline Chisholm (1808-1877), Social Reformer.
Before today begins, I am taking some quiet time this morning to give thanks, to reflect, to pray and to read in these ways:
1, reading today’s Gospel reading;
2, a short reflection;
3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary;
4, the Collects and Post-Communion prayer of the day.
‘In my Father’s house there are many dwelling-places’ (John 14: 2) … colourful houses in a square in Valencia (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
John 14: 1-6 (NRSVA):
[Jesus said:] 1 ‘Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house there are many dwelling-places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. 4 And you know the way to the place where I am going.’ 5 Thomas said to him, ‘Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?’ 6 Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’
‘In my Father’s house there are many dwelling-places’ (John 14: 2) … houses on High Street in Wexford when I lived in the 1970s (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
Today’s Reflection:
Today’s short Gospel reading provided in the Lectionary at the Eucharist includes the sixth of the seven ‘I AM’ sayings in Saint John’s Gospel: I am the Way, the Truth and the Life [John 14: 6]; and it also includes one the many memorable sayings in this Gospel: ‘In my Father’s house there are many dwelling-places . If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?’ John 14: 2).
This chapter (John 14) includes questions from three of the disciple and three answers from Jesus, which we hear over the course of three days, today, tomorrow and on Monday:
• ‘Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?’ (Thomas, John 14: 5)
• ‘Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied’ (Philip, John 14: 8)
• ‘Lord, how is it that you will reveal yourself to us, and not to the world?’ (Judas Thaddeus, John 14: 22)
These are also the questions and problems within the communities and churches gathered around Saint John in Ephesus and in Asia Minor. The answers Jesus gives to these three questions are like a mirror in which those communities find a response to their doubts and difficulties.
Jesus is preparing his friends to separate themselves and reveals to them his friendship, communicating to them security and support.
Today’s reading begins with an exhortation: ‘Do not let your hearts be troubled’ (verse 1). And immediately Jesus adds: ‘In my Father’s house there are many dwelling-places’ (verse 2).
This continuing use of encouraging words in the face of troubles and differences is a sign of many disagreements within those communities, each claiming to have the right approach to living out the faith and believing the others are living in error.
Jesus says: ‘In my Father’s house there are many dwelling-places’ It is not necessary that everybody thinks the same way. The important thing is that all accept Jesus, the revelation of the Father, and that out of love for him, we show understanding, service and love. Love and service help the diverse communities to become a Church of brothers and sisters.
In this farewell address, Jesus says he is going to prepare a place and that afterwards he will return to take us with him to the Father’s house (John 14:3-4) . He wants us to be with him forever. The return he speaks about is the coming of the Spirit, who he sends and who acts in us (John 14: 16-17, 26; 16: 13-14).
The Johannine community feared a delay in this future return and Saint John’s Gospel is filled with reminders of the Spirit. Jesus ends by saying: ‘you know the way to the place where I am going’ (verse 4).
Thomas asks which is the way: ‘Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?’ (verse 5). Jesus answers: ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me’ (verse 6).
Without the way we cannot go.
Without the truth we cannot make good choices.
Without life, there is only death.
Christ is risen! The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia!
‘Lord, we do not know where you are going’ (John 14: 5) … going under a bridge on the Grand Canal in Venice (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
Today’s Prayers (Friday 16 May 2025):
‘Health and Hope in the Manyoni District’ provides 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). This theme was introduced on Sunday with a programme update from Dr Frank Mathew Haji of the Integrated Child Health and End Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV Programme in Tanzania.
The USPG Prayer Diary today (Friday 16 May 2025) invites us to pray:
Lord, we seek the availability of more partners and funds to support the scaling up of this programme in other areas of need within.
The Collect:
Almighty God,
whose Son Jesus Christ is the resurrection and the life:
raise us, who trust in him,
from the death of sin to the life of righteousness,
that we may seek those things which are above,
where he reigns with you
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
The Post-Communion Prayer:
Merciful Father,
you gave your Son Jesus Christ to be the good shepherd,
and in his love for us to lay down his life and rise again:
keep us always under his protection,
and give us grace to follow in his steps;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Additional Collect:
Risen Christ,
faithful shepherd of your Father’s sheep:
teach us to hear your voice
and to follow your command,
that all your people may be gathered into one flock,
to the glory of God the Father.
‘Lord … how can we know the way?’ (John 14: 5) … different ways and different paths on a country walk near High Leigh in Hertfordshire (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
The west end of Saint Catherine’s and Saint Paul’s Church on Paul’s Lane, the parish church of Hoddesdon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)
Patrick Comerford
Saint Catherine’s and Saint Paul’s Church on Paul’s Lane is the parish church of Hoddesdon in the Diocese of St Albans. Although Hoddesdon in Hertfordshire did not officially become a parish until the 1840s, the story of the church dates back to early 14th century, when Saint Katherine’s Chapel was built.
Until the 1840s, Hoddesdon was divided between the parishes of Broxbourne and Amwell, with the boundary roughly following the line of Lord Street, which leads to the High Leigh Conference Centre, where I spent much of last week.
William de la Marche, a parishioner, obtained permission from the King on 1336 to build a chapel. It stood in the centre of Hoddesdon, where the Clock Tower now stands. The permission specified building the chapel ‘anew’, which seems to imply it replaced an earlier building, although no record of an earlier chapel survives.
The chapel was dedicated to Saint Katherine and remained in use until the 18th century. It may have originally served as a place of worship for pilgrims on their way to the shrine of Our Lady at Walsingham, but later became a chapel of ease for the people of Hoddesdon.
The anomalous position of Hoddesdon had been noted as early as the Commonwealth period in the mid-17th century, when there were plans to form a parish, but these were shelved after the Restoration in 1660.
The chapel had become dilapidated by 1700. A decision was taken to sell one of its bells to buy a new clock. This gave rise to a local rhyme:
Parson Davis and Farmer Lock
Sold their bell to buy a clock.
This may refer to the Revd Hatton Davies, Vicar of Great Amwell, but the identity of Farmer Lock has never been established.
Christ the King surrounded by images of the Four Evangelists, seen at the west end of Saint Catherine’s and Saint Paul’s Church in Hoddesdon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)
Robert Plomer, a prosperous local business figure, inherited Rawdon House by marrying into the Rawdon family. He built a new chapel of ease in Hoddesdon in 1732. The reason for this is unclear, but it seems to have stemmed from a quarrel with the Revd Phineas Rothwell, vicar of Broxbourne.
Plomer’s building now forms the nave of the present church building. His chapel remained in private ownership until 1820, when it was bought by the Church of England. It was consecrated in 1823 by the Bishop of London, William Howley, who later, as Archbishop of Canterbury, crowned Queen Victoria. The first priest-in-charge was the Revd Thomas Pickthall.
Meanwhile, the older Saint Katherine’s Chapel was described in the early 19th century as ‘misshapen by age.’ It was no longer in use when it was demolished in 1835 and it was replaced by the Clock Tower.
The Clock Tower in the centre of Hoddesdon stands on the site of the older Saint Katherine’s Chapel (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)
The idea of forming a parish in Hoddesdon was revived in 1843, and the first vicar was the Revd Richard William Morice. The burial ground was consecrated the following year, formally making Hoddesdon an ecclesiastical district. It officially became a parish in 1856.
From the founding of the parish until 1927, Hoddesdon had only two vicars: Richard William Morice, who died in 1881, and Philip Esme Stuart Holland, who retired in 1921. Both were very popular locally, and Holland was a champion of ecumenical links long before this became acceptable or popular.
The seating capacity in the church, however, was inadequate. A parish meeting in 1860 decided to build a new church. However, sufficient subscriptions could not be raised, and instead the building was extended by adding a chancel and north and south aisles
The chancel and chapels were designed in early 13th century French Gothic style in 1864-1865 by the Gothic Revival architect Joseph Clarke (1819-1888). His other works include the chancel and tower at the Church of Saint Mary and Saint Nicholas in Littlemore, Oxford, the church founded by John Henry Newman.
Clarke’s work in Hoddesdon was completed in 1865, and the opening sermon was preached by the Bishop of Rochester.
The tower and steeple were added in 1887-1888 and are attributed to Sir Arthur Blomfield (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)
A tower and steeple were added in 1887-1888 and are attributed to the architect Sir Arthur Blomfield (1829-1899). The campanile tower is in an unusual location on the centre of the south side of the church. It has open and blind lancets, a pyramid roof with hipped dormers, and an octagonal stair turret with a finial.
A peal of eight bells was donated in 1901 by the Christie family. At the dedication ceremony for the peal of bells, the church was formally dedicated to Saint Paul, a name perhaps influenced by the already-existing Paul’s Lane nearby.
The interior was modernised and re-ordered in 1976, when the Revd Percy Gandon was the Vicar, and the church was rededicated to Saint Catherine and Saint Paul.
The church hall is known as the Barclay Hall, recalling the Barclay family of High Leigh, where I was staying last week. It became a temporary vaccination centre during the covid pandemic, one of the first in the United Kingdom.
Apart from the works by Clarke and Blomfield, the church may not be not one the most architecturally interesting buildings in Hoddesdon But its history is tied in with the town as firmly as any mediaeval church, and it has a Grade 2* listing.
The previous vicar, the Revd Dr Rachel Pennant, is now chaplain to the Bishop of Chelmsford, the Right Revd Guli Francis-Dehqni. The Revd Mark Escott, Assistant Curate at Saint May's, Cheshunt, has been appointed the Vicar of Hoddesdon. His induction service is planned for 7 September 2024.
The east end of Saint Catherine’s and Saint Paul’s Church on Paul’s Lane, the parish church of Hoddesdon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)
The Quaker meeting house on Lord Street in Hoddesdon was built in 1828-1829
(Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)
Patrick Comerford
The Barclay family, who owned High Leigh for half a century, from 1871 to 1921, were members of the Church of England, and they included many Anglican missionaries, and at least one daughter of the family was married to bishop in the Church of England.
Many members of the Barclay family at High Leigh were baptised or married in Saint Catherine’s Church in Hoddesdon or were buried from there. However, the Barclays had many strong Quaker connections over the generations and were part of a nexus of prominent Quaker families, including the Fry, Gurney and Buxton families.
Robert Barclay (1843-1921) of High Leigh was descended from Robert Barclay (1648-1690), the 17th century Quaker apologist and theologian; his wife Elizabeth Ellen Buxton (1848-1911), was related to Elizabeth Fry, the 19th century Quaker campaigner for prison reform.
Long before Robert Barclay bought High Leigh, there was a strong Quaker presence in Hoddesdon, dating from at least 1675. The early 19th century Regency meeting house is at the end of Lord Street, a short walk from High Leigh. Although the Quaker meeting in the town was ‘laid up’ or ceased to worship in 2011, it remains an important part of the architectural heritage and religious history of Hoddesdon. It is a Grade II listed building, one of only a handful in the Hoddesdon area.
This month marks the 400th anniversary of the birth of George Fox (1624-1691), the founding figure in the Religious Society of Friends, better known as Quakers. Friends have a long history in Hertfordshire. The first-ever purpose-built Friends meeting house was built in Hertford in 1670, and Quaker ideals later inspired the Garden City movement.
The Hoddesdon meeting dates back to at least 1675, when Quakers hired a hall belonging to the Black Lion Inn for meetings. They built their own meeting house in Hoddesdon at a site in Marsh Lane (now Essex Road) in 1697 in grounds that included a burial ground. The building continued in use until 1827, when the original building was sold and converted into two cottages. The cottages were demolished in 1956.
Meanwhile, a new meeting house in Hoddesdon was built in Lord’s Lane, now Lord Street, in 1828-1829, with a new burial ground at the rear.
The new meeting house on Lord Street was designed by the architect William Alderson (1804-1834), a Quaker who was based in Chelsea. In his short career, Alderson designed Hoddesdon meeting house and also the Quaker meeting houses in Wigton (1830, Grade II) and Stoke Newington (1827-1828, now demolished).
He also designed lodges that were never built for Woodfold Park, Blackburn, and the main building at Brookfield Quaker School, Wigton (now demolished). He is best-known as the architect of Saint Bernard’s Hospital (1829, Grade II), built as the Middlesex County Lunatic Asylum and now known as Ealing Hospital.
The simplicity of Hoddesdon Meeting House is ‘expressive of the development of the Quaker movement’ (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)
The Quaker site on Lord Street as a whole is of high heritage significance, and the building has high aesthetic value. Its simple classical exterior is attractive and the original character of the interior has been altered very little.
The extensive listing describes its historic interest and says it is a modest, purpose-built, meeting house that is ‘expressive of the development of the Quaker movement’. The listing points out that its ‘plain classical design typifies the modest nature of Quaker meeting houses, and the building retains its essential historic form and character from the time of its construction’.
The main meeting room has been little altered and still preserves its original character interior fittings, including the Elders’ bench, a dado, and shuttered partition to the two former retiring rooms, typical of internal arrangements in earlier Quaker meeting houses.
The building is in a simple classical style with a rectangular plan, with two small flat-roofed wings flanking the main front at the north end. The walls are of grey and yellow brick laid in Flemish bond. The pitched roof over the main building is covered in Welsh slate.
The principal, north front is capped by a moulded stone pediment and is three bays wide with a central entrance up steps, with ornamental cast-iron doorscrapers. The entrance is set under a stone hood on carved brackets. There are large, stuccoed mouldings, and a pair of flanking straight-headed sash windows.
The small side wings, now obscured by vegetation, have blind panels in their north sides. The side and rear walls of the main building are severely plain.
Inside, the meeting house has survived with relatively little alteration. The features include plain plastered walls, a panelled timber dado, a plain moulded cornice, the panelled elders bench across the full width of the south end, and a number of wooden benches which are probably the original furniture.
The rectangular burial ground to the rear of the meeting house dates from 1828, replacing the earlier burial ground in Marsh Lane. The brick boundary walls probably also date from the 1820s. There are a number of stone burial markers, and the earliest is to Catherine Manser, dated 1829.
A smaller hall was built on an adjacent plot in 1929, and the two buildings were connected in 1978.
A smaller hall was built in 1929 and the two buildings were connected in 1978 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)
The Hoddesdon Quaker Meeting House is part of the Hertford and Hitchin Quaker Area Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends. Regular Meetings for Worship at Hoddesdon ceased after 2011, and the meeting was ‘laid down’. Since then, Quakers in Hertfordshire have actively pursued new and imaginative ways for community groups to use the building as Friends Peace Cottage.
The Peace Cottage Community Hub is a project being developed collaboratively between Quakers and Churches Together in Hoddesdon, Broxbourne and Wormley. The steering group includes representatives from the local council, housing associations, local charities and arts groups. Dr Zoë Hudson, a social historian and cultural heritage consultant, is the project co-ordinator.
The Covid lockdown delayed the Peace Cottage Project and the launch of the Peace Cottage Community. A small group of volunteers helped to decorate the rooms, install new heating, cleaning regularly, installing new signage, and organising gardening sessions with a team of volunteer gardeners.
A memory café project working with people with dementia and their carers, the local Citizens Advice Bureaux, a small theatre project and a mental health first aid trainer were among the groups interested in using the building. The local Churches Together group also had talks about using the building to support Ukrainian refugees.
Although the Meeting House has not been used for some time and probably needs some repair, it remains a familiar element in the streetscape of Hoddesdon and its historical and architectural heritage.
Friends Peace Cottage has sought new uses for the buildings since the meeting was ‘laid down’ in 2011 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)
The Samaritan Woman … originally part of a 17th century supply of fresh, clean water in Hoddesdon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)
Patrick Comerford
We are continuing in Ordinary Time in the Church Calendar and tomorrow is the Seventh Sunday after Trinity (Trinity VII).
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.
The Samaritan Woman once stood on the corner of the High Street and Conduit Lane in Hoddesdon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)
Matthew 10: 24-33 (NRSVUE):
[Jesus said:] 24 “A disciple is not above the teacher nor a slave above the master; 25 it is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher and the slave like the master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household!
26 “So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered and nothing secret that will not become known. 27 What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops. 28 Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, fear the one who can destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 30 And even the hairs of your head are all counted. 31 So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.
32 “Everyone, therefore, who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven, 33 but whoever denies me before others, I also will deny before my Father in heaven.”
A plaque remembers where the Samaritan Woman once stood in the centre of Hoddesdon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)
This morning’s reflection:
I spent much of this week at the High Leigh Conference Centre on the western fringes of Hoddesdon in Hertfordshire. The USPG Prayer Diary today (Saturday 13 July 2024) invites us to pray as we reflect on these words in Saint Matthew’s Gospel: ‘For I was hungry, and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me’ (Matthew 25: 35).
I spent much of this week at the USPG annual conference in the High Leigh Conference Centre in Hoddesdon in Hertfordshire. During one early morning walk into Hoddesdon this week, I saw the 17th century statue of the Samaritan Women in the grounds of Lowewood Museum in Hoddesdon but that originally once stood as a fountain in the centre of the town.
Sir Marmaduke Rawdon (1582-1646), a wealthy merchant, built Rawdon House in the centre of Hoddesdon in the early 17th century. He invested in the nearby New River and in 1631, when he provided a conduit from his estate at Rawdon House to Hoddesdon to supply clean, fresh water for the people of the town. Water poured from the pitcher in the Samaritan Woman’s arms into a small pond below.
Sir Marmaduke Rawdon also assisted in building a Market House in Hoddesdon. His son, also Marmaduke Rawdon, built the Grange. The Rawdon family were royalists during the Civil War and their fortunes suffered considerably.
Over the years the statue has been located in various places, until it was taken into storage and restored. It was relocated in 1986 to the gardens of Lowewood House and now stands in the museum grounds.
Lowewood House was built around 1750, and members of the Warner family lived there from 1835 until 1935. The house was bought by Douglas Taylor who gave it to the town in 1936 for use as a public library and museum. The library was relocated in 1977 and since 1982 Lowewood House has been the home of Broxbourne Museum. The museum has been managed by the Lowewood Museum Trust since 2021 and is open on Fridays and Saturdays.
The statue of the Samaritan Woman has been cleaned and restored recently and a blue plaque at the corner of the High Street and Conduit Lane marks the original location of the statue of the Samaritan Woman. The plaque celebrating the statue and the fountain was unveiled last month (24 June 2024) by the Mayor of Broxbourne, Councillor Sherrie McDaid, as part of the Love Hoddesdon Midsummer Festival.
There is a similar figure in the fountain on the lawn at High Leigh. It is one of outdoor features the gardens created by the Pulhams, a family of landscape gardeners in nearby Broxbourne. I wonder whether it was inspired by the Samaritan Woman in the centre of Hoddesdon and, indeed, whether it too was ever known as the Samaritan Woman?
The Samaritan Women now stands in the grounds of Lowewood Museum in Hoddesdon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)
Today’s Prayers (Saturday 13 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), has been ‘United Beyond Borders.’ This theme was introduced last Sunday with reflections on this week’s USPG conference by Rachael Anderson, Senior Communications and Engagement Manager, USPG.
The USPG Prayer Diary today (Saturday 13 July 2024) invites us to pray reflecting on these words in Saint Matthew’s Gospel:
‘For I was hungry, and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me’ (Matthew 25: 35).
The Collect:
Merciful God,
you have prepared for those who love you
such good things as pass our understanding:
pour into our hearts such love toward you
that we, loving you in all things and above all things,
may obtain your promises,
which exceed all that we can desire;
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:
God of our pilgrimage,
you have led us to the living water:
refresh and sustain us
as we go forward on our journey,
in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Additional Collect:
Creator God,
you made us all in your image:
may we discern you in all that we see,
and serve you in all that we do;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Collect on the Eve of Trinity VII:
Lord of all power and might,
the author and giver of all good things:
graft in our hearts the love of your name,
increase in us true religion,
nourish us with all goodness,
and of your great mercy keep us in the same;
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.
The fountain in the gardens in High Leigh has many similariities with statue of the Samaritan Woman in Hoddesdon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)
Are not two sparrows sold for a penny (Matthew 10: 29) ... watching a mother swallow feed her chicks in a nest in the ceiling of Aghias Anna Church, Maroulas, near Retymnon in Crete (Patrick Comerford)
The High Leigh Conference Centre in Hoddesdon … the venue for this week’s USPG conference (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)
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.
‘I am sending you out like sheep … do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say’ (see Matthew 10: 16, 19) (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)
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.”
Many of the rooms and features at High Leigh remain unchanged since the days when the Barclay family owned the house (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)
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.
The Chapel Barn at High Leigh (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)
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.
The bell tower above the entrance to the High Leigh Conference Centre (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)
The High Leigh Conference Centre in this morning’s sunshine (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)
Patrick Comerford
The USPG conference in High Leigh this week came to an end after our ‘Sending Eucharist’ today. Many theologians speak of mission as sending. The South African theologian David Bosch says the ‘classical doctrine on the missio Dei’ is rooted in ‘God the Father sending the Son, and God the Father and the Son sending the Spirit’ and ‘the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit sending the church into the world.’
He writes in Transforming Mission: ‘Our mission has not life of its own: only in the hands of the sending God can it truly be called mission. Not least since the missionary initiative comes from God alone … Mission is thereby seen as a movement from God to the world; the church is viewed as an instrument for that mission. There is church because there is mission, not vice versa.’
He says: ‘To participate in mission is to participate in the movement of God's love toward people, since God is a fountain of sending love.’
So, ‘Sending Eucharist’ was an appropriate description of our closing worship today at the High Leigh Conference Centre in Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire. As the ‘Sending Eucharist’ came to a conclusion, we were sent out with a ‘Sending Out’ prayer from Common Worship Times and Seasons:
Empowered by the Holy Spirit, will you dare to walk into God’s future, trusting him to be your guide?
By the Spirit’s power, we will.
Will you dare to embrace each other and grow together in love?
We will.
Will you dare to share your riches in common and minister to each other in need?
We will.
Will you dare to pray for each other until your hearts beat with the longings of God?
We will.
Will you dare to carry the light of Christ into the world’s dark places?
We will.
Bishop Dalcy Badeli Dlamini of Eswatini, who presided at the Eucharist, has been leading the Bible studies throughout the week. The new chair of USPG, Bishop David Walker of Manchester, was the preacher. I was invited to lead the intercessions alongside Carol Miller, the USPG Church Engagement Manager.
Art work by Ukrainian refugees in Poland illustrated the cover of the ‘Sending Eucharist’ at the USPG conference today (Photoraph: Patrick Comerford, USPG/Rachel Weller, 2024)
In our Bible study earlier this morning, Bishop Dalcy led our discussions with the passage: ‘He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing’ (Deuteronomy 10: 18).
She challenged us with five questions:
1, What is your understanding of the phrase defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing’?
2, How does this understanding shape your ministry approach to the vulnerable and marginalised in your context?
3,What practical ways can the church apply to minister to the vulnerable and marginalised in today’s context?
4, How can you implement the principles of justice, love and compassion found in Deuteronomy 10: 18 to create a community without borders?
5, What challenges or hindrances might you face in living out the call to embrace justice love and compassion as you minister to the vulnerable and strangers in your context, and how can you overcome them?
Her closing comment this morning was a quotation from Nelson Mandela: ‘I am because you are.’
Bishop David Walker of Manchester took office as chair of USPG later this morning when he chaired a panel discussion at which we asked ‘What’s Next?’ and ‘Can we unite beyond borders?’ The panellists included many of this week’s speakers.
We began this morning with Morning Worship led by George Hesketh from Liverpool, a member of the Tsedaqah Community (Triangle of Hope), a missional community based at Liverpool Cathedral and made up of young people living together in community for a year.
I am now on my back to Stony Stratford. I took a train from Broxbourne to Cambridge, and now there are bus journeys to Bedford and to Milton Keynes before I get home.
A walk in the woods at High Leigh this morning (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)
‘Then Jesus summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority’ (Matthew 10: 1) … the Twelve Apostles, an icon in the church in Panormos, east of Rethymnon in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
Patrick Comerford
We are continuing in Ordinary Time in the Church Calendar and the week began with the Sixth Sunday after Trinity (Trinity VI). I am staying this week at the High Leigh Conference Centre at Hoddesdon in Hertfordshire, where the annual conference of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel) began yesterday (9 July) and continues until tomorrow (11 July).
Later this evening, undoubtedly, I shall find an appropriate place to watch the England v Netherlands semi-final in Germany, and appropriate company to share the excitement and anxiety. I remember when England and the Netherlands last met in a fixture like this it was 1996 and I was on holiday in Crete, staying in Mika Villas in Piskopianó, in the hills above Hersonissos. But, 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.
The 12 disciples in an icon of the True Vine in the church in Piskopianó in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
Matthew 10: 1-7 (NRSVUE):
1 Then Jesus summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every sickness. 2 These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon, also known as Peter, and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee and his brother John; 3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus and Thaddaeus; 4 Simon the Cananaean and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed him.
5 These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Do not take a road leading to gentiles, and do not enter a Samaritan town, 6 but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 As you go, proclaim the good news, ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near’.”
The Very Revd Dr Kelly Brown Douglas is the keynote speaker at the USPG conference in High Leigh this morning
This morning’s reflection:
The annual conference of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel) began yesterday in the High Leigh Conference Centre near Hoddesdon in Hertfordshire and continues until tomorrow. The conference theme this year is ‘United Beyond Borders’, and I am reflecting on the conference in this prayer diary throughout this week.
Today begins with morning worship led by Derby Guerrier from Haiti, a member of the Tsedaqah Community (Triangle of Hope), a missional community based at Liverpool Cathedral and made up of young people living together in community for a year. The Triangle of Hope links the Diocese of Kumasi in Ghana, the Diocese of Liverpool in the Church of England and the Diocese of Virginia in the US.
Tsedaqah community members work in a variety of social justice projects across the Liverpool City Region in conjunction with the Anglican Diocese of Liverpool and Liverpool Cathedral.
Tsedaqah is a Hebrew word that means ‘righteousness' or ‘to do justice', the very reason that the community was formed. The instruction in Micah 6: 8 inspires its mission as a community. Community members seek to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God. These values are echoed in the words of the Tsedaqah Prayer.
The conference Bible studies later this morning are being led once again by Bishop Dalcy Badeli Dlamini, Bishop of Eswatini in the Anglican Church of Southern Africa. She is the second woman bishop in Eswatini (formerly Swaziland), and she is leading the Bible studies throughout this week, bringing fresh perspectives on leadership, faith and community.
The Very Revd Dr Kelly Brown Douglas is the keynote speaker this morning. She is a leader in womanist theology and racial reconciliation, and is the Dean of Episcopal Divinity School at Union Theological Seminary and Canon Theologian at Washington National Cathedral.
Bradon Muilenburg, the Anglican Refugee Support Lead in Northern France, is the keynote speaker at the conference this afternoon. He works along border lines and his day-to-day experience of ministry in Calais is expected to bring many of this week’s discussions to life.
I have a choice between three workshops during the day:
1, Beyond borders: Gender Justice female Leadership in the Anglican Church – this workshop is an invitation to explore the opportunities, strengths, and challenges for female leadership in the Anglican Church. The facilitators are USPG’s Senior Regional Managers Fran Mate and the Revd Davidson Solanki.
2, The Past in the Present: Mission, Empire and Racial Justice – this workshop explores the legacies of a history marked by slavery and racism that offer unique possibilities in the present. The facilitators are Dr Jo Sadgrove, the Revd Dr Evie Vernon and the Revd Garfield Campbell.
3, Seeing Differently – an interactive workshop using a real-life case study, to help us recognise and reveal attitudes leading to exclusion of others in plain sight, and it involves Gypsy Roma and Traveller Friendly Churches workshops.
Bradon Muilenburg, the Anglican Refugee Support Lead in Northern France, is the keynote speaker at the conference this afternoon
Today’s Prayers (Wednesday 10 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 (Wednesday 10 July 2024) invites us to pray:
We pray for all who are gathered for the USPG conference. Give wisdom to all who speak and grant that all attending have open hearts and minds.
The Collect:
Merciful God,
you have prepared for those who love you
such good things as pass our understanding:
pour into our hearts such love toward you
that we, loving you in all things and above all things,
may obtain your promises,
which exceed all that we can desire;
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:
God of our pilgrimage,
you have led us to the living water:
refresh and sustain us
as we go forward on our journey,
in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Additional Collect:
Creator God,
you made us all in your image:
may we discern you in all that we see,
and serve you in all that we do;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
The logo of the Christian Conference Trust, which runs the High Leigh Conference Centre, in reception area at High Leigh (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)
Bishop Dalcy Badeli Dlamini of Eswatini leading the Bible study at the USPG conference in High Leigh today (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024; click on image for full-screen viewing)
Patrick Comerford
The annual conference of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel) got under this morning in the High Leigh Conference Centre near Hoddesdon in Hertfordshire and continues until Thursday.
This week’s conference theme is ‘United Beyond Borders’.
The conference opened this morning with a welcome from the General Secretary of USPG, the Revd Dr Duncan Dormor, and with worship.
Duncan spoke of his recent visit to Calais to see the work of a joint refugee action project between the Diocese in Europe, the Diocese of Canterbury and USPG. The project seeks to ensure that refugees receive the basic support that they need, and to provide hospitality, support and care.
This morning’s Bible study was led by Bishop Dalcy Badeli Dlamini, Bishop of Eswatini in the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, who chose as her theme: ‘Violence shall no more be heard in your land, devastation or destruction within your borders; you shall call your walls Salvation, and your gates Praise’ (Isaiah 60: 18).
She asked us what forms of violence do people in our countries or contexts today; what does the phrase ‘violence shall no more be heard in your land’ mean to us and in our contexts today; how can we apply the concepts of ‘walls called Salvation, and your gates called Praise’ to unified and secure community in our contexts; and what practical steps can we take to assure our communities and church spaces reflect the salvation and praise spoken of by Isaiah?
Bishop Dalcy is the second woman bishop in Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) and the fourth woman bishop in Southern Africa. She succeeded Bishop Ellinah Wamukoya, who died of Covid-related causes early in 2020.
After an early career as a primary school teacher, Dr Dlamini was ordained in the Diocese of Swaziland in 2006, and her experiences include parochial ministry and school and university chaplaincy. She has PhD in Practical Theology from the University of Pretoria.
She moved to the Diocese of St Mark in 2020, and was Diocesan Dean of Studies and Rector and Dean of Christ Church Cathedral, Polokwane. She has been involved in the international Anglican/Lutheran Commission and the Steering Group of the International Anglican Women’s Network.
Bishop Dalcy is leading the Bible studies throughout this week, bringing fresh perspectives on leadership, faith and community.
This afternoon’s keynote speaker was Bishop Anderson Jeremiah, the new Bishop of Edmonton and a suffragan bishop of the Diocese of London. He spoke of geographical border-making and how borders have been used to define, exclude and control and as a ‘Euro-centric’ creation.
He compared this with the symbolic borders defining identity and belonging, the difference between the sacred and the profane, the secular and the religious, and defining who belongs within religious communities, differentiating between the ‘pure’ and the ‘impure’.
Borders are geographical, but they can also be intellectual, political, ideological, doctrinal and theological, he pointed out.
He also discussed the rise of far-right populism across Europe and the way far-right politicians use borders to garner support among people who feel alienated by changes in society.
He contrasted these ideas with the preaching of the Kingdom of God by Jesus found in Saint John’s Gospel, redrawing and crossing the borders created by both the Roman Empire and the religious political and cultural authorities of his day.
He also quoted: ‘So then, you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone; in him the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are built together spiritually into a dwelling place for God’ (Ephesians 2: 19-22, NRSV).
He invited us to compare this with the emphasis in the Message version: ‘That’s plain enough, isn’t it? You’re no longer wandering exiles. This kingdom of faith is now your home country. You’re no longer strangers or outsiders. You belong here, with as much right to the name Christian as anyone. God is building a home. He’s using us all –irrespective of how we got here – in what he is building. He used the apostles and prophets for the foundation. Now he’s using you, fitting you in brick by brick, stone by stone, with Christ Jesus as the cornerstone that holds all the parts together. We see it taking shape day after day – a holy temple built by God, all of us built into it, a temple in which God is quite at home.’
He challenged us to face up to the borders and new boundaries we construct in our communities, and to reorient ourselves in the Church. He called us to critical pilgrimage and prophetic rebellion, decentring ourselves and constantly questioning authorities, offering radical theological alternatives rooted in the teachings of Jesus.
Bishop Anderson Jeremiah was born in Tamil Nadu in India in 1975 and studied at the University of Madras, the University of Edinburgh and the United Theological College, Bangalore. He has served in hospital and university chaplaincy in India and in parish ministry in the Scottish Episcopal Church.
Until recently, he was the canon theologian in the Diocese of Blackburn and Associate Dean (Equality, Diversity, Inclusion and People) in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at Lancaster University. He was consecrated bishop by Archbishop Justin Welby in Canterbury in April and was installed as the Bishop of Edmonton in Saint Paul’s Cathedral, London, in May. He is married to the Revd Dr Rebecca Aechtner and they are the parents of two daughters.
His commitment to justice and peace, rooted in his experience as a Dalit Christian, has set a powerful tone for the conference.
Later this afternoon there was a choice between workshops.
‘Beyond Borders’ was a workshop on Gender Justice and female leadership in the Anglican Church. This workshop was led by USPG Senior Regional Managers Fran Mate and the Revd Davidson Solanki and explored the opportunities, strengths, and challenges for female leadership in the Anglican Church.
‘The Past in the Present’ was a workshop on Mission, Empire and Racial Justice. This workshop was facilitated by Dr Jo Sadgrove, the Revd Dr Evie Vernon and the Revd Garfield Campbell, and explored the legacies of a history marked by slavery and racism and the possibilities in the present.
‘Seeing Differently’ was an interactive workshop using a real-life case study, recognising and revealing attitudes leading to exclusion of others in plain sight. There were examples of Gypsy Roma and Traveller Friendly Churches.
This choice of workshops is being offered at the conference again tomorrow.
The other speakers this week include the Very Revd Dr Kelly Brown Douglas, Dean of the Episcopal Divinity School at Union Theological Seminary and Canon Theologian at Washington National Cathedral, and Bradon Muilenburg, the Anglican Refugee Support Lead in Northern France. Brandon works along border lines and his day-to-day experience of ministry in Calais is expected to bring many of this week’s discussions to life.
A walk in the countryside near Hoddesdon in Hertfordshire before today’s rainstorms (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)
‘When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them’ (Matthew 9: 36) … the theme of this week’s USPG conference is ‘United Beyond Borders’ (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
Patrick Comerford
We are continuing in Ordinary Time in the Church Calendar and the week began with the Sixth Sunday after Trinity (Trinity VI). I arrived late yesterday at the High Leigh Conference Centre at Hoddesdon in Hertfordshire, where the annual conference of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel) begins today (9 July) and continues until Thursday (11 July).
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.
In the grounds of the High Leigh Conference Centre in Hoddesdon, the venue for the USPG Conference this week (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)
Matthew 9: 32-38 (NRSVUE):
32 After they had gone away, a demon-possessed man who was mute was brought to him. 33 And when the demon had been cast out, the one who had been mute spoke, and the crowds were amazed and said, “Never has anything like this been seen in Israel.” 34 But the Pharisees were saying, “By the ruler of the demons he casts out the demons.”
35 Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few; 38 therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest.”
Bishop Dalcy Badeli Dlamini of Eswatini is leading the Bible studies at the USPG conference this week
This morning’s reflection:
The annual conference of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel) begins this morning in the High Leigh Conference Centre near Hoddesdon in Hertfordshire and continues until Thursday.
The conference theme this week is ‘United Beyond Borders’, and I intend to continue to reflect on the conference in this prayer diary throughout this week.
I met a number of key USPG staff members over dinner yesterday and later in the evening. The conference opens this morning with worship at 11 am and a Bible study at noon led by Bishop Dalcy Badeli Dlamini, Bishop of Eswatini in the Anglican Church of Southern Africa. She is the second woman bishop in Eswatini (formerly Swaziland), and she is leading the Bible studies throughout this week, bringing fresh perspectives on leadership, faith and community.
Bishop Anderson Jeremiah, the new Bishop of Edmonton and a suffragan bishop of the Diocese of London, is this afternoon’s keynote speaker at 2:30. He was consecrated bishop by Archbishop Justin Welby in Canterbury Cathedral on 25 April and was installed as the Bishop of Edmonton in Saint Paul’s Cathedral, London, on 19 May. His commitment to justice and peace, rooted in his experience as a Dalit Christian, is expected to set a powerful tone for the conference.
The other speakers this week include the Very Revd Dr Kelly Brown Douglas, Dean of the Episcopal Divinity School at Union Theological Seminary and Canon Theologian at Washington National Cathedral, and Bradon Muilenburg, the Anglican Refugee Support Lead in Northern France. Brandon works along border lines and his day-to-day experience of ministry in Calais is expected to bring many of this week’s discussions to life.
In his welcome to the conference, the General Secretary of USPG, the Revd Duncan Dormor, writes:
‘It is a great pleasure to welcome you all to this year’s USPG conference, United Beyond Borders. I am looking forward greatly to our time together, to warmly welcoming friends, old and new, and to come together, reflect and learn. We will be challenged and inspired by guest speakers and contributors from across the Anglican Communion including the Right Revd Anderson Jeremiah, the Very Revd Dr Kelly Brown Douglas, Bradon Muilenburg and the Right Revd Dalcy Badeli Dlamini.
‘A few weeks ago I was with Bradon in Calais as the guest of a joint refugee action project between the Diocese in Europe, the Diocese of Canterbury and USPG. The project seeks to ensure that refugees receive the basic support that they need, and to provide hospitality, support and care. This is part of what we’re called to as a Church – following Christ in standing alongside those who seek safety and refuge. I pray that we will leave this conference feeling inspired, encouraged and refreshed to return to our communities emboldened to pray and speak and act with a love like Jesus’ that unites beyond borders.’
Bishop Anderson Jeremiah of Edmonton … this afternoon’s keynote speaker at the USPG conference in High Leigh
Today’s Prayers (Tuesday 9 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 (Tuesday 9 July 2024) invites us to pray:
Lord, we pray today for the safe travel of all people to the USPG conference. May all preparations go smoothly.
The Collect:
Merciful God,
you have prepared for those who love you
such good things as pass our understanding:
pour into our hearts such love toward you
that we, loving you in all things and above all things,
may obtain your promises,
which exceed all that we can desire;
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:
God of our pilgrimage,
you have led us to the living water:
refresh and sustain us
as we go forward on our journey,
in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Additional Collect:
Creator God,
you made us all in your image:
may we discern you in all that we see,
and serve you in all that we do;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
‘Lord, we pray today for the safe travel of all people to the USPG conference’ (USPG Prayer Diary) … a walk in the trees at High Leigh (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)
