My dear people and friends of the Newman Fellowship,

I write this to you from the All Saints Pastoral Centre in St. Alban’s, just a short drive from London.  I am here along with Bishop Robert Mercer, CR, and six priests who were able to come for three days for a clergy retreat.  I serve these men of the Traditional Anglican Church in Britain as their Episcopal Visitor.  Beyond this time of pastoring them and benefiting from the retreat itself, I was asked to deliver two Meditations.  The titles of them were:  “The Priest as Pastor,” and “The Priest as Preacher.”  I chose these themes because I believe that the foundational elements of a priest’s ministry for the spiritual care of his people, and for his relationship with them as their shepherd, are pastoring and preaching.

This expansive and beautiful Pastoral Centre, nestled in a rural setting with acres of grounds, was originally built as a Convent for the All Saints Sisters, who began their religious life at Margaret Street, London.  On the grounds are the ruins of a Chantry Chapel that was built either right before or just after the Norman Conquest!  The Order’s numbers diminished over the years, so the Convent was sold to the Catholic Archdiocese of Westminster, London.

It goes without saying that making a retreat is a very good and necessary thing for the maintenance and further development of one’s spiritual life.  On a retreat, we are called to “Be still, and know that I am God.”  It is a time to put God first, so that He can be heard and thought upon, and so that our lives can undergo a re-ordering of things, for God to be center-stage.

On this specific retreat, we are not maintaining silence, except for the later evening and early morning before the Morning Office and Mass, because we as clergy need to have fellowship with one another.  Time and distance prevents that all too much, so we crave time together to share our joys, hopes, challenges, and burdens with one another, which affords ministry one to another.

As members of the Newman Fellowship, we all need to allot time for ourselves to be still before the Lord, for us to listen to His voice in our hearts.  We also need times for extended conversations and fellowship wherein we can minister one to another, especially because of the demands and pace of our lives, and more so because we have embarked on a corporate journey that requires time for questions and answers, and spiritual discernment, as we move forward in faith as a Body.

We need God first and foremost, and we need each other for support and encouragement. 
The Newman Fellowship’s Parish Council will at their next meeting (amongst many items for our growth and development) will be discussing how fellowship and supportive times can be enacted for the common good.  Blessed John Henry Newman, pray for us.

+David L. Moyer

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