Diocese of Portsmouth
The Church of England
Spirituality

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Christian Spirituality

Christian spirituality concerns our search for God and how we experience God in the whole of our lives, whoever we are, and wherever we live. Our diocese is currently working on our own Rule of Life which is a set of spiritual exercises that will help us to be intentional disciples of Jesus. We have also recently started our Cairns initiative encouraging all to meet in small groups to pray eat and study as we seek to follow Jesus together. We suggest you look through the resources listed below and feel free to contact us if you wish to explore this further.

The diocesan Spirituality Team offers ways to explore the wide range of Christian spiritual traditions, through spirituality days, quiet days and courses. Please explore the links below.

The team also oversees a network of trained Spiritual Directors available to support people on a one-to-one basis. Working with a Spiritual Director is highly recommended for anyone who desires to develop their relationship with God, find out more here.

We are currently looking to expand our provision of Spiritual Direction and support people looking to train at Sarum College or the London Centre for Spiritual Direction. These are demanding, 2 year, part-time courses and we will be happy to discuss what is involved. Please contact Neil Smart.

If you are a trained Spiritual Director who has moved into the diocese, and would like to join our network of directors, please contact Neil Smart.

You will be asked to complete an application form and provide references. All our spiritual directors are part of a supervision group and complete full safeguarding training. The network enjoys development days or mornings several times a year, and you will be made very welcome.

Recommended Resources

Apps

CofeE Daily Prayer appDaily Prayer – Church of England

Provides complete services for morning, evening and night prayer in a liturgical setting taking around 20 minutes to complete. This is the official Church of England prayer app and is tied into the daily lectionary for our church.

Hymns Ancient & Modern Time to Pray appTime to Pray – Hymns Ancient and Modern

This offers two short forms of service for each day of the week. Both are straightforward, easy to use with all the ingredients included in a liturgical setting. The services can be listened to or spoken, lasting about 10 minutes.

24-7 Prayer Lectio 365 appLectio 365 – 24-7 Prayer

This App offers three sessions of guided prayer across each day. There are themes that run through seasons and plenty of space to pause and reflect. Each session is relaxed and conversational. These are great ways to connect with God in everyday life.

Pray As You Go appPray As You Go

Designed to accompany you on your spiritual journey, offering guided prayers and reflections that fit seamlessly into your daily routine. A new prayer session is produced every day. Lasting between ten and thirteen minutes, it combines music, scripture and some questions for reflection.

Centering Prayer appCentering Prayer

Beautiful, elegant and peaceful, the app includes an adjustable timer, as well as opening and closing prayer options that may be read before and after Centering Prayer. An assortment of sounds and backgrounds allow one to choose the type of environment for the prayer time. Brief instructions for learning Centering Prayer are also included.

Other prayer apps include Inner Room from 24-7 Prayer, and PrayerMate – Christian Prayer.

Podcasts

Practicing the Way podcastPracticing the Way

We recommend this podcast as a source of conversations about apprenticeship to Jesus in the modern world.

Blogs

Center for Action and ContemplationCenter for Action and Contemplation – Richard Rohr

This site provides daily meditations curated by this well know writer in Christian spirituality. These can arrive as daily emails to start each morning with time God.

Courses

The Prayer CourseThe Prayer Course

A very simple introduction to the practice of prayer based on videos presented by Pete Grieg and others. This eight session course provides a great foundation for prayer with more resources to follow on.

Books

There are many books written about prayer and the spiritual life. In the end we need to dive into the actual practice of spiritual disciplines ourselves, so don’t let reading about prayer get in the way of spending time with Jesus.

  • How to Pray and God on Mute by Pete Greig.
    This author has produced a number of great, easy to read books on prayer.
  • Praying by Heart by Stephen Cottrell.
    A great introduction to praying the Lord’s Prayer which is always central to any life of prayer.
  • Prayer by Philip Yancey
    Prayer by Richard Foster
    Prayer by Timothy Keller
    All of these wonderful authors have added their own thoughts on the practice of prayer.

Other books recommended by our Spirituality Team include An Altar in the World by Barbara Brown Taylor, Finding Your Hidden Treasure by Ben O’Rourke, God of Surprises by Gerard Hughes and On Retreat with Henri Nouwen as a way into this authors spiritual insights.

Retreats

As part of a balanced life of discipleship we encourage everyone to consider time away from ordinary life to connect with God. Retreats can be guided or alone, with a whole wealth of possibilities found on the Retreat Centre Association website here.

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Festivals

Various Christian festivals meet around the UK to offer times of gathering to worship, pray and learn together. Local churches will send groups to those that they connect with, or go as a family or individual. These are listed in the order they occur through the year, visit the websites to get a feel of what to expect.

Spring HarvestSpring Harvest – early April in Skegness and Minehead.

Keswick MinistriesKeswick Convention – in Cumbria, three weeks through July into August.

Wildfires FestivalWildfires – in West Sussex at the end of July.

New Wine FestivalNew Wine – in Somerset at the end of July.

FocusFocus – for churches linked to the HTB in Newark

CreationfestCreationfest – in Cornwall at the start of August

Greenbelt FestivalGreenbelt – near Kettering in late August

Pilgrimage

There has been a renewed interest in the practice of pilgrimage with an enormous explosion of those experiencing ancient pathways such as the Camino in Spain. You don’t have to go so far to join in and there are many places to explore in the UK. Some of our churches will offer a regular pilgrimage to Walsingham in Norfolk, others might have trips further afield to places like Jerusalem when travel is safe. Over recent years our Bishop has each summer taken a group of young people from the diocese on a pilgrimage to the Taizé Community in eastern France.

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Religious Communities

There are a number of religious communities based in the UK who offer a way into a specific stream of spirituality. Each has their own focus and practices, with many having a specific Rule of Life that members will follow.

These include: