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Hilfield Friary Programme for Visitors 2011
Widening horizons and going deeper into faith and action

18th - 21st November
Understanding Islam
with Chris Hewer. Dr hewer writes 'if you want to understand a faith you need to see it through the eyes of those who follow it.' This course covers: world-view, theology, practice, Muslims in Britain and relations with other faiths. Accessible, informal with stimulating teaching and discussion.

26th November
A pre-Advent Quiet Day – preparing for the season of Advent and getting ready to resist the Christmas rush! Led by a brother. Tea and coffee provided; bring your own picnic lunch. 

2 - 4th December
A Biblical Vision for the Environment led by Margaret Barker
. Until recently many held that the only important theme of the Bible is the history of salvation - God's saving acts for his people, culminating in his action to save us in jesus Christ, and that the scriptures have little of substance to say about creation. Margaret Barker is one of those who now see it quite differently - that the Bible gives us a way of looking at creation which is of huge importance as we face the approaching environmental crisis of our time. In this weekend at Hilfield Friary, itself a place where ecology and theology come together, Margaret Barker will share some of the insights she has written about in her book, 'Creation - A Biblical Vision for the Environment' and will be helping us to think what this means for our being Christians in the world today. Margaret Barker is both a scholar and a great communicator. This is a weekend not to be missed.

Hilfield Friary Programme for Visitors 2012
Dorset's Environmental and Spiritual Olympics

3 - Sunday 5 February 2012
Folk Music Weekend - A Sense of Time and Place
- with Alan and Gill McIntosh.
A weekend of traditional and contemporary folk music, focusing on people and places, now and in the past. Come and join in, perform or just listen. Suggested donation for full board £95.

Saturday 11 February
Our Daily Bread led by Br Samuel.
In a world where millions go hungry because of an insufficient diet and an almost equal number are struggling to cope with obesity we urgently need to recognise some of the issues involved. This day wil explore our relationship with food - where it comes from, how it is produced, how we can feed a world population of more than seven billion and how we can adjust our patterns of growing, preparing and eating. 10am to 4pm. A lunch of bread and soup will be provided. Suggested donation £10.

Saturday 18 February
‘Water Springs in the Wilderness’ a Pre-Lent Quiet Day.

Individual and church groups are welcome. 10am to 4pm. Bread and soup provided. Suggested donation £10.

Saturday 25 February
Snowdrop Day with Br Vincent.

Spend time exploring the beautiful grounds of Hilfield Friary. Bring a packed lunch. Donations to the National Garden Scheme.

Friday 2 - Sunday 4 March
‘Lord behold our family here assembled’ - Community and Interconnectedness in the prayers of R. L. Stevenson led by Canon Stephen Batty.
Stevenson’s prayer book, composed in the South Pacific, offers us a means to explore these themes. A genuine opening out to God’s grace surfaces in these brief late writings. They have a good deal to teach us about what it means to live and work together through the agency of God’s grace. Suggested donation for full board £95.

Tuesday 27- Saturday 31 March
Young and Contemplative 2012.

A retreat for 18 to 30s focused on the practice of silent prayer in the community, drawing on the Franciscan contemplative way, Christian meditation, Taize chanting and the mystical tradition. This will be an unusual chance for younger people to live alongside one another for a short time in the context of a monastic rhythm and a shared understanding of the importance of stillness and silence. Led by Philip Seal and Community members. Suggested donation for full board £95. Bursaries available.

Sunday 1 - Sunday 8 April
Holy Week and Easter.

Join the Hilfield Community in following the Way of the Cross from Palm Sunday until Easter Day. There will be reflections on the Passion during the first four days of the week and then the liturgy of Triduum - the three days from Maundy Thursday until Holy Saturday. The celebration of the Resurrection begins before dawn on Easter Sunday with the kindling of the New Fire in the Friary cemetery and continues with the vigil and Eucharist in St Francis Chapel. You are invited to arrive on Saturday 31 March and to depart after Sunday lunch on 8 April.

Tuesday 24 - Friday 27 April
‘Franciscan Basics’ led by Br John SSF and Br Samuel SSF.

An introduction to the life and spirituality of St Francis of Assisi, exploring his significance for us especially in holding together both contemplation and action in today’s world. Suggested donation for full board £105.

Friday 27 - Sunday 29 April
Growth Rings
led by Jason Morgan.
A practical weekend learning to use a pole lathe using greenwood from our own woodlands. You will have the opportunity to make something to take home. Suggested donation for full board £95.

Tuesday 8 - Thursday 10 May
Mindfulness Retreat
– run by Susan Howse.
Mindfulness is a form of meditation that will enable you to cultivate awareness of the present moment, rather than a tendency to dwell in the past or worry about the future, whilst participating in Community, Ethos and Rhythm of daily life at Hilfield. This retreat offers mindfulness practice through creativity, with space to play and explore with various materials , allowing you to respond to the natural environment through your senses. Suggested donation for full board £95.

Friday 11 - Sunday 13 May
Circle Dancing weekend
- led by Miggy Scott. A weekend of sacred circle dancing for those with some experience. Suggested donation for full board £105.

Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 May
Open Garden Days.

A chance to visit ‘The Secret Garden’ with its speciast coecton of rhododendrons and camellias, to meet with Br Vncent and have tea at the Friary Al proceeds go to the National Garden Scheme and its charities.

Wednesday 16 May
Rogation Day.

Beating the bounds of the Friary land and asking God’s blessing on our land, our crops and our animals. At the same time we will be marking Christian Aid Week, working for a more just system of farming and trade for the world’s poor.

Saturday 19 May
‘Free to be true’ Contemplative Prayer Day –
run by Maggie Hooper & Lin Burton.
A day of meditation, time together and individual reflection. For anyone drawn to finding the time to ‘just be’ in their busy lives and walk with Christ. Suggested donation £25 to include soup and bread lunch.
 
Friday 25 - Sunday 27 May
Kick Your Shoes Off - An exploration of God’s creation
led by Sir Ghillian Prance, Andy Lester and Br Samuel.
Sir Ghillian is the current Chair of the Eden Project and a world authority on the Amazon Rainforest. Andy Lester is the Conservation Director of Arocha, the worldwide Christian environmental organisation with which we at Hilfield are linked. This weekend is a chance to stop, reflect on God and enjoy some of Dorset’s finest wildlife found within the grounds of the Friary. Suggested donation for full board £95.

Saturday 2 June
Open Day at the Friary to celebrate World Environment Day.

Come and visit the Friary, meet the Community and explore the beautiful grounds. Enjoy our exhibition, talks and BBQ. 11am to 4pm, no need to book.

Friday 22 - Sunday 24 June
into Practice
with Richard Thornbury and Br Giles SSF.
An exploration of how the way we grow our vegetables, care for our animals and undertake our conservation work at Hilfield Friary is an expression of our Franciscan spirituality. See the practical steps we take in our relationship with creation, and reflect its pertinence to our modern lives. Suggested donation for full board £95.

Tuesday 10 - Friday 13 July
Hopeweavers Art and Craft Retreat
run by Jaqui Lea.
A reflective and creative retreat based upon St Francis’ Canticle of the Creatures using a range of creative media including: claywork, painting, weaving, collage, drawing and calligraphy. Suggested donation for full board £105.

Friday 20 - Sunday 22 July
Walking and Prayer Weekend
- led by Viv Stacey and Jonathan Herbert. This weekend will consist of a mixture of walking, and group and individual meditations. Participants should be fit enough to take part in a 6 mile walk to the coast via the ancient pilgrimage shrine of St Witte. We shall be addressing the theme ‘pi grmage is extroverted mysticism and mysticism is introverted pilgrimage’. Suggested donation for full board £95.

Tuesday 24 - Sunday 29 July
A Working week for Young People at the Friary
.
Live alongside the Friary Community and share in prayer and worship whilst enjoying different Friary tasks for which some degree of physical robustness is necessary. There will be the chance to meet Community members to discuss issues arising from the experience of being with us. No cost as your work will be the donation for your stay.

Sunday 29 July - Sunday 5 August
Hilfield Families Camp.

A week sharing the life of the Friary with worship and prayer, fun activities for all, reflection and discussion, and time just to sit around with friends.

Sunday 12 - Sunday 19 August
Hilfield Youth Camp.

A week based at the Friary for young people from aged 15 upwards. Both groups and individuals are welcome.

Tuesday 4 - Thursday 6 September
‘What does it mean to be a Creature’ - Theology for Young People
led by Rev’d Dr Lincoln Harvey.
Theology is the joyful task of discovering who God is and what he is up to. We will explore the basic building blocks of Christian theology and seek to apply them to our day-to-day living and our emerging future. For those aged 18 to 30. Suggested donation for full board £60.

Friday 7 - Sunday 9 September
Shakespeare`s King Lear and the Nature of Our Nature
led by Dr Elizabeth Cook.
To an exceptional degree this play tests what matters: who we are, what we can endure, what our real needs are, and the extent and nature of our responsibilities towards other members of the human family. We will see how profoundly and subtly Shakespeare has anticipated the most urgent conversations of our own time. Suggested donation for full board £95.

Saturday 15 September
The Hilfield Stigmata Festival.

The major Franciscan festival which celebrates St Francis receiving the marks of the crucified Lord. A midday Eucharist followed by an afternoon with the Hilfield Friary Community and ending with tea and Evening Prayer.

Friday 21 - Sunday 23 September
The Cost of Creation - Explore our relationships with land, place and other creatures
with ecologist and Anglican priest Canon John Rodwell. Sharing the Franciscan life and liturgy amongst the living and dying of the Dorset countryside, we shall ponder together the price God paid to make all things from the beginning, to make us new in Jesus Christ and the price we must pay to do justice to his creative generosity. Suggested donation for full board £95.

Friday 26 - Sunday 28 October
Making Friends with Sister Death
- led by Rev’d Jonathan Still.
Francis related to each entity, animate and inanimate as Kin within the Kin(g)dom of God, including the threatening and the fearful. He befriended the leper and embraced opposites - Br Fire, but also Sister Cold. In our own time he can help us to embrace that which we most fear, even Sister Death. On the way he leads us into new relationship and personal integration, knowing, embracing and overcoming our fear. Suggested donation for full board £95.

Tuesday 27 - Friday 30 November
Crafts in Advent
with Monica Fowler and Suzi Herbert. Learn textile crafting and Pergamano amongst other skills to create something special for Christmas. Suggested
Donation for full board £105.

Saturday 1 December
‘Watching and Waiting’ - A Pre –Advent Quiet Day
. A day preparing for the beginning of the Advent season led by a member of the Community. Suggested donation £10.

We offer these events as residential or day courses with all meals included.  The Friary guest accommodation consists of single and twin and one double room which are all well-appointed.  Two of the rooms which are on the ground floor are en-suite and are available for those with particular needs.

During these weekends you are welcome to share in the regular Services in the Community Chapel - although there is no requirement for you to do so.
 
Please contact the Guest Brother at the Friary for further information and bookings:

Telephone 01300 341741

Email:  hilfieldssf@franciscans.org.uk

Please also visit our website:   www.hilfieldfriary.org.uk.