There is a contemplative prayer group meeting in the parish every Wednesday at St Mark’s Church from 3-4pm.

Contemplative/centering prayer is a silent form of prayer which can take place alone or in a group. The person or people praying remain silent and usually repeat in the mind a word or phrase such as ‘Maranatha’, an Aramaic word which means ‘our Lord, come’, or ‘our Lord has come’, depending on where the emphasis is placed. Some people prefer to use an image rather than a word.

The idea is that the word or image centres the mind and encourages it not to wander or flit from thought to thought, as human minds usually do, but instead just to be as we are in front of God. We don’t ask anything of God, we simply are there.

On Wednesday afternoons a group of us sit together in St Mark’s and spend 20 minutes in this form of silent prayer. We then drink tea, eat biscuits and chat.

It is a time of peace and stillness and highly recommended in this furiously busy world.

Anyone is welcome to join us.