History of the Friends of Augustine at Clare.

Lay Groups - England & Scotland

Rome Lay Conference 2006

National Conference: Boarbank Hall Jan 2008

New:-

Introduction.

The Friends of Augustine reaches out to lay people, as well as religious, within the Order of Saint Augustine.

Background.

As the year 2000 approached, two things were becoming clear, First, if religious life were to survive, then it would have to change. Second, lay Christians were busy exploring new models of community, which were relevant and accessible to men and women engaged in the secular world. So during 16th to 21st July 1999, in Rome, the Augustinian Order hosted an international meeting of lay Augustinians, and from this, a vision emerged of an international communion of groups and individuals who are trying to live a spirituality that is both Augustinian, and also relevant to the concerns of Christians in the 21st century.

The beginnings.

In 1999, those who attended the Rome meeting joined a retreat in Clare, agreed a Mission Statement and groups were formed in Carlisle, Birmingham and London. Under the leadership of Deacon Nigel Bavidge, Hinsley Hall, Leeds, national meetings have taken place every other year and valuable notes of presentation papers have circulated. Friends of Augustine is the English and Scottish group which grew out of the Rome experience. Open and non-hierarchical, ‘Friends of Augustine’ includes friars and religious, but is led by the concerns of lay people and their need for community within their own lives. ‘FoA’ is engaged in developing an Augustinian spirituality for today. Among the local groups are those committed to study, prayer and meditation, music, friendship, the encouragement of a more youthful, people centred liturgy , and a concern for justice. The idea is that these groups resource each other, and the network at large by the exchange of news and ideas, and by helping members to expand their experience and understanding of Augustinian community, learning and spirituality.

We have had another conference in Rome, in July 2006, we reviewed our progress and we are about to enter another exciting new phase... Interested? Then read the reports on the conference.

Since then we have held two National Conferences; June 2007 at Clare Priory and January 2008 at Boarbank Hall in Cumbria. Reports on these two conferences are available on this website with links from the place names in this paragraph, (and elsewhere from our News/Home page).