Quiet Garden
Our Lady’s Quiet Garden, Stainforth, Doncaster
A unique opportunity to help create an inner or quiet garden in the secure grounds of Our Lady of the Assumption Parish, Stainforth, Doncaster.
Our quiet garden offers you a space for sharing prayer and stillness, reflection and appreciation of nature, to learn about Christian life and spirituality,meditative work, learning and laughter, to experience healing in the context of God's love and quiet. Visitors will be able to return to their lives restored and nurtured by a time apart.
Starting with an initial six Saturday afternoons and three Thursday afternoons in the school year 2004/05, we invite all those who work in schools, including chaplains, support staff, teachers, headteachers and grounds staff to come along for a taster session and see if this exciting new venture helps relax you and if the concept could be adapted for your school.
Our dates for 2004/05:
Saturdays: 9th October, 6th November, 19th March, 16th April, 11th June,
Tuesday: 12th July 4pm - 7pm
The programme for each session follows the same pattern:
1.00 – 1.30 Light lunch
1.30 – 1.45 Prayer
1.45 – 2.30 Silent meditative “work” in the quiet garden
2.30 - 3.00 Tea and natter
3.00 – 3.30 Invited speaker
3.30 – 3.45 Closing liturgy
“Work” in the secure, enclosed garden is chosen by each participant and may include weeding, digging, hoeing, racking, spraying, trimming, planting or simply clearing litter, grass cutting or flower picking, depending what each person feels able to do. All we ask is that you respect the silence of this place for this 45 minute session. We each “do” something in the garden to help us “be” with our God.
Programme
We are inviting all the other parishes in the Diocese, all our schools and all our local Churches to consider coming along!
Each “invited speaker” is invited to share something “gentle” with us – nothing too heavy!
There are no charges for these sessions but we do ask participants to make an anonymous donation to our ongoing work in the box provided.
Schools wishing to make use of the resource are asked in the first instance to contact Frank McDermott, Diocesan Director of Schools on 0114 2566440 or Tony Shay on 01302 844605, email anthony@shay2977.freeserve.co.uk Rose Shay on 01302 537396 ext 171
Any schools wishing to make use of the facility must first make an exploratory visit and conduct their own risk assessments, a copy of which must be made available to a member of the inner garden management committee. A charge of £1.00 per student per session will be charged.
Links: http://www.quietgarden.co.uk