Welcome to this small group journey into prayer.
Over the next six sessions, we hope you’ll be encouraged and find a deeper connection with God as we explore the practice of prayer together.
In the first two weeks, we’ll consider what prayer is and how Jesus taught his followers to pray. In the following sessions, we’ll explore different Christian traditions and approaches to prayer, including Ignatian prayer, silent contemplation, the Jesus Prayer, and praying with icons.
Each week, we’ll begin by watching a talk from St Paul’s Cathedral, which will lead into group reflection and discussion. Together, we’ll consider how these practices might shape our own lives and deepen our walk with God.
What to expect in a typical session:
7:30 – Arrive and refreshments
7:45 – Watch the talk
8:30 – Discussion
9:00 – Closing prayer
9:15 – Home
We look forward to sharing this time of learning and encouragement with you.
Unfortunately there are no more spaces available for this group. You can however watch the talks below as we work through the content.
Session One
Tuesday 16th September
What is Prayer? Stephen Cottrell
Session Two
Tuesday 30th September
The Lord’s Prayer, Paula Gooder
Session Three
Tuesday 14th October
St Ignatius’ Way of Prayer, Gemma Simmonds
Session Four
Tuesday 28th October
Silence in Prayer, Richard Carter
Session Five
Tuesday 11th November
The Jesus Prayer, Revd Simon Barrington-Ward
Session Six
Tuesday 25th November
Praying with the Rublev Icon, Ann Persson
Download a PDF version of the accompanying workbook.
Folders with all these handouts in will be provided for you at Session One on Tuesday 9th September.
Session One –
Stephen Cottrell – The Archbishop of York
Author of more than 20 books including children’s books, Stephen enjoys poetry, music and art. He has undertaken several walking pilgrimages, including twice walking the Camino to Santiago de Compostela in Spain, as well as pilgrim routes in England. You can read about this in his book, Striking Out, poems and stories from the Camino. In 2002 he walked from Durham to York with young people from his church youth group.
A founding member of the Church of England’s College of Evangelists, he has also chaired a group of bishops with an interest in the media and is one of the authors of the Church of England’s Pilgrim course, a major teaching and discipleship resource. He is President of the College of Preachers.
Stephen is married to Rebecca who is a potter and they have three sons, two grandchildren and a dog.
Session Two –
Paula Gooder
Paula Gooder is a speaker and writer on the Bible, particularly on the New Testament. She began her working life, teaching for twelve years in ministerial formation first at Ripon College Cuddesdon, Oxford and then at the Queen’s Foundation for Ecumenical Theological Education in Birmingham. Following this she spent around eight years as a speaker and writer in biblical studies travelling the country and seeking to communicate the best of biblical scholarship in as accessible a way as possible, after that she spent six years working for the Bible Society as their Theologian in Residence and then for the Birmingham Diocese as their Director of Mission Learning and Development. She is currently the Chancellor of St Paul’s Cathedral in London.
Session Three –
Sr Gemma Simmonds CJ
Sr Dr Gemma Simmonds CJ is a sister of the Congregation of Jesus, director of the Religious Life Institute and senior lecturer in pastoral theology at the Margaret Beaufort Institute of Theology, Cambridge. She teaches Christian spirituality at the Cambridge Theological Federation. She has been a spiritual director, retreat giver and lecturer for over 25 years, as well as having worked as a prison and university chaplain. She is the author of The Way of Ignatius and Dancing at Still Point (SPCK).
Handout One
Handout Two
Session Four – Revd Richard Carter
Richard Carter is Associate Vicar at St Martin’s where he has been working and living as a priest since 2006 on the edge of Trafalgar Square. Richard has special responsibility for the education and formation programme, pastoral care and outreach to those facing homelessness. Richard is the founder of the Nazareth Community, whose members gather from everyday life to seek God in contemplation and to live compassionately and generously building a community of welcome. Before living in London Richard was a member of the Melanesian Brotherhood a simple community working for peace in the South Pacific. His experiences there are described in In Search of the Lost (Canterbury Press 2006), a moving first-hand account of loss and grief after the violent deaths of seven members of his religious order.
Session Five – Rt Revd Simon Barrington-Ward
The Rt Revd Bishop Simon Barrington-Ward KCMG was Hon Assistant Bishop in Ely Diocese and Hon Fellow in Residence and Assistant Chaplain in Magdalene College Cambridge. After serving as a Pilot Offer in the RAF, he studied at Magdalene College, Cambridge, before going on to lecture at the Free University of Berlin. He returned to Cambridge in 1954 to lecture at Westcott House and in 1956 became Chaplin at Magdalene. In 1960 he went to lecture at Ibadan University (Nigeria) then in 1963 returned again to Magdalene, this time as Fellow and Dean. In 1983 he was appointed Chaplain to the Queen, and from 1985-1997 served as Bishop of Coventry. He also served as Chair of the International and Development Affairs Committee of the General Synod of the Church of England, and also Chair of the Chaplaincy Council at Anglia Ruskin. His books include Love Will Out (1988), Why God? (1993), Praying the Jesus Prayer (2001) and The Jesus Prayer (revised and enlarged edition just out 2008). He passed away in 2020.
Session Six – Ann Persson
Ann Persson and her late husband Paul used their former home, Highmoor Hall in Oxfordshire, as a retreat house and a centre for creativity. She is now engaged in spiritual direction and has written two books for The Bible Reading Fellowship (BRF): The Circle of Love and Time for Reflection (both BRF).