Julian Meetings - an introduction
A
Julian Meeting is usually 6 -15 people of various denominations, both lay
people and clergy. They meet regularly in a house, church or chapel. A brief
reading, or a piece of music, leads into about 30 minutes of silent contemplative
prayer. This may be followed by a time for tea or coffee and conversation.
Julian Meetings vary and are free to do
things in their own way. Our main guidelines are that a meeting is based on
contemplative prayer in the Christian tradition and welcomes people of all
denominations. We teach no specific method of meditation. We encourage people
to find what is right for them; to discover how they can integrate
contemplation into their daily prayer life and how personal and group
contemplative prayer can enrich each other.
Those who attend Julian Meetings usually
take a full part in the life of their own church, but some have no formal
church links. Local and regional quiet days or retreats, and an annual national
retreat, enable wider sharing between people from several Meetings.
What
is contemplative prayer?
Contemplative prayer has been described as
listening for God; opening ourselves to God; waiting silently upon God. Other
descriptions are meditation, contemplation, or "the prayer of quiet".
In contemplative prayer we seek to be aware of the presence of God and to
remain silently and attentively in that presence, completely open to God.
It is not just that words are unnecessary,
but that they may even get in the way. Prayer involves listening as well as
speaking, but so often we do all the talking and God doesn't get a chance to
talk with us! Simply "being with God" like this is a very natural way
of praying. It may be the only way we can pray when we're tired or ill. Some
children pray in this way quite instinctively. So did the old man who explained
why he sat in church for hours: "I look at Him, He looks at me".
Why
belong to a Julian Meeting?
If we feel we need to learn how to be still
with God, we might start with some ways that other people have found helpful.
Belonging to a group of people who meet regularly to pray in silent
contemplation can be a great help and encouragement. We do not feel isolated.
Prayerful silence is greatly helped when two or three are together, and this
complements our daily personal prayer. If we are having problems with our
praying, sharing them can help us to grow through them. A Julian Meeting
provides these opportunities.
Joining a Julian
Meeting
/ Getting
more information
There
are Julian Meetings in the UK, Ireland, Southern Africa, Australasia and North
America. To find out about your nearest Julian Meeting, or for more information,
contact:
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Julian Meetings Publications
To receive regular news about the Julian
Meetings and events simply subscribe to the Julian
Meetings Magazine, published three times a year. This keeps the Julian
Meetings in touch with each other and has items on prayer and related subjects,
book reviews, and news of Julian Meetings worldwide. Also included is a
national Newsletter with news of Meetings, quiet days, retreats and other
activities. Other publications include:
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The Ideal Julian Meeting |
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Starting a Julian Meeting |
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Going Into Silence .... and Coming Out |
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Your Turn to Lead |
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Booklist |
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List of Julian Meetings (published each year) |
See the List of Publications for further information and
an order form.
How
the Julian Meetings began
Contemplative prayer, or Christian
meditation, has been part of Christianity from the beginning. Jesus spent whole
nights alone in prayer. The Desert Fathers and our own Celtic hermits sought
places to be alone with God. But for some centuries the Christian churches
neglected this most basic form of prayer; it became usual only in monastic
communities.
In the 1960s and 1970, with the great
interest in eastern forms of mysticism and meditation, many people realised
that the Church had not taught people about its own tradition of meditation, or
contemplative prayer.
In 1973 a letter in English church papers of
various denominations led to people in eleven areas setting up contemplative
prayer groups. Today there are over 400 Julian Meetings in the UK and a growing
number worldwide.
Julian
Meetings today
Julian Meetings keeps bureaucracy to a
minimum but we must do some core jobs: respond to enquiries; produce and send
out the Julian Meetings Magazine and literature; keep in touch with
Meetings; organise the retreat; manage our finances. These jobs are done by a
small Advisory Group of volunteers, working from home across the country.
Julian Meetings has neither offices nor paid staff.
Why
Julian?
The movement was named after Julian of
Norwich, a fourteenth century mystic. Her inspired writings are sometimes used
at meetings but Julian Meetings is in no way a Julian cult.
The purpose of Julian Meetings is defined as
"fostering the practice and teaching of contemplative prayer within the
Christian tradition", and this accords with Julian's precept that the
highest form of prayer consists in simply waiting on God.