Anamcara Norway At Utstein Kloster

Nearly thirty came by plane, car and boat for the annual gathering of Anamcara, the Community of Aidan and Hilda in Norway . It was held for the first time at Pilegrimsgard, our west coast link retreat house 45 minutes from Stavanger. Reidun Kyllingsgrad and her inspiring local Board members and volunteers, have turned this former school, set amid idyllic fjords and green hills, into a centre full of promise.

A mid-west Norway group had its first meeting the previous day. One of these, Harald Gronnevik, has translated much of 'Liturgies from Lindisfarne' into Norwegian, and published local meditation walks. He took his First Voyage. Members shared their news. Jan Lokkeborg brought news of Coptic Bishop Thomas, whom he had invited to speak at Alesund. The Muslim Brotherhood advanced with guns and petrol bombs to destroy the bishop's church. The Bishop told his people 'You are free to flee but I will stay. First, let's kneel and pray. During the prayer he had a thought. They mixed soap with a liquid and poured it over the slope the attackers had to walk down. They all slipped over; their weapons went flying, and they ran away!

Utstein Kloster, Norway's beautiful and only surviving monastery was our venue for the Saturday night public service, which included songs, stories and my talk on 'Pilgrimage'. This is available as a download on this web site.

Mecky led the Sunday Communion service. He is priest of a church which revolves around young people. He says that although they don't use the word 'Celtic' much, Jesus is in the backyards and they see a cross in every tree. He will lead a retreat on Brendan the Navigator at Utstein November 8-10. Why not book in at www.utsteinpilegrimsgard.no ?

Tomorrow I fly to Oslo for all sorts of exciting interviews and networking. But I must keep my rhythm, and climb Fjoloy Fort that overlooks islands and seas of paradise.