New Wine 2013

The trouble with you is that you are just too spiritually alive. Go on, admit it. Every moment of every day you are intentionally growing as a disciple. You are hungry to shut the door and sit with the bible open, at the feet of the master, and to simply absorb and change. You are irritating to be with because when you are putting on the kettle or sitting on a bus you keep bursting into abandoned worship. And your faith, well sometimes it just seems limitless. When they were recently selecting the new Archbishop and Pope your name was probably somewhere on that list. A dark horse, but nevertheless a contender to lead the global church.

Or maybe that isn’t quite your 24/7 reality; it isn’t mine. (Although I hope the cardinals considered me for just a moment: ‘What about that Archer chap? He may be Anglican but he can sing in Italian.’) Maybe you are genuinely perplexed by the ordinary challenges of allowing your life and the Kingdom of God to flow together. Maybe your diary and your workplace seem to have too much to say about your spiritual life. Maybe you can’t shake off discouragement in your Christian journey. Maybe the only thing consistent about you is your inconsistency.

This summer, we’re delighted that John and Alice Monaghan and their family (above), will be leading a large group of people from Malmesbury Abbey to the New Wine summer conference at Shepton Mallet (August 4^th-10^th). New Wine Deeper is a space to stop, to spend extended time with friends from church, to learn from inspiring teachers and to meet God, sometimes in the solitude of a tent or a caravan, or sometimes with 3000 worshippers. New Wine is a week to intentionally grow in your faith, young and old, veteran disciple or new Christian. The reality of life meeting the Kingdom of God, and good holy things happening as we go deeper. And also a lot of laughter, late nights outside the tents and food cooked for just too long on the BBQ.

Now is the time to book. There are reduced prices if you book in before April 2^nd, and it’s cheapest to book online at www.new-wine.org. John, our new curate from June 29^th, and the family will be at our 4pm service on March 17^th to introduce themselves and also to speak about New Wine and encourage you to come along. It’s also possible to stay off-site in luxury, one of the Abbey leadership is doing this and she shall be nameless. Another option is to commute down for a day or two – but you don’t quite experience the benefit of stopping for a week to be with God and the church. But however it happens, we’d love you to be part of the Abbey community at New Wine this year.