Worship, Web Design, Social… The names of most of the PCC’s sub-committees give a pretty reliable indication of what area of life they cover at St Peter’s. To paraphrase advertising parlance, they do exactly what they say in their title. But Nurture? The role of the Nurture Group may not be immediately apparent from the name. So, to clarify a little, here is a quick canter through what St Peter’s Nurture Group is concerned with.

It has long been recognised at St Peter’s that parish life does not end with what happens on Sundays within the walls of the church building. In addition to the broad diversity of its worship, St Peter’s offers a wide range of other activities. The Nurture Group’s role is to provide a forum for discussing and coordinating those activities which particularly support individual spiritual growth and the fellowship of the parish community beyond the usual context of our church-based worship. This extra-mural nurturing of the spirit has taken many forms over the years. A few recent examples may help to give a flavour of the activities the Nurture Group exists to coordinate, facilitate and support.

Four house groups are a regular feature of parish life at St Peter’s. Hosted in the homes of members of the congregation and getting together usually fortnightly when in session, the groups meet in a friendly and non-threatening atmosphere to discuss aspects of faith and experience based on material provided by a book of agreed interest. Topics covered can be diverse, from bible study, through prayer, to issues of social justice. During the special season of Lent, the house groups may be augmented in size and number as members of the congregation take the valued opportunity to join a group as part of their Lenten observance.

Prayer visiting is an important way of bringing St Peter’s church to the doorsteps of the parish and reflecting back to God the prayers of the people visited. In essence, prayer visiting consists of a small group of visitors calling in pairs over a small predefined area of the parish over a set two-week period to ask if people have any concerns, hopes and thanksgivings that they would like St Peter’s to offer in prayer at a special service in church. This harvesting of prayer in Leckhampton has taken place four times in the past five years, and we have covered roads in the vicinity of Peregrine Road/Osprey Road, Collum End Rise, The Lanes and Pilley Lane/Pilley Crescent. If you have been visited already on one of these occasions, you may already have found the experience useful. The idea is not to intrude nor to persuade, but simply to be there for any concerns our prayers may help to address. If you’ve not been visited yet, you will be – we hope in time to cover all areas of the parish.

Many people have heard of retreats, but the prospect of attending your first one, especially if you don’t know anyone there, may be too daunting to most of us. It was from this premise that we as a parish offered and organised our first one-day retreat at Randwick near Stroud. So successful was its appeal that the annual parish retreat has almost become something of an institution, and over the past few years it has expanded to become a weekend retreat. The most recent offering is taking place over the weekend of the 7^th to 9^th October at the Marist Convent at Nympsfield. Very worthwhile in its own right, the weekend also serves as a taster for those who are curious to see what a retreat is like, or would like to experience a short retreat as a first step to taking on a longer one.

To some extent growing out of our retreat offerings, we are currently planning a more ambitious parish trip to experience a week of community life with the Iona Community, hopefully in autumn 2006. By the time you read this, plans should be well advanced. But if you’ve missed out on this exciting prospect, don’t despair – look out for news of other Nurture Group initiatives in forthcoming editions of the parish magazine.

And, of course, we are always open to new ways of nurturing the parish’s spiritual growth and fellowship. If you have any ideas, please let us know. We are: Paul Wilkinson, Brian Dunlop, Cynthia Goodchild, Audrey Turner and Steve Whittingham.

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