Service to commission Spiritual Directors.

Thursday, 8th November 2012, - 5.30pm -  will see a special service at Bangor Cathedral. This service will commission 10 people from across the Diocese of Bangor as Spiritual Directors. The service will be lead by the Bishop of Bangor, the Right Rev’d Andrew John.

Spiritual Directors are clergy and lay people who have a special skill and experience in accompanying others in their life of prayer.

This new group of Spiritual Directors is co-ordinated by the Rev’d Janet Fletcher (from Bangor). who published a book looking at various ways of praying, in 2006, called “Pathway to God”, as well as contributing prayerful reflections to “Guidelines” and “Quiet Spaces” published by the Bible Reading Fellowship.

Looking forward to the service on Thursday, Janet said, “When people think of the Christian faith they tend to see people who do good actions to help other people. But underneath all of that is prayer. Praying is at the heart of everything that the Church and Christian people do.

"Some people like to have a person to be alongside them in their prayer life, and that is where the role of a Spiritual Director is important; as a listening ear.  All of the people who are being commissioned tonight have their own Spiritual Directors, who accompany them in their life of prayer.”

Also commenting on the service, the Bishop of Bangor said, “Prayer and reflection is a very important part of our lives. We saw this recently with in the way in which the people of Machynlleth responded to the tragic events in their community.

"For many people of faith it can be a help and comfort to have someone to share the journey of prayer. Prayer is a conversation with God, and like many other areas of our lives, having somebody else’s point of view can help you see things more clearly. This is a very important area of the Church’s work, and this is why I am so pleased that we are able to commission these 10 people to do this work around our Diocese.”

The people being commissioned in the service as Spiritual Directors are:

Mrs Pam Odam (Harlech) Mrs Heather Cardwell (Caersws)
The Rev’d Graham Johnson (Tremadog) The Rev’d Janet Fletcher (Bangor)
The Rev’d Lynda Cowan (Llandinam) The Rev’d Elizabeth Pearce (Bangor)
The Rev’d Canon John Nice (Llandudno) The Rev’d Clive Hillman (Betws y Coed)
The Rev’d Canon Carol Evans (Conwy)    The Very Rev’d Trevor Evans (Bangor)

END

Please do contact me if you require any further information.
The Rev’d Janet Feltcher would also  be a good source of any further information.  Her contact details are   revjfletcher@btinternet.com    01248 362749
I am available to speak in Welsh and English.

The Rev'd Canon Robert Townsend,  Communications' Officer,  Diocese of Bangor,  Church in Wales
Office  01248 354999   Home  01248 650262    Mobile  07827 297668      roberttownsend1@me.com