The Nazareth Community

Here and There print by Andrew Carter - andrew-carter.net

The Nazareth Community began in March 2018 when 48 members took their promises to live a simple rule of life. This rule of life was the result of a year of discernment based around a weekly pattern of silent contemplative prayer. The Nazareth Community now has 100 members and the Companions of Nazareth 155.

The Nazareth Community brings together members of St Martin-in-the-Fields and others in easy travelling distance from St Martin’s who want to live the Christian life generously and intentionally as a gathered Community in the centre of London. We are a dispersed Community with a commitment to seven spiritual disciplines that our members seek to incorporate into their own lives and contexts. Members renew their vows each year if they choose to do so, and each year there is an opportunity for others to join.

As Jesus said: Come unto me all you who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens and I will refresh you. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden light. (Matthew 11.28-30)

The Nazareth Community is like a trellis of life, where the buds and blossoms of our beseeching find stability in silence, the beauty of the stranger and a door wide open to all who feel they have no place to call home.

The Nazareth Community and Companions of Nazareth are not two separate Communities but one, bringing to each other a wider sense of belonging and inclusion. We welcome each other with joy and hold each other in our prayers. We are the same extended family. The two Communities enhance and give life to each other and challenge each other to see Community as beyond context, culture or place. They exist in symbiotic relationship.

The Nazareth Community and the Companions of Nazareth are part of the same family and are like siblings following the same simple rule of life, though in different circumstances, locations and contexts.

The Nazareth Community includes those who live in and around or in travelling distance from Trafalgar Square and are therefore able to attend as often as possible Bread for the World, Listening Groups and the Saturday Nazareth Sharings at St Martin’s. Members also attend the Silent Hour whenever possible in the building on Wednesdays and Sacred Space on the first Sunday of each month. Many take part as volunteers in the International Group as their commitment to service. Members of the Nazareth Community have their own quiet days and retreats each year. Members of St Martin’s and the wider Community are warmly welcomed to attend all the strands of their Community life that are part of the public worship of St Martin’s. The only aspect of the Community's life that is by invitation is the sharing times of Nazareth Community on Saturdays.

The Nazareth Community are invited to keep a simple rule of life. This includes:

Silence — Keep a time of Silent Prayer. Members can join the Nazareth Community in Silent Prayer on Mondays and Thursdays 7-8am, and on Wednesdays from 5-6pm.
Service — Discover an intentional and regular act of face-to-face service that works for you. Many Nazareth Community members volunteer at the Sunday International Group at St Martin-in-the-Fields supporting asylum seekers and refugees.
Scripture — Make time to be nourished by the Scriptures. This might include attending Listening Lectio Groups on Wednesday evenings after Bread for the World at St Martin-in-the-Fields, 7.45-8.30pm, and enjoying regular times of personal prayer and study.
Sacrament — Attend Bread for the World, an informal Eucharist at St Martin-in-the-Fields, each Wednesday evening at 6.30pm, and the listening group that follows. Or alternatively, attend a regular Eucharist in your own London church.
Sharing — Attend a monthly Nazareth Sharing at St Martin’s. Beginning with Silent Prayer 9-10am, then breakfast and Sharing Listening Groups. Sometimes these Sharing Days take place in other London churches.
Sabbath — Make a regular commitment to Sabbath time in your own diary.
Staying — Keep the 7Ss within your own context and situations in a lifegiving and sustainable way.

When you join the Nazareth Community, you will also:

Weekly

Join the online Saturday morning Nazareth Contemplative Prayer Walk (live from 8am-8.30am on St Martin-in-the-Fields public Facebook).

Monthly

Receive the monthly Nazareth Letter to encourage and inspire.

Annually

Attend a Nazareth Quiet Day each year.
Attend a Renewal of Vows service each year in September at St Martin-in-the-Fields.

There are two Welcome Services a year at Bread for the World on Wednesday evenings.

The Companions of Nazareth are those who because of location, distance or mobility issues are largely online members of the Nazareth Community. They live the same rule of life and are equal in every way and not in any way subsidiary to the Nazareth Community. The Companions of Nazareth follow their own online programme. This aims to encourage the Companions in the same Community disciplines and to create a sense of community and solidarity. Companions take part in the same seven fold Ss of Silence, Service, Scripture, Sacrament, Sharing, Sabbath Time and Staying With. They make their promises online. If they are able, they are invited each year to renew their promises at St Martin’s in London and to meet other Companions and Members of the Nazareth Community. Each year a retreat is held for the Companions at the Royal Foundation of St Katharine's, Limehouse, London, or another suitable location and an online retreat so that all can attend at least once a year. When in London, Companions are invited to attend all aspects of the Nazareth Community's Life, though attending Saturday sharing times is by invitation. Companions are also encouraged to share in the online resources of St Martin-in-the-Fields, including the Being With Course, the Lent Course, the Autumn Lecture Series, and the live-streamed worship, concerts and talks from St Martin’s.

Monastery of Charles de Foucauld, Nazareth photographed by Richard Carter