A space to be still

A quiet new initiative is drawing people together each week, not around activity, but around silence. The Julian Prayer Group, recently started by Revd Rona Stuart-Bourne, Priest in Charge, Milborne Port offers space for contemplative prayer and stillness.

“We decided to start a silent Julian Prayer Group. More and more people are joining, and what’s fascinating is that many of them don’t normally come to church, but they say that they feel drawn to sit in stillness here rather than anywhere else. There’s a real hunger for it in the community.”
Although rooted in her own tradition, Rona hesitated to begin at first. “I’d put it off because I wasn’t sure it would sit well with my congregation. Then, bit by bit, people started saying, ‘If you did this, I would come.’ I felt really nudged to begin.”

Now in its seventh week, the group regularly draws around 12 people. “Not every week, but they’re regular enough. And those who attend have been saying, ‘This is incredibly important to me.’”
Rona explains that the format is shaped around the contemplative approach of Julian of Norwich. “Ideally, it’s an hour of silence, but that’s a lot for many people, so we build up to it. The idea is to simply offer a space to sit with God without much input.”

Each session begins with a short prayer and reading. Then Rona plays a piece of music, followed by 20 – 30 minutes of silence. If people want to share something afterwards, they can. Then there is another 15 minutes of silence and a closing discussion or prayer.

Rona says the gathering seems to be meeting a deeper spiritual need. “There’s a real yearning in people right now for silence, stillness, and connection with God. I tell people at the start that this might feel uncomfortable. That’s okay. I suggest they try different approaches. I stress we are not there to achieve anything, simply just to sit with God.’”

The group is also part of a wider pattern in Rona’s own prayer life. “I’m part of the Nazareth Companions, based at St Martin-in-the-Fields. We meet online three times a week for an hour of silence. It’s powerful to connect with others and belong, but through silence.”

For Rona, the Julian Prayer Group is also a counter to the noise and pace of daily life. “We’re all so busy, we don’t hear God anymore. We rush in, we pray, we rush out. But what if it’s supposed to be the other way around — shaped by God, not by us?”