Christian Community

The Northumbria Community exists to encourage people to seek God for themselves through the embracing of a common way for living in order that they may share a sense of belonging and identity as they live out the Rule of Availability and Vulnerability.

A Place of Complete Surrender

An article by Trevor Miller On a recent visit to Roslin to see Brother John, my spiritual director, who along with the late Roland Walls, was a founding member of the Community of the Transfiguration, we talked about the significance of those spiritual influences that had shaped our formation and spirituality as respective Communities. One […]

Pray as you can, not as you can’t

An article by Trevor Miller One foundational aspect of prayer taught by the Church Fathers is so basic that it can easily become a case of ‘familiarity breeding contempt’. It is this: in seeking to understand prayer the spiritual masters were more interested in the state of the heart before God rather than the techniques […]

A Good Friday Communion Meditation – John 19:28-30

A Good Friday Communion Meditation by Trevor Miller I recall a story of how a group of Christian missionaries in India arranged to visit Mahatma Ghandi in order to discuss faith and the Way to God. Before they left Ghandi asked them to sing one of their Christian hymns. Which one, they said? He replied, […]

A Future and a Hope – Part 2

A transcript of a talk by Trevor Miller (continued from Part 1) So as this New Year continues to unfold, let’s resolve to seek God but to do so fully aware 1] That we don’t know the future but God knows Imagine God planning for our future! He desires us to have hope – a […]

A Future and a Hope – Part 1

A transcript of a talk by Trevor Miller   I’ll start with some good news – it’s only 330 days to Christmas. It’s hard to believe, isn’t it that another year has passed. However, as we’re still less than a month into the New Year; we are still in that time frame when we think […]

Waymarks for Community and Community Groups Part 2

The second part of a talk on waymarks given by Trevor Miller. We have been stressing the importance of waymarks. That as a Community we need to stop from time-to-time and take the opportunity to retrace our steps, and look for the waymarks that tell us we are on course. As Jeremiah 6:16 ‘Ask for […]

Listening to God

A transcript of a retreat talk given by Trevor Miller. President FD Roosevelt got tired of the many White House receptions where all he did was smile his famous big smile and utter the usual banalities to the awed guests. One day he decided to find out whether anybody was listening and paying attention to […]

Building the New on Foundations of Old

A retreat talk given by Trevor Miller in Bradford Cathedral. This familiar theme is taken from Paul Brain’s song Alone/Together – ‘building the new on foundations of old.’ This one sentence captures an indispensable truth – that an understanding of our foundations; our background and history is essential because it gives us a sense of […]

Waymarks for Community and Community Groups Part 3

The third part of a talk on waymarks given by Trevor Miller. Following the previous two parts we now turn to practicalities. We acknowledge that one major way to express our ethos and life is through meeting as Community Groups but how can this be achieved when they are so diverse? Here are some principles […]

Waymarks for Community and Community Groups Part 1

The first part of a talk on Waymarks given by Trevor Miller. An important lesson for us as a Community is well captured in the prayer towards the end of our Brendan Liturgy, ‘Lord, I will trust You, help me to journey beyond the familiar and into the unknown. Give me the faith to leave […]