A Christian Community

At the time of Pilsdon's fortieth anniversary The Right Reverend David Stancliffe, Bishop of Salisbury wrote:

Pilsdon is open and welcoming to all comers and offers hospitality and spirituality that Christian communities have contributed to the life of the church down the centuries. The Pilsdon Community is now a significant presence in the Diocese of Salisbury and I know that Pilsdon is a vital resource for many who work in the fields of homelessness, mental health, drug and alcohol addiction, asylum seekers. Here is the Christian prophetic and pastoral ministry being worked out with those often on the margins of society. I give thanks to God for the many thousands of people who have received the healing ministry of Pilsdon over the last 40 years and also those who share and support its continuing vision.

Visitors Mike and Verity Goodwin wrote in a letter of thanks to the warden:

We hope that we live by Christian values, but were very wary about visiting Pilsdon because we are not Christians. We were afraid it was going to be a cross between a church meeting and a boarding school! We couldn't have been more wrong. Within minutes we felt welcomed and relaxed. We were humbled and impressed by the unobtrusive, warm and caring atmosphere. For us, this was the first time we came and could see people living by Christian values instead of just preaching them - indeed, no preaching took place at all. We came away wishing that our daughter who has mental health problems could have found sanctuary at somewhere like Pilsdon.
 

A prayer, composed by the Rev  Donald Reeves, that is sometimes said at the Breaking of the Bread during our Eucharist.

We break this bread for those who love God,
for those who follow the path of the Buddha and worship the God of the Hindus;
for our sisters and brothers in Islam, and for the Jewish people from whom we come.
We pray that one day we may be as one.

We break this bread for the great green earth;
we call to mind the forests, fields and flowers which we are destroying,
that one day, with the original blessing, God's creation will be restored.

We break this bread for those who have no bread,
the starving, the homeless and the refugees,
that one day this planet may be a home for everyone.

We break this bread for the broken parts of ourselves,
the wounded child in all of us, for our broken relationships,
that one day we may glimpse the wholeness that is of Christ.