In the last 150 years, the Church of England and wider Anglican tradition has rediscovered the gift of religious life and its secular expressions, as Third Orders, oblates or associates. Of these expressions active today, the Third Order Society of St Francis (www.tssf.org.uk) is particularly strong, with 3,000 members worldwide. Yet, until recently, there was no secular expression of Carmel.
This may be partly due to the absence, in England and Wales, of expressions of Anglican religious life distinctively founded in the Carmelite tradition. The closest to Carmel is the Sisters of the Love of God (SLG), an Anglican contemplative community at Fairacres, near Oxford, founded in 1906, which have a secular association of oblate sisters, companions and priest associates. They draw much inspiration from Carmel’s charism of silence, prayer and contemplation, even if they are not distinctively and intentionally Carmelite.
In this context, a small group of people in England, all interested in Carmelite spirituality and how it may inform and guide life and ministry in a secular form (i.e., lived in everyday contexts, not as part of a religious community), began to form in autumn/winter 2018. Most of us were from the Church of England, but with enquirers from other traditions, we made an early decision to be open to all ecclesial traditions, as far as possible. The group was geographically dispersed, so initially we were in contact by email and social media, with help through our established relationships with the Third Order of Carmel (TOC) and Carmelite communities, including Boar’s Hill, Aylesford/Faversham and Quidenham.
Part of the background story is my particular journey, which has been strongly influenced by the Carmelite charism. I have had a long-standing connection to the Carmelite monastery at Quidenham in Norfolk, UK. This is a place I first visited, initially with a group, in 2005 and it is a place I have visited many times since for silent individual retreats. Through this connection, I was first introduced to the charism as it is lived out within and through community, and also began to read the writings of the Carmelite saints.
In 2011, I moved from Cambridge to Canterbury, with my husband, as we both took up posts at the University of Kent. Around this time, the TOC was setting up Carmelite Spirituality Groups (CSGs) that brought together members of the TOC with others interested in the Carmelite charism, including Christians of other traditions, to meet together monthly for prayer and study. One such group was founded in East Kent and, initially, met in Canterbury. When I discovered it, I was delighted and started to go along.
The CSG was a rich blessing and I found a ‘home’ among others in the charism. I was received as an associate member on the feast of the nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in 2012. Over the years, I participated with others, some of whom were fully received and professed, in formation group meetings, where we studied and worked through the formation programme. However, I was aware of the experimental nature of the CSGs, especially in their openness to Christians of other traditions, like myself. Whilst I could be an associate and fully participate in meetings, there was still an ecclesial boundary that existed.
This particular CSG ceased over the course of the pandemic, even if there are still active CSGs in other areas across England. Just before the East Kent CSG came to an end, I was encouraged by the community’s chaplain and the national moderator of the TOC to explore the possibility of an Anglican expression of secular Carmel, which could accommodate my commitment and also allow space for other Anglicans to participate. This is how The Carmelite Companions of the Way (CCTW) came into existence. Various people whose interest had been individual and often isolated, were connected together into a small group through shared connections and enquiries – also, social media. Initially, we exchanged stories, ideas and our backgrounds by email. We then began to make plans for our first retreat, which took place at Glasshampton Anglican Franciscan monastery in September 2019. This is where we formally came together as CCTW and from which an initial draft rule of life emerged.
Due to the relatively small size of the group (currently eight people, although we have had many others enquire and/or join us for a while to discern), we were founded and continue to exist as an informal association. The rule of life is very brief, with equal focus on prayer, community and service. This draws on the Carmelite charism and was informed by my own formation in the TOC, but with regard for the diversity of our church traditions and states of life or ministry. This flexibility of approach, with a focus on the core elements that bring us together, has been vital.
Our shared commitment is to attend monthly online meetings, at which we pray and study the writings of the Carmelite saints and other formational texts, like the Rule of St Albert. At the time of writing this we are reading through The Way of Perfection. In this practice we seek to understand what we are reading, carefully and prayerfully, but also to be attentive to how to apply it in our lives, as they are, here-and-now – in my case, as an academic researcher and ordained minister, serving in a local parish. An important element of this, for myself and others in the group, is the relationship between contemplation and action. An often-visited theme is how to authentically inhabit and live silence and contemplation within the busy-ness of life, work and ministry – as well as how to live freely, in full trust of God, when so much of the world around us is focussed on success, external image and power.
We also have recently begun to meet again for an annual residential retreat, after a pause for the pandemic. This has enabled us to come together for study, fellowship and prayer over a longer period of time. Our most recent retreat was at Aylesford Priory. For some, it was the first time they had visited Aylesford and it allowed space to reflect on its special significance in the history of Carmel. Whilst many in the group have their own local connections with Carmelite communities, for a few it was also the first contact with a Carmelite community. What was seen, experienced and shared with important for our ongoing discernment of how to live the charism in our own way, in our own lives and traditions.
CCTW may not be the most spectacular or impressive of the emerging secular forms of life in the current context of the Church of England. We remain an informal group and are likely to continue so, for now. However, it is a gently joyful group of friends, journeying in the midst of the wider friendship of the Carmelite family, who delight in seeking to know more of one another and God. Deo gratias!
