The world belongs to God
The earth and all its people.
How good and how lovely it is
To live together in unity.
Love and faith come together
Justice and peace join hands
If the Lord’s disciples keep silent
These stones will shout aloud
opening responses of Daily Office from Iona Community.
what is eglos?
Eglos is the celtic (cornish) word for 'church', similar to the french 'eglise'. The South West of England has a significant celtic heritage including Celtic saints and missionaries. Before the westward push of the Saxon settlers in the 7th and 8th centuries, the Westcountry had a celtic culture which was shared with the rest of Britain and Brittany ('Little Britain'). Although there was probably a significant exodus of people ahead of the Saxon threat, north to Wales and south to Brittany over many hundreds of years, the majority of the population remained and eventually mixed with the new Saxon settlers.
Prior to the arrival of the pagan Saxons, Christianity had been established across the region by Celtic missionaries and church founders from Ireland, Wales and Brittany. The sea was their primary form of transport and the Westcountry, with its long coastline and its position between Ireland, Wales and France would have been a 'stopping off point' on most journeys. Missionaries crossed the countryside on their journeys and established small churches and communities at strategic points.
We can try to re-create a vision of that celtic Westcountry, from very limited sources; from the few remaining celtic places names and dedications and the sparse historical references. Very few celtic references remain from the East of Devon, where saxon settlement was early but much more remains in the west of Cornwall where a celtic culture continued into the later middle ages.
how does this affect us today?
The roots of many of our parishes churches where we worship God today are saxon but a few are much earlier. These bear witness to the work of those celtic missionaries who 'planted' churches and created Christian communities here in the Westcountry nearly 1,500 years ago.
God works through people, and works in communities. Our lives and the lives of our ancestors bear testimony to God's work. Our churches today are a continuing link with the lives of the saints (Christians) who came before us. What was that message that those celtic missionaries carried by sea and on foot across our landscape to those small Westcountry communites? Is that same message still relevant today?
The early celtic monasteries were centres of both mission and learning and their excellence shone brightly when much of Europe was in chaos after the fall of the Roman empire. As we admire the beauty of Celtic manuscripts and crafts, perhaps we can reconsider and re-assess their message, their mission and their understanding of God and His relationship to his world and apply it to our own lives.
about the project:
mission and communication
Can
we embrace the Internet and Internet technologies to enable us to
communicate our part in God's Mission more effectively? Locally, on the
ground, in our churches, in our groups and in small organisations
significant work is being done by Christians as part of their lives of
witness to those around them.
- How good are we at communicating with those beyond our immediate contacts?
- How aware is the wider community of what is happening in our churches?
- How ready are church members to use new technology?
- Can new technology help us to communicate and share experiences with other christians?
Initially
this project will aim to assist churches and organisations in South
Devon (Diocese of Exeter) to communicate more effectively on the
Internet (even if this assistance only takes the form of another outlet
for press information).
Moving On in Mission and Ministry, the report of the working party exploring future patterns of ministry in the Diocese of Exeter.
"Everyone should have the opportunity to engage with the fullness of the Church's life locally."
