A presidents' meeting

Yesterday we had a meeting of the presidents of the Oxford Secular Communities. Technically there are four, although one of them (the St Therese Community) has for practical reasons actually been meeting in Basingstoke at the home of the president in recent months. In the longer term it may well return to Oxford - though of course we never know what the plans of the Divine Providence are! The others are the St Joseph Community, the Blessed Marie-Eugene Community, and the St Elijah Community. All four used to meet at the Boars Hill Priory, but the St Elijah Community took the decision about a year ago to move its meetings to a church in North Oxford, St Gregory and St Augustine's. Although as the crow flies the Priory is not remote from Oxford, its rural location and the lack of transport means that for many in the town - if they even know of its existence - it feels rather remote. With the St Elijah Community at least, the hope is to bring Carmel into the heart of the city. On the other hand those who know the Boars Hill Priory are often very attached to it, and so it is good that there are Secular communities based there.