It seems surreal to be writing tonight from my home in Devon, only a day after being in Derbyshire with so many friends at Swanwick. Our guests from Ireland and Germany reached home safely last night. I hope that everyone else did, too.
Yesterday morning, on the final day of our weekend, Alison Judd guided us through a thoughtful Bible study on the story of Ruth. Before lunch Bishop Rosemarie Wenner led us in Holy Communion and we considered messages from the parable of the great banquet. It was fitting to share bread and wine at the open table, a symbol and a place of welcome and acceptance, and then to share around the tables in the dining room for our last meal together before heading home.
It was precious to spend these last three days in company. Gradually stories are emerging of the things which people treasured from the weekend. One of the problems of an event such as this is finding the time and space to process some of the things which have been presented to us in various forms. I was grateful for just a little processing time on the train journey home, both on my own and in conversation with others. I have pondered the weekend further today, as I have gone about various household tasks here at home.
My major regret is that I failed to take many photographs! This was my last one, taken during the Bible study. If anyone has any particularly good pictures, please do send them to me via president@mwib.org.uk. I would be delighted to have them as mementoes of the weekend!
