Posted on Jul 22, 2009
On the Feast of Pentecost in the year 563 an Irish monk named Columba and twelve companions landed on the island of Iona in the Inner Hebrides. They climbed a nearby hill to be sure that they could no longer see ireland, for which they were already homesick, and then set about building a manastery. This monastery became the center for the spread of Chrisitianity throughout Southeastern Scotland and Northeastern england. A century later, a missionary from Iona, Aidan, carried the gospel to Northumbria, and founded the monastery on Holy Island as a foundation for his missionary work.
The monastery on Iona was closed at the Reformation and soon fell into ruins. The abbey church was restored in the late 1800's and in the 1930's a Scots Presbyterian minister from the slums of Glasgow brought unemployed working men to finish the job by restoring the rest of the abbey. Thus was born the Iona Community, a community of laymen and clergy with a commtment to work, to prayer, to peace and to justice. The community now maintains three centers, the Abbey, the MacCleod Center (named for the founder George MacCleod) and Camas, a rough camp on Mull used as a camp and retreat for poor and at risk inner city youth.
The community has 200 or so members who vow to meet together regularly, to pray, to work for peace and justice and to account for how they use their time and money. Their are also associates who agreee to a lesser level of commitment. All live ordinary lives out in the world.
The Abbey and the "Mac," located on a hill above the Abbey, serve as retreat centers and a place for the community to stay when they gather yearly. There are 40 or so of us staying in the Mac this week. We come from all over the world and all backgrounds. Their are many individuals, but also groups. At least 4 of us are clergy on sabbatical (3 of us on Lilly Endowment grants!), a group of English and German folks whose parishes have a companion relationship, and individuals from the UK, Canada, Australia and Sweden.
There is worship twice a day in the Abbey Church. The Morning and Evening Prayer services are very simple, but the music is very rich. Much is sung ot familiar hymn tunes, or folk tunes from around the world, but the texts are contemporary, often calling us to service in the world.
There is a program every morning, with topics ranging from the spirituality of the Celtic Church to the history and practice of the Iona Community. There are a variety of activities in the afternoons and evenings. On Monday night there was a cailidh (kay-lee), a Scottish song and dance fest, in the village hall, with lively dancing, singefrs, fiddlers and even a piper.
On Tuesday we went on a "pilgirmage," a seven mile hike over rocky territory and though bogs to various points of interest on the island. Wesaw a quarry where they used to produce Iona marble, a beautiful white marble with green veins running through it. At 2.7 billion years old, it is much older than anything nearby. In fact, Iona is geologically closer to Newfoundland, across the Atlantic, than to the island of Mull, just across the channel. We visited St. Columba's Bay, where tradition says Columba and his companions landed.
There was a healing service Tuesday night, and many people wondered if it was a coincidence that it came right after the pilgrimage and the cailidh.
On Thursday there was a boat rip to Staffa Island, a volcanic island 5 miles from Iona. Like th eDevil's Causeway in Northern Ireland it is made of pentagonal columns of basalt, but these rise as much as a hundred feet above the sea. There are several caves, formed when the columns rose and bent towards one another. The largest, Fingal's Cave, the home of the Irish giant Fingal, is 650 feet deep, and 60 feet wide. The ocean flows in and out, but you can walk in on basalt steps on the side of the cave. An impromptu choir sang "Yakanaka vangeri," a Zulu hymn we had learned during th eweek.
Aside form any formal programming it was a wonderful week for making new friends and learning about how the church functions in other parts of the world. It is very different being a Baptist in a country as secular as Sweden, than being being an Episcopalian in America.