WHO WE ARE

We are a group of adult Christians (at present about 20), women and men,  with and without learning disabilities, who seek to grow in faith together and share their experience with others.
 
We come from the area around Leamington and Warwick in the Midlands of England, and we meet each month, mainly in the parish halls of St Peter’s (Leamington Spa) and St Mary Immaculate (Warwick).
 
We seek to build friendships and community, to pray and reflect on our faith journeys, using dance, symbol, drama and sign language and to celebrate difference in the ways in which we encounter the world. In the six years since we started, we have grown into a community of welcome, friendship, safety and fun; and each of us has grown spiritually through our experience in the group.

Prayer is central to our meetings and takes several forms, as far as possible taking a sensory approach rather than relying on the spoken word.

• At every meeting we spend about 10 minutes sitting in a semi-circle in a ‘special place’ focused on a religious symbol or icon; we listen to a short gospel passage, share the key gospel message, reflect in silence or with background music, and each has an opportunity to mention someone they would like the group to pray for.

 

• We use dance, symbol, sign language and mime to explore and express our shared spirituality based on the gospel of Christ. One of our first (and still very popular) examples of this form of communication has been a signed version of the hymn ‘Christ has no body now but yours’, based on a prayer attributed to St Teresa. Occasionally we have been asked to share this form of spiritual reflection with local church communities as part of their liturgies. 

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• We usually have a communal activity involving the whole group, such as a dramatic performance of a gospel story, card- or candle-making, or creating an autumn wreath.

 

• Like all good communities, every meeting ends with food and drink – the table-fellowship of the gospels.

FUTURE MEETINGS
(Because of Covid restrictions, monthly meetings have been suspended since March 2020. We hope we shall be able to resume them soon.)

On Saturday 9th April 2022 at 3 pm, Hand in Hand and friends are staging the Hosanna Cantata in Our Lady's church, Valley Road, Lillington, Leamington Spa.

Come and relive the events of Holy Week in song and mime (with audience participation), from the triumphal entry into Jerusalem to the devastating crucifixion on Good Friday, with a hint of what happened next. Come by 2.45 pm for a seat, or at 9.30 am for the rehearsals if you would like to take part.
                 No booking, no charge, and refreshments afterwards.