Last Sunday as part of the Brighton Festival “Spirit in the City” day I experienced some “embodied prayer” with Revd Philip Roderick. Philip Roderick founded Contemplative Fire a Christian movement “creating a community of Christ at the edge.”
Philip led us through various vocal and singing exercises before the embodied prayer itself – this consisted of simple yet powerfully symbolic movements accompanying traditional prayer. The movements reminded me of some Shinto influenced aikido warm-ups and added something to the experience for me. The principles were also akin to Integration Training Associate Rev Frankie’s embodied Hawaiian prayer. The movements shown apparently date from the early Christian Church and the Jewish tradition.
I enjoyed experiencing the Christian practice this vibrant and engaging, and was surprised to find out it has mainstream Church of England approval. This is not tea and cake. Thanks to John Watters of Living Leadership for the invite. Recommended.
