An update from Judi and Paul Taylor. 

It’s about 5 years now since Campfire came back into our awareness, and soon after we said our “yes, we are in”. ‘Normal life’ resumed post-Covid, our 6 grandchildren became 8 and we immersed ourselves in all aspects of the place. Much has changed over this time and much remained the same. We have loved and been challenged by our daily involvement with it all.

We did not foresee how it would consume us, seduced perhaps by the pandemic spaciousness letting us stay home and ponder, a time when we had drunk deeply from the online WCCM offerings, wonderfully released from our usual rhythms. The years since have been a wondrous time, we’ve been so blessed to have the loving and wise support of a board of companions from diverse backgrounds and generous local managers to share this profound adventure. And we have never had such a strong sense of living in the spirit, trustingly, noticing promptings, times of disappointment/shedding giving way to wonder at more than we could ask or imagine as we pray each morning in the ‘Campfire prayer’ (Ephesians 3). Online morning prayer and meditation has been and is, central to the cloister of love and care around it all.

We’ve seen how Campfire remains a place where people could get to know each other in a deeper and more satisfying way, a constant (and reliable) surprise to many of us. Always slower to arise are opportunities to get to know our indigenous brothers and sisters – opening to all the possibilities of being part of this ‘Great Southern Land’ of the Holy Spirit. We are hopeful and trusting in this as so much.

As well as all the myriad of local offerings and the Airbnb option when the cabins are not needed for retreats, the program of WCCM retreats has bedded in, with the weekly group and the meditator-in-residence volunteering possibility as well. Blessedly the Airbnb rentals take the pressure off retreats needing to be full, allowing us to explore different formats and themes inviting to locals and those from afar.

As we met with the board over the years, it became increasingly clear that our instinct to return Campfire to local leadership, and without the weight of accountabilities an NFP company required, was becoming a real possibility. We had got to know Nicola (with Jorge) over the years and felt they were the ones we could offer taking over Campfire, wonderfully they said “yes”. Huss too is an integral part of this new season, with his care of the site and more. We will continue our annual visits and to offer retreats, and we will stay in close connection with Nicola and Jorge, we all hope to hold the same spirit and vision that has allowed Campfire to flourish until now.

The transition from Sue and David’s stewardship, their time and ways, continues more each year. We very much value and honour their long and loving care of Campfire in the Heart and are grateful to have their blessing on this new season.

We gratefully acknowledge the centrality of contemplative prayer in our time here, this radically simple way, transformative for us and so many, and so needed in these disquieting times that call us Andrew Harvey says to nobility and committed practice rather than lethargy or despair. Our hope is that the ancient sacred place that is Campfire in the Heart will long offer sustenance as we collectively struggle to emerge into a new and better way of human existence.

With love,

Judi and Paul