Saint John's Day

These are photographs of residents and staff from Camphill Milton Keynes celebrating St John's day on Tuesday 26th June.
St. John’s Day (sometimes called the Feast of St. John) is usually celebrated on June 24 every year. The Roman Catholic Church, Orthodox Church, and some Protestant Churches commemorate the nativity of St. John on this day. John the Baptist is seen as a major religious figure who led the movement for Baptism near the Jordan River.
St. John was born to Zechariah and Elizabeth. Zechariah was a Jewish priest, and he and Elizabeth were childless. Both were beyond child-bearing age, but then a miracle happened. Gabriel, the Archangel appeared to him and told him that his wife Elizabeth would bear a child, and when the child was born, they were to name him John. It was when Elizabeth was six months pregnant with John that the Virgin Mary conceived Jesus Christ. Elizabeth, Mother Mary’s cousin, was informed of the happy news, causing the child in Elizabeth’s womb to “leap” for joy. Christians consider this St. John the Baptist’s first act of Prophecy.

Alex Fox

38th Anniversary of the Milton Keynes Peace Pagoda

On Sunday 17^th June, there was the 38th Anniversary of the Milton Keynes Peace Pagoda in Willen. This started at 11.45 am with a procession of Monks and Nuns from the Buddhist Temple to the Peace Pagoda. Then there was a welcome by the Venerable Gyosei Masunaga, Senior Monk of Nipponozan Myohoji.

There were prayers for peace from Christian, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim and Pagan faiths.

At 1.25 pm there was a 1-minute silence, to remember victims of violence everywhere.

Then there were address and messages of peace from the Mayor of Milton Keynes, the High Sherriff of Buckinghamshire, Catholic Workers, Milton Keynes Peace and Justice Network and also from Peace Pagoda supporters.

Lunch was at 1.50 pm.

After lunch there multi-cultural celebrations by The Hemlock Morris Dancers, Bhajans who are members of Sri Satya Sai Service Centre, a poem called ‘Peace is a verb’ by Peter Low performed by Camphill Community Drama group, recital of sacred song by Children of the Dhamma School and inter-active African drumming by Inta Afrika.

The day ended at 4.00 pm with a conclusion by Rev. Nagahama.

Alex Fox

Barbecue

These are some photographs of residents and staff from Camphill Milton Keynes having a barbecue on Saturday 16th June.

Alex Fox

Mission and Vision Day

On Wednesday 13th June, there was Mission and Vision Day at the Chrysalis Theatre in Camphill Milton Keynes. The aim of the day was to review changes that have taken place over the years and to envision what the future of Camphill would be as a community together. The event started in the morning with the Vision Day song led by Joan. Then there was an introductory film from Tim with slideshows illustrating some of Camphill MK’s history and its achievements. The ice breaker was led by Julia, people worked in groups and discussed their favourite colours. At the end of this activity, a new colour was chosen for our community. After that, groups discussed what the values of our workshops and our community were, produced posters and presented their findings in front of everybody. There was also a short film about Camphill Workshops made by our Newsletter team. Just before and after lunch, participants were invited to join a craft activity by finger painting a large collage and colouring small pieces of cards which were later incorporated into the collage. Lunch was at half past twelve and we had pizza, salad with fruit, prepared and served by our bakery and café team. In the afternoon there was a presentation about life in the houses by Csilla, and a discussion of possible new names for different parts of the community, led by Anke. There was also a discussion about who’s interested in our community in a wider context –social service, the public, friends and families, health professionals… just to name a few. Again groups presented their results in the form of posters. A short film of the Joseph play, which was performed earlier this year, was shown to celebrate our achievement in drama production. At the end of the day there was a summary and exploration of the initial findings, with many residents, coworkers and staff speaking fondly of what the community meant to them. The finished collage was presented on stage with a few residents putting on the final touches and the Vision Day song once again sang together accompanied by hand bells, drums and full audience participation. This successful event demonstrated once again our values, our togetherness and our individual uniqueness. A big applause and huge thank you for everybody who contributed to the day!

Alex Fox and Lee Surridge

Community Assembly

These are some photographs of residents and staff of Camphill Milton Keynes having a community assembly at the Chrysalis Theatre on Tuesday 12th June.

Alex Fox

Recruitment and Volunteer Fair

On Friday 8th June, Camphill Milton Keynes had a recruitment and volunteer fair in the Chrysalis Theatre.
Do you want to be a part of a unique creative and caring environment?
Camphill Milton Keynes is a vibrant community providing support and a meaningful working life for adults with a wide range of abilities.

More information:

Website: www.camphillmk.co.uk

Email: recruitment@camphillmk.co.uk

Telephone: 01908 235000

Alex Fox 

Maypole Dancing

These are some photographs of residents and staff of Camphill Milton Keynes doing Maypole Dancing.
A maypole is a tall wooden pole erected as a part of various European folk festivals, around which a maypole dance often takes place.
The festival may occur on May Day (May 1st) of Pentecost (Whitsun), although in some countries it is instead erected at Midsummer. In some cases the maypole is a permanent feature that is only utilized during the festival, although in other cases it is erected specifically for the purpose before being down again.
Primarily found within the nations of Germanic Europe and the neighbouring areas which they have influenced, its origins remain unknown, although it has been speculated that it originally had some importance in the Germanic paganism of Iron Age and early Medieval cultures, and that the tradition survived Christianisation, albeit losing any original meaning that it had. It has been a recorded practice in many parts of Europe throughout the Medieval and Early Modern periods, although it became less popular in the 18th and 19th centuries. Today, the tradition is still observed in some parts of Europe and among European communities in the Americas.

Alex Fox