The Iona Community, was founded during the Depression years of the 1930s when George MacLeod took a group of trainee ministers and unemployed shipworkers from Glasgow’s Clydeside to the island of Iona to rebuild part of the ancient abbey. Intended as a sign of hope in dark times, it was also an experiment in living as a community that worked and worshipped together. Over sixty years on, the Community is still committed to a spirituality of engagement and challenge and continues to thrive as a dispersed group of members, associates and friends from many walks of life based all over the UK and in many other countries.
The Community currently has over 240 Members, about 1500 Associate Members and around 1500 Friends. The Members – women and men from many denominations and backgrounds (lay and ordained) – are committed to a fivefold Rule of devotional discipline, sharing and accounting for use of time and money, regular meeting, and action for justice and peace. At the Community’s three residential centres – the Abbey and the MacLeod Centre on Iona, and Camas Adventure Camp on the Ross of Mull – guests are welcomed from March to October and over Christmas. Hospitality is provided for over 110 people, along with a unique opportunity, usually through week-long programmes, to extend horizons and forge relationships through sharing an experience of the common life in worship, work, discussion and relaxation. Like those who made their way to Iona in the early years, many of those who come now seek fresh inspiration for their own life journey. The Community’s shop on Iona, just outside the Abbey grounds, carries an attractive range of books and craft goods. The Community’s administrative headquarters are in Glasgow, which also serves as a base for its work with young people, the Wild Goose Resource Group working in the field of worship, a bi-monthly magazine, Coracle, and a publishing house, Wild Goose Publications.
Contact details
For information on The Iona Community contact: The Iona Community
Fourth Floor
Savoy House
140 Sauchiehall Street
Glasgow G2 3DH
UK Tel 0141 332 6343
Fax 0141 332 1090 E mail: admin@iona.org.uk
Web: http://www.iona.org.uk - You can use this e mail address to reach:
- Youth work
- Wild Goose Resource Group
- Coracle - the bimonthly magazine of The Iona Community
- Membership - For details of how to become a member, associate or friend of the community
For information about staying at the Iona Community’s islands centres (Iona Abbey, the MacLeod Centre and Camas) please contact:
The Iona Community
Iona Abbey
Isle of Iona
Argyll
PA76 6SN
UK Tel 01681 700404
Fax 01681 700460 E mail: ionacomm@iona.org.uk |
