Who we are…
St Oswald’s is an intentional ecumenical Community based at St Oswald’s House in Sleights, overlooking the lovely Esk valley but within a 10-minute drive of Whitby and its beautiful coast. Our grounds are home to chickens, bee hives, lovely gardens and a large vegetable plot.
For 40 years the buildings were the Pastoral Centre for The Order of the Holy Paraclete (OHP). In 2020 St Oswald’s Community was formed and has taken on the ministry of hospitality and welcome formerly offered by the Sisters. The new charity is a joint venture between Scargill Movement and OHP, bringing together both new and traditional expressions of community in a working partnership. We are governed by wonderfully supportive a board of Trustees which has representatives from both Scargill and OHP.
As a Community our work is centred on offering hospitality and seeking to provide a homely place in which people can rest, relax and meet with God. The Community holds a rhythm of prayer (morning, midday and evening prayers) which is central to our shared life and to which our guests are welcome. Community members make promises which form the basis of our life together – please follow this link if you’d like to read them https://stoswalds.community/community-promises/
Most of the time our house is available for you to enjoy as you wish, whether that means your own personal retreat or using St Oswald’s as a base to explore the beauty of the local area…or indeed a combination of both! As well as the house being open for you to come and ‘just be’, we also have a number of structured/led events which are detailed on the ‘What’s Happening’ page.
Our Community is currently made up of five resident and six extended community members who actively contribute to the life of St. Oswald’s. We come from different denominations, embracing our differences and still loving one another! As a Community we seek to make St Oswald’s an extension of home for everyone who comes through our doors. We then leave the work to God!
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Our Community Leaders
The community is led by Paul & Jackie Reily, both ordained priests in the Church of England with over 40 years’ experience in different contexts between them (they are licenced by the Bishop of Whitby, in the archdiocese of York).
Paul and Jackie have served in parts of Essex and in the East end of London where Paul was Vicar and Area Dean and Jackie worked as a counsellor. In 2014 they moved up north to join the Scargill Community where Jackie was one of the Chaplains and Paul was involved in fundraising. They’ve also been involved in education and leadership development, with Paul also working for a homeless charity and with YWAM Albania.
Time has been a great teacher, and perhaps one of the greatest things we have learned is that God’s love is wider than we could ever imagine and all that is asked of us is to reflect that love to others.