A STONE carver and Franciscan Tertiary, the Revd Lindy Cameron, is realising her vision to set up a community for women, based at her rectory in Langton Matravers, in Dorset.
A house-for-duty Pioneer priest, she served her curacy at Hillfield Friary, near Dorchester. “My heart is for community working together,” she says of the ten-year journey that has brought her to this point. “Whoever I teach carving to, I hope to be able to share part of that journey with stone.”
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Ms Cameron first encountered Purbeck limestone 15 years ago, on a visit to the Burngate Purbeck Stone Centre, where she is now a tutor for carving groups. She is also involved with a carving group in the village and is working with the local school on creating carvings for the Church of St Nicholas of Myra. She continues to run regular weekends looking at spirituality through the art of stone carving, which she began at Hillfield.
“I live on the Jurassic coast, where the limestone beds run all the way from Portland to Swanage,” she says. “Local people here really do know their stones. The limestone is formed from living creatures and plant life, with so many tiny shells and crystallisations: it’s amazing. You’re dealing with the ancient of ancients. God created it, and it makes my heart sing and my spirit sing.”
The community has space for two single women to join in living at the rectory, following a rhythm of daily prayer and active engagement with the communities of Langton, Worth, and Kingston. “I see the community as concentric circles, already widening: the inner ring, the church community and the parish, the local community,” she reflects. “When everything is in place, we’ll officially open and the Bishop will come and anoint the house.”
Fellow community members will be invited to share their own vocation and skills with the local community and the churches. Ms Cameron’s own calling to set up a community first came with a visit to the Ffyald y Brenin retreat centre, in West Wales. “I had no idea how or when that would happen but I held on to the vision, the dream, that one day it would,” she remembers. “This is but a snippet of how God has guided me and opened doors.”