A new community of contemplation at St Mary’s House, Frome

 

At St Mary’s House in Frome, something tender and hopeful is beginning to take root. Mary’s House Community (MHC), a new Christian community based in the former rectory of St Mary’s Church, is preparing to welcome its first residents. MHC is envisioned as a place for people who long to live more simply, more prayerfully, and more honestly, in community with others and in gentle connection with the world around them.

Rooted in a shared rhythm of contemplation, dialogue, and creation, Mary’s House Community is a place for the spiritually curious, and those wishing to live in deeper connection with others. Daily prayer, shared meals, and local engagement will be held together in a rhythm that nourishes both inner transformation and outward love.

Revd Liz Dudley, Vicar of St Mary’s, described the vision for it, “We’re not aiming to build a project or a programme. We’re trying to create the conditions for community, for friendship, reflection, and prayer to flourish in everyday life. It’s less about doing and more about becoming.”

Up to five people will live together in the house, with room for a couple or two people open to sharing. During that time, they will pay rent and contribute to living expenses. But the residents will not simply move in as tenants, they will help shape the beginnings of this new community, one that is anchored in faith, but open to mystery and to the wisdom of each person’s journey.

Martha Oster, a trustee of Mary’s House, describes it this way:“This is a place for questions, not answers. We’ll be learning from one another — bringing our whole selves, our real lives, into a shared space of spiritual reflection and mutual care. It’s about staying in the conversation.”

Mary’s House is not a cloister, it’s an invitation to live a life that weaves prayer and presence into the world, not apart from it. The hope is that the residents will also engage with the wider Frome community through events, partnerships, conversations, and quiet acts of hospitality.,Alongside its residential life, Mary’s House Community plan to host a series of retreat days; open to all. These gatherings, including a time of learning together, working in the gardens, shared meals, and a period of silence, will reflect the community’s values in action.

“We want to create spaces for reflection and connection,” says Martha. “The retreat days are a way for people to experience the spirit of the house — a pattern of learning, of working with our hands, eating together, and being still. A window into a simpler kind of life.”

The community also has a heart for creation care. It’s hoped that residents will help tend the Giant’s Garden, an outdoor space being nurtured as a place to grow food, and offer support to local young adults. A small prayer hut in the rectory grounds which was once a derelict shed, has been lovingly restored into a 24-hour prayer space, open to anyone seeking quiet or connection.

Martha reflects that “At its core, Mary’s House is an act of faith: that it is still possible to live lives shaped by the Jesus’ wisdom. Spiritual community is a calling both ancient and new; we are called not just to personal wholeness, but to building communities of solidarity and resistance — resisting the isolation, injustice, and speed of the world through a counter-cultural rhythm of shared life, presence, and prayer.”

Pioneer and trustee Andrew Alden, says, “We hope Mary’s House becomes a place where people are reminded of what really matters. Not big success or perfect answers, but a life that flows from love, rooted in God, and shared with others.”

If you feel drawn to be part of this beginning — or simply want to learn more — visit www.maryshouse.org, or email info@maryshouse.org.

10th July 2025
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