Author: The Julian Meetings

In the 1980’s and into the 2000’s JM were very active in South Africa. There were several meetings. Canon John Rowlands was a key figure in promoting JM in South Africa. He gave a series of talks on Christian Meditation and Contemplative Prayer for the JM groups and these were recorded on tape. In 2022 we were approached by John Goodall who had acquired the tapes and a transcript of the talks. He wanted to make them more widely available. He gave us permission to format them in a modern and accessible manner. The content is still relevant today, although the language, style and delivery is of its time. We have improved the quality of the recordings but do not expect modern standards. Each talk is split into two or three sections. This was done to make it easier for the JM groups to use in meetings. A text transcript is still in preparation and will be added as available.

John Goodall writes: “Regarding Canon John Rowlands, he has indeed died. This was some years ago. He exercised remarkable pastoral care in his life. I understand that he worked in Cape Town’s District Six during the torrid Apartheid days, and I notice he received something of an honourable mention in Richard Reeves’s classic South African work, Buckingham Palace, District Six. He spent years promoting Julian Meetings from the early 1980s in South Africa. Also he was very kind, together with his sister, to my mother, a penurious missionary widow who lived in Cape Town. (As too was Bishop Tutu, who always supported clergy widows.)”

All the entries in bold blue are links to parts of each talk. Eg – Talk 1 is the introductory talk. Prepare for silence and Lead Into Silence are extracts. It is all as given to us. We have not done any editing apart from improving the sound quality. So just go with the flow.