Campaign Goals
| Need | Amount |
|---|---|
| Building (Phase One) | £7,000,000 |
| Spiritual Formation Programmes | £1,500,000 |
| Major Video Spirituality Studies | £500,000 |
| Sacred Encounter Ministry | £500,000 |
| Gardens and Landscape | £500,000 |
| Total | £10,000,000 |
Raised so far
Every gift brings us closer to making this vision a reality
A New Mount Carmel
The New Mount Carmel Vision
Making the Mission of The New Mount Carmel a Reality
The biblical mountain Mount Carmel in the Holy Land is a mountain special to Carmelites. From the time of the Prophet Elijah in the 9th century BC, it has been a place of discerning the choice between yielding to the love of the True and Living God or pursuing after false idols. For the 21st century, the mission of the Centre for Applied Carmelite Spirituality (CACS) as a new Mount Carmel is focussed on in-depth spiritual formation and renewal, restore in people of today the capacity to dream and hope and to fall in love with the Living God.
A New Mission for a New Age
Christ’s Gospel continues to turn human history to the destiny made possible by the Paschal Mystery. For the new digital age of the 21st century, we are passionate to bring this Gospel to everyone, everywhere. Having the necessary infrastructure and capacity is pivotal for this mission and just as important are collaborators who can partner with us in our mission of hope.
Our initial £10 million capital campaign to provide a solid foundation for future growth which will focus on developing the capacity, quality and outreach of our spiritual formation programmes, as well as the physical infrastructure and technology that support these programmes.
The capital campaign will:
- support the formation of 300 new Spiritual Directors in the Carmelite Tradition who will intimately know and love Christ and can help those they accompany to achieve that same love and intimacy.
- develop a range of new study and spirituality programmes which will resource people and groups involved in soul care ministries and whose practice can be informed by the richness of Carmelite spirituality.
- subsidise the cost of creating prayer courses so that more people are formed in becoming a prayer presence in our world, and a support for their parishes and church communities.
- sponsor a new generation of 33 Carmelite scholars and practitioners whose research, teaching and practice will sustain and validate Carmelite spirituality and its message into the future.
- Upgrade our Priory’s physical assets to be safer, more accessible, more energy conserving and better able to meet the needs of the people and communities we serve.
What Your Gift Builds
Studio
A new state-of-the-art studio will provide a new space for content creation thereby enhancing our capacity for digital outreach and making available more resources for people’s ongoing spiritual formation. It will also increase our revenue in the coming years thereby ensuring ongoing financial stability for our ministry.
Conference Space
A new conference space will also enable the Centre to deliver on-site formation for our students, pastoral ministers, and Church leaders — clergy and lay. It will also host our annual conferences, summits and Enriching Ministry Days that are simultaneously streamed to audiences all over the world. As it will be let out to external groups it will also provide additional income for the Centre.
Guest accommodation
New en-suite guest accommodation will provide suitable private facilities and a more reflective space for study, rest, and prayer. These will replace the shared facilities in the “Annex” building constructed 60 years ago although originally designed for a short life of only 15 years.
Library
A new library that will enable the Centre to host the only specialist library collection of thousands of books and associated journals for the study of Carmelite, as well as, contemporary and applied spiritualities in the UK. Carefully built over the past 60 years it will accompanying readers — in person and online — into new ways of imaginatively engaging with the defining issues of our day, and responding with creative fidelity inspired by the wisdom Christian spirituality and making their own unique contributions to the world. It will also leverage the Centre’s proximity to the 43 colleges of the University of Oxford as well tens of thousands of annual visitors who come for theological conferences and seminars in the University city.
Landscaping
Enhancing the landscape of the Centre so that it continues being a place of beauty and an oasis of serenity and stillness is part of the vision. Our extensive grounds of open meadows and mature woodland are ideal for quiet prayer and meditation, reflective study and walks. It reflects the meaning of the word Carmel which means “garden” in its original Hebrew. The Centre aims to provide a landscape that promotes beauty; and nurtures prayerful, formative companionship with God.
Discourse on Architecture and Landscape Masterplan
If you would like to discuss any aspect of this visionary project we’d love to hear from you: fundraising@cacs.org.uk