2006-09-03T03:40:00.000-07:00

'SELAH'

Our Community Mother House, International Retreat & Ministry Centre in Umbria, (Todi) - Italy

This is our Community's international and inter-denominational 'Center of Transformation' for all those who desire to explore and deepen their Christian spirituality, together with others on a common pilgrimage. Transformation is the only way to true freedom, therefore those sincerely desiring freedom must be transformed, from glory to glory. SELAH, is aimed at being one of the many instruments God will use in your life. Our Community House will also be an extended Family Home to Orphans and those in need, including Teaching English & Italian.

'Selah' — This word occurs 71 times in the Book of Psalms. Scholars agree that the term is a musical direction of some sort, but they are not agreed on what the direction is. It may mean:

(1) an interlude— a pause in the singing while the orchestra continues;
(2) the equivalent of today’s “Amen”; as such it would cause a separation psalms or sections of psalms which have different liturgical purposes; and
(3) an acrostic that means a change of voices.
From these 3 definitions we derived the following inspirations:

1) an Interlude – a necessary pause in our busy lives, while life continues.

2) a Separation in preparation for change.

3) a Change of Voices – a stilling of ours to hear His.

SELAH is our Community's 'Mother house' and Retreat center. It is a neutral and safe platform where Christian diversity from all denominations converge into unity. It is our desire to create an open atmosphere where people can get together and openly discuss various themes and explore each others Christian spirituality… some 'old'… some 'new'.

SELAH offers you time and space to get out-of-synch from your normal daily routines and slip into the synch of a rhythm of Daily Prayer and common life. Retreats at SELAH offer you the opportunity to silence the external world in order to hear the Kingdom within.

For those interested in Transformation, Retreats are not 'optional extras', they are necessary time-outs. Retreats are sacred times to dedicate ourselves to seek the voice and mind of God, our Father. The Will of God is flowing towards us perpetually, our Father often seeks to speak to us … but are we trained to hear? In order to hear, we need to silence ourselves of the noise polluting our inner-world... our fears.

Orphans: We often take 'family' for granted... but in Italy, their exists many children who are homeless and abandoned, they have no-one..! So SELAH will offer a HOME to those forgotten by society. Our Community will be FAMILY to the Orphan.

SELAH seeks to serve all those who come, by offering unconditional acceptance and hospitality in the hope of creating an ambient to HEAR the small still (sweet) voice of our Lord… Jesus of Nazareth, the Carpenter who laid down His tools to take up a cross… for YOU and for the whole World..! ... even those who hate Him!

At present we are renting our Property, but are looking to purchase it. Should you have it on your heart to help materialize our desire to purchase SELAH, please contact us on tony@thearkcommunity.org. We believe this can only be accomplished together, many small gifts making ONE BIG TOTAL... would you like to help realize this dream..?

Retreats & Staying at SELAH:
Please contact our Secretary Adele on: adele@thearkcommunity.org. Adele will help you with the availability of accommodation, Retreats and associated costs etc.

Who are we?

We are an internet based, Inter-denominational Christian Convergent Community, drawing our spirituality from the “Early Church” (33-600AD), in particular, Celtic Christian spirituality. We consider our Community to be part of the “Ancient-Future” Church, blending the “old” with the “new”. We are Inter-denominational – We believe in ONE Holy Universal Christian Church, consisting of ALL Believers, professing Jesus Christ as the only means to salvation, regardless of denomination. Denomination is your chosen expression, not your religion!

For more information about our Community, please refer to: www.thearkcommunity.org

Thank you for joining our pilgrimage!

Peace and Good.

+Tony PALMER

Founder and Community Bishop

The Ark Community

The Ark Community - Selah