Our church in Oxford is a Pan-Orthodox foundation, jointly consecrated by bishops of the Greek, Russian and Serbian Churches.

Parishes of the Greek and Russian jurisdictions celebrate the Liturgy together every week (at present the Serbian parish holds its services in another district of Oxford) and our community also includes people from many other countries. The congregation is drawn from a wide area (some members live up to 40 miles from the church) which gives us limited opportunities to come to know one another well.

In 1988 it was suggested that we might form an Orthodox women's discussion group. Nine of us were interested in participating experimentally, but with modest hope of success. We already had such a group open to both sexes, and there were various ecumenical women's groups in Oxford, so we questioned whether there was any real demand. We also felt that our individual personalities and interests might not cohere into a group. We agreed to meet once a month, at the home of one member of the group or another.We selected a book, and for the next two years read and discussed a chapter at each meeting. During that period the book tended to 'drag' and discussion at times was stilted. Most of us felt that, though the meetings were mildly pleasant, nothing very significant was being achieved. We were unaware of the extent to which we were bonding as a group.

We next decided to ask each member in turn to give a talk, followed by discussion. Initially most of us suffered from stage fright! However, as we chose successive topics, it gradually became clear that our main concern as a group was the applications of Orthodox Tradition to daily life and the challenges of the contemporary world, especially where this affected women.

1991 was a deeply sad year, as it brought the untimely deaths of both of our priests' wives. Perhaps it was this very experience of the proximity of death which brought new and continuing vitality to the women's group. We now feel that the group has a clear identity, which I will attempt to describe.

Our meetings have always begun and ended with short prayers. The topics and discussion are sometimes devotional, sometimes concerned with secular" Issues, sometimes reflective. We have, for example, devoted meetings to Private Prayer, Friendship, Single People in the Church, the Paranormal, the Church and Sex, Joy, Fasting, Anger, Mixed Orthodox/non -Orthodox Marriages, Grief, Children in Church, Solitude and Loneliness, Pornography, Authority in the Church, Frequency and Infrequency of Communion.

We are very aware that Orthodoxy is often much too inward-looking, paying too little attention to the (often desperate) needs of those outside the Church, and of the duty to engage in far more action, yet without compromising our own Tradition and spirituality. This is particularly difficult to implement in the diaspora, but we are concerned that much greater effort be made.

The group currently has twenty-three members. In addition to twenty Orthodox we have three Monophysites, each of whom has permission to receive communion in Orthodox Churches. This has brought in a valuable extra dimension, as was shown when one member introduced us to the beautiful prayers to the Mother of God in her Coptic tradition. The imagery used of Mary in these prayers perhaps, especially, commends itself to women.

We range in age from 18-67 years, but with the majority in our 40's and 50's, and would very much appreciate more participation by younger women to redress the balance. We are also nearly all converts' and would strongly welcome more 'born' Orthodox. More than half our members are mothers, and about two-thirds are (or have been) married. It is quite commonly ,said that in Church communities single women feel marginalised by wives and mothers, but happily that has not been the experience of unmarried members of our group. Many of us, whether married or single, feel we have benefited significantly from support received from the group.

Nearly all go out to work. Professions range from a Jungian analyst to a painter, two midwives, a teacher, a photographer, a librarian, the senior sister from a hospice and an engineering student. The 'caring professions' are particularly well represented, and it would be good also to have more women from the scientific, industrial, legal and business worlds.

We are trying to be a growing organism, rather than an organisation, and feel we can best achieve this through informality and flexibility, and by keeping structures and rules to an irreducible minimum. The advantages which we feel in being an all-female group have proved very real. It would probably be true to say that, amid all the flux of gender roles in the West today, both women and men feel a certain fear and uncertainty towards each other, and there is benefit in setting aside time for single sex discussion and reflection.

We are aware that we are still a young group with much to learn, and would be glad to hear of the experiences of other groups. We warmly welcome Orthodox visitors from any jurisdiction or parish at our meetings, very much including those from overseas.