I first went to Iona in 1998 for a week during the Easter vacation and before long had decided that I wanted to go back as a volunteer. That first time, I stayed in the MacLeod Centre which is owned by the Iona Community, an ecumenical Christian community with members dispersed throughout the UK and beyond. Members make a commitment to daily prayer and bible study, sharing and accounting for their use of time and money, regular meeting and action for justice and peace. The community has three centres at which there is the opportunity for groups to spend a week living in community, working and worshipping together, and usually working through a programme of activities or sessions on a particular theme. (There are also open weeks during which there is no structured programme.) The Abbey and the MacLeod Centre are both on Iona, and each accommodate about 50 guests, whilst Camas, on Mull has room for about 16 guests and is used predominantly by groups of young people. All of the centres are staffed by a resident group who live there all year round, and for a period of up to three years, and a large number of volunteers who stay for anything between six weeks and several months.

There are a couple of themes that run through a stay on Iona, be it for a week or for three years: an ancient Celtic concept that worship and work cannot be separated as they have the common purpose of glorifying God, and the concept of building, and living in community. Both guest and volunteer accommodation is mainly in dormitories, and guests do daily housekeeping chores as well as washing up for each meal as part of the common life. Staff and guests eat most of their meals together providing opportunities to integrate and share their experiences. Residents and volunteers are all members of family groups — groups of staff who neither live nor work together, but who meet regularly and provide a degree of pastoral support for each other.

I was fairly confident when I went this summer that I would have a great time. I knew several people who were already there, and as someone who enjoys cooking, working in the Abbey kitchen held great promise. Having been there before I also knew something of the patterns of work and worship, but I had strong suspicions that going as a vollie would be very different to going as a guest. I was right.

I’m the kind of person who likes to be “on the inside” of things — I hate being a tourist, I don’t like being somewhere and not getting really involved with whatever’s going on. I settled in really quickly, (with a lot of much appreciated help from a lot of people) and very soon the daily routine became second nature: going to morning worship, following (specifically) straight on to work, organising a chore team, preparing the meals for the day, etc. Again, going to church every evening soon became for me the norm. I knew that I had really settled in after a week when I was introduced to the next group of new volunteers as someone who had “been here for ages and knew everything”.

Worship is at the heart of life on Iona, and there were many opportunities to get involved. During my time there I read and helped with the music (both singing and playing) on many occasions, and working in the kitchen meant that I often made the bread for communion services. But probably two of my fondest and most moving memories are of when I was asked to help serve communion in the Sunday morning service, and when one of the other volunteers and I lead a morning service. I’m so grateful that I had such opportunities to be involved in the worship of God, in so many ways, and with so many special people.

While I consider my whole time on Iona as being a fantastic experience, there are several events which particularly stand out in my memory. It happened that my time there coincided with both the Iona school of music and worship, led by the Wild Goose Worship Group, and Community Week, when as many of the 200+ members of the Iona Community and their families can make it gather on Iona for a week of discussions, meetings and worship. It was during this week that I had probably my busiest, and most enjoyable day. The high point of the week is the Hallowing Service where new members come into full membership of the community, and all members renew their commitments. This service is followed by the Hallowing Supper, which is prepared as a joint operation between the kitchen and housekeeping teams in both the Abbey and MacLeod Centre (hence my busiest day). Although there was the stress that is associated with such a large event, there was a real party atmosphere all day, and a tremendous sense of achievement when we finally got to sit down and eat …

Another highlight was visiting Camas, the adventure centre on Mull, which can only be accessed by boat or by foot (it is a mile from the end of the road), and has no electricity. When I got there the first thing that struck me was the incredible peace and beauty of the place, and this was the case every time I went. This may seem odd mentioning the peace and beauty away from Iona, which has a reputation for such features, but in the height of summer, the influx of coach loads of day trippers to the island detracts somewhat from this peace. Although the island does retain a sense of peace, even on the busiest of days, by comparison Camas, with its isolated location was a wonderful place to rest and relax on a day off.

When the time came for me to leave, I anticipated a traumatic and tearful departure, but in the event the weather was bad enough that all our concentration was just on getting on the ferry and into the dry rather than getting upset about leaving both the place and the friends that we had made. When I eventually got home the thing that was weirdest to get used to was not going to church everyday, an odd experience for someone who’s not usually that good at going once a week! One thing that helped me come to terms with suddenly leaving so many close friends was the feeling that I would see them again. I don’t know where or when I’ll see them, but I know that these friendships are important enough that we will make the effort to keep in touch and that we will see each other again.

Having spent eight weeks on Iona, I hope to go back, and if I the opportunity arose I would consider going there as a resident, to live there for a year. Obviously in eight weeks not everything is a bag of laughs and sometimes I found things difficult, but it wouldn’t be real if it was fun all the time. I can honestly say that those eight weeks were some of the best I’ve ever had.

Angela Squier