The
George Herbert in Bemerton Group’s aims are to: study and celebrate the life and work of
George Herbert as priest, writer and distinguished inhabitant of Bemerton; mount events relating to the works of George Herbert and the context in which he lived; and liaise and co-ordinate with other bodies with like interests.
The Group has presented a summer programme of three to five events every year since 2002. Past events include illustrated talks and lectures; poetry readings (often accompanied by live musicians playing music of Herbert's time) and appreciation groups; readings of material about Herbert and his period; and walks in the area with which he would have been familiar.
Fr. Spencer Reece is the Rector of St. Paul's Wickford, Rhode Island. He was
ordained in Madrid in 2011 and then spent three years teaching poetry in
Honduras. He moved back to Madrid in 2014 and assisted the Episcopal
Bishop of Spain for a decade. He has published three books of poems, and in
2025 he was awarded the John Updike Award from the American Academy
of Arts. He is a Guggenheim Fellow and Whiting Fellow.
Spencer's memoir, The Secret Gospel of Mark, is a powerful dynamo of a story
that delicately weaves the author's experiences with an appreciation for seven
great poets. In speaking to the beauty these poets' works inspire in him, Reece
finds the beauty of his own life's journey. In this talk, Spencer will focus on his
love of George Herbert, sharing how writing about and to Herbert in the course
of preparing his thesis on humility in Herbert became a love letter to the poet.
Other events include:
- 'The Temple': End to End, Wednesday, 29th July at 7:00 pm, St Andrew's Church, Lower Bemerton. Dr. Oliver Peel will talk about what may have influenced the sequence of George Herbert's poems. Followed by refreshments in a local garden.
- The Parson's Life, Thursday, 11th June at 7:00 pm, St Andrew's Church, Lower Bemerton. Reflecting Herbert's three years in Bemerton. A group presentation with musical interludes from Sami Brown (lute). Followed by refreshments in a local riverside garden.
- Poetry Appreciation, Tuesday 6th October at 10:00 am, Belvedere House, 64 Lower Road, Lower Bemerton. A small group informal discussion, led by Dr. Beth Dodd.
Visit: Fr Spencer Reece
8 – 12 April,
Parish of Wickford and RunwellFr
Spencer Reece is Rector of
St Paul’s Episcopal Church in Wickford, Rhode Island, and an internationally acclaimed poet. His project teaching poetry to abandoned girls at the Our Little Roses orphanage in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, was made into an award-winning film, Voices Beyond the Wall: 12 Love Poems from the Murder Capital of the World. His dream, prayer, and ultimate goal for his time with St. Paul’s Church is to continue the ongoing work of the parish in spreading Jesus’ radical love. “Let kindness be our legacy,” he has said.
Read my interview with Fr Spencer
here and my review of his latest poetry collection
here.
http://wickfordandrunwellparish.org.uk/https://www.stpaulswickford.org/https://www.spencerreece.org/Meet Fr Spencer at:
8 April – Midweek Eucharist, 10.30 am, St Andrew’s Wickford
8 April – Bread for the World Service, 6.30 pm, St Martin-in-the-Fields, London (Fr Spencer will share a reflection on the road to Emmaus)
9 April – ‘The Broken Altar’, a talk on George Herbert, 7.00 pm, St Andrew’s Lower Bemerton (Fr Spencer is giving this talk at the invitation of the George Herbert in Bemerton group -
https://www.georgeherbert.org.uk/about/ghb_group.html)
10 April – Unveiled: Poetry Reading, 7.00 pm, St Andrew’s Wickford
11 April – Quiet Day: Poetry & Prayer, 10.30 am - 3.30 pm, St Mary’s Runwell (Fr Spencer will share poems and reflections on George Herbert)
12 April – Eucharist, 9.30 am, St Mary’s Runwell and Eucharist, 11.00 am, St Catherine’s Wickford (Fr Spencer will preach at both of these services); 4.00 pm, Showing of Voices Beyond the Wall, St Andrew’s Wickford
SPENCER REECE, 36th rector of St. Paul's Wickford, Rhode Island, is a Guggenheim Fellow and Whiting Fellow. Reece’s first book, The Clerk’s Tale, was selected for the Bakeless Prize by Nobel Laureate Louise Glück. Reece was ordained in Madrid, Spain, in 2011. Awarded a Fulbright, he taught poetry at Our Little Roses in San Pedro, Honduras, where he lived with the rescued girls at the home. The work was made into an award-winning film, Voices Beyond the Wall: 12 Love Poems from the Murder Capital of the World. The poems by the girls were made into an anthology edited by Reece, entitled Counting Time Like People Count Stars. In 2014 he published The Road to Emmaus which was a longlist nominee for the National Book Award and short-listed for the Griffin Prize. He moved to Madrid and assisted the Episcopal Bishop of Spain for a decade. During this time, he created The Unamuno Author Series, culminating in the first-ever anglophone literary festival in Madrid in 2019. In 2022, he published The Secret Gospel of Mark: A Poet’s Memoir and All The Beauty Still Left: A Poets’ Painted Book of Hours. Acts, a third book of poems, appeared in 2024. At St. Paul’s, he created the 14 Gold Street Author Series. In 2025, he was awarded the John Updike Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters for the “elegant standards” of his contribution to the literary arts. Farewell Symphony his fourth collection of poems will be published in 2028. In 2034, Love IV: Collected Poems is scheduled to appear.
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