George Guiver

George Guiver grew up in Leicester and started going to church when he was nine, placed in the choir of St Paul’s church by his (then non-churchgoing) mother. He studied music at Durham University, and was and is passable at piano, organ and singing. He discovered the life of religious communities in his teens and began a connection from about 1970 with the hermitage at Shepherds Law in Northumberland founded by Brother Harold Palmer.

After university, he got a job teaching English at Livorno in Italy and stayed there two years. He was involved in life of the local Catholic church, became organist, and was welcomed to receive the sacraments by the bishop. After that came two years of formation at Cuddesdon College and a curacy at Mill End, Rickmansworth. During that time, he developed a relationship with Romania, and especially the Orthodox Church. The language was easy to learn, being close to Italian. Then followed 6½ years in a multi-church parish in rural Herefordshire.

Eventually his desire to study became too strong, and he left the parish to go to Germany, where he studied in the German Liturgical Institute in Trier. At the same time, he was lodged in the ancient monastery of St Matthias, which happened to have a covenant relationship with the Community of the Resurrection (it has lasted and has been a wonderful gift for both communities for 55 years). That led to his exploring the Community at Mirfield, where he entered as a Postulant in 1983. For nearly 20 years, he taught liturgy in the College at Mirfield, ten of them in Leeds University as well. After that he was the Community’s Superior for 15 years. 

He has published and edited various books on liturgy, prayer, and priesthood in particular. One fruit of his links with Romania was a connection the Community developed after the revolution of 1989. This led to exchanges of students, monastics, and teaching staff, which has now sadly come to an end due to the restrictions that now apply to foreign exchanges and visits.

At the time of writing, George is working on producing accessible material on liturgy for clergy and laity who haven’t had much liturgical training.