Under this title a representative group of clergy and laity gathered for a two-day conference at Hawkesyard Priory, in Staffordshire, from 3rd to the 5th October. It was the first Life of the Spirit Conference, and because it was the first the subject was rather wide and the final result perhaps lacked the concrete conclusiveness that might be desired of such a meeting. But it showed that in future more specific meetings would be valuable because of the problems raised and the opportunities realised for discussions and for ‘contacts'.

The purpose of the conference was twofold. Firstly in the minds of the conveners has long been fear of beating the air with the words thrown out from Life of the Spirit without reaching real men and women of today. It is necessary for a review of this Nature to keep very closely in touch with the lives of real people in order to help to supply some of their spiritual needs.