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Peter Broadhurst

Obituary of Peter Broadhurst, Christian meditation coordinator; born November 9, 1945; died May 30, 2007. Peter Broadhurst was born in Leigh, a small cotton- spinning and coal-mining town in Lancashire.

Coming to Glasgow in 1982 as superior of the Servite Friars and master of students, he lived and worked in Scotland - a place he came to love deeply - for almost all of the rest of his life. Besides his work for his community, Broadhurst was a psychological counsellor and gave workshops at the Garnethill Centre in Glasgow at its beginnings and saw the establishment go from strength to strength.

At this time he also began to lead a Christian meditation group, giving talks and retreats and in 1990 he spent one short year at the London Christian Meditation Centre as a member of staff, but returned to Scotland to establish a Christian Meditation Centre in Glasgow. The running of this centre and living a contemplative lifestyle became his principal occupation at this time.

As the Servite house in Glasgow had closed, he had the use of a house in the grounds of the Carmelite monastery where he prayed, lived and worked while remaining a member of his own order. He joined the sisters for mass and prayer while being of service to the lay Christian meditation groups throughout Scotland and beyond.

Broadhurst was particularly gifted for this ministry and that of individual spiritual counselling because of his unique blend of psychological knowledge and skills, self knowledge, and spiritual insight. Many were the lives he touched and changed with his wisdom, insight and caring attitude. In 1998, as the Carmelite sisters were looking to the possible closure of their monastery, he moved to Tayport in Fife and continued his work from there. He also became an active member of the parish of Our Lady Star of the Sea.

Full story at The Herald.