ABOUT THE ORDER 500 years after the time of St Leonard, Hugh De Hatton, son of the First Earl of Warwick, fought in the Crusades. He was captured and imprisoned in Jerusalem - shackled to a wall for 7 years. One night, in a dream, St Leonard appeared to him and, when he awoke, he found himself freed from captivity. He hastened back to Warwick and upon his return, he gave 3000 acres of land to form Wroxall Priory, a Benedictine Order dedicated to St Leonard. 500 years later, during the reformation, the Abbey was destroyed, leaving only the lady chapel intact. This became known as St Leonard’s. The church fell into disuse and was closed in 1994. In 2001, it was reopened by Renewal Christian Centre and renamed Wren’s Chapel.In 2009, Dr David Carr, Senior Pastor of Renewal Christian Centre, was inspired to ‘re-open the Old Wells’ and was encouraged to note the many parallels between the life’s work of St Leonard and the modern day work that Renewal was already undertaking. The remarkable similarities provided further confirmation that the establishment of the Order was the next stage in providing strong Christian Leadership and promoting the delivery of strong doctrine. In 2009, Wren’s Chapel in England was consecrated as a Cathedral. Revd Dr David Carr was ordained as first Bishop of the Diocese of Wroxall Abbey, and the Order of St Leonard was established, with Wren’s Cathedral as the Bishop’s Seat. | |
|
