Annual General Meeting 2022

Our AGM will be held at 2pm on Thursday 10^th November 2022, at the Royal Foundation of St Katharine, 2 Butcher Row, London E14 8DS. It will also be accessible via Zoom.

We start with a celebration of Holy Communion at 12 noon, at which our President, Rt Revd John Stroyan, will preside and preach. After a simple lunch, the AGM will start at 2.00 pm. For those of you attending in person, the day will cost £20 a head to include food; there is no charge to attend via Zoom.

Please register your interest by emailing promoting.retreats@gmail.com, specifying whether you would like to attend in person or via Zoom; the Zoom link will be circulated nearer the time.

We are delighted to welcome new Friends of APR to the fold. These generous donors of our work choose to double (or more) their annual subscription in order to support our Bursary Fund. Every year, we receive dozens of applications for financial assistance for people who cannot otherwise afford the full cost of going on retreat. Since 2013, we have supported more than 150 retreatants to attend retreats at 30 different retreat houses, at a cost of more than £15,000. With the current cost-of-living crisis, we anticipate many more applications for help in the coming months and years.

Would you like to help? Would you like to become a Friend of APR?

If so, please do follow this link, to our membership application page, and choose the ‘Friend’ option. If you are an existing APR member, and would like to upgrade your membership, please contact the APR Administrator directly, by email on promoting.retreats@gmail.com, or by phone on (01395) 272243.

Do you want to go on retreat, but are anxious about what might be expected of you?

Many people are nervous about going on retreat for the first time – but there’s really no need! All retreat houses welcome ‘first-timers’ through their doors, for all their retreats, but some also offer retreats specifically for people who haven’t been on one before.

This year, why not try going to the Penhurst Retreat Centre in East Sussex from 28 Nov – 1 Dec?

And many of the individually guided retreats at the House of Prayer, East Molesey, are suitable for beginners too – including their retreat from 7-9 Oct.

‘Oasis Days’ offer quiet reflection for people who need a day to re-charge their spiritual batteries and enjoy the stimulation of an excellent speaker.

Currently offered online via Zoom, the next one (entitled ‘The Bright Field: Glimpsing God in everyday moments’, led by Alison MacTier) is to be held on Tuesday 11th October, 10.45am – 3.00pm. Please email APR member, Jane Franklin on janefranklinretreats@gmail.com for the Zoom link.

Looking for a retreat? Do you have a window of opportunity in your diary, but don’t know what’s on offer? Or where?

Take a look at our new Diary page – there are dozens of in-person and online retreats happening at our member houses across the UK, listed according to date – you’re bound to find something suitable!

As the APR’s way of saying ‘thank you’ to NHS Staff and care-workers for their tireless care throughout the pandemic, we made a number of additional bursaries available for them to go on retreat at any of the APR Retreat Houses across the UK. Thanks to some generous donations, we were able to run the scheme for 2 full years.

In total, we spent almost £20,000 supporting 240 NHS- and care-workers’ retreats, at UK retreat houses from Cornwall to Inverness, Pembrokeshire to Norfolk. You can read a fuller review of how much this scheme was appreciated here.

Our centenary Bursary Fund continues to support retreats for people who might not otherwise be able to afford them. If you would like to contribute to this, and help even more people take a much-needed retreat this year, please follow this link.

Penhurst Retreat Centre in East Sussex has a heart for mission – and this summer is hosting a number of retreats specifically catering for the needs of those involved in this ministry. These include:

Rooted and Grounded in Love: 12-16 September

New Directions: 21-24 November

More information can be found on Penhurst’s website, or by downloading this leaflet. Why not join them?

These are just a selection of the online retreats offered by Donna Worthington. For bookings and further information, please visit www.christianretreats.live, or contact Donna directly: drworthington@live.co.uk

DESERT FATHERS: Mon 17th October (10am-1pm)

WATER INTO WINE: Sat 22 October (2-5pm) or Mon 24 October (10am-1pm)

RESTING IN GOD, HELD BY GOD: Sat 12 November (2-5pm) or Mon 14 November (10am-1pm)

WISDOM FROM THE DESERT: Sun 14th December (2-5pm)

Our AGM at St Columba’s House, Woking in early November was well-attended, both in person and online via Zoom – and we were very grateful to the St Columba’s staff for making the technology of our first ever ‘hybrid’ meeting work so smoothly.

We also bade a fond farewell to Revd Barry Preece who has served as a Trustee of the APR for 9 years, and 6 as Chair – and we welcomed Revd Carol Smith as our new Chair.

You can download the Minutes of the meeting by clicking this link.

Soul Desire is a timely publication, written for those who are new to contemplation. Author and Spirituality Adviser, Cameron Butland, writes, ‘If we are to value silence and meditation, we need to trust in the contemplative relationship and allow ourselves to experience the love of God. This experience will teach us everything we need to know. God’s love taught St Anthony of Egypt and in the same way this love alone can transform our lives’.

To order your copy, cost £12 (free p&p), please email booksosp@gmail.com, or contact Cameron Butland directly at cdsa03@gmail.com.