Bursaries for Retreats for NHS Workers

The APR would like to thank NHS Staff and care-workers for their tireless care throughout the Coronavirus Pandemic.

And to say ‘thank you’, we have made a number of Bursaries available for NHS staff and care-workers to make a retreat at any of the APR Retreat Houses across the UK. The scheme has been extended from April until December 2021.

Full details about how the scheme works, and how to apply, can be found on the Bursary page of our website.

If you would like to contribute to the NHS Bursary Fund, and help even more NHS and Care-Workers take a much-needed retreat this year, please follow this link.

Now rescheduled for 22-24 October 2021 at St Katharine’s Parmoor, near Henley

Have you ever wanted to lead a Retreat for Beginners, but haven’t known how, or where, to start? APR Trustee and experienced retreat-leader, Alison Christian, will guide you through some of the do’s, don’t’s and FAQ’s of this, whilst sharing a weekend retreat together as though for the very first time!

The retreat will cost £205 per person, to include all your meals, and in line with the current Covid-guidelines, all rooms are single and en-suite. Click here for more information, or download a Booking Form.

(Please note that whilst this retreat is, of course, open to everyone, it will be particularly useful for those people (including existing retreat-leaders) wishing to lead retreats for first-time retreatants)

Due to the Coronavirus situation, this retreat has been postponed, and will now be held from 1st-3rd November 2021. 

The retreat will cost £205 per person (or £185 per person, sharing a room), which will include all your meals. To book, please complete and return the downloadable Booking Form, with your deposit, or contact the APR Administrator who will be able to help you.

Led by APR Chair, the Revd Barry Preece, the retreat is entitled ‘Late Musings’. Barry writes, ‘I am a reflective person by nature and this retreat will be an opportunity to share thoughts about aspects of faith and life which have become increasingly important to me.  With titles of talks that include “Good Enough”, “Such is the Mystery” and “Letting in the Light” you may already have an idea of what some of those things might be.

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For a full listing of online retreats this spring, please go to our Retreat at Home page, or check our Facebook page for up-to-date announcements.

Included amongst these are a number of retreats led by Donna Worthington (a spiritual director and retreat leader), such as:

PRACTISING THE PRESENCE OF GOD. 4 week course, Fridays 2,9,16 and 23 July, 6.30-9pm, £80

GOD IN ALL THINGS. Sat 10 July 2-5pm (repeated Mon 12th July 10-1om, £20

SAINT JOSEPH. Sat 14 August, 2-5pm, £20

For bookings and further information, please visit www.christianretreats.live, or contact Donna Worthington directly: drworthington@live.co.uk

4-7 October 2021, at Borderlands Retreat, Leominster

This retreat, beginning on St Francis Day, will explore the rich symbolism of different trees both in the Bible and in the Christian tradition, including hymnody and poetry. There will be addresses and suggested meditations, and plenty of time and space for silence and prayer, as well as time to enjoy the fruitfulness of our garden and orchard at Borderlands Retreats at the height of the fruit harvest.

More information, bookings and details of other retreats at the same location from www.spiritualityadviser.com/retreats

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.

Published in March 2020, this beautifully-produced guide offers some practical ideas to help Retreat Houses of all denominations reach out to a wider audience. These include ideas on how to best utilise online and social media promotion, as well as how to promote the value of retreat through more traditional local, regional and national channels.

Spreading the Word is available to download for free here as a pdf file, and comes with our blessings for your ongoing ministries. However, if you would like a hard copy, you can purchase one online (using Paypal) through this link, or by emailing the APR Administrator on promoting.retreats@gmail.com.

The Archbishop of Canterbury invited Trustees of the APR to Lambeth recently, for a conversation about how to better promote retreats throughout the Church of England. It was a very positive meeting. Archbishop Justin spoke both of his enthusiasm for encouraging prayer, and of his support the work of the APR as we promote the benefits of both retreats and Quiet Days, and support the work of Retreat Houses across the country, and beyond. In particular, he emphasised the value to everyone in ministry of taking regular time out to nurture their own relationships with God, saying that, ‘Evangelism or witness can only be genuine when it comes from an overflow of the love of God’.

The APR website is expanding, with a range of new resources soon to be available – the first of these are already published under the tab, ‘Signposts for Spiritual Growth’. These ‘signposts’ direct readers to a wealth of top-quality pages across the internet, concerning all aspect of prayer, spiritual formation, and growth in faith.

The pages, ‘Encountering Spirituality’, will be a virtual library of documents exploring both traditional spiritualities, contemporary role models and ‘life moments and transitions’, and are due to be published soon. Later this year, we will also be publishing a ‘Marketing Tool-Kit for Retreat Centres/Houses’.

We are pleased to announce that the Rt Revd John Stroyan, Bishop of Warwick, has been appointed as our new President.

Bishop John succeeds the Rt Revd Christopher Chessun, Bishop of Southwark, who came to the end of his term of office at the end of 2016.

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