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.

Our 2021 AGM will be held at 2pm on Wednesday 3rd November at St Columba’s House, Woking, and will also be accessible via Zoom.

You are invited to join us for a celebration of Holy Communion at 11.30am, at which our President, Rt Revd John Stroyan, will preside and preach. After a simple lunch, the AGM will start at 2.00 pm. The day will cost £20 a head to include food, which is payable either in advance (by cheque, made payable to the ‘Association for Promoting Retreats’, or by bank transfer – please ask for our BACS details), or in cash on the day.

Please can you let us know by Friday 15th October if you would like to attend, and whether this will be in person, or via Zoom (email: promoting.retreats@gmail.com); the Zoom link will be sent to those who have registered their interest nearer the time.

‘Time for Everything’ – Join an Individually Guided Retreat on the north Norfolk coast from 12-14 November 2021. Each Day will be centred around the monastic rhythm of prayer, and will include time for walking, talking, fellowship, reading, writing… indeed, ‘there is time for everything…. time to mend… and time to heal’ (Ecclesiastes 3.1-7). The retreat will cost £220, all meals included. More information can be found by clicking here.

You can also book ahead for an Advent retreat, 3-5 December. Details for this retreat can be downloaded here.

Booking forms are also available from the Revd Deborah Hamilton-Grey, (Email: rev@guidedretreats.org.uk, or telephone: 07896 658373) www.guidedretreats.org.uk,

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

THE FIRE, THE WELL & THE CLOAK.  Explore the spirituality of St Brigid and her compelling symbolism. Wed 29^th September 6.30-9pm, cost £20

THE STORY OF A SOUL: St Therese’s wisdom testifying to the deep reality of a life lived in the profound love of God. Sat 30^th October 2-5pm OR Mon 1^st November 10am-1pm. Cost £20

THE CLOUD OF UNKNOWING: Explore this incredible mystical text written in the 14thC, a profound guide on prayer.  Sat 27^th November 2-5pm OR Mon 29th November 10am-1pm, £20

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)

Running 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, 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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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’.