Gillian Mannouch (St. John’s Wimborne) recently organised a day’s retreat for their local UCAN area group. She writes:
“One new feature for our local group was a retreat. We met at St Mary’s Church at Lytchett Matravers which is in a lovely peaceful location. At the start of the day we had a short time of worship. We focussed in the morning on how Jesus retreated from the busyness of life (Matthew 14:23) and how we can hear God’s voice in the silence (1 Kings 19:11-12). During the morning, we were led by Jackie Leswell (www.hgpm.org.uk) and we also had the opportunity to express ourselves using craft materials, meditate on some Bible verses or simply spend time quietly outside with God and nature. In the afternoon some people had a walk and others remained at the church reading quietly. We all agreed that it had been a very special time and plan to make this a yearly event for our local group. Two quotes from administrators who attended: “The retreat was indeed a blessing. The rest of my week was filled with corrupted files, crashing programmes and what would have been general misery. Did I care!?! I rode straight over it all calmly, accepting the things that I could not change.” “Thank you so much for a brilliant day. Jane and I both enjoyed the morning with Jackie Leswell and it was a real help with our busy environment. I loved my walk around the parish, which really finished the day off. Well done.”
“On Tuesday 21 May 2019 we will be having our 2nd Retreat. This time we will be based at St Andrew’s Kinson. We will be led in the morning (9.30am – 12.45pm) by Beryl Bye and Elaine Arthur. The morning is entitled a ‘Soul Spa’ which sounds just what we need!! The morning will be made up of the following sessions: 1) Nourishment of the Soul followed by a coffee break, 2) Biblical Reflection, 3) Contemplative walk finishing with a short time of sharing & closing. In the afternoon, a member of St Andrew’s will be taking us on an hour’s walk finishing back at St Andrews in time to depart at 2.30pm.”
Would your local group benefit from some time together in God’s presence?