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Holland House is a well established Christian retreat house open to people of all faiths and none. Set on the banks of the river Avon in the pretty village of Cropthorne, Holland House is a 17th Century black and white timbered building with a partly thatched roof and four acres of gardens. Home-cooked food from the best of Worcestershire produce, local beers, fruit juices and honey from our own bee hives make Holland House an ideal venue to meet and be creative. Anniversary Appeal If you would like to support our Anniversary Appeal you can make a donation via our website or send a cheque payable to Holland House to Holland House, Main Street, Cropthorne, Pershore
QUIET DAYS WITH MARIANNE RANKIN 10am 4pm Tuesday 6th February: Spiritual but not Religious Are you someone who has drifted away from formal religion but would admit to being spiritual? This is a day to explore just how religion and spirituality are understood and practised today and what that means for you. 32 per person including refreshments and lunch Monday 10th September: Quiet Days at Home and Experiencing Nature How about taking a Quiet Day at home on your own? Marianne will guide you through. Then she will suggest imaginary journeys of reflection in nature. 32 per person including refreshments and lunch Marianne Rankin is Director of Communications for the Alister Hardy Trust and is currently researching spiritual experience for a PhD.
Friendly Lunches Arrive from 12noon to enjoy a drink from the bar, a 2 course set lunch will be served at 1pm followed by the talk from the speaker of the day. Thursday 11th January: Tim Porter on Evesham Abbey, its appearance, disappearance and legacy. 15 per person Tuesday 27th March: Nathan Amin will be speaking about The House of Beaufort & the Battle of Tewkesbury. 15 per person Booking essential on-line via our website www.hollandhouse.org
Yoga for Christians in Lent Tuesday 20 February, 12 noon until Thursday 22 February 2018 4pm Whether you're a Christian who already goes to a yoga class, have an interest in how yoga can support your faith, or would simply like to experience yoga within a Christian framework, this short Lent retreat is for you. Revd Ian Spencer will introduce Yoga as a practice Christians can use to deeply connect with faith, working with body practice, breath, and meditation to explore the Lenten season. Biblical scripture, chanting and times of silence and stillness are combined to create three days of a very special Lenten practice. Cost is 185 includes accommodation and meals
CARM Retreats and Quiet Days Dazzling Darkness led by Christine Dodd Friday 6th April 2018 from 10 4pm An exploration of darkness and light in the spiritual life and how we reflect this in art. This day comes just after Easter during which many of us will have travelled along the darkness of the way of the cross to the light of the resurrection. Light and dark are great themes in the Christian faith and in the Christian life. All of us experience times of darkness and light, sorrows and joys, ups and downs. Life teaches us that they are an inevitable part of our humanity. What does it mean to discover God in both the light and the dark? Can our darkness dazzle with the light of God even in difficult times and can we experience the light of God when our prayer seems dry and dark? This day will explore these two elements using times of silence, times of input and time to pray. We will use paint and pastel as a way of expressing our prayer in a different way. You do not need to bring anything (though if you have some art materials it would be helpful to bring them) and you do NOT have to be good at art just to have a desire to let go, pray and see what comes. This day is for everyone who would like to explore how spirituality and creativity can go together. 32 per person includes refreshments and lunch
Residential Conference at Holland House Healing and Wholeness in New Testament times and today 27th April 5pm 29th April 2pm 2018 A wonderful opportunity to step aside, take a prayerful look at the ministry of healing and wholeness, and relax together. The Reverend Steve Clark, who has great experience in this ministry and was formerly Chaplain at Burrswood, and Crowhurst, will guide our reflections. We will cover the following topics: Exploring the Jesus way: How did He touch peoples lives? What is our model for prayer ministry? The truth that heals being gently honest The self-awareness of the wounded healer The healed church functioning as the Body of Christ. There will also be a Eucharist at 10am on Sunday President: The Venerable Nikki Groarke, Archdeacon of Dudley. A very warm welcome awaits all engaged in the ministry of healing and wholeness in their church; and those interested in doing so (with their Minister s endorsement). LIMITED SPACE: BOOK SOON! Cost: 150 inclusive. Limited bursary assistance may be available. To book please contact Peter Perry: 01386 861791 or email peterandsue@gmail.com
CARM RETREATS AND QUIET DAYS Poetry and Prayer led by Revd Clive Harper and Ann Parker Friday 1st Sunday 3 June 2018 190 per person includes accommodation and meals CREAM TEAS AT HOLLAND HOUSE CREAM TEA 5 Homemade plain and fruit scones with Holland House raspberry preserve and clotted cream Pot of tea or coffee FULL AFTERNOON TEA 10 Including homemade plain and fruit scones with Holland House raspberry preserve and clotted cream, cakes of the day, selection of finger sandwiches and a pot of tea or coffee Add a mini bottle of Prosecco for an additional 3 Telephone 01386 860330 email: reservations@hollandhouse.org Pre-booking is essential
FRIENDS of HOLLAND HOUSE WEEKEND Friday 4th May to Sunday 6th May A Weekend in Harmony with Creation Details to be advised Additional accommodation is available on Thursday 3rd May for those travelling a distance. Guests are welcome to stay for dinner, b&b on Sunday in return for help at the Cropthorne Walkabout Quiet25 Retreats for the Quiet Garden Movement 10am Wednesday 28 March until 4pm on Thursday 29 March 2018, at Holland House An opportunity to rest and explore contemplative and meditative practices from our Quiet25 Exploring Silence Course and connect with others involved in Quiet Gardens. Drawing on different aspects of Christian contemplative tradition, the retreat is intended to be inclusive, flexible and accessible to a wide range of participants. We are an ecumenical Movement and the retreat is open to everyone, those of faith or none. The retreat will include space for individual reflection and silence, as well as group time where we will explore a variety of exercises and practices that nurture our relationship with silence. The retreat will be led by Matt Freer and Tina Jefferies, both experienced retreat facilitators and authors of the Quiet25 course. Contact: info@quietgarden.org, call 01494 578909 or visit http:// quietgarden.org for more information and to book.
Neil Douglas-Klotz Breathing Life of All: Chant, Movement and Contemplative Prayer with the Aramaic Jesus Friday 28th September 5pm until Sunday 30th September 4pm Since the publication of Neil Douglas-Klotz s Prayers of the Cosmos in 1990, which Dr. Matthew Fox called the seeds of a revolution, chanting and meditating with the words of Jesus in his native Aramaic language has become one of the leading methods of next-generation, community-based ritual. Using Aramaic (either aloud or silently) offers one a direct connection through vibration, sound and breath to the spirituality of person who used the words, as well as to the indigenous Christianity of the Middle East, which predates the Western creeds and original sin-based theology. In the same way that Eastern mantra can, it bypasses the overly-busy, conceptual mind and allows one to enter deeply into feeling and body. Similar to the use of centreing prayer and contemplative prayer, over the past thirty years ministers, therapists, spiritual directors and laypeople around the world have shared Aramaic body prayer in informal, inter-spiritual gatherings as well as congregations of various denominations. This meditative art combines simple, mantra-like chanting, similar to the songs of the Taize community, along with contemplative, body-based awareness, either sitting in silence or with gentle circle dance movement. It can also be used as a type of spiritual therapy process, when various sayings are combined in particular ways. This retreat will offer an experience with its originator, who will also offer suggestions for starting and leading one s own group. Ripe and blessed are those who realize that breath, and its connection to Holy Breath, is all they have. To them belongs the reign of Unity. First Beatitude in Matthew, translated from the Aramaic. Cost: 255 per person includes all meals and accommodation
JOHN BELL RETREAT 4pm Friday 16th until 4pm Sunday 18th November 2018 'IN ADVANCE OF ADVENT' Reflections on the midwinter seasons before they begin, avoiding Christmas carols, nativity plays, mistletoe and partridges in pear trees". 255per person includes accommodation and meals The Richard Rohr Retreat 12 noon Friday 14th until 2pm Monday 17th December 2018 For several years Holland House has been offering four day retreats based on the teachings of Fr Richard Rohr OFM and the faculty of the Centre for Action and Contemplation (CAC). This year s retreat will be focusing on "scripture as spirituality", using the books "The Wisdom Jesus" (Bourgeault), "Scripture & Spirituality" (Rohr) and Jesus plan for a new world" (Rohr). The retreat is led by Revd Ian Spencer, Urs Mattman and Dorothy Littlewood (graduate of the Rohr "Living School"). Richard Rohr no longer travels outside the USA and will not be present. Only 25 places are available. As these retreats are booked-out quickly with waiting lists, it is advisable to book early. 295 per person includes accommodation and meals
2018 Diary Dates January: Thursday 11th February: Tuesday 6th Tuesday 20th Thursday 22nd March: Tuesday 27th Wednesday 28th Thursday 29th April: Friday 6th Thursday 19th Friday 27th Sunday 29th People May: Friday 4th Sunday 6th Monday 7th June: Friday 1st Sunday 3rd July: Thursday 19th August: Thursday 16th Friendly Lunch Spiritual but not Religious Yoga for Christians in Lent Friendly Lunch Quiet25 Garden Retreat CARM: Dazzling Darkness Quiet Garden Day Healing and Wholeness Residential Conference hosted by Kingdom Weekend organised by the Friends of Holland House Cropthorne Walkabout CARM Retreat: Poetry & Prayer Quiet Garden Day Quiet Garden Day
September: Monday 10th Thursday 20th Friday 28th Sunday 30th Quiet Days at Home and Experiencing Nature Quiet Garden Day Breathing Life of All with Neil Douglas-Klotz October: November: Friday 16th Sunday 18th December: Friday 14th-Monday 17th In Advance of Advent with John Bell The Richard Rohr Retreat: The Wisdom Jesus scripture and spiritual truth Visit our website and join our mailing list to keep up to date with our latest events or follow us on facebook www.hollandhouse.org All days and retreats are available to book on line
THE VIEW FROM THE HILL Need to step back for a while and take a view as to what's happened in your life, your faith, your health or work? If there's one certainty in life, it's that things change - including long-held beliefs, aspirations or desires. The View from the Hill is for anyone who needs to step back from their life-situation and have some time to take stock and perhaps deepen their experience of the presence of the divine in their life. It's an individually guided retreat (IGR) that lasts for three days during which time we sit together on our (metaphorical) hilltop. Day one involves asking why have I come to this place? and remembering the journey. Day two is about laying the past and future down, and learning to become very aware of the present moment, and what the implications are for our lives when we do that. Day three involves preparing to leave the hill, returning to the life-situation from whence we came, but perhaps better prepared for encountering it afresh. I meet with the participant twice each day, once in the morning, once in the afternoon to listen and to be a companion on the hill. Dates for the retreat by appointment Cost: 270 fully inclusive Do get in touch if you'd like to find out more, just email me at this address ian.spencer@hollandhouse.org For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land a land with brooks, streams, and deep springs gushing out into the valleys and hills Deuteronomy 8:7
27 Bedrooms 19 Singles 7 Twin 1 Twin accessible room Drawing Room Library Conference Room Chapel Individual Prayer Room Study Holland House in Harmony with Creation Book on line at www.hollandhouse.org
Holland House, Main Street, Cropthorne, Pershore WR10 3NB Telephone 01386 860330 www.hollandhouse.org