PROGRAMME

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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 WR10 3NB

Neil Douglas Klotz Friday 6th until Sunday 8th

November 2020

£290 per person

International Aramaic scholar Neil Douglas-Klotz returns to Hol-land House in 2020 to guide us through the Beatitudes following the path to "ripeness".

Breathing with Unity, Living with Blessing

Chant, Movement and Contemplative Prayer with the Aramaic Jesus

This year at Holland House, we will return to the heart-awareness of the present moment with a journey through the

Beatitudes of Jesus in Aramaic. Through chant, simple circle movement and contemplative prayer, we will re-enter the state that Jesus calls tub, “blessedly ripe—at the right time and place” We will follow the journey of one of the most profound aspects of Jesus’ teaching, the Beatitudes in Matthew. This is a healing

journey that takes us to deepest part of ourselves and then resurrects us in power and joy. Whether or not you have joined in these Aramaic retreats previously, this is a

wonderful doorway into Jesus’ native spirituality and way of meditation.

Early Booking Recommended. Cost includes all meals and accommodation.

Evesham Festival of Words:

‘

Lunch and Talk: Juliet Dunmur ‘Architecture, Arts and Crafts in the creative lives of

Edward and Prudence Maufe, 1910-1960’

Friday 2nd October

Arrive at 12.30pm and enjoy a drink from the bar, lunch will

be served at 1pm followed by the talk.

Booking essential on-line via our website or by telephone, full payment required at the time of booking

Pop-up Days

We are introducing pop-up events, including personal quiet days, yoga & mindfulness,

Sunday lunches and afternoon teas.

These will be advertised on our website and social media and will be

at a reduced rate.

Pop-up’s can only be booked on-line via our website

www.hollandhouse.org/shop

www.facebook.com/hollandhousecropthorne

www.instagram.com/hollandhousecropthorne

www.twitter.com/hollandHretreat

Join our mailing list to be the first to know! www.hollandhouse.org

GOING BEYOND

Who sees the many and not the One wanders on from death to death’ (Katha Upanishad)

Many Christians have struggled to find the Christ we know in our hearts in the churches where we grew up. We imbibed an image of God delivered in dualistic terms, excluding perspectives from other spiritual traditions, encased in a thought structure offering nothing beyond thought, alienated from nature and imagination, and sometimes from ourselves. Seeking to find a remedy, some looked to the East and discovered a way to God growing out of an experience transcending religion or philosophy, a realisation emerging out of inner transformation, and have found there the same Truth as seen through the Spirit of God in Christ. In the mid 20th century the English Benedictine Monk Fr Bede Griffiths found in India what he described as ’the other half of his soul’, and sought to integrate the insights of Indian Spirituality with his Christian faith. His Christian Ashram, Shantivanam, in Tamil Nadu, became a centre of prayer and meditation for thou-sands of people. Remaining rooted in Christ, he nurtured, through the practice of contemplation and development of wisdom, a deep connection with the One to be found at the heart of all religion. In this spirit, Jane Lichnowski and John Ryder, along with Revd Ian Spencer, will offer a weekend to facili-tate a deepening process of spiritual understanding through an exploration of the Katha Upanishad. This accessible Hindu scripture opens up questions of life and death, and invites us to journey into the ultimate nature of who we are. Its study provides a map of how we can integrate this wisdom into our ongoing experi-ence of life.

This retreat aims to facilitate an understanding of this work through entering into “ashram-time”, conducted by people inspired by Father Bede’s life and vision. It provides an oppor-tunity to hear and reflect on the Katha Upanishad, held within the Benedictine rhythm of the day as at Shantivanam, with times of meditation and prayer, silence and sharing. Also, opportunities for yoga, contemplative walking in the beautiful grounds, and an Indian-style Eucharist. The retreat may be of interest to anyone of any faith seeking to deepen their spiritual practice.

Jane Lichnowski and John Ryder are founder-members of the Bede Griffiths Sangha, a loosely - knit community of people formed 25 years ago after the death of Father Bede. (see www.bedegriffithssangha.org.uk) Revd Ian Spencer is an Anglican Priest, Warden of Holland House, and yoga teacher.

Friday October 30th—Sunday November 1st

£280 per person to include all meals, refreshments and accommodation

Quiet Garden Days Run by the Friends of Holland House

Dates for 2020

Thursday 16th April Thursday 21st May

Thursday 18th June Thursday 16th July

Thursday 20th August Thursday 17th September

£18 per person to include a sandwich lunch and

refreshments

Join us for Afternoon Tea

£14 per person

Including homemade plain and fruit scones served with Holland House raspberry preserve and

clotted cream, cakes of the day, selection of finger sandwiches and a pot of tea or coffee

Pre-booking is essential

We are able to cater for gluten free and vegan

diets with sufficient notice

Look out for the offer on the Worcestershire Foodie Card

Praying Differently

Prayer is at the heart of all spiritual journeying, yet for many of us it seems difficult and unsatisfying. Often this is because we've never progressed our prayer-practice, that is, we've never learned about the very many other ways we might pray. The Christian tradition has a very rich heritage of prayer practice, and these one-day retreats are designed to introduce prayer practices that connect directly with body/heart/mind - a trans-formative experience.

Places are limited to four people to enable

one-to-one discussion / teaching. Prayer practices include; Prayer rope, rosary, icons, lectio divina, meditation, breath work, Centring Prayer, Christian mantra, devotional. During the morning the participant will have time to find a practice that feels in harmony with them, and in the afternoon Revd Ian Spencer will be available to talk on a one-to-one basis to help establish the new practice with each person.

Tuesday 17th March—full

Tuesday 5th May Thursday 18th August

Wednesday 21st October Thursday 10th December

£40 includes lunch, refreshments

and prayer resource pack

FINDING YOUR GOD is a one-to-one residential, 2 day retreat offering an opportunity to explore what God, the Divine, the Absolute, means to you.

Even people of longstanding faith can feel they’ve never really encountered God, traditional images sometimes being unhelpful. This retreat is for any-one who wants to widen or deepen their explora-tion of the Divine, moving from other peoples ideas of God, to discovering God deeply for ourselves.

These are one-to-one retreats so enquiries are sim-ilar to those from The View From the Hill retreat, i.e. email Revd Ian Spencer ian.spencer@hollandhouse.org

Ian will send an overview of the itinerary which in-cludes four sessions of one-to-one time during the two days.

The price is £170 fully inclusive, dates to be agreed by mutual arrangement but will always be during Tuesday to Friday.

Richard Rohr Retreat

Friday 27th until Monday 30th November 2020

£315 per person

‘Spiritual Experiences of Light with Marianne’

Saturday 25th April

An opportunity to consider experiences of light in the major religious traditions, in works of art and in the

experiences of ordinary people. Whether in abstract visions or in the form of angelic beings, light has a transformative effect. There will be time for silent

reflection and also the opportunity to share our own experiences.

10am - 4pm

Includes 2 course lunch £40

To book, please telephone 01386

860330 to book or visit our website.

Yoga for Christians

10am—4pm

Tuesday 21st January Thursday 19th March

Tuesday 7th May Tuesday 20th August

Thursday 17th September Thursday 19th November

Led by Revd Ian Spencer, Ian is an Anglican Priest and member of Christians Practicing Yoga. He received his Yoga training through the Sadhana Mala Teacher Training School, affiliated to the Association for Yoga Studies (AYS). The day includes asana (postures), some theory & discussion, chanting and a contemplative Holy Communion service to which all are welcome. Refreshments and vegetarian lunch also included. Postures are suitable for beginners.

£40 per session includes refreshments and vegetarian lunch

Please book on-line in advance

Friends weekend Inside Out—Outside In

Friday 1st —Sunday 3rd May

Inside Out – Outside In – exploring our spirituality

and our place in the world.

The Friends of Holland House will be hosting a weekend, arrivals from 5pm on Friday and

concluding with afternoon tea on Sunday, all welcome.

Programme:

Friday evening – ‘Getting to know you’

Saturday – a varied programme of Retreat tasters, including art and music and a film in the evening

Sunday – 3 sessions led by experienced Spiritual Director Nick Helm on ‘Spirituality and Life:

Spiritual practices that can energise and shape our living’

£170 to include all meals and accommodation or

£130 non-residential, all meals (excluding breakfast)

‘Taster Day’ Saturday 2nd May

Have you ever wondered what people do on a ‘Quiet Day’

or ‘Retreat’? Been reluctant to spend money to try one?

Never experienced the beautiful gardens at Holland House, Worcestershire’s very own Retreat house?

Then this Taster Day might be for you.

It is being offered at a subsidised price by the Friends of Holland House as part of their Friends weekend.

What can you expect?

You will be offered two short reflections led by a Friend which will be followed by free time to enjoy the gardens. There are many ways to use the time; read, draw, write poetry, contemplate colours, sights and sounds in the

gardens, maybe try the Labyrinth. There will be also be a choice of art and craft activities, yoga and a guided village

walk.

Also included, an opportunity to join in a short act of worship in our newly refurbished Chapel, a delicious home-cooked two course lunch and the day will

finish around 4pm with tea and cake.

Richard Rohr Meditations: One Day Retreat’s

A series of day retreat's are on offer throughout the year, working with the teachings of Fr Richard Rohr,

Franciscan Friar, author and leader of the Centre for Ac-tion and Contemplation.

Taken from "A Spring Within Us" Meditations by Rich-ard Rohr the themes will be:

Thursday 20th February Thursday 5th March Thursday 16th April

Wednesday 10th June Thursday 6th August

Thursday 15th October

Each day will be led by Revd Ian Spencer and will include

teaching, discussion, quiet time for personal reflection and finishing with a Contemplative Communion service to which all

are invited.

The day runs from 10am until 4pm.

You are welcome to arrive from 9.30am for morning coffee and Afternoon Tea will be served at 4pm

£40 to include lunch and refreshments

Thomas Merton’s Legacy to Interfaith Dialogue

Wednesday 25th November

10 - 4pm

Holland House is delighted to welcome Dr Thurston to lead a day on the principles

of Interfaith Dialogue as espoused by Thomas Merton. This is an exciting one-off opportunity for anyone interested either in

Merton or Interfaith work. An expert in Merton, Dr Thurston will lead us in a day of both learning and discussion regarding how we also might go about the critical work of

Interfaith dialogue in the 21st century.

£40 to include lunch and refreshments

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 re-membering 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 im-

plications 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 pre-pared 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: £285 fully inclusive

Do get in touch if you'd like to find out more, just email me at this ad-dress 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

Diary Dates 2020

March: Monday 2nd Friendly Lunch March 5th Richard Rohr Meditation Tuesday 17th Praying Differently Thursday 19th Yoga for Christians April: Thursday 16th Richard Rohr Meditation Thursday 16th Quiet Garden Day Saturday 25th Spiritual experiences of light May: Friday 1st-Sunday3rd Friends Weekend Saturday 2nd Taster Day Tuesday 5th Praying Differently Tuesday 7th Yoga for Christians Thursday 21st Quiet Garden Day June: Wednesday 10th Richard Rohr Meditation Thursday 18th Quiet Garden Day July: Thursday 16th Quiet Garden Day August: Thursday 6th Richard Rohr Meditation Tuesday 18th Praying Differently Thursday 20th Quiet Garden Day Thursday 20th Yoga for Christians September: Thursday 17th Quiet Garden Day Thursday 17th Yoga for Christians

Visit our website and join our mailing list to keep up to date with our latest events or

follow us on Facebook, Instagram & Twitter www.hollandhouse.org

All quiet days and retreats are available to book on-line

October: Friday 2nd Friendly Lunch Thursday 15th Richard Rohr Meditation Wednesday 21st Praying differently Friday 30th—1st Nov Bede Griffiths Retreat November: Friday 6th-Sunday 8th Neil Douglas Klotz Thursday 19th Yoga for Christians Wednesday 25th Thomas Merton’s Legacy Friday 27th –Monday 30th Richard Rohr Retreat December: Wednesday 10th Praying differently

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

All prices subject to change E&OE

Holland House, Main Street, Cropthorne, Pershore WR10 3NB

Telephone 01386 860330 www.hollandhouse.org

Holland House CIO Registered Charity 1179244