Today is a Quiet Day organised by friend of Holland House, Graham Pharo.

The theme is

"Awareness of the Presence"  -  Becoming aware of "the Other"

In discovering the presence of God "right here, right now"  we prepare for that transformation which the realisation of this will bring.

Graham will lead us via a series of short talks and time for personal reflection.  Cost includes refreshments and lunch.

Click here to book this lovely Quiet day,  then put it in your diary as a treat for early in the New Year  https://www.hollandhouse.org/product/awareness-of-the-presence/

One of a series of day retreat’s on offer throughout 2020,  working with the teachings of Fr Richard Rohr, Franciscan Friar, author and leader of the Centre for Action and Contemplation.

Led by Rev'd Ian Spencer these retreats are based on themes from Rohr's book of daily meditations "A Spring within us".

Theme for today is "The Perennial Tradition".  Rohr writes  "The three recurring themes in all world traditions and philosophies; 1) There is a Divine Reality  inherent in the world     2) There is in the human soul a capacity and longing for this Reality and 3) the final goal of existence is union with this Divine Reality. He goes on to write "the very proof that you have met with the Christ is that you then see the risen Christ everywhere else" .   We shall be exploring the theme of the Perennial Tradition and our experiences of it, or not......

Each day will include teaching, discussion and free time to practice/consider what we’ve learned.

The day will conclude with a contemplative Holy Communion service (optional but all invited) followed by afternoon tea at 4pm.

Cost £40 and includes morning coffee, 2 course lunch and afternoon tea.

To book your place on this popular retreat click here ...https://www.hollandhouse.org/product/richard-rohr-meditation-day-feb-20/

Contemplation.

Led by Rev'd Ian Spencer these retreats are based on themes from Rohr's book of daily meditations "A Spring within us".

Theme for today is "The common wonderful".  Rohr writes "only the non-dual, contemplative mind can hold everything in its wholeness, including death and resurrection. Such wisdom-seeing allows you to hold the full promise of Real Life, which is big enough to even include death". We shall be exploring this theme and looking at, for example "you are not that important AND your name is written in Heaven"...........

Each day will include teaching, discussion and free time to practice/consider what we’ve learned.

The day will conclude with a contemplative Holy Communion service (optional but all invited) followed by afternoon tea at 4pm.

Cost £40 and includes morning coffee, 2 course lunch and afternoon tea.

To book your place on this popular retreat day click on this link ...https://www.hollandhouse.org/product/richard-rohr-meditation-day-march-5th/

One of a series of day retreat’s on offer throughout 2020,  working with the teachings of Fr Richard Rohr, Franciscan Friar, author and leader of the Centre for Action and Contemplation.

Led by Rev'd Ian Spencer these retreats are based on themes from Rohr's book of daily meditations "A Spring within us".

Theme for today is "Transformative dying" .  Rohr writes "Historically.....God was not considered friendly and always needing placating. God was distant and scary .... not someone you fell in love with or with whom you could imagine sharing intimacy. Jesus presented a much different image of God, but it seems very hard for people to let go of their punitive ideas of God.......  Just four days after Easter Sunday we shall be exploring the theme of what kind of dying is truly transformative?

Each day will include teaching, discussion and free time to practice/consider what we’ve learned.

The day will conclude with a contemplative Holy Communion service (optional but all invited) followed by afternoon tea at 4pm.

Cost £40 and includes morning coffee, 2 course lunch and afternoon tea.

To book your place on this popular retreat click on this link ....... https://www.hollandhouse.org/product/richard-rohr-meditation-day-april-16th/

One of a series of day retreat’s on offer throughout 2020,  working with the teachings of Fr Richard Rohr, Franciscan Friar, author and leader of the Centre for Action and Contemplation.

Led by Rev'd Ian Spencer these retreats are based on themes from Rohr's book of daily meditations "A Spring within us".

Theme for today is "Non-dual Consciousness". Rohr writes "non-dual consciousness is our ultimate act of solidarity with humanity and even the doorway to wisdom. ......Jesus never said "you must be right", much less, "you must be sure you are right". Instead he said "you must love one another".  We will be exploring the theme of non-duality and the "freedom in Not Knowing".

Each day will include teaching, discussion and free time to practice/consider what we’ve learned.

The day will conclude with a contemplative Holy Communion service (optional but all invited) followed by afternoon tea at 4pm.

Cost £40 and includes morning coffee, 2 course lunch and afternoon tea.

To book your place on this popular retreat click here.......https://www.hollandhouse.org/product/richard-rohr-meditation-day-june-10th/

One of a series of day retreat’s on offer throughout 2020,  working with the teachings of Fr Richard Rohr, Franciscan Friar, author and leader of the Centre for Action and Contemplation.

Led by Rev'd Ian Spencer these retreats are based on themes from Rohr's book of daily meditations "A Spring within us".

Theme for today is "Letting go". Rohr writes "to paraphrase Meister Eckhart, the spiritual life has much more to do with subtraction than it does addition. All great spirituality is about letting go........ we tend to think at almost every level that more is better .... [however]  .... "less is more" and Zen has come to prominence in the West as we have now come to realise this". We will be exploring the theme of "letting go",  including letting go of the need to be right !

Each day will include teaching, discussion and free time to practice/consider what we’ve learned.

The day will conclude with a contemplative Holy Communion service (optional but all invited) followed by afternoon tea at 4pm.

Cost £40 and includes morning coffee, 2 course lunch and afternoon tea.

To book your place on this popular retreat click here..https://www.hollandhouse.org/product/richard-rohr-meditation-day-october-15/

“PRAYING DIFFERENTLY”  is for folk looking for a richer experience of prayer.

Many of us find prayer either difficult, less than satisfying, or have grown bored with it.However the Christian faith has a very rich heritage of prayer, for example prayer ropes, icons, meditation, rosary, nature-based, chanting, scripture-based, and more. This one day retreat explores a variety of prayer practices, and can be booked by individuals with a maximum of 4 people at any one time (more by prior appointment). It's not necessary to come as a group. This allows for personal discussion time with the tutor in the afternoon.If your prayer life isn’t as rich as you’d like it, "praying differently" offers other ways and practices. See and experience prayer afresh, and regain your enthusiasm and commitment to the sacred and transforming practice of prayer.

To book click here ...https://www.hollandhouse.org/product/praying-differently-wednesday-21st-october/

Led by Revd Ian Spencer, Warden of Holland House.

"Thomas Merton's Legacy to Interfaith Dialogue"

Thomas Merton OCSO (January 31, 1915 – December 10, 1968) was an American Trappist monk, writer, theologian, mystic, poet, social activist, and student of comparative religion. 

Merton was deeply committed to Interfaith dialogue, corresponding with Monks and Religious Leaders all over the world. Indeed it was on such a trip to engage with the Buddhists of Thailand that he tragically died on December 10th 1968.

Revd Dr Bonnie Thurston is a New Testament scholar who held the William F. Orr Professorship in the New Testament at the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary from 1999 to 2002. She is the author or editor of twenty two theological books and six books of poetry, and wrote one of the first PhD dissertations on Merton.

Dr Thurston is a spiritual director and experienced retreat leader, and a founding member and past president of the International Thomas Merton Society.

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.

The day includes all refreshments and hot lunch and concludes at 4pm with afternoon tea.

To secure your place on this fabulous one-off event, click on this link  https://www.hollandhouse.org/product/2496/