Welcome to our School for Monastic Living: 'Those who entered the desert entered a kind of school, a school in which loving as God loves was the primary and foundational lesson.' – Mary C. Earle
If you are a Companion, Postulant, Novice or Friend of the Northumbria Community and require access to the protected areas of this blog, please email monasticliving@northumbriacommunity.org to obtain the password.
As a registered charity, The Northumbria Community Trust relies on the generosity of those who encounter and/or walk alongside us. If you would like to make a donation to the life and work of the Northumbria Community, please follow the link below. Further information about giving, and Gift Aid (if you live in the UK) can be found HERE.
We’re excited to share that we’re opening a new retreat at Nether Springs from Wednesday afternoon June 14 to Friday afternoon June 16, 2023.
‘Be Still and Know’
This retreat offers you the opportunity to spend time with God within the daily life and rhythm of the community at Nether Springs. No set programme or teaching is provided, apart from an introduction on the first night. It is simply time to come and be yourself.
We are delighted that our full year’s programme for Nether Springs is now available, and that our online programme is being updated alongside, through to December 2023.
Nether Springs
We are pleased to be updating and releasing our overview of retreats and other activities across the Northumbria Community through to December 2023.The last few years have brought several learnings about what our programme could look like and, we are excited to develop it online, at Nether Springs and in person across Dispersed Community, with grateful hearts, in response to God’s leading and ongoing feedback from the many who have continued to support who we are and what we do.
It is a particular joy to be offering a wider programme at Nether Springs in 2023. Alongside our regular, Inner Outer Pilgrimage retreats there is an expanded series of led retreats; monthly, themed individually guided retreats and Companions, Novices and Friends events.
It may well be possible to welcome guests for a quiet day at other times, so please do be in touch with the Nether Springs Office team on 01670 787645 (Monday to Thursday 10.00am – 3pm) or by emailing – office@northumbriacommunity.org.
Below is an overview of all that will be happening at Nether Springs from January to June and July to December, followed by more details of each retreat, or joining in opportunity. If you want to find out more about a retreat you are interested in, please click on the month during which the retreat is offered and you will find further information and the booking form you will need to complete, in order to participate.
Over the past two years, we have been learning the value of offering ‘joining in’ spaces online and, in particular, of creating retreats that are held within the rhythm of our prayers, with a Welcome and Hospitality team alongside any input. Again and again, people have commented on how these spaces have helped them to connect with the Northumbria Community and created a ‘sense of home’, especially where geographical distance has meant that visiting Nether Springs has been difficult, or, indeed, totally out of the question.
We will continue to offer Community Introductions online as well as the occasional Individually Guided or Led retreat. Alongside these, we will also run several ‘short courses’ – e.g. seasonal ones for New Year, Lent and Advent; Seven Sacred Spaces, Empire and Exile and the popular Creative Saturday mornings, where you will be invited to stop, listen, reflect and pray.
July to December 2023
(More retreats will be added, but these dates/retreats are already planned. Booking forms will also be made available at a later date)