‘Under cloud and under star’
(The Hobbit)‘A voice cries out: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God”’
(Isaiah 40.3)
Friday 19th May – Sunday 21st May 2023
The House of the Open Door community offers a retreat on the theme “Narnia, Middle-Earth and the Way of Life”
The retreat leader will be our longstanding friend Andy Swinford.
Andy writes:
Come and explore with us on this retreat the theme of Journeying through the life God has given us, drawing inspiration from the Bible and from the stories of C S Lewis and J R R Tolkien (no prior knowledge needed!). We shall look at such themes as leave-taking and home-coming, pilgrimage, companions upon the way, the great grace that sustains us, God’s loving protection, our resting places, risky living and probably much more.
It will be a time for drawing close to God, and receiving his grace-filled refreshment and rest, with plenty of opportunity for encountering God anew, both indoors and outside in the beautiful gardens and countryside surrounding The House of the Open Door. There will be time to listen and pray, and just to Be as we are refreshed by his Spirit and delight in God, enjoying his guiding light.
Suggested donation £200
Please Contact Us for more details, or to book.
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Andy Swinford
Andy has frequently given multimedia presentations and lead retreats on C S Lewis. He has also written scripts for tours of places in Britain connected to Tolkien for Authatrails. He gave a presentation for the Three Shires Festival last year on links between these two authors and their love of the natural world.
Now retired, he taught English in secondary school for 25 years in Birmingham. Walking in the countryside and beekeeping are among his chief pleasures. He is currently writing a book on Joy in the fiction of C S Lewis.
He is a longstanding friend of The House of the Open Door, and has spoken before at our Friday Night Fellowship Meetings