Retreat with us and be spiritually renewed
Retreats at Minsteracres
2023 Programme
We offer a varied programme of day, weekend and week-long events throughout the year. Please see the programme details below.
Individual Retreats
We offer individual retreats and are happy to provide guidance, or you can have space to yourself for reflection. Please use the enquiry form below.
Welcome to Our 2023 Programme
Situated in the land of the northern saints in beautiful countryside on the borders of Northumberland and County Durham, our community based retreat centre is ideally placed to promote the development of both the spiritual and the natural world.
Calendar for 2023
Our retreats are listed below in a calendar view – please click on the retreat of your choice to find out more and book online.
Welcome to our programme.
Here you will find brief details of our varied day, weekend and week-long events. Situated in the land of the Northern Saints in beautiful countryside on the borders of Northumberland and County Durham, our community based retreat centre is ideally placed to promote the development of both the spiritual and the natural world.
Here at Minsteracres we embed our retreats in our Passionist charisms of Prayer, Hospitality and the Environment, this coming year we rejoice, with confidence, that God always keeps his promises.
Our Theme for 2023 is:
“Behold, I am making all things new!” Also he said ‘write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.’ (Rev.21:5)
Although we continue to live through turbulent times of fear and uncertainty God has been active even when we have not been able to recognise it.
Our theme for 2023 is designed to strengthen and re-energise us, reminding us that God is forever the Creator in our lives, recreating light from darkness.
We hope that this programme will be able to offer you multiple ways of reconnecting with your spiritual journey whilst offering nourishment and the support of a collective journey with opportunities to rediscover hope and joyfulness in God’s generosity and renewal.
Here at Minsteracres, we have accommodation for up to 70 people across 2 houses, set in 110 acres of outstanding gardens, park and woodland.
Minsteracres’ mission
Minsteracres Retreat Centre provides a space where people feel welcome, can be themselves and are enabled to find healing and wholeness in their relationship with God, with themselves, with others and with creation.
During all of our retreats we will be invited to consider new ways of attending to and living out the Gospel.
We look forward to welcoming you!
It costs approximately £1,500 per day to run Minsteracres Retreat Centre. The suggested offerings indicated help us to cover our costs, but no one should feel excluded for financial reasons and concessions are available.
April 2023
May 2023
June 2023
July 2023
August 2023
September 2023
October 2023
November 2023
December 2023
As part of our programme of organised events we offer residential and day retreats during which we explore the annual theme.
“Behold I am making all things new.” Rev. 21:5, is our theme for 2023
We hope it will help you to connect with your unique individual life journey and offer nourishment for the collective journey of faith communities in this time of change for the Church. Our retreats provide space to reflect and pray and to have quality time with others.
You can also come to us for an individual retreat, enabling yourself to take a step back from everyday life, relax, reflect and be nourished. We are happy to offer you guidance whilst you are here or you may decide just to have some space to yourself.
We have many resources for reflection: the pilgrim walk – a reflective walk through the grounds; Trasna (the labyrinth); the Cross of Hope; stations of the cross; prayer spaces; peace garden and the art studio. Minsteracres is also ideally located for visiting the places associated with the Northern Saints.
We welcome groups which support our ethos and want to use Minsteracres as a venue for an event or workshop. We can accommodate up to 80 people for residential or day events. We offer warm hospitality and good home cooking, using organic and locally sourced foods. Our youth centre is self-catering, with dormitories and separate accommodation for group leaders.
We have made a video about what it is like to come on retreat and at the bottom of the page you’ll find stories about different people’s experiences here at Minsteracres.
Retreat Questions
A retreat is exactly what it sounds like — the chance to step aside from life for a while, to rest and just ‘be’ in a welcoming, peaceful and inspiring place like Minsteracres.
Retreats are for ordinary people at any time in their lives. There are no expectations on anyone going on retreat and you don’t need to be a churchgoer – we welcome people who share our values.
Do you:
- Wish for some quiet time to reflect on things that matter most to you?
- Need some time away from work or family?
- Want to deepen your spiritual life?
- Want to simply pray?
- Want to develop a particular interest? …then a retreat might be just for you.
Retreats offer the opportunity to:
- Find space
- Reflect
- Pray and worship in peaceful and comfortable surroundings
We offer a wide variety of retreats including retreats:
- For the beginner
- With a theme such as Holy Week, Pentecost, Advent,
- Structured with a programme
- For individuals or groups who wish to deepen their faith
- Free form where you can do your own thing
Thanks to the presence of the resident community there is always a warm welcome and a real sense of being a guest in their home. The community is the guardian of the Passionist ethos of Minsteracres, which is expressed through a life of prayer, presence and hospitality.
- We offer a warm welcome to all
- We have beautiful Grade II buildings set in an 110 acre estate of gardens and woodland
- We have a wide range of meeting rooms from small (up to 10 people) to large (up to 90 people)
- We have a library, various prayer spaces and an art room that are available to use
- We offer overnight accommodation—from simple rooms with shared facilities to a few en suite rooms
- We provide tasty, home-cooked food and can accommodate special dietary needs with advanced warning
- We cater for those with disabilities
Yes, we welcome people who wish to spend some time alone.
Yes, we offer the opportunity to talk to someone in complete confidence. We can also provide individually guided retreats where someone is assigned to listen and guide you whilst on retreat.
A retreat varies in length but is usually anything from two to seven days. We also offer one-day retreats such as quiet days and walking retreats throughout the year.
Yes. It costs over £1,000 per day to keep Minsteracres Retreat Centre running. We do not have another principal source of income and so we charge our visitors a competitive rate to cover our costs (but not to profit) that include:
- Maintaining the Grade II buildings and 110 acre estate
- Providing food and accommodation for all our visitors
- Paying for staff and retreat leaders
