Clergy Retreat April 2020

Gates of hope

“Our mission is to plant ourselves at the gates of hope — not the prudent gates of optimism, which are somewhat narrower…not the strident gates of self-righteousness which creak on shrill and angry hinges (people cannot hear us there; they cannot pass through).” (Victoria Safford)

The basic Christian vocation is to witness to the definitive in-breaking of life in the midst of death — resurrection as the ground of radical hope and lasting peace. How do we access and enable access to this reality? How does this affect our capacity to respond to the crises of our times? How do we plant and sustain ourselves at the gates of hope? 

Through practices of contemplation — silence, prayer and deep listening — this retreat will nourish us in our vocation to engage authentically, powerfully and faithfully with the call of Christ and the need of the world.

Silence​
This will be a largely silent retreat with silence beginning after the introductory session and ending at dinner on Thursday. There will be some opportunity at the end of the retreat for small group or whole group sharing, for those who wish.

Cost
$690 (includes four nights’ accommodation in own room with ensuite and all meals).

About the retreat leader
The Rev’d Dr Sarah Bachelard is a theologian, retreat leader and priest in Anglican Orders, based in Canberra. She is the founding director of Benedictus Contemplative Church and a member of the World Community for Christian Meditation. Sarah has taught contemplative prayer nationally and internationally, and delivered the 2019 John Main Seminar in Vancouver on the theme ‘A Contemplative Christianity for Our Time’. She is the author of Experiencing God in a Time of Crisis and Resurrection and Moral Imagination.