Sensing the Divine 

 

This workshop explores the sensory world of Mary Magdalene through artworks in diverse media. We will engage with the formal qualities of the artworks – line, shape and form, space, colour and texture – and in what way this elicits sensory responses. There are no hard and fast rules, just an openness to thinking through and with art as part of your own spiritual journey.

Joanne Anderson 

 

Labyrinths, creative journeys to God 

 

Join us for a meaningful opportunity to learn about labyrinths. Walk a canvas labyrinth and explore finger labyrinths that draw us closer to the Divine. Labyrinths help us experience deeper connection with ourselves and God; they are pilgrimages of faith and discovery. They invite creative prayer and reflection on our hopes and struggles. For over 1,700 years, Christians have used labyrinths as sacred spaces for reflection and spiritual connection as a way of pilgrimage.  

Jim Bailey 

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​Praying the Parables 

 

Parables are windows for the imagination. They invite to us to pause, notice, ponder and become open to fresh revelation This workshop will draw on Jesus’ use of parables to explore a range of ways of working creatively with parables within our own daily experience, including journalling, poetry and artwork.

Christopher Chapman

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Lectio Divina: reading with God 

 

​Lectio divina is a classic way to read the bible, used long before there were printed books. The text is read as food for the soul, each word savoured as a delicious mouthful. Abbot Christopher will introduce this way of reading and then invite participants to try it.

Abbot Christopher Jamison OSB

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‘Love took my hand’: George Herbert’s poetry and the spiritual adventure of faith  

 

Come and immerse yourself in the fresh surprises of George Herbert’s poems. We will explore a number of his poems and the insights into the nature of God, the human heart, and the turbulence of a living faith, that they give voice to. No previous knowledge of Herbert’s work is needed to participate.

Mark Oakley 

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Creative encounters… 

 

So far from the Garden in Eden things are far from perfect – thorns cover the earth. Our relationship with each other and with God is no longer what the Creator intended. Yet still our Father God longs for us to ‘speak’ with him through thoughts and words – in silence and noise – in stillness and activity. Together we’ll reflect on our personal relationship with our Father God, without judgment, knowing we’re all understood and loved for who we are. Then we’ll explore how we might develop our relationship with God in creative ways.

Jacqui Parkinson 

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The Walking Way  

 

Based on material from Andrew’s book The Quiet Path: contemplative practices for daily life, this practical workshop will focus on the everyday miracle of walking, and what we may discover and encounter as we walk in the Swanwick gardens. Walking itself can become a reflective practice, an imaginative path – to God, and with God – a beautiful form of prayer. 

Andrew Rudd

 

​Icons – History, Process and Meaning

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Icons are for many an aid to prayer and assist in understanding the Divine. They date from the dawn of Christianity and are produced today in the same way using the same techniques as a thousand years ago. The workshop will consider what makes an image an icon and a brief history of iconography. The stages in the production of an icon are in many ways a theological process with each step itself having meaning. From this it becomes clear that everything in an icon has meaning including materials, colour and geometry in addition to the image itself. We will consider how to look at an icon to reveal that meaning, using the Retreat Association Icon of Christ and the Samaritan Woman as an example.

David Wright