Cost: £65 Where: Waverley Abbey Led by: Carla Harding
Step away from the busyness of Christmas to spend a day soaked in the holy peace and presence of Jesus. Through a mix of teaching and quiet reflection, this retreat with 24-7 Prayer’s Carla Harding will help quiet your mind and open your heart during this sacred time of Advent.
‘Advent: the time to listen for footsteps — you can't hear footsteps when you're running yourself.’ Bill McKibben
What to expect
Teaching and practical input
Fellowship and connection
Time to reflect and reset
Meet the host
Carla Harding is International Strategy Director at 24-7 Prayer, as well as a writer and host for the daily devotional app Lectio 365. Carla says God ‘hijacked her life’ in the first 24-7 Prayer Room, inspiring her to spend the next 25 years helping other people encounter God. Born in Ireland, Carla now lives in England with her husband and two children.
Time
Activity
9:30 am
Arrival and registration; coffee/tea upon arrival
10:00 am
Session 1
11:00 am
Comfort break
11:15 am
Session 2
12:15 pm
Light lunch
1:30 pm
Session 3
2:30 pm
Coffee/tea break
3:00 pm
Session 4
4:30 pm
End
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Cost: free Where: Waverley Abbey Led by: Waverley Abbey
Join us for a powerful night of worship and prayer at Waverley Abbey. Let’s enter into His holy presence. Let’s cry out for our nation and beyond, and for His Spirit to fall on us afresh.
For 1,300 years people have been praying and worshipping in our ancient grounds. God is here. His people are here, and in ever greater numbers. Will you join us? This event will be recorded and photographed, and the footage may be used for promotional and marketing purposes. Free to attend, but please reserve your spot to help us plan. We can’t wait to worship with you.
‘Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise — the fruit of lips that openly profess his name.’ (Hebrews 13:15)
What to expect:
fellowship and connection
time to pray
praise and worship
outdoors
Retreats at Waverley Abbey
There is something very special about being on retreat at Waverley Abbey. A place where your heart for God — your joy, tears, curiosity, prayers and songs — echo those of countless others who’ve walked our grounds these last 1,300 years. A stunning 112 acre site, where the coffee is as good as the scenery. And a welcoming community of teachers, worshippers, seekers and followers who are hungry for Christ and His ways.
So join us — retreat into sacred quiet, reset, and then go back out for God 🔥
When: 3 October 2026 Time: 9.30am to 5.30pm plus optional evening event Cost: £65 Where: Waverley Abbey Led by: Jimmy Orr
This hands-on creative workshop with Jimmy Orr will invite you to explore how to use your creativity for God as an act of love, worship and service. It will also provide space to allow the Spirit to release more of your creativity, and to show you how this can bring healing and transformation for you as well as those around you.
This one day event will include teaching and reflection, as well as the opportunity to take part in two creative workshops covering activities such as painting, poetry and photography.
At the end of the day, there will be an optional free exhibition and open mic night, featuring your creations from the day alongside art by others including the wonderful Charlie Mackesy. This will be open to the public, and we'd love you to stay for this if you can.
What to expect:
2 x workshops using different media
Teaching and practical input from Jimmy
Fellowship and connection
Workshops
"Made in God's image, you inherit a piece of the ultimate Creator's imagination. Your creativity is a tool to reflect beauty and purpose."
Mark Hillis
09:30 – 10:00
Welcome Registration
10:00 – 11:30
Worship / Biblical Creativity / Who we are as creatives
11:30 – 13:00
Workshops 1
13:00 – 14:00
Lunch
14:00 – 15:30
Workshops 2
15:30 – 16:30
Creative Space — finishing works already started or running with your inspiration
16:30 – 17:00
Reflection, Sharing and Close
Meet your host
Jimmy Orr is an artist, author, singer/songwriter and painter/poet. He is the author of 'Don't just do something, stand there', and serves on the leadership team of United Adoration South England. @jimmyorrart
Event partner
United Adoration is at the forefront of a growing movement of artists and pastors working together to bring worship and creativity back to its local context. United Adoration hosts retreats, creative spaces and sharing opportunities that empower artists and the local church to create art that is meaningful to the communities that matter most to them… their own.
The noise is relentless. The complexity keeps increasing. And many leaders are carrying overwhelm, exhaustion and pressure that no amount of strategy or resilience training seems to resolve.
Because the issue is no longer just what is happening around you. It is what that pressure is doing within you.
This one-day, in-person experience is designed to meet leaders at that level.
This day is not about adding more. It is about uncovering and releasing what God has already placed within you.
name the chaos you are facing and understand its impact
see how you respond under pressure
recover a deep sense of who you are in God
and begin to lead from that place
You will also discover how to bring together what you’ve learned about yourself over the years to work at a deeper level in your identity, faith and calling that this moment requires and you long for.
You won’t leave with more to manage.
You will leave with clarity, integration and a clear sense of how to lead in the reality you are facing.
Attendance is complimentary, and places are limited.
This day is for people who carry responsibility for others and who are navigating the opportunities, challenges and pressures that leadership can bring.
We welcome expressions of interest from those serving in churches, ministries, charities, businesses, education, healthcare and public life, as well as others who find themselves leading teams, communities or initiatives.
If the day sounds helpful and relevant to where you find yourself, we’d be delighted to hear from you.
Dr MaryJo Burchard is a strategic architect of organisational health. A recognised expert in leadership change and resilience, she provides high-level advice to churches and organisations navigating complex transitions. Her work ensures that both individuals and systems don’t just survive change, but emerge from it with renewed resilience and clarity.
Dr Jason Swan Clark sits at the intersection of academic leadership and deep spiritual practice. As a Professor of Leadership and an Ignatian Spiritual Director with 25 years of experience in church planting, he specialises in identity and formation. Jason helps leaders and networks move beyond surface-level skills to discover the profound charism and vocational calling that drives sustainable leadership and mission.
Dr Simon Walker is a leadership expert and author best known for The Undefended Leader, a landmark work exploring how leaders grow beyond performance, control, and self-protection. Drawing on decades of work across leadership, education, psychology and formation, Simon specialises in helping leaders understand how pressure shapes identity and relationships. His work invites leaders into a deeper, freer, and more generative way of leading that sustains both mission and the person carrying it.
Cost: £65 Where: Waverley Abbey Led by: Dr Jason Swan Clark
Where is God when your mind feels heavy and your heart is weary? Mental health struggles can leave us feeling isolated, misunderstood or spiritually disconnected. Too often, faith and mental health are seen as separate, even opposed. Join us at this retreat to explore the truth — that God cares deeply for the whole of who we are: body, mind and soul.
This one-day retreat creates a safe and welcoming space to explore the intersection of faith and mental health. Through teaching, reflection and shared experience, you’ll discover how psychology, theology and Scripture come together in a holistic Christian vision of hope, healing and renewal. More than a seminar, it’s an encounter with the God who draws near in suffering and offers hope in the struggle.
‘One of the greatest pains of mental illness is the sense of being alone. The rest of the world continues blissfully unaware of us, whilst our sufferings are arresting and unrelenting. But we are not alone. Jesus is not just near, but is uniquely able to inhabit and journey with us in our sufferings.’ (Dr Jason Swan Clark, retreat host)
What to expect:
learning
fellowship and connection
time to discuss and share
practical tools
Meet your host
Jason Swan Clark sits at the intersection of academic leadership and deep spiritual practice. As a Professor of Leadership and an Ignatian Spiritual Director with 25 years of experience in church planting, he specialises in identity and formation. Jason helps leaders and networks move beyond surface-level skills to discover the profound Spirit-given power and vocational calling that drives sustainable leadership and mission.
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