The SPICE RETREAT begins in January and I'd love for you to join us - I really don't want you to miss out! I know that for many, going on Retreat or Pilgrimage is a life changing event; but many of us are hesitating to travel right now or commit to travel yet . So a destination retreat isn’t possible right now.

And many of us are feeling a little lost, a little weary, with all that's going on right now.

Wondering who am I?

Wondering what's the point of me?

Or even, what difference can I make in the current world situations?

Here’s where the SPICE RETREAT online can be of help: By the end of this new online retreat, you’ll know how God made you YOU, you’ll know your best YOU, and you’ll be able to be your best YOU in everyday life, work and relationships. No matter what is going on around you.

SPICE: Spiritual, Physical, Intellectual, Creative, Emotional

The SPICE RETREAT will:

- Enable you to be your best you in everyday life, work and relationships.

- Help you to make a lasting transformation to live your life as God intended, as he created you to be

- Give you proven tools to become your best you, that you can use in any situation

- Show you how God has put you together in the 5 areas that are the wells of contentment: Spiritual, Physical, Intellectual, Creative and Emotional

- Show you how to arrange your days so that you are experiencing deep contentment, joy and confidence in your everyday life with God (as Dallas Willard said)

- Give you the freedom and power to be yourself and help you to let go of who you think you’re supposed to be or who you think others expect you to be

- Help you to come alive and be your best YOU in ways you might not even have imagined and that will last a lifetime

The SPICE RETREAT is for:

- Anyone who wants to go deeper with God and discover how he created you to be

- The person who feels lost and uncertain in life, especially in these uncertain times

- Someone who needs to re-set and start-over, to be re-activated with a new purpose

- Those who are created by God

Don't worry if you are not based in the UK - On a previous Spice Retreat there were participants from Australia, France, the USA and the UK - so those from overseas often were on a very different timescale but with the Forever Access they could watch at a time to suit themselves.

The SPICE RETREAT consists of:

- 5 weekly sessions, of 60 minutes each, available to be accessed at any time. These include input, guided times for reflection, and other specials such as led meditations, contemplative prayer, imaginative prayer, lectio divina, and various ways to hear God speak into your life. You will have forever access to these

- Downloadable weekly journals, that you can keep, personalise and use at any time

- Suggestions for how to use SPICE to create your own individual retreat at a time to suit you

- A retreat handbook of things that will enhance the SPICE RETREAT

- Optional One-on-one Spiritual Direction/mentoring sessions. These will be online with me via Facetime/Whatsapp/Skype/Zoom. (your preference)

The weekly emails with all the information for the next session will be emailed to you on a Thursday.

But don’t worry - you will have forever access, so you can use them at a time that suits you.

QUESTIONS YOU'VE ASKED:

Won't it cost a lot?

Often people are able to purchase the things they really really want, even if they think they've no spare money at the moment. Or they will buy takeaway coffees and grab a lunch meal deal regularly. Yet those things aren't transformative, are not investments in what's truly important. I think if you want to be the person God intended you to be, and if you want to go deeper into living life to the full, then no price is too expensive! However, there are different options available, including the early bird prices, and it's still something that's life transformational, learning more of how God has made you to be. And most people haven't spent much at all over recent months, with no shopping, travel, holidays or even daily commutes! So isn't it worth investing in going deeper with the Lord instead?

What if it's not the right time for me?

Actually, is it ever the right time? And actually the start of a new year is a great time to do this.

For me there's always something else more pressing than spending time with God! So investing in something which MAKES me have that special Sacred Time is worth its weight in gold. And maybe there's really more time available now than normal.

What if I can't do it in January?

The sessions will stay up on the closed Youtube channel and you have forever access to them, so you can choose when to watch, or repeat them whenever it would be helpful. You can choose the time that’s best for you. On previous Spice Retreats there were participants from Australia, France, the USA and the UK - so those from overseas often were on a very different timescale!

How long do I have to sign up?

You can join the retreat anytime. And the sooner you join, the sooner you'll start receiving the lovely journals and things you'll need and you'll have time to prepare and enjoy looking forward to this special time!

What is included in the online Retreat

There are several options available, including just the online course, or with optional one-on-one sessions to help you process and personalise what you learn on the course, turning it into a lasting practical life change, with support and encouragement on your journey and see you through the first 6 months of the new YOU

Choose one of the following options

BRONZE

- 5 weekly sessions, of 60 minutes each, recorded and available to be accessed at any time. These will include input, guided times for reflection, and other specials such as led meditations, contemplative prayer, imaginative prayer, lectio divina, and various ways to hear God speak into your life. You will have forever access to these

- Downloadable weekly journals, that you can keep, personalise and use at any time

- Suggestions for how to use SPICE to create your own individual retreat at a time to suit you

- A retreat handbook of things that will enhance the SPICE RETREAT

- An extra part of the Journal!

Bronze price £85

SILVER (ONLY 4 Silver places available)

- everything in Bronze plus 1 x 60 minutes session of one-to-one Spiritual Direction at the end of the course to help you personalise your main takeaways

SILVER price £135

GOLD (ONLY 3 GOLD places available)

- everything in Bronze, PLUS 3 x once-a-month 60 minute sessions of one-to-one Spiritual Direction to help you process and personalise what you learn on the course, turning it into a lasting practical life change, with support and encouragement on your journey.

Gold price £225

PLATINUM (ONLY 2 PLATINUM places available)

- everything in Bronze, PLUS

- 6 x once-a-month 60 minute sessions of one-to-one Spiritual Direction to help you process and personalise what you learn on the course, turning it into a lasting practical life change, with support and encouragement on your journey and see you through the first 6 months of the new YOU

Platinum price £375

To sign up for the SPICE RETREAT click here

You'll then be sent the pre-retreat journal.

The information for the sessions and downloadable journals will be sent to your inbox on Thursdays. You might decide to do your retreat on Thursday evenings, perhaps; or Saturday morning; or Sunday evening … you can work out the time best suited to you.

The spice retreat was an oasis in my week and for that matter day as I worked through some of the things in the journal. I’ve a week in a retreat house booked for the end of September my Spice journal and some of the recommended books I’ve bought will be coming with me. - H.C.

I am in a place of transition .. and this course spoke to a journey I was already pursuing about being the best – the real me, rather than a good all-rounder who was getting worn out doing too much else that took me away from my true desires and calling for this time. I long to develop the contemplative and what comes out of that and can now do so. - J.S.

Watched on Tuesday mornings when I could guarantee no distractions. So far I have watched all the sessions twice. I intend to replay bits of each over the next few weeks. It is great to be able to go back, to rewind bits, to pick out things that catch my attention the second time around. - S.J.

Exceeded my expectations. Such a rich resource especially with the SPICE journal handouts each week. - S.S.

I am excited to be sharing this online retreat with you and my prayer is that the Lord will reach out and touch each one of us and transform us to be the people He has made us to be so that we can live Life in all its fullness. Come and join us and learn more about the 5 areas that make you YOU!

The Revd Penelope Swithinbank is an experienced pilgrimage and retreat leader, conference speaker and Spiritual Director/Therapist. She has been leading retreats and pilgrimages for nearly 20 years, regularly leads pilgrimages in the UK and on the Via Francigena in Italy, has had an international ministry, including churches in America and the UK, and speaking on Women's Retreats and leading conferences. Her most special memory is of opening the US Senate in prayer and being guest chaplain there for a day. Penelope was the first ordained woman on the staff of The Falls Church, Virginia, where she headed up the Connections and Communications Ministry in a church of nearly 4,000. Later, she was the first chaplain at St Mellitus College, London, and then ran The Vine at Mays Farm, a Christian Retreat House providing sanctuary mostly to burned-out clergy, although normal people came too, for retreats and time out. She now works partly as a Chaplain at Bath Abbey and partly mentoring, supporting and pastoring clergy. Author of two books, she is a wife, mother and grandmother and says of the 6 grandchildren that they are so wonderful she should have had them first.