Retreat in Daily Working Life

Beginning on Tuesday 23 September, ‘Chaplaincy Plus’ and ‘Manresa Link’ will run a six-week, Ignatian, individually- guided ‘Retreat in Daily Working Life.’

The retreat is flexible, to fit around the demands of working life. It involves:

• Daily private prayer: The heart of the retreat is private individual prayer. Participants are invited to make a commitment to pray privately, daily, over the six weeks, for whatever period they can manage each day, but for at least a recommended 30 minutes per day.
• Weekly individual meeting with a prayer companion. Once a week, you will meet with your allocated prayer companion for about 30 minutes, at a time that works for you both, fitting around your work commitments. These meetings may be in person, online or by phone. Meetings usually take place on Monday-Friday, during the working day or before work, during the lunch hour, after work or in the evening.
• Group meetings to begin and end the retreat. Although this is neither a group retreat nor prayer group, there is a sense in which everyone making the retreat is journeying together. Everyone will be travelling on different paths, but towards the same goal of a deepening of their relationship with God. We ask all retreat participants to make a priority of attending in person in the City Centre for both the Opening Meeting on Tuesday 23 September and the Closing Meeting on Tuesday 11 November.

It is called an ‘Ignatian’ retreat, because during your daily prayer time you are encouraged to use prayer styles that were developed by Ignatius of Loyola in the sixteenth century. These styles are Bible-based and Christ-centred: they help you to explore how God is speaking to you through Scripture. Everyone is given the same passage of Scripture to focus on for the first week. The weekly conversations with your prayer companion focus on what you have felt and experienced during your daily prayer and afterwards. The prayer companion may then check with you whether you feel called towards another passage for the coming week that links to what you have shared, and if not, they may then suggest another Scripture passage or other material for you.

The prayer companions are volunteers a variety of Christian traditions who have themselves experienced these kinds of retreats and who have trained to accompany others on their prayer journey. They do not advise, persuade, judge, assess, approve or disapprove of those who are making the retreat; rather, they are there to help you to become more perceptive and more responsive to the Spirit of God at work within you.

The retreat is open to Christians and to anyone who is searching for or curious about God. There is no set charge to participate in the retreat. However, we ask everyone to consider a donation of £20 towards Manresa Link’s expenses, if you can afford it. Additionally, ChaplaincyPlus relies on donations to deliver our vision to help people encounter the depth dimension of faith and life, so you may decide to support ChaplaincyPlus with a further donation to enable our work to remain open to all – making your total donation up to, say, £30 or £40, to give ChaplaincyPlus a donation of £10 or £20. That said, the cost should not preclude anyone from participating.

Everything that you share with your prayer companion is confidential, unless it involves safeguarding issues. Your prayer companion will seek advice/guidance on any allegation or disclosure of information that indicates a child or adult may be at risk of significant harm, including:

• Past abuse where the perpetrator still has contact with children or adults at risk of harm; and
• A person currently experiencing abuse, witnessing it, or directly or indirectly involved.

Here, any necessary steps will be taken, which may include the possibility of making a report to the statutory authorities. Equally, if there is believed to be an immediate risk/danger, we will report to the Police. When you book on to the retreat, you confirm your awareness of and acceptance of this.

The 2025 ‘Retreat in Daily Working Life’ is being organised by Susan Winsor, Claire Broadbent Sarah Thorpe . For more information, please contact them at retreat@chaplaincyplus.org.uk. Alternatively, e-mail Sarah at sarah.thorpe@chaplaincyplus.org.uk, or call on 07982 248949. Places are limited and bookings close on Sunday 14 September. Book your place at https://chaplaincyplus.org.uk/events/retreat-in-daily-working-life-2025.