The Lower Sixth Form retreat took place on Wednesday 14th and Thursday 15th June, focussing on reaching out to others and challenging indifference in our society.
Pupils, chaplaincy staff and some members of the Manquehue community gathered at St James Priory, a beautiful church and the oldest building in Bristol. The church is known to have been the starting point for many people making their pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, in Spain.
Pupils were separated into six groups, under which they supported various charities: CAP Bristol, Emmaus House, Wild Goose Cafe, Spring of Hope House, St Nicholas of Tolentino, Boarderlands Charity and Jamaica Street Project. Pupils were encouraged to ask questions and to find out why, and how, each charity supports the most vulnerable in our society.
After lunch, there was a time of midday prayer and lectio, which included a time of reflection of the charity that they visited. Pupils were also given an explanation of the nature of addiction, and we welcomed three people who are in recovery, each giving testimonies of their personal journeys, within small groups. The experiences of the day were brought together with a service, in which we prayed and gave thanks for the charities that had been involved in the retreat and those they we had meet who were in recovery. The Chaplaincy would like to thank the staff members who supported the retreat programme as well as the charities, especially St James Priory for being part of such an inspiring and thought provoking day.
