Over the last few days I have been at L’Abri, a Christian retreat centre / learning community down on the Hampshire / Sussex border. This is the fourth time I’ve been there; each time going for around a week. I find L’Abri to be a place of spiritual renew and encouragement, and I wanted to share a little bit about why I value it so highly.
It is beautiful… English L’Abri (they exist in many other countries as well) is housed within a beautiful manor house on the edge of the South Downs. Every time I’m there I feel like I’m staying in the grand house in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and if only I found the right door I would be transported to another world.
It is a community… unlike other retreat centres that give you the space to go and think alone, L’Abri is at its heart a community of people from all sorts of walks of life. This week alone I met a retired American lady, a middle-aged Hungarian man, an English Pastor in his 30s, and a man in his 20s from Belgium who has recently come to faith. L’Abri is built around this community. You have your meals together, you discuss ideas together, you wash up together, you go on walks together, you laugh together, you pray together, you even sit in silence reading your books together.
It is thoughtful… by this I don’t mean that L’Abri as an institution is well thought out (even though it is), I mean that it encourages thoughtfulness. Each day you gather with other students over lunch to discuss people’s real questions about life and faith. Each day you are given a few hours to enjoy their library or you can bring your own books to read. Each week there are lectures to introduce you to new ideas (our own Mark Meynell has spoken there), and there are films followed by discussions that open your mind (“The Remarkable Life of Ibelin” has changed me).
It is a safe space… people come to L’Abri for all sort of reasons. I go for a chance to recharge. Others go for a chance to talk about big ideas. But for some they go with hard questions that they have been wrestling with for many years. Does God exist? Why has my marriage imploded? Why has God not answered my prayer? What should I do with my life? L’Abri is a shelter for these honest questions, and it gives people the space to explore them at their own speed. The staff there are courageous enough to know that there are no easy answers, and brave enough to walk with people through their pain.
It is open to all… L’Abri does not advertise. Instead they let the Lord bring people to them. And he brings an incredible variety. You may meet vicars like me, or Americans on their gap years. You may meet lifelong Christians, those exploring faith for the first time and even those who have decided to stop walking the walk with Jesus. You may meet people with big questions, or those who have simply come for a rest. It doesn’t matter who you are, or even why you have come. L’Abri is open to all.
Let me finish with an encouragement. All of us here on the staff team love talking about big questions to do with life and faith. Please do speak to us. Honestly, I have never been asked a question I have been unwilling to talk about. However, sometimes, there is benefit of going to a place where you can take your wrestling, your doubts, your questions, and more intentionally work them through. Don’t suffer in silence. Please use the gifts that God gives his Church. L’Abri is one of those gifts