Minsteracres Retreat Centre

Retreats to inspire all

Minsteracres

A spiritual place providing hospitality & Spiritual Wellbeing

Minsteracres Retreat Centre is a Christian place of prayer with a resident community of Roman Catholic Passionist priests and lay people.

We welcome people who share our values and we invite you to enjoy our hospitality, food and accommodation.  Minsteracres is set in a beautiful 110 acre estate in the North East of England. Within our historic buildings and estate we have spaces for prayer and rooms to hire for retreats and events.

Have you ever wondered what it is like to go on retreat?  Click here to find out.

Retreats & Events

From Individuals to groups we can inspire you

Founded in Italy in 1720, the Congregation of the Passion of Jesus Christ “The Passionists” have a special ministry to promote the Memory of the Passion of Jesus by both word and deed for the Passion of Jesus is truly the greatest story of God’s love for humanity and His creation.

In 2024, we celebrate the 75th anniversary of the arrival of the first Passionists at Minsteracres.  So, our retreat theme for 2024 is “The Saving and Transforming power of the Cross” in which we will explore what The Passion of Jesus means for each of us as Christians today because it is through the story of the Cross that Jesus touches us and brings us His salvation.

Minsteracres

Use our venue

We welcome groups who support our ethos and want to use Minsteracres as a venue for an event or workshop.

We can accommodate up to 72 people for residential or day events. We offer warm hospitality and good home cooking, using organic and locally sourced foods.

Our youth centre is self-catering, with dormitories and separate accommodation for group leaders.

Minsteracres

Explore The Northern Saints

Minsteracres is set within a landscape in which many visitors sense “something” – as if the landscape has absorbed countless stories and traditions and holds them in its memory. There may be some truth in this. There are, for example, rock carvings dating from the Neolithic period that speak of an early sense of the sacredness of this part of the world.   

The Romans created a border (Hadrian’s Wall) and there is often a feel of this being a threshold place – a “thin place” as the Celtic people would call it. Physically and historically, it is a region that has been fought over for generations but which, in the end, truly belongs to no-one but itself. Spiritually, it can be seen as a region where the gap between heaven and earth is tissue paper thin.

There are many such places within easy reach of Minsteracres but, for Christians, a greater pull is the call of the Northern Saints. The period after the fall of Rome is sometimes known as the Dark Ages – this was not the case in Northumbria! Christian artefacts have been found on Hadrian’s Wall (Vindolanda), but it was the victory of King Oswald at Heavenfield that opened the way to a re-evangelising of the North-East.

Many people come to this area to walk in the footsteps of these Saints. These saints lived long before the great divisions in Christianity and so are people who can speak to Christians of all traditions.

We have organised retreats “In the Footsteps of the Northern Saints” (usually in May & September) but can offer advice about itineraries with supporting reflective material for individuals or groups who would like to arrange their own pilgrimage. 

early Christianity in Northumbria

The Passionists

Minsteracres & The Passionists

Minsteracres Retreat Centre is a Christian place of prayer with a resident community of Roman Catholic Passionist priests and lay people. We welcome people of all faiths and none who share our values and we invite you to enjoy our hospitality, food and accommodation.  Minsteracres is set in a beautiful 110 acre estate in the North East of England.

Within our historic buildings and estate we have spaces for prayer and rooms to hire for retreats and events. You can choose an individual or group retreat from our own programme of retreats, organise your own event, or simply enjoy this beautiful place.

Our World

Devoted to conservation & the environment

Protection and care for the environment is one of the three key aims of the Minsteracres Retreat Centre charity, established in 2012. Learn more in these pages about how we go about this.

testimonial

Testimonials

What Our Guests Say...