OUR CHRISTIAN RETREAT:
SERENITY, SPACE, SANCTUARY
There's something uniquely special, magical, mystical about Orkney, and about Graemsay in particular.
It's one of those places where it seems easier than elsewhere to perceive the Divine in Creation, to feel one's place in that Creation, and to feel the living presence of God.
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We plan to use the Church of Graemsay, which we have purchased, as the anchor for a small Christian retreat. We hope that committed Christians in all walks of life, and from every kind of background, will feel welcome to come to Graemsay, switch off from their normal daily lives, and contemplate what's truly important.
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We want to create comfortable, environmentally-sensitive, sustainable accommodation for the Retreat's guests - which we will use as rental accommodation, through AirBnB or similar, when not in use by visiting Christians.
Our Chapel
We have acquired the Church of Graemsay as part of our land, as it was most recently used by the last farmer of the croft of Gorn as a hay barn.
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The church was built in 1867, replacing a much smaller structure that occupied almost the same site. Much, much earlier, this was the location of a very early, maybe prehistoric, Graemsay settlement.
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This simple prayer barn sits atop some modest cliffs, home to dozens of breeding pairs of cliff-nesting sea birds, especially Fulmars. All around, Oystercatchers nest in the thicket. And the church has the most spectacular views of Scapa Flow, the cliffs of Hoy, and horizons that seem to stretch forever. Wooden steps take you down to a small rocky cove, a beach of sorts.
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We've learnt that this is a very, very special place. A place where we can genuinely unplug from our manic modern world. A place where we can reset ourselves, our relationship with life, our relationship with our precious planet, and our relationship with the undivided Trinity at the core of our faith.
Restoration
We're currently finalising plans to replace the roof and windows of the church - this will take us through to 2024 given the challenges of getting skilled craftspeople and materials on to Graemsay.
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Thereafter, there's still quite a bit of work to do before we will realise our vision of a beautiful, serene, fully restored chapel for the use of our community.
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We would of course be delighted to hear from anyone, or any organisation, that would be interested in helping with the restoration of the chapel - financially, or through the provision of materials, craft skills, or the fittings and furnishings to complete our sanctuary.
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As you can see, over 40 years as a hay barn has taken its toll on the interior of this lovely place.
Accommodation
Once we've restored the chapel to something like weather-tight, and started to decorate and furnish it appropriately, we'll want to start work on our accommodation for visitors to the retreat.
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We currently envisage this to be a mix of four to six small houses - a mixture of styles, including log cabins, eco 'pods' and other kinds of building.
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We're hugely keen to hear from anyone with opinions on this - and particularly with experience of creating this kind of a retreat community.
Community
So, what then? Having some lovely buildings will be, well, ... lovely. But we then need to breathe life into our retreat community...
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Does this sound like it might be for you? Could you live in Graemsay for a few weeks or a few months each year and help us make this the best place on earth to escape to for Christian reflection, learning and renewal?*
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* This doesn't necessarily have to involve holding hands