Upcoming events at the House of the Open Door Community
The Community hosts many events throughout the year, using some of the facilities in our Retreat Centre; we list those coming up in a calendar below.
Our Tithe Barn is sometimes reserved for guest groups but is at other times is an ideal event space for meetings or conferences hosted by the community such as our Friday night Fellowship meetings, or those visiting for discipleship. Smaller meetings such as craft retreats take place in our Craft Studio.
If you are visiting for one of the events it may be possible for us to cater for you in our Dining Room; during your visit you are welcome to spend any spare time in our Retreat Centre Gardens.
To subscribe to this calendar click “Subscribe” bottom right and choose your calendar type e.g. Google Calendar
We are restarting our live Friday Fellowship Meetings, and on Friday November 12 our speaker (joining us remotely) will be Yoofi Clarke.
Yoofi coordinates Praise Fest, a Catholic Charismatic Renewal prayer group in Milton Keynes, and is a member of the Charis service team (CDSC) for the diocese of Northampton.
Yoofi will be speaking on the theme “Standing your Ground”
Our fellowship meeting will be in the Tithe Barn at HOD for those who live locally. We had hoped to livestream this on Youtube live but will not be able to, apologies.
The recording of Yoofi’s talk will be posted afterwards on our YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCelO052TL4FCFqG9OjtIj6Q
Please join us as we seek the Lord together.
See the Calendar of Events for Friday night speakers on other dates.
____
He served as a member of the Diocesan Service Team for Northampton Diocese for over five years and was recently appointed as the interim Coordinator of the new Charis Diocesan Service Committee.
Yoofi has been involved in Catholic Charismatic Renewal for over 27 years and desires to see unity in the Body of Christ, and for us to live our faith outside the walls of the church building by developing a deeper relationship with the Holy Spirit and being attentive to His voice in our daily activities.
This day will start with a short introduction, followed by a reflection led by Margaret Wade. Then for the rest of the morning you will quietly paint as a response to the reflection. …
All are welcome – artists, absolute beginners and the curious!
For more details and to book please see our page Quiet Days of Painting and Reflection
Please see our page Coronavirus (COVID-19) about your safety when staying with us as a day visitor. This includes the measures we are taking to ensure your safety, and precautions such as social distancing which we ask you to take during your time with us.
Our Friday Night Fellowship Meeting for February will be on Fri 18th Feb.
John Trimming will speak on the theme “The Beauty of Selflessness”, exploring the parables in Luke chapter 15.
Join us live if you can – in the The Tithe Barn at HOD for worship, the talk, prayer and fellowship.
We plan to share a recording of the talk afterwards on our YouTube channel.
See our Calendar of Events for a number of other Friday night speakers planned for other dates in 2022.
Fr Simon Penhalagan will be the speaker at our Friday Night Fellowship Meeting for March 2022.
Fr Simon will speak on the theme “Living the Great Commandment”, joining us in The Tithe Barn at HOD for live worship and the talk.
Those near enough are welcome to join us. We hope nearer the time to share details about a livestream, if possible.
See the Calendar of Events for Friday night speakers on other dates
_____________
Fr Simon Penhalagan is a Catholic priest of the Northampton diocese, ordained in 2008, and now a parish priest in Luton.
He is a long-term member and former president of Sion Catholic Community for Evangelism, where he has been involved in many aspects of evangelisation, discipleship and leadership formation. Having his roots in youth ministry, he now has oversight of the youth ministry office of his home diocese. This is part of his wider remit as Episcopal Vicar for Mission, seeking to enable the parishes of the Northampton diocese to share the love of God with the wider community.
Fr Simon is also the Deputy Coordinator of the CHARIS National Service of Communion, serving Catholic Charismatic Renewal in England and Wales.
Iris Riemersma is the speaker for our First Friday Fellowship Meeting for April 2022, leading us on the theme “The Joshua Generation and the Great Commission“.
Iris is an intern at Water from the Rock, a ministry based locally to HOD. Having met Iris recently, we invited her to speak as we felt she was inspiring about sharing the Gospel, particularly with younger Christians. From Iris’ profile (see below): “I hope to work towards bridging the gap between the older generations that have gone before us in faith, and the new generation of Christians that is rising up.”
Join us if you can – in the The Tithe Barn at HOD for worship, the talk, prayer and fellowship.
Details TBC nearer the time: There may be a live stream on YouTube, but if not, we hope to share a recording of the talk afterwards on our YouTube channel.
See our Calendar of Events for a number of other Friday night speakers planned for other dates in 2022.
_____________
Iris Writes:
My name is Iris Riemersma, I’m 23 years old and from the Netherlands.
I have had the privilege to grow up in a Christian family with parents who love the Lord, and because of that I never doubted His existence. However, I only started my personal walk with the Lord in my late teenage years.
From a very young age I was very aware of, and broken for, the brokenness of this world, especially when it comes to orphans and the Fatherless. When I was 17 years old, I joined Youth with a Mission (YWAM) where I did a discipleship training school and a Children at Risk school, later staffing on both.
For the last six months I have been with a ministry called “Water from the Rock”, in England.
I hope to work towards bridging the gap between the older generations that have gone before us in faith, and the new generation of Christians that is rising up.
Daniella Stephens will be speaking at HOD as part of HOD’s Gateway Summer Youth Conference 2022.
The Conference is on the theme “Gateway” – opening the Gates and Doors of our lives to make way for the King of Glory. Expand your horizons – connect with God and others in new ways…
Daniella is an inspirational speaker with a passion for the Gospel and prayer ministry. We look forward to welcoming her speaking to us all and encouraging all of us, especially those at HOD for Gateway or the wider Discipleship Course 2022.
Join us in The Tithe Barn at HOD for live worship and the talk.
See the Calendar of Events for Friday night speakers on other dates
_____________
Daniella is from Manchester and in full-time ministry as a Catholic Speaker. She is passionately committed to the urgent task of proclaiming and teaching the Good News of Jesus Christ.
Daniella has always been a practising Catholic but after a deeper encounter with Jesus at 17, felt a powerful call to share the Gospel, particularly the goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and mercy of God!
For the past 10 years she has been formed in speaking, evangelisation, catechesis & prayer ministry. In 2018, she graduated from the Maryvale Institute with a First-Class Honours Ecclesiastical Bachelor of Divinity and has received much of her formation through the Prince of Peace Community and New Dawn Conference Walsingham, founded by Myles Dempsey.
She speaks to people of all ages at prayer groups, youth groups, parishes, retreats, and conferences both nationally and internationally.
Brother Loarne Ferguson will be speaking at HOD on two July evenings (26 and 28) as part of HOD’s Gateway Summer Youth Conference 2022.
The Conference is on the theme “Gateway” – opening the Gates and Doors of our lives to make way for the King of Glory.. Expand your horizons – connect with God and others in new way…
Gateway week 2 focuses on Discipleship and Mission. Brother Loarne’s teaching on these evenings will focus on these areas, and be addressed especially to those at HOD for Gateway or the wider Discipleship Course 2022.
Brother Loarne has been a long-term friend of HOD, helping the community and those we serve in a number of ways, from the spiritual to the very practical – In 2021, he led a project to build us a new Apiary, using ecological methods and recycled material (see our blog post – The Apiary at HOD).
More details about Brother Loarne below.
Join us in The Tithe Barn at HOD for live worship and the talk.
See the Calendar of Events for Friday night speakers on other dates.
_______________________
Br. Loarne Ferguson
Br. Loarne became a member of the Capuchin Franciscan Order 30 years ago. He is now 53 years old and lives at the Friary in Chester with six other religious brothers. For 14 years he has helped to form small groups dedicated to discipleship and evangelisation while holding various other posts.
Key Christian interests:
Divine change management for individuals and communities; prophetic ministry; equipping for mission; contemplative life.
Key human interests:
Creativity & culture; arts & crafts; relationships, ecology & music.
Esther Price will be speaking at HOD as part of HOD’s Gateway Summer Youth Conference 2022.
The Conference is on the theme “Gateway” – opening the Gates and Doors of our lives to make way for the King of Glory.. Expand your horizons – connect with God and others in new way…
We have invited Esther to speak during Gateway week 2, which focuses on Discipleship and Mission. We are sure she will speak inspiringly in these areas due to her passion for evangelism and life given in service of the Gospel. Her teaching will be addressed especially those at HOD for Gateway or the wider Discipleship Course 2022, but is open to all.
More details about Esther below.
Join us in The Tithe Barn at HOD for live worship and the talk.
See the Calendar of Events for Friday night speakers on other dates
_______________________
Esther Price
God called Esther to full-time missions in her early 20’s, working with Youth With A Mission for 3 years. However, just as she was ready to do cross cultural missions, God told her to go back to Hereford.
After a long break away, God drew her back to missions and she went on her first trip with Blessed To Be A Blessing (BTBAB) to Peru in 2014. She has since been on a further 8 short term mission trips, worked in various co-ordinator posts for the organisation, lived in Thailand for 4 months and became the National Director in April 2022.
Esther is called to work with broken women, walking alongside them to see Gods healing and restoration in their lives.
Brother Loarne Ferguson will be speaking at HOD on two July evenings (26 and 28) as part of HOD’s Gateway Summer Youth Conference 2022.
The Conference is on the theme “Gateway” – opening the Gates and Doors of our lives to make way for the King of Glory.. Expand your horizons – connect with God and others in new way…
Gateway week 2 focuses on Discipleship and Mission. Brother Loarne’s teaching on these evenings will focus on these areas, and be addressed especially to those at HOD for Gateway or the wider Discipleship Course 2022.
Brother Loarne has been a long-term friend of HOD, helping the community and those we serve in a number of ways, from the spiritual to the very practical – In 2021, he led a project to build us a new Apiary, using ecological methods and recycled material (see our blog post – The Apiary at HOD).
More details about Brother Loarne below.
Join us in The Tithe Barn at HOD for live worship and the talk.
See the Calendar of Events for Friday night speakers on other dates.
_______________________
Br. Loarne Ferguson
Br. Loarne became a member of the Capuchin Franciscan Order 30 years ago. He is now 53 years old and lives at the Friary in Chester with six other religious brothers. For 14 years he has helped to form small groups dedicated to discipleship and evangelisation while holding various other posts.
Key Christian interests:
Divine change management for individuals and communities; prophetic ministry; equipping for mission; contemplative life.
Key human interests:
Creativity & culture; arts & crafts; relationships, ecology & music.
Gae Trimming from community will be our First Friday Night Fellowship Meeting for November 22.Matthew 25:13… “Keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour…”
Our guest speaker will be Alysen Merrill (more about Alysen below)“If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind…”
Philippians 2:1-2
Alysen Merrill is passionate about people, the local church, discipleship journeys, organisational culture and really good curries! She was born in the states and would say it’s been her privilege to live and serve in England the last 18 years, currently being based in Oxfordshire. She desires to be an encouragement to friends and strangers alike and likes to help individuals be attentive to God.
She has worked with numerous churches in England and currently works for a youth charity as well as helping people and teams flourish in her role as a Strengthsfinder coach.
Dr Chloe Lynch
Dr Chloe Lynch will be our speaker.
The art of steering blog
Fr Columba Jordan CFR
Our guest speaker will be Fr Columba Jordan CFR.
Matt Blair from Gas Street Church in Birmingham will be our Friday Night Fellowship Meeting speaker for June 2023, on the second Friday of the month, June 9th. Matt will speak to us on The Cross.
Matt hails originally from San Francisco, California and is the Operations Coordinator (GS South) and Associate Student Pastor for Gas Street. His assignment since joining Gas Street has been to build up the new Gas Street South location. Since January 2023, he has been working in the Student ministry and now looks after that alongside his Operations role.
Matt has over a decade of experience as a Worship Director and Worship Pastor and over two decades of experience working as a professional actor on stage and screen working alongside household names like Judi Dench and Matt Damon.
His passion is to see people radically transformed by the Holy Spirit and live lives wholly seeking the Lord and His Kingdom. He resides in Birmingham with his wife of 17 years and their two amazing children.
Jamie Price from Elim Limitless will be our speaker on 26th July, as part of our Gateway Summer Youth Conference 2023.
Jamie is the Director of Ministries for Limitless (Elim’s National Youth and Children’s ministry) and on the Limitless Pioneers team, helping churches with no youth ministries, start new youth ministries. He lives in Birmingham with his wife Debs and sons Jude and Ezekiel. In his spare time, he loves to run and read.
Allegra Mutanda will be our speaker on 27th July, as part of our Gateway Summer Youth Conference 2023.
Allegra is a lay woman in full time ministry in the Catholic Church. She is originally from the DR Congo and a native French speaker but has been living in the UK since 1995.
Allegra has extensive experience both in evangelisation and parish ministry having been involved in evangelisation since 2005. For 12 years, she was part of Sion Catholic Community for Evangelism whose charism is to share the Good News of Jesus Christ. Her primary work there was in parish renewal and missions and in that time, worked with over a hundred Catholic parishes across the UK.
Since 2020, Allegra has been working for the Parish of St Peter and the Winchester Martyrs as their Director of Evangelisation and Leadership where she is helping the parish fulfil its vision of bringing people closer to Jesus Christ in hope and joy.
Allegra is passionate about evangelisation and helping people go deeper in their relationship with Jesus. She says, ‘my own faith grew and developed with the help of so many people along the way and still does. If I can play even a small part in another’s journey of faith, helping them fall in love with Jesus, grow closer to Him, and in their turn, start helping others along that road, then I am responding to my baptismal call’.
On Friday November 3 2023 our Friday Night Fellowship Meeting speaker will be Yoofi Clarke. Yoofi coordinates Praise Fest, a Catholic Charismatic Renewal prayer group in Milton Keynes, and is a member of the Charis service team (CDSC) for the diocese of Northampton.
Last time Yoofi spoke for our fellowship meeting he joined us remotely for an online meeting in 2021, so it will be a joy to welcome Yoofi in person this time.
Our fellowship meeting will be in the Tithe Barn at HOD for those who live locally. All welcome.
(We sometimes post recordings of our Friday night speakers afterwards on our YouTube channel).
See the Calendar of Events for Friday night speakers on other dates.
____
Yoofi Clarke serves the Lord as Coordinator of Praise Fest, a vibrant Catholic Charismatic Renewal prayer group in the cluster of St. Barnabas parishes in Milton Keynes.
He served as a member of the Diocesan Service Team for Northampton Diocese for over five years and was recently appointed as the Coordinator of the new Charismatic Diocesan Service of Communion for Northampton.
Yoofi has been involved in Catholic Charismatic Renewal for over 27 years and desires to see unity in the Body of Christ, and for us to live our faith outside the walls of the church building by developing a deeper relationship with the Holy Spirit and being attentive to His voice in our daily activities.
He lives in Buckingham with his lovely wife Pep and their 2 amazing children.
Our First Friday Night Fellowship Meeting for December will have a speaker from the community.
Sr Hyacinthe Defos du Rau, O.P.
The speaker for our First Friday Fellowship Meeting for February 2024 will be Sr Hyacinthe Defos du Rau, O.P.
Sister Hyacinthe has known our community many years, since before she joined the Dominican Sisters of St. Joseph in 2000. She has spoken at Friday nights to our Fellowship before.
Sr Hyacinthe speaks and writes in catechesis, and leads the Dominican Sisters’ apostolate of Faith Formation lay adults and catechists, Light of Truth . She is a gifted communicator of the truths of Christian faith especially with the young, and uses the new media in her work (webinars and podcasts such as Sunday Gospel Podcasts).
Please come and join us as we seek the Lord together if you can. The evening concludes around 9.30-10 p.m. with refreshments.
We sometimes upload recordings of our Friday night speakers to our YouTube channel youtube.com/@houseoftheopendoor
See the Calendar of Events for Friday night speakers on other dates.
On Friday March 1 2024 our Friday Night Fellowship Meeting speakers will be Dr Martin and Rev Margot Hodson from A Rocha.
A Rocha UK is a Christian charity working to protect and restore the natural world and committed to equipping Christians and churches in the UK to care for the environment. Martin and Margot will speak about A Rocha and its work during their talk.
Both Martin and Margot are knowledgeable and passionate speakers, and have published widely together on Christianity and the environment, and have several books including A Christian Guide to Environmental Issues published for the Bible Reading Fellowship.
We look forward to Martin and Margot sharing with us. Our fellowship meeting will be in the Tithe Barn at HOD for those who live locally. All welcome.
We sometimes post recordings of our Friday night speakers afterwards on our YouTube channel.
See the Calendar of Events for Friday night speakers on other dates.
____
Dr. Martin Hodson is a plant scientist and environmental biologist. He teaches at both of the universities in Oxford and has over 100 publications, mostly in international science journals. Martin is also the Principal Tutor for the distance learning course, Christian Rural and Environmental Studies (CRES).
Revd. Margot Hodson is Theology and Education Director for the John Ray Initiative (JRI), an organisation connecting Environment, Science, and Christianity. She is also a Vicar in the Oxford Diocese. The Hodsons have published widely together on Christianity and the environment, and have several books including A Christian Guide to Environmental Issues (BRF, 2nd ed. 2021).
On Friday 19 April 2024 our Friday Night Fellowship Meeting speakers will be Annie and John Hughes.
John and Annie live in Ducklington, Oxfordshire, and John is a retired vicar. They are both chaplains at Open Doors and love encouraging young leaders in their journey of faith to step into more of God’s wonderful purposes.
They have three married sons and eleven grandchildren which helps to keep them young at heart!
Our fellowship meeting will be in the Tithe Barn at HOD for those who live locally. All welcome.
We sometimes post recordings of our Friday night speakers afterwards on our YouTube channel.
See the Calendar of Events for Friday night speakers on other dates.
____
Canon John Hughes was vicar of St Andrew’s High Wycombe for 15 years and retired from parish ministry in 2009 after 18 years as vicar of St John’s Harborne, Birmingham. He has a passion to train and equip disciples and more than 20 young men and women went forward for ordination during his time at St John’s. In the Birmingham Diocese he was on the Bishop’s Council as Chair of the House of Clergy and on General Synod, as well as being a Canon of Birmingham Cathedral.
Annie Hughes is a chaplain at Open Doors and previously worked as a chaplain in Healthcare. Annie loves to see lives, and a community, transformed by the power of God’s love and truth.
Open Doors UK supports millions of Christians at risk for following Jesus: in more than 70 countries, they help by supplying Bibles, providing emergency relief and helping persecuted believers stand strong for the long-term. In the UK and Ireland, Open Doors helps the church to pray, give and speak out for those who share our faith but not our freedom.
On Friday May 10 2024 our Friday Night Fellowship Meeting speaker will be Jason Charewicz. Jason will speak on the theme ‘Pleasure and Joy.’
Pleasure and Joy are familiar concepts to all of us. But familiarity can lead us to take things for granted, and our – perfectly natural – tendency sometimes to use the two as synonyms can obscure the differences and, at first glance strangely, to experience less of both. Drawing on inspiration primarily from CS Lewis and Aristotle, this talk will explore what pleasure and joy are, how the digital age in which we live can hinder or enhance them and provide a few practical suggestions for how we might better pursue them.
Jason Charewicz is the Caritas and Environment Officer for Clifton Diocese, supporting parishes and pastoral areas in mission-oriented formation as well as the Diocesan Jubilee Coordinator. He has led pilgrimages to Flame and to World Youth Day as well. Faith and Formation | Clifton Diocese
Our fellowship meeting will be in the Tithe Barn at HOD for those who live locally. All welcome.
We sometimes post recordings of our Friday night speakers afterwards on our YouTube channel.
See the Calendar of Events for Friday night speakers on other dates.
____
On Friday July 5 2024 our Friday Night Fellowship Meeting speaker will be Alice Hall from Sion Community.
Our fellowship meeting will be in the Tithe Barn at HOD for those who live locally. All welcome. We sometimes post recordings of our Friday night speakers afterwards on our YouTube channel.
See the Calendar of Events for Friday night speakers on other dates.
____
Alice met Sion Community through a school mission in 1992 and has been involved with Sion Community ever since. She is single and in discernment for a more committed consecrated life. She lives at the Ark, Sion’s community house in Coventry.
Following a Discipleship Training School in her late teens, she initially joined the Sion youth team and later moved into initiating, leading or developing various areas of ministry within the Community. She has a degree in Drama and Theology and a Masters in Theology and Christian Ministry.
Alice is passionate about the love of God and about people. She finds life serving Him through preaching, teaching, praying with and walking alongside others as well as through worship.
Matt Blair from Gas Street Church in Birmingham spoke at HOD last year. He returns to be our Friday Night Fellowship Meeting speaker on 19 July 2024.
Gas Street Church
Jamie Price from Elim Limitless will be our speaker on 24th July 2024, as part of our Gateway Summer Youth Conference 2024. Jamie spoke last year and we had to have him back!
Jamie is the Director of Ministries for Limitless (Elim’s National Youth and Children’s ministry) and on the Limitless Pioneers team, helping churches with no youth ministries, start new youth ministries. He lives in Birmingham with his wife Debs and sons Jude and Ezekiel. In his spare time, he loves to run and read.
‘When we have been clothed…’
(2 Corinthians 5.3)
On Friday September 27 2024 our Friday Night Fellowship Meeting speaker will be Andy Swinford who will speak on the theme “When we have been clothed“
Andy will lead us in a deep dive into the fascinating subject of clothing in scripture. It is an important and inspiring topic running right through the Bible, from God’s clothing of Adam and Eve at the beginning, to the wedding garment of the Bride at the end of time. Sometimes we all need a change of clothes and this might be the night!
We look forward to Andy sharing with us. Our fellowship meeting will be in the Tithe Barn at HOD for those who live locally. All welcome.
We sometimes post recordings of our Friday night speakers afterwards on our YouTube channel.
See the Calendar of Events for Friday night speakers on other dates.
__________________
Andy formerly taught English Literature and is the author of 14 essays in ‘The Christian Tradition in English Literature’. He is about to publish ‘The Practice of Joy: insights from the stories of C S Lewis’. He also delivers multimedia presentations and on-line classes about the authors C S Lewis and Tolkien.
Andy Swinford
Walking in the countryside and beekeeping are among his chief pleasures. He is a long-standing friend of The House of the Open Door, and has spoken before at our Friday Night Fellowship Meetings.
On Friday October 11 2024 our Friday Night Fellowship Meeting speaker will be Tim Alford from Limitless.
Our fellowship meeting will be in the Tithe Barn at HOD for those who live locally. All welcome. We sometimes post recordings of our Friday night speakers afterwards on our YouTube channel.
See the Calendar of Events for Friday night speakers on other dates.
____
Tim lives in Malvern, England, with his wife Jen, and two kids, Tobijah and Aria. He is the National Director of Limitless, a Youth Ministry Specialist Lecturer at Regents Theological College, and author of Leadership 101: Your go-to guide to leading youth and children’s ministries into a brighter future.
Tim is passionate about equipping leaders and communicating the gospel, having spoken at conferences, churches, schools and events all over the world. He is an enthusiastic runner, a frustrated supporter of Arsenal, and has on more than one occasion been to the cinema in Star Wars fancy dress.
