Mission
The mission of the Retreat House is to share God’s abundant love in the world by holding a sacred, compassionate, and inclusive space. We offer an experience of the Divine by supporting all who come to journey with God.
The Retreat House began in 2014 as a ministry of the Episcopal Diocese of Easton in Hillsboro, Maryland. In 2022, the Retreat House began operating as an independent non-profit organization and continues to serve as a resource offering spiritual direction, retreats, and community circles locally and online. Collaborative partnerships with faith organizations near and far are ongoing. In the summer of 2023, the Retreat House moved its home office to Chestertown, Maryland, and its Hermitage offering personal overnight retreats to the Foehliage Retreat Center in Galena, Maryland.
The Early Years
Our ongoing mission began in the town of Hillsboro, Maryland on the site of St. Paul’s Church, built in 1856-1857 and consecrated in 1858.
Rev. George Beaven was the first Rector. He served for 52 years until his death in 1909. The church continued until the 1950s when it was deconsecrated and sold to an individual who intended to move it to another location. The move did not take place.
In the late 1960s, the church was purchased by members of the Beaven family and re-consecrated by the Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Easton.
In the 1990s, Rev. Marianne Ell became Rector. With her husband John and the congregation, work was begun to build a parish hall and community center on the church property. That work was suspended in 1994 when the Ell’s family moved away.
The church and the nearly finished parish hall lay empty for 20 years.
In 2014, then-Bishop Bud Shand allocated funds to finish the parish hall and invited Francie Thayer to establish a Retreat House.
God has been faithful in that creative journey!