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Autumn’s Tidal Wave of New Beginnings
Beatriz Vasconcelos | São Paulo, Brazil This month, we had the joy of sitting down with Beatriz (Bea) from São Paulo, Brazil, to hear about…
Seasons of Service
Written by Ruby Linn | Huddersfield, England “After deciding I didn’t want to go to university, I spoke to some family friends at Big Church…
Practicing Rhythms of the Christian Walk
Written by Rose Emery | Yeovil, England “I missed working for a Christian company and being a part of a Christian community, so when joining…
Serving Abroad in England
Written by César Filho | Pernambuco, Brasil “I first heard about volunteer exchange programs in communities in the UK through Instagram. I became interested and…
Growing in Christ through Service
written by Hanok Tamang | Kathmandu, Nepal “At Lee Abbey, God has been shaping and moulding me according to His word and making me see…
From Brasil to England
written by Ana Patricia Sousa | Salvador, Brasil “This is my second time here in England. I was here in May 2022 for a month,…
Living in a Christian Community
written by Ned Liley | Bedford, England “After 6 months of being on community, it’s odd to look back and think about how I first…
Family Life at Lee Abbey
written by Beckie Cotton | Midlands, England “When, in October 2021, we packed up our home and said goodbye to our friends and family in…
Estate Team Reflections
written by Jono Forlong | Hamilton, New Zealand “When I first heard of Lee Abbey, I was in a place of isolation and loneliness. I…
From Vision to Fruition: A New Lee Abbey Devon & Bible Society Partnership
Encounter! Summer Week at Lee Abbey written by Grace Balkan Picture this: it is time for your annual summer camping holiday in England. This year…
Being Associate Community
written by Jeremy and Ann Moore It was Ann who saw it. 2021. An invitation in Rapport caused by Covid travel restrictions. Fewer potential Community…
A BEACON TEAM PERSPECTIVE
(Written by Joy Fletcher, United Kingdom, 2025) I have been at Lee Abbey for 7 months so far, and it has been the best time…
“Dear Community”: A Volunteer’s Leaving Speech
(Written by Albert Gomes. Albert served on Community from 2024-2025 and lives in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil) The Lee Abbey website has a phrase about living…
A Career of Service: Dot Parker
Lee Abbey’s Longest-Serving Local Worker Dot Parker started work at Lee Abbey Devon in February 1986 for what she thought would be a fortnight. Some…
Reflections From the New Operations Manager: Mark Scyner
Written by Mark Scyner I sit here writing this article having been in the Youth and Beacon team for just over two years now. Looking…
Community Life As a Married Couple
Written by Chanel Hoole When Dev’s dad suggested we consider spending a year at Lee Abbey, we were in the middle of a transitional phase…
Statement on the death of Queen Elizabeth II
The international Lee Abbey Community in Devon sends our condolences to the Royal family on the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second. We…
Lee Abbey 2021 re-opening
Lee Abbey is opening soon and we look forward to welcoming you! Come and stay in the House from 9 July — bookings are open….
An Illustrated Lee Abbey Story
An Illustrated Lee Abbey Story – written and illustrated by Sarah Scyner, Publicity and Media coordinator. Our Lee Abbey story begins with Roger De Pemberton, who would soon…
Brew Monday
Barbara Carpenter, Senior Chaplain at Lee Abbey Devon reflects on mental health this Brew Monday. ‘I like a nice cup of tea in the morning…
Into 2021
Into 2021… Grant Forrest, Business Manager at Lee Abbey Devon led community prayers on New Year’s Eve. Our reading was 1 Kings 3:4-14. The eve…
Family Activity Days at The Beacon
We are delighted to introduce a fun experience for families to discover more about themselves and each over over the October Half Term. Tuesday 27th…
Could you help bless a Key Worker?
As the country joined weekly to clap for our Key Workers, here at Lee Abbey Devon, we wondered, how might we bless Key Workers as…
LEE ABBEY MOVEMENT APPOINTS NEW WARDEN AT DEVON
Dear Friends I am delighted to let you know that Revd Gordon Crowther has been appointed as the next Warden of Lee Abbey Devon. He…
New Year Worship
We’ve just celebrated a brilliant start to 2020 with Joel Payne, a gifted song writer and worship leader! Joel heads up Resound Worship – a…
Advent
Waiting. Space. Attentiveness. Advent can be a time of great ambivalence for us. We know there is merit in being fully present in the season…
Youth
Here at Lee Abbey we are passionate about communicating the life of Christ to children and young people; as well as to our own children…
Generosity
Our strap line is #CometoLife. This is based on Jesus’ words in John 10:10, “I have come that they may have life, and have it…
Discipleship
One of the comments that we often hear from our guests is, ‘It’s like heaven here!’ And alongside it,‘but isn’t it escapism from the real…
Humans of Lee Abbey
Humans of Lee Abbey, Summer 2019 This Summer, our ‘Humans of Lee Abbey’ exhibition celebrated all that God was doing across this site. A photo…
Malcolm Guite
We loved having Malcolm Guite with us last week unpacking the seven I AM sayings of Jesus from the gospel of John, referencing his sonnets…
Bioblitz
Last week we held a bioblitz on our beautiful Lee Abbey estate. We were joined by a number of nature experts who assisted us, as…
Relationships
We are all involved in relationships, whether we like it or not. Some of these will be relatively fleeting ones, as people move in and…
Creation
The beautiful countryside we live in reminds us that we are all part of the wider community of God’s creation. We seek a way…
Lee Abbey Prayer – A Rhythm of Life
We are called by God to seek Him each day, joining with present and past community members, and our Lee Abbey Friends. As a praying…
Easter Sunday
‘Rabboni’ Sunday morning; my hands clasp jars, oils to embalm, needing to touch, to comprehend the black of death, sense of ‘gone’. I recall the…
Reflections on my time at Lee Abbey
Leaving Speech by Bishoy Rizek (Egypt) 10th April 2019 Sometimes following God takes you into unchartered territories (places that don’t exist on maps), and you…
Stewardship of the earth
One of our Community promises calls us be intentional about stewardship. We choose to work to cherish and protect God’s creation, which God the Father loves and entrusts to our care.
Youth workers take Beacon ‘Team Challenge’
What happened when three dioceses gathered their Youth Advisers, Youth Workers, School Chaplains and Children’s workers together for a day at our Beacon Activity Centre
The Oldest Newlyweds in the World
When you’re an 88-year-old widower following a marriage of 63 years, you may not consider yourself in the dating market, but you do “know what…
Welcoming Syrian Refugees to Coastal North Devon
Because she’s a housewife and 21 years old with two children and another on the way, she hasn’t had time to learn English. Mariam is…
Baroness Cox and the Front Lines of Faith and Freedom
Next week, Baroness Caroline Cox, member of the House of Lords and CEO of the Humanitarian Aid Relief Trust (HART), will join us at Lee…
Tasting Local: Food Sourcing at Lee Abbey
The word ‘health’ is derived from the same Indo-European root as ‘heal,’ ‘whole,’ and ‘holy’. “To be healthy is literally to be whole,” says Christian…
Self-Discovery in Community Life
Alfredo’s mother called him after one week of being at Lee Abbey. She asked about his first impressions and his answer was, “Everything is very…
An Easter Surprise: Jim Barker, Guest Story
The numbing shock of the sea surged around him. Jim Barker’s baptism in the North Devon water was an unexpected event. With a mother who…
Capturing Worship: Jane Willis Photography
A choir composed of past-addicts came to perform in Jane Willis’s church. In a village beneath the South Downs, Jane says this group served the…
Missions in Burundi: Simon Guillebaud
Witch doctors converted, demons cast out, cripples healed. It’s a crazy life in Burundi, one which can be dangerous – but God calls us to…
Freedom to Explore: From Lee Abbey to University Life
Berit is eighteen years old and will begin university in Switzerland this autumn to become a doctor. Most of us on community think of her…
Environmentalism: Andy Lester, A Rocha UK
Every morning this season, we wake to hear the dawn chorus of spring. “The church has an opportunity to say, ‘enough is enough’ and do…
Community Featurette: Mollie, Tea Cottage Manager
“I wrote to Lee Abbey on a scrap of a piece of paper, saying I’ve left my abusive alcoholic husband in Portugal, I don’t have…
The Journey: A Pilgrimage of Prayer and Mission – Part 2
DAILY BLOGS FROM THE TEAM Thu 10th May: Day 1 We have reached our first destination of Lee Abbey Knowle West Small Missional Community. Our…
Mission in Crickhowell, Wales
The Lee Abbey Mission Team recently returned from the area of St Catwg (Crickhowell), which is part of the Usk Valley, and up as far…
The Journey: A Pilgrimage of Prayer and Mission
‘Thy Kingdom Come’, Scargill and Lee Abbey are jointly embarking on a pilgrimage of prayer and mission to celebrate our long standing partnership in the gospel.
Community Featurette: Dave from England
“Just get there. Don’t worry about the program – just book a bed.” Dave Revell’s friend said this to him over twenty years ago, encouraging…
Community Featurette: Claudia from Germany
Claudia’s hometown is known for the “Fachwerkhaus,” or half-timbered houses. From southwest Germany, near the Black Forest, Claudia grew up in Esslingen, a hilly town,…
Speaker Featurette: Bishop John Perry
It’s 1954 in London. You’re a young soldier going to hear Billy Graham speak in Harringay with over 11,000 others. It’s a buoyant horde of…
Community Featurette: Waqas from Pakistan
Waqas is a 4th generation Christian from Pakistan, saying, “You become the salt of the earth. We are free and we should be able to…
Community Featurette: Environmental Coordinator, Jo Greenwood
A crowded choir of sheep “baa-ing,” the fresh squeak of a newborn, its bristly wool drenched by mom’s licks, its bow-legged brother with his rear…
Community Featurette: Plamen from Bulgaria
If you’re lucky, you may have seen a pigeon dance. Plamen, a current community member from Bulgaria, says, “When I was a kid, I had…
Speaker Featurette: Michael Mitton
How do you best remember the power of a story you’ve experienced? Are you taken back by an image, a photograph, or do words have…
Community Featurette: Nazareth from Spain
It’s 9pm. You’re twenty-two years old, riding a British train with a girl you just met. You’re on the way to a retreat center where…
