"St Bede's provides hospitality, welcome and peace to all those who come."
St Bede's Mission Statement
Our aim at St Bede’s is to provide an environment where:
- People of all faiths, and none may find peace and welcome
- Faith may be fostered and welcomed
- Justice and reconciliation may be worked for
We will do this by:
- Offering opportunities to deepen a personal relationship with God through Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius, spiritual direction and retreat work.
- Providing an ecumenical and integrated approach to spirituality through the exploration of a broad range of spiritual traditions and psychological insights.
- Promoting and supporting Lay spirituality and working closely in collaboration with others to achieve this aim.
- Responding, where possible, to the changing needs of those using St Bede’s and in the locality by providing courses and offering our facilities for their use.
St Bede’s provides hospitality, welcome and peace to all those who come – and also provides a place apart for those who want to explore and deepen their spirituality.
The main work of the centre is to run regular programmes of spirituality. The aim of this is twofold: firstly, to provide talks, workshops and quiet days run by a wide variety of speakers from different denominations and faiths; secondly to foster Ignatian spirituality through occasional retreats, spiritual direction and courses for all who are interested.
Alongside this we provide rooms for local and national groups to meet to run their own training courses or workshops. There are also smaller rooms for individual use by counsellors and spiritual directors.
The CJ community lives on the site and some are involved in the centre in various ways. The overall responsibility lies with Sr Cecilia Goodman CJ.
The centre is housed in a beautiful Georgian building, close to the city centre of York and is part of the Bar Convent Complex which includes a Museum showing a pilgrimage through the history of Christianity in the North of England placing the Bar convent in its context; a café, which is open to the general public, it’s own conference and bed & breakfast facilities, a gift shop and St Joseph’s, where the older members of the community are well cared for by professional nursing and care staff.
St Bede’s is a five-minute walk away from national rail and bus stations and is easily reached using the City’s park and ride scheme.
