2019 Retreat leaders

1 January 2019


The Rev. Erice Fairbrother

Erice was admitted as an Associate of the Anglican Order of the Holy Cross, at the Mt Calvary Monastery in 2000. In 2013, at the invitation of the Minister Provincial for OHCNZ, she was professed as a Solitary within the Order – a profession which gives shape and expression to her life and writing. She is an experienced retreat leader, teacher, published writer and Spiritual Companion. In January this year she presented a workshop at the NZCCM Meditatio conference at Auckland Hospital, and co-convenes a monthly meditation gathering in Napier.

Retreat: Hermits, Anchorites and Sacred Consecrated Lives
Date: 6pm Friday 14th—4pm Sunday 16th June

Jenny Johnson

Jenny’s early background was in nursing (RN and Midwife) and in later years, she completed a Diploma in Counselling.

Her interest is in the potential of poetry to foster psychological and spiritual growth and this led to training in Poetry Therapy through The National Federation of Biblio/Therapy (U.S.A.)

Jenny also trained as a SoulCollage® Facilitator and she loves offering creative and contemplative retreat days for self discovery and spiritual enrichment.

Jenny enjoys reading, contemplative poetry, creating collages and playing with fabric in her spare time.

Retreat: SoulCollage®  Prayer Cards
Date: Saturday 16th February
Time: 9.30am—4.30pm

Sally Longley

Sally Longley is a Spiritual Director and Retreat Leader at the Canisius Centre for Ignatian Spirituality in Sydney, Australia. She built the Chartres Labyrinth with her husband as well as a ‘wild’ classic labyrinth among the trees at Canisius. 

Sally has recently been awarded a DMin. from The Graduate Theological Foundation, USA. Her thesis, Conversations with Silence: Rosetta Stone of the Soul was birthed during her time as a Scholar at Vaughan Park.

She worked for 14 years in South Africa - first as a lecturer at Rhodes University (Urban Studies), and after completing degrees in Theology, as a chaplain on Transvaal university campuses during the apartheid era.

Sally is President of the Australian Network for Spiritual Direction, and has authored 5 Ways to Pray and Walking the Labyrinth as the Beloved in John’s Gospel. Her online presence is at www.longley.com.au.

Retreat: Labyrinths in the Sand
Date: 6pm Friday 8th - 4pm Sunday 10th November 

Vincent Maire

Vincent has more than ten years’ experience teaching meditation in the Christian tradition. Until recently he was the NationalCo-ordinator of the New Zealand Community for Christian Meditation and continues to serve as a trustee of the organisation.

Vincent works as a hospice spiritual carer and lives on the Hibiscus Coast of Auckland.

Retreat: Introduction to Meditation in the Christian Tradition
Date: Saturday 31st August
Time: 9.30am—4.00pm

Sir David Moxon

David is an Archbishop Emeritus of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa New Zealand and Polynesia. From 2013 to 2017, he was the Director of the Anglican Centre in Rome and the Archbishop of Canterbury’s representative to the Holy See. During his time there, the ecumenical focus of the Anglican Centre was on educating and networking around modern slavery and human trafficking, as well as aid and development work.

Prior to these roles, David was the Bishop of Waikato in the Diocese of Waikato and Taranaki for 20 years and the Archbishop of the New Zealand Dioceses for 8 years.

In 2014, he was appointed a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit and in 2017, he was awarded the Lambeth Cross for Ecumenism by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby.

Retreat: The faith based struggle against modern slavery and human trafficking globally and locally
Date: Saturday 17th August
Time: 10.30am—4.00pm

Dr. Hilary Oxford Smith

Dr. Hilary Oxford Smith is currently Acting Director of Vaughan Park. Her PhD in Practical Theology is from The University of Edinburgh. She has worked in hospice, hospital and prison chaplaincy and much of her vocational life has been spent alongside people living with loss.

An experienced retreat leader, she gives retreats and facilitates workshops and seminars throughout Aotearoa New Zealand to
support people who are bereaved and those who care for them. Her book, Grief’s Shadowed Path: Poems of Loss and Healing was published last year.

From Scotland, Hilary lived on the Hebridean island of Iona and her creativity and work is inspired by Celtic spirituality. She is an Associate Member of The Iona Community and also gives retreats on the Celtic Way.

She is a Spiritual Companion - in Gaelic - an Anam Cara, offering accompaniment as a soul friend..

Her online presence can be found at www.spiritofbradan.com.

Retreat:  Celtic Spirituality: Ancient Wisdom for Today’s World
Date:  9.30am Saturday 9th  —4pm Sunday 10th March

Retreat:  Companioning Those Who Are Grieving
Date:  Saturday 13th April 2019
Time: 9.30am—4pm

Marion Sanders

Marion Sanders is an ardent follower of Christ. She has
chosen to be involved in education throughout her adult life, first in New Zealand primary schools and then, for the last 25 years, as a teacher educator. This investment in the next generation of teachers has also extended offshore. She lives in Tauranga, where commitments to work, family, church and mentoring keep her happily engaged. To relax, she says that nothing compares with gardening, cooking and completing jigsaws!

Retreat: Memoirs of a Follower
Date: 6pm Friday 10 th—4pm Saturday 11th May

Julie Saraswati

Julie Saraswati is a professional harpist and singer. She lives in Nelson. Originally from the UK where she worked as a teacher, she emigrated to Australia and continued her teaching vocation there for 17 years. She relocated to Aotearoa in 2008 and worked as a Children’s Librarian.

She regularly sings and plays the harp for patients and visitors at Nelson Tasman Hospice, and in rest homes and retirement villages, as well as in the wider community and in her local church.

Julie has a particular love for Celtic music and shares her musical and artistic gifts at Retreats and workshops with Hilary Oxford Smith in Aotearoa and in the UK.

Retreat:  Celtic Spirituality: Ancient Wisdom for Today’s World
Date:  9.30am Saturday 9th —4pm Sunday 10th March