In Death and Grief Retreat

In Death and Grief: A Residential Retreat

There are moments in ministry that ask something deeper of us.

To sit beside someone at the end of life.
To witness grief in its many forms.
To remain present where there are no easy answers.

This work cannot be learned through theory alone. It asks for something steadier. Something embodied. Something that lives within us.

In Death and Grief is a three-day residential retreat created for ministers and students whose work brings them close to these thresholds. It offers a space to step away from the pace of daily life and enter a quieter, more intentional environment. A space where you can deepen your capacity to accompany others with presence, courage, and compassion.

Held at Poulstone Court Retreat Centre, a peaceful riverside sanctuary in the Herefordshire countryside, the retreat provides a setting where reflection and learning can unfold gently and with care.

Format

Friday 17 – Sunday 19 April 2026

(Arrival Friday afternoon, exact timings to be confirmed)

Poulstone Court Retreat Centre, Herefordshire countryside

This is a fully residential retreat, with accommodation and meals included.

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Who It Is For

This retreat is open to OneSpirit students and ministers who feel called to deepen their work around death, dying, and grief.

You may already be supporting individuals and families at these thresholds.
You may be preparing to do so.
Or you may simply feel drawn to this work and want to develop your capacity to meet it with confidence and care.

Wherever you are, you are welcome.

Fees

£384, or 3 instalments of £128 for OneSpirit Students and ROSIM Members
£480, or 3 instalments of £160 for Non-ROSIM OneSpirit Ministers

Meet Your Facilitator

Nickie was inspired to train as an interfaith minister in 2008 while working at a multi-disciplinary centre in Bristol for families managing life threatening illness and bereavement. Witnessing the courage of parents as they made their sick children’s days as happy as possible, the heartache of mothers and fathers as they grieved their soulmates and the resilience of children as they came to terms with the death of a parent, were powerful experiences. Her own mother had been a profoundly bereaved child and Nickie understood this was the work she needed to do.

After ordaining in 2010, Nickie became a mentor for OneSpirit and since 2013 has been one of our accredited supervisors. She has held many and varied funerals in different parts of the country and has led over a dozen retreats, many of them in recent times focusing on death and grief.

In 2018, her husband was diagnosed with a terminal brain tumour and later that year her 33 year old son died of a heroin overdose. Her husband died at home 10 months later. One of the things that pulled her through was remembering the families she had worked with in Bristol and how, against dreadful odds, they had found meaning and purpose again. She has also used writing, singing and drawing as ways to access and express her feelings of loss and grief. The natural world has been a teacher and a wise guide.

Nickie now writes a fortnightly blog to talk about grief and death and bring those difficult conversations and feelings out of the shadows. She has written a book for those who are grieving with more books in the pipeline. She runs a Threshold Choir and sings at the bedside of those on the threshold of life. She offers chaplaincy at a local hospice and also sees clients one to one, to support them into their death or through grief. In addition she has set up a Community Interest Company through which she runs groups, in person and online, to support people dealing with loss. She lives on the edge of Dartmoor with her beloved dog, whom she credits with getting her up every morning and giving shape to her days in those early weeks and months of grief.

More about Rev Nickie Aven here: