Magnitude Festival at Lendrick Muir
6 July 2023Joyfully Made Creative Retreats
Joyfully Made Creative Retreats
Back in 2019, Sharon Forsythe, who was at the time working at Lendrick Muir, had a vision for developing a women's ministry platform that would not only serve the women that attended, but give the team at Lendrick Muir an opportunity to work in areas a bit different from their day-to-day jobs. From that seed grew numerous women's creative retreats and children's day camps.
You can sign up to the Joyfully Made mailing list to keep up-to-date with future Women's Retreat events.
In 2020, the first Joyfully Made event was launched at Lendrick Muir. The event grew from a desire Sharon had to provide an opportunity for women to be cared for. It was to be a weekend for women to escape work and family pressures and explore their creative giftings. It also provided the dual blessing of allowing some Lendrick Muir team members to share their passion for creativity and work alongside colleagues that they may not get to work with otherwise.
So in January 2020, women from all over Scotland gathered for a weekend retreat packed with creative workshops and devotional sessions. The Joyfully Made team, made up of Lendrick Muir staff, lead craft workshops covering everything from brush lettering to beaded jewellery, and photography to felting. The devotional sessions were themed around God's creativity in our humanity.
Underpinning every craft workshop and devotional session was the desire to give women an opportunity to be cared for and rejuvenated. The retreat was an opportunity to leave the responsibilities of home and work at the door and revel in a weekend of worship and creativity.
Due to the pandemic the residential retreats were paused for a number of years but in 2023 a second Joyfully Made Creative Retreat weekend was held at Gowanbank.
Joyfully Made Women's Creative Retreat returns again to Gowanbank 19-21 January 2024. Jane Gallacher will join the JM team as speaker. The theme of Finding Beauty in Our Giftedness, Limitedness and Brokenness will run through all the devotional sessions and creative workshops. It will be a weekend for women to take time away to connect with themselves, others and God through creative sessions, worship, prayer and community. To find out more and book a place, visit the events page.
The Creative Day Retreat was borne out of the Joyfully Made team's desire to host an event at a time when residential weekends just weren't possible. In December 2021 the Joyfully Made team welcomed a group of women to enjoy a day of festive foods, craft workshops and seasonal reflections. Much like the weekend retreat, the intention was that the women attending would have time to relax, take time for themselves and be inspired by God's Word.
Another successful event ran again in December 2022, and bookings are currently open for the 2023 Creative Day Retreat on Saturday 9th December, 10am - 5pm at Lendrick Muir. The 2023 craft workshops include free-standing wreaths, Scandinavian quilted decorations, and a names of Jesus table decoration. To find out more and book a place, visit the events page.
Joyfully Made Junior was launched in May 2023. Led by many of the same team as the women's events, Joyfully Made Junior ran in collaboration with SU Holidays to offer children, from 7-12 years, a day of creativity and Bible exploration.
The first event landed on the bank holiday of the King's coronation so it seemed only natural to run with a royal theme. The crafts and the devotional sessions were inspired by the theme, God's Kingdom and the parables of the Great Banquet and the Hidden Treasure.
In October 2023, the second Joyfully Made Junior event ran at Lendrick Muir. This time the theme, "A Mystery in the Making" saw the children honing their investigative skills as they explored the Bible for evidence of who Jesus is.
If you're interested in booking on to a future Joyfully Made Junior event, keep an eye on Lendrick Muir socials and the SU Holidays website.
