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Announcement
We are delighted soon to be welcoming Revds Debbie and Andrew Smith into the Launde Abbey Community as they move into South Stables Cottage on the Abbey site in late May. Debbie will join the Ministry Team as part-time Resident Chaplain from early June and Andrew will be volunteering as a chaplain and in some administrative tasks, subject to the completion of statutory checks and requirements.
Debbie brings experience of retreat leading, of parish ministry and of healthcare chaplaincy, both in the UK and in New Zealand. Before ordination, she was a psychotherapist and taught counselling and pastoral care. Andrew is a spiritual director and experienced in project work and administration.
Debbie explains, “I love to see people flourish and consider it a privilege to be a signpost to God through contemplative spirituality and hospitality. Both Andrew & I have had a strong call to live in community and to minister in a retreat house. We very much look forward to being at Launde Abbey”.
Warden Alison says, “All of us here are looking forward to getting to know Debbie and Andrew as they come to live amongst us. We know that they have much to contribute to the Launde Abbey community and to our work of prayer and hospitality. Please pray for them as they move house and settle in to a new rhythm.”
Debbie will be licenced by the Archdeacon of Leicester at Evening Prayer (5pm) in the Launde Abbey Chapel on Wednesday 17th of June.
Our 2025 Summary Annual Report
We’re pleased to share Launde Abbey’s 2025 Summary Annual Report, looking back on a year of growth in our ministry of prayer, hospitality, community and sanctuary.
In her introduction to the report, our Chair of Trustees, Jennie Page CBE, reflects on the enduring character of Launde Abbey and the importance of places like this in an uncertain world:
“In the 21st century, the place is still numinous and ‘thin’ in spiritual terms, benefitting from the continuing prayer of generations and the beauty and peace of its setting. Such a place is rare and precious…”
During 2025, we welcomed almost 8,000 visitors staying overnight at Launde Abbey for retreats, quiet days, group stays and personal visits, hosted around 1,000 chapel services, saw continued growth in café visitors, and successfully launched our new website with online booking.
Looking ahead, our Warden, Revd Alison Myers, writes:
“We start 2026 on a firm foundation, though not complacent about the challenges… It is perhaps that wider context that makes places of prayer and sanctuary, like Launde Abbey, in which people can stay for a while for rest, refreshment, friendship or inspiration, ever more needed.”
We are deeply grateful to our staff, volunteers, chaplains, trustees, Companions and supporters whose generosity, commitment and care sustain the life of Launde Abbey. As Alison reflects in the report:
“Volunteers… give their time because they love being here, enjoy their colleagues’ company, and believe in what we do. They enable us to remain resilient and adaptive, and we are the stronger for it.”
As we look ahead, we remain committed to strengthening Launde Abbey’s ministry and hospitality, caring for this place well, and continuing to offer space for rest, prayer and renewal to all who come here.
Read the full 2025 Summary Annual Report here