In the Poor Handmaid of Jesus Christ tradition of simple, caring presence, Bethany Retreat House is a "little house" in the city where you can find quiet space for prayer and assistance in recognizing and responding to God's "voice within."

Time at Bethany gives you the space to get to know yourself and God in deeper ways. At Bethany you can put aside for a time your everyday demands to rest with God and use your energy for soul work. While this takes many forms, soul work is about paying attention to your thoughts, feelings, and questions. It is about being present to yourself, your life, and meeting God in the events, relationships, and feelings of your life.

Do you ever say . . .

• How can I meet the God who claims to be so interested in me?
   
• How can I pray so I really communicate with God?
   
• How can I grow from knowing about God to relating to God in a personal, adult way?

        ... If you do, you might want to make a retreat at Bethany.

Retreats at Bethany are silent retreats individually arranged and scheduled to meet your needs. Bethany provides sacred space for adult guests who desire an experience of solitude. There are no talks given during the retreat, nor are there group discussions.
Spiritual Direction is available for those who wish. Retreats at Bethany can best be described as individually directed or private. 
see offerings page...                            

Bethany offers a quiet place in which to listen to your thoughts and feelings deep within and to the movement of God in your life. To assure this quiet and solitude for everyone who comes to Bethany, guests are asked to observe silence during their stay. Retreatants spend time alone and find the silence to be a nurturing environment for rest and prayer.

Bethany offers the opportunity to meet with a professionally trained spiritual director, either during retreat or on an ongoing basis. Spiritual direction provides a listening ear and an encouraging presence from one who is attuned to the spiritual life. The spiritual direction relationship provides a safe and enlightened place in which to reflect on your life experience and prayer for support, encouragement, and help with discernment in living your Christian life.

Situated in a pleasant subdivision in East Chicago, Indiana, Bethany’s peaceful, homelike setting provides a comfortable environment for prayer. Its backyard meditation garden provides a restful, private setting for your retreat. The quiet neighborhood is pleasant for walking, with a park close by and with Lake Michigan beaches 20 to 30 minutes drive from the retreat house.

Accommodations at Bethany Retreat House:

• 3 attractively furnished private rooms
• private kitchen and dining room for meals in solitude
• chapel
• library
• bookstore
• laundry facilities
   
• Eucharist daily at three neighborhood locations
• easy limo access to Chicago airports

A place away close by where you can retreat for as little as a day or a couple hours, Bethany’s homelike setting and silent atmosphere provide undisturbed space for you to get away from the stresses and demands of your life for a short time:

• to slow down, rest, and re-create
• to pray and journal, alone or with guidance in spiritual direction
• to come home to yourself and to the God of your life.

Come to Bethany for a couple hours or a day:

• to rest and pray in the chapel and private bedroom spaces
• to enjoy spiritual books, conference tapes, and videos from Bethany’s library.
• to take home a spiritual reading book or some meditation music from the bookstore.
• to share with others in an occasional group program.

Your time spent at Bethany Retreat House will renew and refresh you. You will be re-energized, able to bring new perspective and fresh vitality to your daily living, to your relationships, your work, your ministry.