Who we are

A BIT OF BACKGROUND

A Bit of Backgrond

Whitchester Christian Centre is ideally situated in a secluded oasis in the Upper Teviotdale Valley, whilst also an easy 2 miles away from the Borders town of Hawick, known for its production of top-quality cashmere.

Whitchester is unique in many ways: it is an independent centre, governed by a board of directors, one of whom owns the property and makes it available to the charity as a residential Christian retreat centre. Our ministry centres around welcome and hospitality; providing good home-cooked food, comfortable surroundings, with opportunities and space to rest and encounter God.

We have 10 double/twin rooms and 2 singles, a large lounge, with log fire in the winter months, large dining room, small chapel, snug/shop and a room that can be used for crafting and artwork, or as a smaller meeting room. We also have a small, recently updated library and seating area on the first floor.

Recent upgrades include: a lift to the first floor, new conservatory, solar pv panels, and a new summerhouse.

Simon and Amanda Kimberley

We came to Whitchester as deputy wardens in the summer of 2018, and were ‘handed the baton’ the following January.

Potted history:

Married December 1990 and moved to Uganda January 1991, working with a local diocese to provide clean water sources and sanitation in rural areas
Barny born 1995, returned to UK January 1996, Hester born 1997
Simon undertook a PGCE
Moved to Isle of Man in 2000 with Simon’s first primary school teaching post – stayed for 16 years
Did a year at Acorn Christian Healing Foundation completing training in Prayer Ministry and Listening (among others)

Christian journey:

We would probably define ourselves as Anglicans, by tradition, but we have attended free/independent, Baptist and Pentecostal churches over the years and are very ecumenically minded. We’ve learned to look for the essential common ground and build from there, rather than pick over the differences. Simon is a big reader and thinker and enjoys apologetics, and studying scripture; Amanda is a contemplative and trained more recently in prayer accompaniment (aka spiritual direction) with the Cumbrian Ecumenical Spirituality Group.

Authentic Lives:

Who Am I? Where am I going? How am I going to get there?

We attended our first AL workshop in 2014 where Simon discovered his Core Process was ‘Nurturing Potential’ and Amanda more recently tweaked hers 'Enabling Growth'. Since then, we have maintained a link with our trainer, attended follow up days and during lockdown got involved with online courses, assisting as small group leaders. We have run the workshop at Whitchester a couple of times, and would love to develop this to become a regular offering.
For more information see www.authenticlives.org

Tigger:

Our ginger tom, Tigger, a Manx cat (but with a tail), is the only ‘child’ who hasn’t left home! He’s very friendly, and an incessant scrounger – he loves cheese, chicken, tuna, cream etc – and has been known to help himself to the prawns out of a prawn sandwich - you have been warned!

Booking