Retreats
“You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it finds its rest in You.” – St. Augustine
Corhaven
Corhaven offers individuals and families a chance to step back, relax, and focus on God through spiritual retreat. As a ministry of the church, we are glad to make this place available for spiritual retreat. The 17-acre wooded property offers a network of trails, a creek with stations for prayer and reflection, fire pits with wood supplied, and a variety of other spaces to connect with God. See below for info about personal retreats, group retreats, Coracle-led retreats, Corhaven hosts, etc.
Personal Retreats
Corhaven offers individuals and families a chance to step back, relax, and focus on God through spiritual retreat. The 17-acre wooded property offers a network of trails, a creek with stations for prayer and reflection, fire pits with wood supplied, and a variety of other spaces to connect with God. Onsite you will also find Coracle-created booklets on various Guided Retreat Experiences that you are free to utilize if that will serve your retreat experience. See below for more info about Kevin & Denise Goertzen, our Corhaven Hosts.
Locations & Accommodations
THE WOODSHOP
The Woodshop is a two-story retreat space with accommodations for families and larger groups. It has two upstairs bedrooms that can sleep up to 10 people, as well as a room for one individual or couple downstairs, one-and-a-half baths, and a fully stocked kitchen. The downstairs bathrooms and kitchen are available to all guests who visit the property while on retreat.
THE CORHAVEN HOUSE
The Corhaven House, beyond serving as the living quarters of our Corhaven Hosts, this home has four private rooms, one-and-a-half bathrooms, as well as a large gathering room, dining room, kitchen, and outdoor patio overlooking the garden. All spaces are available for use by individual or group retreats.
THE COTTAGE
The Cottage is our day-use space with both a spiritual formation for Kingdom action library, as well as space for retreatants to reserve time to meet for pastoral counsel and prayer with our Corhaven hosts or to meet with their own spiritual director (on Zoom). Use of this space can be requested via the Reservation Form.
THE GARDEN
The Garden is managed by the Corhaven Hosts, as well as volunteer energy from the community and guests. It is a large plot of fertile earth open to anyone who wishes to partner with the Corhaven Host in the good work of creation care while on retreat.
THE CAMPGROUNDS
The Campgrounds are found in a clearing in the woods behind Corhaven’s facilities. With multiple firepits, this is a perfect place for families and groups who wish to take a camping retreat and enjoy Corhaven’s beautiful natural setting. Smaller sites are available for solitary campers as well. These are walk-in sites (approximately 175 yards), with restrooms and kitchen available in the Woodshop.
THE CORHAVEN GRAVEYARD
The Corhaven Graveyard is a historic burial ground for enslaved people that has been developed into a sacred site of remembrance and reconciliation. All are welcome to visit and reflect in the memorial garden that is dedicated to honoring the enslaved African Americans who originally worked this land.
Your Stay
Retreats at Corhaven are designed to be flexible in length and customized to the needs and desires of the individual or family. Although guests can visit for as short as an afternoon or stay for multiple days, visitors generally come for a day retreat or single overnight. See below for more info about Kevin & Denise Goertzen, our Corhaven Hosts.
Suggested Donation
Although Corhaven does not charge for personal retreats, we rely on donations in order to make it possible for us to continue offering this place to guests. If you are able to contribute more than the suggested donation, know that your gift makes the ministry of the Corhaven Retreat Center possible.
Suggested donation amounts are as follows:
$25 – Camping (per retreatant)
$50 – Day Use (per retreatant)
$75 – Overnight (per retreatant)
$300 – Single Building Day Use (Corhaven Woodshop or Corhaven House; for groups)
$500 – Single Building Overnight (Corhaven Woodshop or Corhaven House; for groups)
$500 – Two Buildings Day Use (Both (Corhaven Woodshop and Corhaven House; for groups)
$750 – Two Buildings Overnight (Both Corhaven Woodshop and Corhaven House; for groups)
However, if money is an issue, please do not hesitate to come! The generous support of many enables Coracle to provide retreat experiences for anyone regardless of financial ability/resources.
You can make a tax-deductible donation by writing a check to “Coracle” putting “Corhaven” in the memo and Mailing it to 5401 7th Road South Arlington, VA 22204.
Planning Your Visit
When planning your visit, prayerfully consider the kind of retreat you would like to make and use the Personal Retreat Reservation Form to communicate your interests and desires with staff. We will endeavor to do all that we can to accommodate you and to facilitate an encounter with the God who loves you, is with you, and desires to meet with you here!
For more information about retreat options, availability and what to bring, contact us here.
Group Retreats
Group Retreats:
Corhaven is the perfect place for small group, leadership group, and even family retreats. Group retreat capacity: up to 16 guests indoors overnight, or up to 35 guests for day use or overnight with camping. If you are a part of a leadership team, small group, men’s or women’s ministry, etc. that would like to use the Woodshop and/or Retreat House for a group retreat, just indicate how many people and for how long, and if you’d like to use the whole building on your reservation form.
Coracle Led Group Retreats:
Coracle offers a variety of group retreat experiences at Corhaven, in DC, Baltimore, and Northern Virginia, for organizations and churches across the US, and in different places around the world. We offer training in areas like spiritual formation for executives and leadership teams, guidance of retreats for staff training days, parish retreats, women’s or men’s ministry retreats, and more.
We also provide day-long guided retreats at Corhaven, our Ministry Center in South Arlington, and elsewhere in (Baltimore, DC, NoVA, etc.) for exploration and encounter with God. These retreat days invite people from all places to discern and focus on specific topics (e.g. “Falling in Love with Jesus,” liturgical themes of Advent or Lent, “Drawing Close to God in Creation,” etc.). The retreats offer direction and teaching from a trained leader, devoted time with God, prayer, and sharing with each other, and generally the celebration of the Eucharist.
Some of the retreats we offer make up our year-long Coracle Fellowship spiritual formation program as well. The topics offered within that program can be found HERE.
Your Corhaven Hosts
Our Corhaven Hosts are individuals or couples who, having deep Christian maturity and ministry experience, provide hospitality for both the practical and spiritual needs of our retreatants. Kevin and Denise Goertzen, our current Corhaven hosts, are present to either provide space for retreatants seeking solitude and silence, or, upon request (in the reservation form) offer a time for pastoral counsel and prayer for those seeking a chance to process the deep things of life.
Pastoral Oversight
Rev. Bill Haley
Scott Buresh
