As the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted lives and operations, Canterbury Retreat and Conference Center, under the direction of Chalmers Morse, has extended hospitality, offering those in need a sanctuary during the storm. The 48-acre center, located in Oviedo, has served the Episcopal Diocese of Central Florida since 1982. During the shutdown, however, the ministry pivoted, offering shelter to those needing to quarantine.

“Last March, we started working with the county and first responders who needed to quarantine,” Morse said. “They tested positive and didn’t want to go home and contaminate. From that, it spread to people in need, families that had similar situations. When we started doing that, it kind of spread. Then we took in families who had literally lost their homes or places to live – they were out on the street. We were trying to assist them where we could.”

Morse said that typically if a member of the diocese recommends a family in need, Canterbury tries to accommodate them in one of 48 guest rooms. Typically, displaced families have stayed anywhere from two to four weeks. During that time, they have the access to the retreat’s facilities, including a lake with Stations of the Cross and an on-site chaplain from Church of the Incarnation, located on the retreat center’s property. In addition to that congregation, Canterbury has opened meeting rooms for other churches that found themselves without a meeting location when public schools had to close their doors.

“Small churches have been meeting in schools, and now they have no place to go, so we opened up our conference rooms for them,” Morse said. “It’s not a lucrative thing for us, but something we’re called to do.”

Rev. José Rodríguez of Iglesia Episcopal Jesús de Nazaret sent a recent email thanking Canterbury for its service of hospitality, even through previous hurricanes, and urging churches and ministries to consider financially supporting it during this time of need.

“During this year’s pandemic, Canterbury took in a visiting missionary priest from the Amazon serving at Jesús de Nazaret who had tested positive for COVID-19,” he said. “Her infection lasted a month, and Canterbury provided care for her as well as being open as a respite for first responders exposed to COVID-19.”

Rodríguez added, “I know COVID-19 has challenged our finances, but I do hope that even a small donation will provide Canterbury with the same small blessing it continuously provides to our community.”

Morse said that while the shutdown has been “challenging for us,” he is looking forward to the time when clergy and churches begin coming back to the center for retreats and renewals.

“This has created a different opportunity for us to minister,” he said. “The rooms are here anyway, but because of the pandemic, most of my employees are limited in the hours they can work. We’re trying to help the best way we can.”

Having just finished phase one of a major renovation, Morse is also hoping the center will continue to provide spiritual and recreational service to many, including local churches, organizations, corporate groups and weddings, for years to come.

“We had a couple ladies who were staying for personal retreat right after the new year,” he explained. “One was totally blind. She wanted to go on the lake, and we kept watch over her while she did. Because of that, she had a spiritual experience that she would not otherwise have been able to have had she not been in this location.”

For more information and to donate, visit canterburyretreat.org.