The Archer Retreat & Spirituality Centre
The Archer Retreat Centre, a place of Earth Centred Spirituality, is a space for you to take some time to reflect upon who you are and to explore where you are on your journey through life. In entering into this space you will touch your story, feel the grass between your toes, meet the mountain, smell the earth harvest and taste good food.
Make a personal retreat (with or without spiritual direction), join in a program on our calendar or rent the space for your own group program.
Just north of Brisbane, overlooking the beautiful Stanley River Valley at the base of Buruja (Mount Archer) we provide an experience for you to reconnect with yourself and the Earth. We provide accommodation for up to 9 people in private single rooms and cabins with a possibility of twin share and/or couple accommodation. Overflow camping may also be possible.
We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of this land
We would like to remember The Aboriginal people of the Brisbane River Valley and Kilcoy region who are the Jinibara People, and in particular, the Dungidau people, centred in the Kilcoy region and the junction of the Stanley and Brisbane Rivers - these are the local People, who walked this country for thousands and thousands of years.
And we remember their descendants who still walk this land.
May we honour the spirit and the story of this land, of this country of the Jinibara and Dungidau People, and their ongoing connection and stewardship of this land upon which we are walking, sitting and reflecting.
We invite you to pause to connect with that spirit of the land and the people and continue to honour the connection.
And we invite you to reflect on those of this land, and our own loved ones, who have gone before us.
Archer Mountain Community
Natural sanctuary
Mountain meets valley
Sky touches mountain
Earth nourishes human nourishes earth
Our Vision
The foundation stories for the Mount Archer Eco-Spirituality Retreat Centre are The New Universe Story, The Christian Story and The Founders’ Stories of Edmund Rice and Mary MacKillop. These stories shape the following vision.
The essence of The Archer is its oneness with the whole Earth Community, its spirituality as Earth-centred spirituality, and its story as part of the unfolding story of the Universe – the cradle of all sacred stories.
Oneness invites us into an inner quiet and stillness nourished by the presence and silence the land holds. Earth-centred spirituality invites us to deep listening to the land. Story invites us into insight and understanding of our spiritual roots.
The Archer is both a place and a community of beings, living and non-living. Those who come here are invited to deep listening to the land as sacred, to their own stories within the context of The Universe Story, and to the cry of Earth which is impoverished due to “the harm we have inflicted on her”. (Laudato Si’ #2)
Mindful of the above, The Archer is a place of hope, shaped by the chaos and creativity embedded in our evolving Universe.
The Archer acknowledges the wisdom of the Dungadai people of the Jinibara nation, the original custodians of this land, and seeks ways to creatively engage with, and learn from, them.
The Archer offers the spaciousness and silence that heals. It challenges and nurtures all who come by inviting them to be attuned to Earth’s rhythms, and to live interdependently and responsibly within their own particular ecosystems.
I asked the moon what should I say and the wind said “Tell them my story”
And I asked the wind what should I say and the wind said “Tell them my story”
And I asked the clover out on the lawn, what should I say and the clover said “Tell them my story.”
My story, the mountain story, the river story, your story, the indigenous story, the great story.....
~ Thomas Berry