Your Hosts

Randy & Jill Thompson

Your hosts, Randy & Jill Thompson, have served New England churches for over 20 years. They understand the pressures of ministry, and what it’s like to feel overwhelmed by people’s expectations, church conflict, and people’s needs.

Randy has been in ministry for over 27 years, with 21 years of pastoral ministry experience, having served churches in Sherman and Windsor, Connecticut. He was also director of the Christian Study Center in New Haven, Connecticut for five years in the mid-80’s.  He graduated from UCLA with a B.A. In English, and received an M.A. in Religious Studies from the University of California at Santa Barbara, writing his thesis on the novels of Charles Williams. He attended Yale Divinity School, from which he received his M.Div.  His experience in ministry brought him to see that time devoted to silence, solitude and prayer is essential for effective ministry.  Having been through burn-out, he knows what that is like from the inside.

Jill has been a pastor’s wife for 21 years and knows firsthand the expectations, stresses, and struggles that come with that unofficial “job.”  She graduated from Westmont College in Santa Barbara, CA with an applied music major in voice and a minor emphasis in elementary education.  She has taught music both privately and in a school setting for the past 30 years.  Jill has a deep place in her heart for those on the front lines of Christian ministry who are in need of a rest and encouragement.

Randy and Jill have experienced first-hand the ministry of spiritual encouragement and refreshment, and their love for Jesus and His servants has motivated them to show His love to others who are tired and hurting. Their desire is to provide a ministry of listening, loving and praying for those who are wounded or weary from their service, and also for those who know they need a time for spiritual rest and solitude to prevent burn-out. In 2011, the Lord opened the door for this vision to be fulfilled through the establishment of Forest Haven in the hills of New Hampshire.

A Message from Randy

Jill and I founded this small retreat center so that pastors and other Christian workers might have a beautiful place of peace and quiet where they can get away for a few days or a couple weeks to get reacquainted with God. When I burned-out in the mid-80′s, it was a week away at a retreat center in Connecticut that the Lord used to heal me. Ever since then, I’ve striven to anchor my ministry life in silence, solitude and prayer. I haven’t always been successful in doing so, but this is a core value of my life, and which we are hoping to share with pastors here at Forest Haven.