A Christian community with a retreat centre in North Devon is having to welcome fewer pilgrims after its licence to sponsor overseas volunteers was revoked following a Home Office audit last year.

Lee Abbey also runs accommodation for UK and international students in London and small missional communities in Birmingham, Bristol and Plymouth.

Volunteers from around the world were permitted to help run the sites through an entry clearance visa for charity workers. But that has now been withdrawn for Lee Abbey and a number of other organisations.

Archdeacon Andy Wooding Jones, executive chair of Lee Abbey Council, told Church Times that the Home Office audit “felt different from those in the past. Nothing had changed in the way in which we had deployed and invited community members, but it felt as if this was being looked at through an employment framework rather than through an understanding of what Christian community is. The lens picked up on one aspect of Christian service, and not the broader aspect of Christian discipleship.”

Ven Wooding Jones said the decision had affected the feel of the community: “[It is] almost like a five-a-side football team trying to play 11-a-side football," he said. 

“It’s more than just the hospitality; it’s the package of Christian service and discipleship: living together under one roof and serving together.”

Lee Abbey and some of the other organisations affected have now launched a judicial review to challenge the Home Office’s decision.

Premier Christian News has contacted the Home Office for a response.

Lee Abbey was founded in 1946 as a movement of God for evangelism and renewal, to equip and serve the church and its people. It’s an acknowledged religious community in the Church of England