The word Sozein is a verb from the Bible signifying the setting free, delivering from danger, making safe and healing of people. It refers to God’s work on behalf of us all. It leads to making whole, thus making holy.

As Sister Lilias, one of the trustees writes: "The Director of the Sozein Trust is an ordained priest of the Church of England, who is ably assisted by his wife, who has a varied ministry within the house, not least by the generous hospitality that is always offered."

Most people who find their way to the house, because of their deep need, are folk who need a ‘listening ear’, with time to give, without being rushed or ready quickly to sit in judgement on what they hear. They are people who very often have carried their troubles for some considerable years, where medical remedies have not always helped, because others have lacked the ‘time to listen to what is not being said’ when the symptoms of the difficulty are being shared.

The ministry offered at Sozein does just this, and the understanding love, portrayed through patient listening, enables the suffering person to be honest about themselves and their situation, as perhaps never before. So healing begins. Very often, as is usual with deep-seated problems, it takes more than one visit for results to be not only felt but seen.

“Here,” as a past Chairman of the trustees wrote, “people meet their real selves and discover what it is to love themselves and be loved by others and by God. By the gently strong work of the Spirit of God broken hearts are bound together, captives are released and people who feel themselves to be imprisoned are set free.” Though the Director is an ordained priest, he does not receive a stipend from the Established Church.

The Sozein Trust is celebrating its twenty-seventh year in existence. 2025

See our Mission Page for further details.