HomePrairie Home, Missouri
Susan Murray Smart and Bill Smart
Our goal is to provide welcoming lodging and meeting facilities in a restful country atmosphere.
Two categories of retreats may be available
(sometimes the two are blended) ...
1) self-guided retreats, where individuals, couples, families, or small groups come for their own times of rest, renewal, and discovery, designing their own retreat plans and activities ...
2) Hillside-guided retreats (for individuals, groups, couples, families) where Susan Murray Smart and/or Bill Smart lead processes and programs that promote personal and relational growth and emotional, spiritual, and psychological restoration.
Retreat opportunities are open to groups or individuals from the public, seeking to promote the mental, emotional, and spiritual health of all interested persons. When available, lodging is provided in the Hillside Guesthouse and Hillside Main Home, both at our location in Prairie Home, Missouri.
FEE STRUCTURE
1. For individuals or couples, there is no charge. You’re welcome to leave a contribution for our costs if you are able and desire to, but it’s not required.
2. For groups of three or more, we will negotiate with you a fee for use of our facilities. We will take into account factors such as the size of your group, the length of your stay, the accommodations you use while on The Hillside, and your group’s ability to pay.
In 2007 we began together our journey as a married couple. Joining together Susan's many years as a Christian counselor, and Bill's many years as a pastor and chaplain, we delight to encourage and challenge people to move forward along a journey toward wholeness and health. We're both familiar with failure and success, we both believe that growth God's way requires truth and love, we both seek to practice love for God, others, and self, and we both intend to be Christlike by becoming more truly the woman and man we each are.
We are parents and grandparents, as well as friends and mentors to others. Our travels are usually to where our children and grandchildren live ... and they have tended to go far! We enjoy working on our Hillside in gardening, tending to the woods, and enhancing its usefulness for retreats. On a typical evening, we'll end the day in our respective comfortable chairs, Susan with some sewing project, while Bill reads aloud our latest book choice.
We look forward to meeting you when you visit The Hillside for your retreat.
Further information ...
Susan is a respected Christian counselor who recently retired after a 22-year career serving clients in the Columbia, Missouri area. She holds a Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from the University of Missouri-Columbia. Susan also recently published the book Life in the Bounce House - and How to Get Out! For more background on Dr. Susan Murray Smart, click here.
Bill also recently retired, after serving as a pastor for 20 years in Ohio, Kansas, and Missouri, and then, for 15 years as a chaplain, focusing mainly on hospice patients and their families. His book Spiritual Gifts Reimagined: The Journey View was published in January 2023. He holds a Th.M. from Dallas Theological Seminary, and a D.Min. from Trinity International University. For more background on Dr. Bill Smart, click here.
From 2006 to 2018, Susan and Bill were key leaders in the personal growth workshop Grace Encounter. The workshop continues in mid-Missouri under leaders they trained.
Our ministry purposes for The Hillside and its Guesthouse
To contact us at The Hillside, you may email us at thehillsideguesthouse@gmail.com or call us at 660-841-5031
REOPENING ON MAY 19, 2024
After being closed since September 2023 while we’ve made some changes on The Hillside, we are reopening for guests, on a limited basis, on 5/19/24. And we’ll have more space for lodging and meetings. The pictures and lodging descriptions here are not yet updated, but when you contact us about booking, we’ll give you more details.
