Toddhall Retreat Center
Toddhall Retreat Center
320 Todd Center Dr.
Columbia, IL 62236
Email toddhall@htc.net
Phone 618 281.8180
Fax 618 281.8187
About Toddhall
Toddhall Retreat Center is a ministry of St. George's Episcopal Church. Toddhall provides retreat facilities in a peaceful setting for groups large and small. Church groups, schools, and others choose Toddhall to help foster spiritual, mental and physical well-being. A wide variety of guests include schools, church groups, quilters, scrap bookers, rug hookers, painters, calligraphers, choirs, family reunions and individuals seeking a place of retreat.
Located on 45 acres in Columbia, Illinois, Toddhall offers a place where guests can relax, refresh and renew. Our hope is that your experience at Toddhall will help instill peace and allow you to draw closer to God and His creation.
As you drive down the tree-laden road leading to the retreat center, you will feel the concerns of the hectic world slip away. Unplug for a while...this is truly a “get away” place…a haven for study, reflection and renewal.
Toddhall is a ministry of St. George's
Episcopal Church in Belleville, IL
MEETING SPACES
We offer large and small conference rooms to best fit your needs. Our rooms are ideal for retreats, meetings, quilting, scrapbooking, or any special event. Each room has its own restrooms, microwave, refrigerator, coffee & tea service, and audio-visual equipment. Most rooms have a piano and a wood burning fireplace.
MEALS
Toddhall serves breakfast at 8:00am, lunch at noon, and dinner at 5:30pm. Our Dining Hall seats about 125 people, when you include 25 seats in the Sunporch, a private room off of the main dining room. The kitchen often includes volunteers from St. George's Episcopal Church in Belleville.
Our Mission
Our hope is that your experience at Toddhall will instill peace and allow you to draw closer to God and His creation.
We strive to provide the same personal service and generous hospitality created by our founders, Charles and Virginia Todd.
Toddhall director and staff
Craig Bielke
Executive Director
Bert Watts
Assistant Director
Stephanie Johnson
Kitchen Manager
HISTORY
Their Vision...Our Heritage
Toddhall Retreat Center is the generous gift of Charles and Virginia Todd. While they were attending a Cursillo Retreat in 1981, the Todd’s envisioned converting their Columbia, Illinois home into a retreat center that would reach beyond denominational lines. They began inviting friends, family and church members to experience the benefits of retreat in this peaceful place.
In the early days, Virginia Todd prepared meals for guests out of her own kitchen. Charles held concerts for the community in what he called his music room, now St. Cecilia's Chapel, a consecrated Episcopal Chapel. Before long, they decided to donate the property to their church, St. George's Episcopal Church in Belleville, Illinois. Toddhall began operating as a non-profit ministry of St. George's in 1982, offering a peaceful place, good food, and a welcoming Christian atmosphere.
From humble beginnings, the Todd family business, Todd Uniform, prospered by the grace of God. Charles Todd, Sr. washed clothes in wooden tubs. He built a successful cleaning business on a solid foundation of Christian standards. He and his wife raised 9 children. Charles Todd, Jr. was born above the family business on Jefferson Avenue in South St. Louis and became the driving force behind the company’s growth and success.
The Toddhall Retreat Center logo was inspired by the logo from the family owned Todd Uniform Corporation.
As he made his deliveries, Charles Todd developed many close relationships with his customers and began giving them spiritual guidance. His Todd Uniform truck was often used to pick up neighborhood children to take them to church on Sundays. He was known to give Bibles to employees for Christmas. Charles studied theology and became a pastor in his twenties, leading an impoverished congregation at the Plank Road Meeting House in East Carondelet.