Retreats:

Clergy Retreats

Course/retreat 1
Leading Congregations in Mission in a Post Christian World

As America enters an increasingly post-Christian, postmodern era, how can clergy and lay leaders move congregations into faithful mission without alienating members? Reflecting theologically and practically on promising developments in ecumenical missiology and ecclesiology, we will find our understanding of and engagement in God's mission for the church transformed.

Guest teacher, Dwight Zscheile, Ph.D., is professor of Congregational Mission at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, MN and an Episcopal priest. His teaching and research focus on theology of mission, church leadership, congregational transformation, evangelism, and mission in a postmodern, postcolonial era.

Course/retreat 2
Wilderness spirituality

Seekers (inside and outside the church) connect with the divine through nature. And we are beginning to see that our survival depends on our love of the world. Drawing on the wisdom of writers (such as Loren Eiseley, Sigurd Olson, Barbara Kingsolver, Sallie McFague) as well as the wild wisdom of the ancient beach rocks, the silent river mosses, the fragrant sphagnum bog, we will clarify our relationship to the world and how we might guide others in this crucial area. (Those who are willing and able, may add several days in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness at the end of the course).

Course/retreat 3
The Plot Thickens

Writers introduce us to characters with particular qualities and values. But as we turn pages, the plot thickens: crises arise, circumstances change, and our protagonist must respond. Theologians who study narrative are helping us see parallels between character development in life and fiction. We will discuss several novels and short stories, examining character's responses "when life happens," and consider the implications for our own lives as well as our pastoral relationships and faith communities.

Course/retreat 4
Narrative theology and the narrative of our lives

We all have a story to tell, as Flannery O'Connor pointed out: "The fact is that anybody who has survived his childhood has enough information about life to last him the rest of his days." Narrative theology has revealed the centrality of narrative for understanding our own and the sacred stories, so we will read how some writers (such as Annie Dillard, Reynolds Price, and Annie Lamott) have written about their life experience and write about our own. We will explore and shape experiences for our own soul work and to inform and enliven our preaching, teaching and pastoral encounters.

Course/retreat 5
Poetry: Reading it, Writing it, and Using it

Many folks come to midlife sensing a wisdom and insight in poetry that seems important but difficult to access; they wish they had paid more attention in high school English classes. In this course we will spend time reading a number of poets (including Donne, Herbert, T.S. Eliot, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Denise Levertov, Mary Oliver, etc.) reflectively and slowly, and seeing how they might become guides on the way in our lives, and even might begin to inform our preaching and teaching. Often poetry can be used in settings in which prayer might seem too religious or threatening, and we will collect a number of those poems for our files.

Course/retreat 6
A Good Death

People used to be sure that the best way to live a holy life was with a firm awareness of human mortality. (In the Great Litany we ask God to protect us from unexpected death). Death and preparation for it, is a consistent theme in literature-like Donne, Shakespeare, Tolstoy, O'Connor, Edson, Lewis, and Carver. In this course, we will read about and consider what constitutes a good death in different eras and how these insights might inform and inspire our hospital visits and our preaching. Just in time for Lent!

Check in late Monday afternoon. Introduction to the course and each other that evening over dinner at 6:00 PM. Retreat finishes with reflection and morning Eucharist, followed by brunch at Naniboujou Lodge by noon on Friday.

$650 for double
$725 for single

© 2007