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Center retreats explore creativity, relationships and more
Whether you want to learn more about service and values, attend a retreat with your spouse or have a deeper relationship with your creativity; the Spirit Center line-up offers a wide array of retreat experiences. 
In time for Valentine’s Day, couples are invited to “To Have and To Hold” on February 11-13, a marriage retreat facilitated by Jim and Mary Jayne Minnette, John and Cindy Ulmen, and Bill and Louise Stolz. Couples will explore differences, challenges, possibilities and shared service. On February 25-27, Dr. Patrick McCormick, a professor of Religious Studies at Gonzaga University, will present “Building the Reign of God”, a retreat that focuses on the Christian call to feed the hungry. “Hearing the cries of the poor, God summoned the Hebrews to a land flowing with milk and honey,” Dr. McCormick writes. “Teaching his disciples, Jesus prepared a banquet for strangers and outcasts. How do we feed the hungry today?” Sister Carol Ann Wassmuth will continue with the theme of the Gospel as inspiration to service with “Valuing Your Life: Living Your Values” on March 25-27. “Are we shouting the Gospel with our lives?” she asks. This is an opportunity to explore your values in a retreat setting. Sister Carol Ann Wassmuth serves on the Peace and Justice as well as Care of the Land committees at the Monastery of St. Gertrude. April 8-10, Sister Teresa Jackson will guide retreatants in, “Navigating the Dark Wood of Mid-Life”. She offers that mid-life is where we confront deep questions of faith and meaning. Through insights of spirituality and psychology, individuals can explore midlife’s call to new life. Nancy Copeland-Payton, author of The Losses of Our Lives: The Sacred Gifts of Renewal in Everyday Loss will return April 11-13 to present her retreat “Losses of Our Lives.” Retreatants will explore awareness of the myriad ways we face loss daily, a posture of responding to loss without holding too tightly, and ways of experiencing the sacred in loss. This spring, Spirit Center also kicks off the “Creative Expressions” retreats – mid-week, hands-on encounters with art and creativity. The first, on March 22-24, is “Harmonic Needles: Grace-Filled Knitting”, taught by Jeannette Kelley and Sister Katie Cooper. This is an opportunity to experience knitting as a spiritual gift from God. Spirit Center is at the Monastery of St. Gertrude in Cottonwood, Idaho. To learn more or register for a retreat, visit www.Spirit-Center.org or call 208-962-2000. |
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