Retreat Page

North Carolina Synod ELCA Spirituality Committee
Retreat Page

We are planning a Spring Retreat on
Spirtuality and the Healing Arts
It will be held May 10 - 12, 2010
at beautiful Laurel Ridge, near North Wilkesboro, NC

Our Retreat Leader is Reverend Phillip Squire. His resume is below:

The Reverend Phillip M. Squire will be our presenter for this 48 hour event. He has been a parish pastor for 33 years. A graduate of Purdue University in West Lafayette, IN, with a BS in psychology and a BA minor in US History. Upon graduation he went directly to The Lutheran Theological Seminary in Gettysbury, PA, graduating from there in 1976 with an MDiv. His first call was as associate pastor to First Lutheran in Nashville, TN. He went from there to Hickory, NC, to serve in a team ministry and then to Kings Mountain, NC, to serve as solo pastor. He served his last called in Lutheran ministry In Clemmons, NC, where he took the redevelopment of a parish at the bishop’s urging with the encouraging words of, “I don’t know if you will make this a go or you will close it.” It closed after 17 years. Phillip now serves St. Paul’s Episcopal Church as pastoral assistant to the Senior Rector in Winston–Salem, NC. St. Paul’s is the second largest Episcopal parish in NC.

In 2000 he finished his course work with the Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation receiving his certificate of completion in Spiritual direction. He has been a guide, companion, and director since 1996. During the years of 2008 and ’09 he did an extensive study in the healing ministry of Jesus recorded in the gospels. In 2009 he was named Chaplain for the Piedmont district of the Order of St. Luke (OSL) which is the non-denominational guild of healers in churches worldwide.

His own journey in healing is marked with surviving four different cancers; heart catherization, other surgeries and feeling the power of God from the first time he laid hands on an individual while praying.

REMEMBER: Come with no expectations but only an open mind and heart and God will give you what you need NOT what you want!

Registration/Cost Information:

Description:

To be posted soon

Phillip will provide us with five sessions of looking at the healings of Jesus, in small and large group, along with individual reflection time, and a healing liturgy, along with daily worship opportunities.

Tentative schedule:
Monday:The retreat begins with lunch, then sessions in afternoon and evening;
Tuesday: Sessions morning and evening with free afternoon to be present to God;
Wednesday: Morning session, concluding with Holy Eucharist

About Laurel Ridge:

Location: (Click the link below)

http://www.laurelridge.org/location.htm

Information:

http://www.laurelridge.org/default.php

Would you like to register online?
Fill out the form below. Then, within 10 days of registering, send your full payment to , (see address below). This will insure you a spot at the retreat.

Please fill out this form; then click "Submit", (bottom left of this table). When you click "Submit", you will see an acknowledgement with the information you posted below. Please send your payment directly to:
Reverend Linda Voelker
330 Crowell Lane
Salisbury, NC 28146
We will contact you with further information.

The January 2010 Creative Journaling Retreat
was held at Trinity Center, Salter Path, NC.

This retreat was introduced as follows: "Join us for a time of Prayer, Journaling, Rest and Reflection as we journey toward self-knowledge, self reflection, and creative writing in order to center ourselves in God more freely, and grow in relationship with the Holy One."

Our retreat Leader - Linda Beauregard - wrote these words, and followed through by providing the people attending with Spiritual enrichment which she is well accustomed to doing.

LITURGICAL PIETY RETREAT

Many thanks to June Witherspoon for the photos taken at the winter 2009 Liturgical Piety Retreat held at the Trinity Retreat Center - Salter Path, NC

A Silent Retreat in the Fall by the Sea

After our retreats, we usually request some feedback. This feedback is part of a sermon from a pastor who attended this retreat.

    "When I decided to go on the Silent Retreat my friends started praying. They felt it would be too much of a challenge for me the talker to keep quiet. So my phone was ringing all the way back home (6 1/2 hours) about how was it? and did I talk?

    It was a very special time to reconnect with our Savior thru prayer, bible study, devotions and walks on the beach. It allowed me to let go of a particularily challenging time in my life with a new job, husband in hospital and aging. I did not want to leave. All of us agreed the silent part was the best.

    We were allowed to talk at dinner but often kept quiet. It was one of the best retreats I ever attended (second behind Via de Cristo) and can not wait until the next one. Our spiritual directors were so sensitive to our needs. Their first comments proved we were bonded together by God.

   As a bonus: I loved our beach house and the meals were exceptional. Definitely a great retreat."

" While attending the NC Synod Silent Retreat at The Trinity Center on
Emerald Isle, God got my attention. How could God not get my attention as
the rhythm of the day matched the glorious reflection of God's amazing
Grace? In silence, I would watch the sun rise over the ocean.

      Then we met as a group to worship with Morning Prayer. Our bodies were nourished with plentiful food that appealed to all the senses. Because we had stopped long enough to be still, it was easy to notice the variety of color and flavors that burst onto our pallets.

      After a meal, we were free to take long walks from Sound to Sea. As sure as the rhythm of the ocean waves outside our window, God set the rhythm of the day. Time for prayer, time for refreshment, time for rest, time for exercise; and throughout it all, God was calling, "Come to me all who are weary and I will give you rest."

       I returned to ministry with a sense of renewal and refreshment. The only regret I had was that this retreat was over too soon."

Our Winter Retreat Was at the
TRINITY CENTER
(Episcopal Retreat Center)
Salter Path, NC
January 28 - 30, 2008


A Beautiful Sunset	Sanders Point Chapel

Our Summer Retreat, in Late August, 2007 Was A Contemplative Retreat at Lutheridge.
"Seeing Beyond Seeing - The Spirituality of Photography" marked the return of Brad Berglund. Brad is a gifted and talented retreat leader. With humble sincerity and personality, he guides those attending a retreat to discern their inner strengths. The Spirituality of Photography is one more of his innovative ways.
As one might expect, this retreat yielded many photos. The photos below are but a sampler of the many different shots taken at this retreat.

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Sitting By The Lake

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Morning Mists

Past Retreats - Themes, Photos, & Features

"Being God's Partner, Bearing Christ's Yoke"

Elizabeth Canham - Retreat Leader, January, 2007

Scenes from Being God's Partner, Bearing Christ's Yoke; led by Rev. Liz Canham
at Trinity Center, Pine Knoll Shores, NC Jan. 22-24, 2007

Photos by June Witherspoon

Lighting the Fire III
A Review of
Take Off Your Shoes:
Finding Sacred Ground in Sharing Our Stories of Faith
North Carolina Synod Spirituality Committee
Summer 2006 Conference and Retreat August 20 – 26, 2006

The experiences at our most recent retreat are described below with a report from Steve Reeves, and photos by June Witherspoon

Lighting the Fire III

Take Off Your Shoes:

Finding Sacred Ground in Sharing Our Stories of Faith

        One by one the participants at this storytelling retreat arrived at the Crow’s Nest, Lutherock, located on Sugar Mountain. The black-eyed Susans planted in the raised beds outside nodded an invitation to come inside. After getting better acquainted at the dinner table we FB III 037.jpg (1175419 bytes) gathered in a semicircle around the fireplace hearth located in the lounge. Pastor Marty Ramey started her presentation by explaining how our individual stories connected with God’s story to form sacred ground. In the dimly lit room with a high vaulted ceiling we listened intently as she retold of Moses and the burning bush. The reddish glow from the exit sign over the east entrance reflected off her face much as you might expect from this fiery encounter that Moses had in the desert. Protected from the elements and the mosquitoes we probably appeared much as a group of children gathered around a campfire anticipating the outcome of this familiar and oft told tale.
        On Tuesday morning we once again circled at the foot of the huge stone fireplace to hear our assignment for the day. We were to recall an occasion in our life that was transformational in our spiritual growth and make a connection to a story in the bible. There was a short quiet time to reflect on the possibilities. After lunch Pastor Phillip Squire led us up Sugar Mountain on a narrow trail to Cross Rock. On this hike we had a unique encounter with nature that included fallen trees, huge rock formations, many varieties of plants and trees, steep banks and finally at the pinnacle, the Cross and a spectacular view of the surrounding hills. A good distance away from our perch aloft and farther down the mountain we spotted the lodge from where we had started. It seemed so small. We paused here for awhile to gather in some of the breathtaking vista below. As we started back down, we occasionally stopped to catch our breath and observe some of the tiny clues of life that abound there at Lutherock. One in particular was a cluster of seedpods on a maple tree that would soon flutter to the ground in a circular pattern to ensure the future of this species. Again we stopped as a woodpecker that was hidden from view tapped out its message as if in code to announce that it would soon be dinnertime. It was a message of faith and providence from a living forest. It was a story of manna. A story of water that seemed to emanate from a rock as we crossed over a small stream. We were somewhat relieved to be back on flat ground when the descent was over. “We’re almost halfway there”, we joked as we got closer to our destination – both going and coming. But we were heartened to have caught a glimmer of the mountain from higher up. The view from above had left no doubt that it was surely part of the creation story.
         After dinner on that second day, we gathered once again. Our theme song for the retreat was, “I Love to Tell the Story”. By invitation, one by one each took center stage, either standing at the foot of the fireplace or sitting on her hearth, we told our stories. Our hearts felt warmed and open in the soft light of the lanterns that adorned either side of the huge rock formed wall in front of us. We imagined a fire within the smoke stained stack of flat gray colored stones – the same fire that had inspired story throughout the history of mankind. We heard God’s voice in the burning bush saying, "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground." We searched desperately for the one lost coin. We tended to a wounded stranger along a desolate road while we ourselves were healed. We heard and saw a blind Bartimaeus regain his sight. We imagined water being transformed into the finest wine. We thought of what it meant to forgive seven times over, then seven more. The many pieces of our journeys’ puzzle came together in community as we shared our collective story like so many hot air balloons that rise above the landscape of our life to catch a glimpse of a bigger picture. God’s picture.
        We closed on the last day with a simple service. We gathered for one last time as a circle of friends. In sharing our stories, we had made a connection that felt like authentic community. Nothing fancy, just real. Just before leaving I once again glanced through the glass paneled wall into the dining room. My eyes were drawn upward to one of the ceiling fans there. It reminded me of the maple whirligigs we had spied as we hiked down the mountain on Wednesday from Cross Rock. Just as these seeds would soon fall to the earth to grow new trees, so we would descend and sow our seeds of storytelling. On my way home the words of our theme song continued to ring in my head:

“I love to tell the story of unseen things above,
Of Jesus and His glory, of Jesus and His love..."


The Crow's Nest - A Place Apart	Brady & Phillip - Our Chief Cooks

Phillip Enjoying the View	Our Story Telling Group

Snapshots from the Art and Soul Retreat
by June Witherspoon

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Art and Soul participants with Harriet (wearing black and white with scarf)

Additional Retreats

Radical Amazement: Seeing God at the Heart of Creation - was at Lutheridge, April 25-27, 2005. A description is displayed below.
Please visit this page again.

Radical Amazement:
Find God at the Heart of Creation

Thomas Aquinas said that a mistake in our understanding of creation will necessarily cause a mistake in our understanding of God. Does it then follow that a revolution in our understanding of creation will necessarily cause a revolution in our understanding of God? Possibly so.

The discoveries of modern science on both the macro and micro levels have been stunning, completely changing our notion of the universe. Images from the Hubbell Space Telescope have expanded our horizons, while the findings of quantum physics have revealed that we are more mystery than matter.

The retreat will begin with a look at some of the fascinating discoveries of science, then connect them to our experience of God. The spirituality that unfolds is what Abraham Heschel called "radical amazement" -- a response that takes us into a contemplative awareness of life.

Praying with Luther
Presented by Mark Oldenburg
January 24-26, 2005

"Always make the Amen strong, never doubting that God is surely listening to you with all grace and saying Yes to your prayer. Rmember that you are not kneeling or standing there alone, but all devout Christians are standing there with you and you with them in one united unanimous, united prayer which God cannot ignore. And never leave off praying without having said or thought: There now, this prayer has been heard by God; this I know of a certainty."
-- Martin Luther

Thanks to Mark for gently leading us through ways to open up our prayer lives. -- Spirituality Committee, NC ELCA

Many thanks to June Witherspoon for the photography.

The Fire Beneath Retreat
was held at Laurel Ridge
August 1 - 3, 2004

The Fire Beneath Retreat at the Moravian Conference Center, Laurel Ridge, was an outstanding success. David Miller, upon listening to how our various committees work and the missions we hope to accomplish, cautioned us to avoid "working in our own silos". Our silos are similes relating to our committees that work alone, and are unaware of the plans and resources we may share. We explored ways in which we can work together - clergy and laity - to carry out the goals we have in common for the purpose of Discipleship formation.
To sum it up, our fires will burn with more intensity as we communicate with and assist each other to reach common goals. As church leaders and disciples, we have determined ways in which we can enhance the foundational practice of the church through discipleship. We will have more information about this on our Discipleship page soon.

Bishop Bolick spent a day with us and offered ways in which we can take action through prayer, and to work together in carrying out the synod's mission - Walking Together, Sharing Christ.

Our Spring Retreat with
Brad Berglund was held at Lutheridge from
April 26 through April 28, 2004

"Reinventing Sunday"
At Lutheridge, Arden, NC

Brad certainly lived up to his billing. He does indeed have ways to make worship all it can be! - including on Sunday. Consider the following quote from his book - Reinventing Sunday:

"Because the Holy Spirit cannot be controlled, spirited worship is spontaneous and thus a point of vulnerability for a religious institution. By definition, opening our lives to God in worship has an uncontrollable quality to it. In this environment of openness to Divine leading, where God speaks and we respond, the church groans to become all it was meant to be."

Brad did indeed Reinvent Sunday at this retreat. We explored the purposes and possibilities of the worship experience and were inspired to make worship at our churches all that it can be. Brad discussed each element of the worship service in the context of his high vision for worship: the gathering and greeting, the praising and singing, the praying, the Scripture reading, the preaching, the listening, the communion, the giving, and more. Each step of the way, he offered practical suggestions designed to enable us to improve our worship experience in terms of quality, creativity, and meaning.

Our 2003 Summer Retreat
- Being Peace -
was led by Reverend David Fouche
from August 3 - 6

Our Winter Retreat of 2003 - Listening To Your Life was held at the Trinity Center from January 27 - 29, 2003. Scroll down the page for a quote from Brad Berglund - the retreat leader, and his brief biography.

"Our lives can be seen as a pilgrimage, an adventure into the mystery and meaning of being human. In our day, the practical practice of pilgrimage is gaining in popularity. In our high-tech, fast paced busy world, perhaps there's a deepening need for meaning. In their longing for divine connection, people are discovering that time apart from routines and business pressure is necessary. A different quality of time is needed to heal our wounds, listen deeply to our lives and hear the voice of God."
- Brad Berglund in Reinventing Sunday: Breakthrough Ideas for Transforming Worship -

About Our Retreat Leader...

Rev. Brad Berglund is learning the art of listening to his life. Since his four-year old son was diagnosed with a brain tumor in1989, his family has learned how to live with cancer, surgery, treatment, handicaps and many new opportunities. Brad's spiritual journey has been marked by despair, triumph, insight and transformation. Brad directs an ecumenical ministry called Illuminated Journeys; it's devoted to deepening the spiritual life of individuals and churches. He has completed the two-year program for Spiritual Direction at the Shalem Institute in Bethesda, Maryland and has a particular interest in the spirituality of pilgrimage. As a pastoral musician, he directs an association of Denver area churches in TaizE-style worship and is a consultant in the area of worship renewal and spiritual formation. Brad recently authored a book called, Reinventing Sunday: Breakthrough Ideas for Transforming Worship. http://www.reinventingsunday.com . He lives in Denver with his wife Rita and their children, Brandon and Brianna

The retreat - Draw Me Into Your Friendship - with David Miller ended on August 1, 2002. However, the Ignatian Contemplation practice of praying that was presented by David will be long remembered. In essence, David shared a powerful method of prayer which he calls Praying the Bible.
The following paragraph from his book, Friendship with Jesus - A Way to Pray the Gospel of Mark, provides a brief, but powerful description of praying the Bible.

"Praying the Bible ...... puts us into a different relationship with biblical stories. Prayer is a conscious relationship with God, and this relationship implies that God and the one praying are open to each other. They can address each other. To pray Scripture is to seek to listen to the story as a personal word addressed to the one praying. When we do this, we allow ourselves to enter into the story, bringing all that we are -- our memories, struggles, questions, joys, fears , and hopes."

    The words above describe a different way to pray - a more intimate way. Often when we study the Bible, we seek to draw meaning from it. To seek profound meaning from Scripture, as though to sift meaning from its words, may be called discernment. Praying the Bible carries us into it all the more deeply. There are several steps to take that draw us into this more contemplative state. Each step involves prayer - prayers that you choose to use based upon your circumstances.
    Consider this passage from Mark 5:25 - 34. Envision yourself as a friend accompanying the woman who wants to just reach out and touch Jesus' garment. She is certain that if she can just touch Him, she will be healed. Feel that you are trying to support her. She's weak; she can't press against the masses who are following Jesus. She can't get through the crowd without some help. So, you hold her hand and guide her through small gaps in that mass of humanity. You find opportunities to guide her closer and closer; and finally, you both are there - close enough to touch Him. What do you see? What do you hear? How are you affected by your experience?
    This is but a brief example of praying the Bible. Perhaps you may envision yourself as that woman, perhaps one of the Disciples, perhaps a witness within the crowd. One doesn't need to remember an entire passage. David Miller asserts that if just two or three words grasp you, meditate on them; savor them. Put yourself into them. For more information about the book, Friendship with Jesus - A Way to Pray the Gospel of Mark, go to the following web site,
http://www.augsburgfortress.org/store/idetail.asp?ISBN=080663894X

Introduction to Poetry

By Billy Collins

I ask them to take a poem, and hold it up to the light
like a color slide or press an ear against its hive.

I say drop a mouse into a poem and watch him probe his way out or walk inside the poem's room and feel the walls for a light switch.

I want them to water-ski across the surface of a poem
waving at the author’s name on the shore.

But all they want to do is tie the poem to a chair with rope and torture a confession out of it. they begin beating it with a hose to find out what it really means.

Reprinted by permission of the University
of Arkansas Press. (c) 1988 by Billy Collins

Would you like to register online?
Fill out the form below. Then, within 10 days of registering, send your full payment to , (see address below). This will insure you a spot at the retreat.