Blog

This week-long intensive course will provide a deeper foundation for understanding and engaging in the practice of spiritual direction in the Christian tradition. It is intended to enhance the students’ understanding of the spiritual life, with attention given to developing the basic skills required for this ministry. COURSE OBJECTIVES: - To have an understanding of the spiritual life, its breadth, depth, and language, in order to understand the context of spiritual direction ministry. - To examine and ... Continue reading...

The Simple Care of a Hopeful Heart ~ Strengthening Your Inner Life in Challenging Times ~ One of the greatest gifts we can share with others is a sense of our own peace. However, we can’t share what we don’t have. By discussing psychological and spiritual approaches to maintaining a healthy perspective and enhancing resilience, Dr. Wicks, an expert on the prevention of secondary stress (the pressures experienced in reaching out to others) and author of Bounce: ... Continue reading...

Mary’s Magnificent Magnificat! This beautiful prayer, ascribed to Mary, is a clarion call to discipleship, contemplation and solidarity with those on the margins of society. In words and art, this prayer reflects Mary’s vulnerability, transparency and authenticity. It is as tender as it is passionate. What can it mean for our spirituality to pray it often and with intention? Our Friends Day of Prayer retreats are held monthly on the first Wednesday of the month. Everyone is ... Continue reading...

Dreams and Inner Healing: The Healing Power of Dreamwork and Prayer Dreams are a language of the heart, a way that our deeper self speaks to us.  They are a language of symbols and metaphors that help us to understand what lies beneath our fears and inner struggles.  Every dream is an attempt of our unconscious to center us, balance us, and heal us.  Dreams expand our capacity to experience God and our true self.    During ... Continue reading...

What is the most important aspect of your life? You might answer it is your spouse, your children, your parents, your ministry, or so on. But our Friends Day retreat would suggest that the most important aspect of your life is your relationship with Jesus Christ. And how is that relationship going for you? How much effort do you give to that relationship? Each Lenten season we hear the invitation from God to “Come back ... Continue reading...

A Sojourn at Bethany: A Virtual Lenten Retreat with Scripture, art, poetry and prayer led by Kathleen Staudt This virtual Lenten retreat, inspired by this painting at the Bon Secours Retreat & Conference Center, offers an invitation to immerse ourselves imaginatively in the gospel stories that take place in Bethany, the home of Mary, Martha and Lazarus. Bethany is the place where Jesus seems to have found respite, rest and a home at critical moments in ... Continue reading...

Virtual Centering Prayer sessions are held weekly. We hope to move back to in-person sessions soon and we will then pick back up with our rotating day and evening schedule. Also, new to 2021, we are offering a once-monthly Wednesday evening virtual centering prayer gathering at 6:30 p.m. on the second Wednesday of the month.   Centering Prayer is a form of Christian contemplative prayer, in which one abides in the Presence of God in interior silence. ... Continue reading...

Virtual Centering Prayer sessions are held weekly. We hope to move back to in-person sessions soon and we will then pick back up with our rotating day and evening schedule. Also, new to 2021, we are offering a once-monthly Wednesday evening virtual centering prayer gathering at 6:30 p.m. on the second Wednesday of the month.   Centering Prayer is a form of Christian contemplative prayer, in which one abides in the Presence of God in interior silence. ... Continue reading...

The Magnificat in Modern Times: Art and Stories with Bro. Mickey McGrath Lutheran theologian, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was executed by the Nazis, said the Magnificat was the most passionate, wildest, most revolutionary hymn ever sung.  As we begin to think about and plan for Lent, we will take a fresh look at the Visitation of Mary and Elizabeth through our twenty-first century perspective. We belong to a Church and a world in great need of reform and ... Continue reading...

Virtual Centering Prayer sessions are held weekly. We hope to move back to in-person sessions soon and we will then pick back up with our rotating day and evening schedule. Also, new to 2021, we are offering a once-monthly Wednesday evening virtual centering prayer gathering at 6:30 p.m. on the second Wednesday of the month.   Centering Prayer is a form of Christian contemplative prayer, in which one abides in the Presence of God in interior silence. ... Continue reading...