Is it possible? We have been having a retreat for twenty years. What a tradition! At the first retreat 19 brave people assembled to talk about baptism. This year 55 persons, including kids got together to talk about “Listening for the Heartbeat of God”. For twenty two hours we listened to our riveting speaker, Pr. Bradley Schemling, talked in small groups, sang wonderful new and old Celtic songs, laughed, prayed, and more. Oh yes, we slept some.

A retreat of this size could not happen without the gracious help of many people. Thanks to Michel Lathrop for designing the flyer and colorful program, to Dan Clark for printing copies of the program, to John Elmquist for creating the moving Friday night prayer service and leading the lovely music during the day on Saturday, to Pr. Carla Thompson Powell for creating and leading the closing Eucharist, to Bev Albert for a fun icebreaker, to Anne Igoe, Ingrid Christiansen, and Jody Kretzmann for energetic announcements at church, (Ingrid and Jody also helped select the retreat leader), to Kris May for planning the kid’s curriculum and making kids feel a part of things, to Dion Powell for helping with the kids, to Bonnie Trafelet for creating two colorful posters, and to Andy Halverson and Viviana Ramirez for patiently accepting our various requests regarding publicity. Thanks to the entire Education committee for their support and suggestions. And most of all thanks to our speaker, Pr. Bradley Schemling for leading us in places that surprised us and stirred our hearts.

Our exploring together of the holy in our everyday lives provided me with a path to see more deeply the yearning for and leaning into God's presence in people that are around me, be it in church, in the supermarket, or on the sidewalk.
~Anja

The retreat showed us the “thin places” where we meet God and God’s love. We can meet God in natural places such as trees, water, stones and our bodies. And yes, like the beloved disciple did, we can lean close to Jesus for comfort and care. We ended the retreat by writing prayers about our every day experiences, taking God into all of life.
~Joyce

At the retreat I learned that the circle around a (Celtic) cross represents the really bright sun. I also liked the food.
~Becca