{"id":226,"date":"2007-01-29T18:26:08","date_gmt":"2007-01-29T23:26:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/marktime.org\/?p=226"},"modified":"2009-01-26T10:59:06","modified_gmt":"2009-01-26T15:59:06","slug":"reconnecting-with-faith-finding-your-home-retreat-2007-howd-it-go","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marktime.org\/?p=226","title":{"rendered":"Reconnecting with Faith – Finding Your Home retreat 2007 – How’d it go?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Reconnecting<\/p>\n

The Reconnecting with Faith – Finding Your Home retreat was a big success this past weekend at Camp Johnsonburg<\/a>!<\/p>\n

We had 10 paying participants, plus 4 staff (and a few other camp folks floating in and out during the weekend).\u00a0 The participants were a very diverse group in several dimensions.\u00a0 We had people from age 20-something to age “I don’t want to guess and be wrong”.\u00a0 We had people in churches, people not in churches, and people looking at alternatives to Christianity.\u00a0 We had some racial diversity.\u00a0 We had theological diversity in that we had folks all along the spectrum from conservative to progressive.\u00a0 Most of us came from a Presbyterian (PCUSA) background, and there were a few Catholics in the group.\u00a0 We had 3 couples, a few singles, and a few married folks whose spouses didn’t attend.<\/p>\n

The weather was a bit cold (particularly Friday, though it wasn’t the 4-degree F cold that the camp folks had to put up with before we arrived Friday morning).\u00a0 There was just the right amount of snow on the ground; we got a little each night – just enough to cover the ground but not enough to slow us down.\u00a0 The lake was frozen over except for an oval about 1\/3 of the size of the lake.\u00a0 The geese and swans were camped out on the frozen part.<\/p>\n

We began the weekend by doing some get-to-know-you games Friday evening, followed by some fellowship and food time.\u00a0 We also outlined the Johnsonburg standard core values of “No Discount” (of yourself or others), “Challenge by Choice” and Permission-Giving.\u00a0 Because some of the participants knew each other outside of the retreat and the knowledge that someone might want to leave their church could be dangerous in the wrong hands, we added a new rule – “What happens at Johnsonburg stays at Johnsonburg”.<\/p>\n

Saturday morning, we had a very emotional and uplifting session where each group member was able to tell the story of their faith journey.\u00a0 These stories brought the group even closer together and allowed each to unburden themselves of the reasons that they might be looking to join a church or switch churches or leave the church.\u00a0 A participant said it best:\u00a0 “Mark and I can’t really do justice to the beauty of the stories that were told at the retreat this weekend.”<\/p>\n

Saturday afternoon we did some brainstorming: what people wanted in a faith community, what people were looking to avoid in a faith community, and what stumbling blocks were keeping them from making progress in discerning whether or not to join a faith community and if so, which.\u00a0 This session provided some good ideas for each person when they are considering a new faith community.<\/p>\n

Saturday afternoon we had some free time.\u00a0 Some of us took a 4-mile hike along the Yellow and Red Trails, while others connected with each other, relaxed, or even napped.\u00a0 The camp canteen was open for a while so that folks could purchase a souvenir of their retreat experience.<\/p>\n

Saturday evening, we completed the afternoon activity by brainstorming ideas on how to look for a new church.\u00a0 Use of the Internet, friends, neighbors, coworkers, church visits, church staff and other resources were highlighted.\u00a0 Those who had taken this route before were able to add their own experience to the bounty of ideas.<\/p>\n

\"Reconnecting<\/p>\n

We then experienced a fascinating lecture – Spirituality 101.\u00a0 In 90 minutes, our retreat’s minister leader went through the breadth of spiritual options in the world, along with the options within Christianity and the historical reasons for the number of denominations that we have.\u00a0 It was amazing – I’ve had full semester religion classes that contained less information than this presentation.
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\n\"Reconnecting<\/p>\n

Later Saturday evening we had food and fellowship again, with S’mores and Banana Boats cooked on the fireplace in the dining hall.<\/p>\n

\"Camp<\/p>\n

Sunday morning after breakfast (including a wonderful body prayer for grace) we began with Quiet Time.\u00a0 A number of the group ventured out into the cold to walk the camp’s outdoor labyrinth in the quiet stillness of the sunny winter morning.<\/p>\n

We followed that with a worship service planned by the retreat participants WITHOUT the aid of the religious professionals.\u00a0 The service was very camp-like and yet still had all of the reverence of a church service.<\/p>\n

After worship we concluded with evaluations, lunch, and an invitation to enjoy the camp facilities for the rest of the day.<\/p>\n

For this retreat, the people ARE the program.\u00a0 I’d like to thank the folks pictured above for their wonderful contributions.\u00a0 I’d also like to thank all of them for the mutual respect that we all felt – in this era of Christians tearing each other apart we were able to assemble a group from all parts of the spectrum who worked together to help each other while respecting the conscience of each of us.<\/p>\n

I’d also like to thank the Johnsonburg staff who helped plan\/staff\/support the retreat – including Lorelei, Kurt, Alicia, Harry, Josh, Shelly, and everybody else.\u00a0 Additionally, I’d like to thank Dave Myers, who served as our minister-in-residence and all-around expert on things religious.<\/p>\n

Based on feedback received, there’s a pretty good chance that we’ll try to do this retreat again.\u00a0 Watch this space or the camp website sometime this fall for more information.\u00a0 As I’ve stated before, any suggestions on how to advertise this retreat to the target audience (particularly those NOT in a church at the moment) would be appreciated.<\/p>\n

If you have any questions about this retreat, please feel free to contact Lorelei at the camp or me.