Marlene Kropf recently wrote to Mennonite Church USA members “Is it time for a retreat?” My response is a resounding yes! Until recently I lived in Michigan I could answer that response by visiting a variety of places like Pathways Retreat in Goshen, Indiana, or within a few miles of each other near Three Rivers, Michigan I had the choice of St. Gregory’s Abbey, Apple Farm retreat center, GilChrist retreat center, and The Hermitage (a retreat center with Mennonite roots that I have been deeply connected to for more than 20 years.) This list does not include the many Catholic and independent retreat places all within a 90 minute drive from home. I didn’t realize the abundant gift of this area until I left.
Late last summer June and I moved to southern Manitoba, and now any attempt to heed the call “Is it time for a retreat?” appears to be much, much more difficult. When I’ve ask others, the most common answer is, “I knew some people used to go to X, but they closed.” I know the Mennonite camp is interested in being a place for congregational spirituality, but rows of camp bunkbeds and large noisy dining halls are not conducive to silence and solitude.
So, Manitoba Mennonites, Is it time for a retreat (center)? This question is not exclusively directed at Mennonites, as I know the desire for a space for retreat extends through many expressions of the Christian faith.
I’ll put my cards on the table. The ministry of operating a quiet space for prayer and contemplation has been the most fulfilling work I’ve done over these past 20 years as volunteer, board member/chair, staff, and director at The Hermitage. I have seen first-hand, over and over again what a valuable service this is for people. I have seen so many people arrive to their retreat in anguish and leave with a sense of rest and their own belovedness. I have been intimately involved with the nitty gritty of fund-raising, financial compliance, facility maintenance, managing staff and volunteers, and doing endless loads of laundry and the relentless need to prepare another meal. I have few romantic notions of operating a retreat center. I often told people that the work of running a retreat center is “work”. And this work is the fullest expression of my spiritual life.
And so, I want to do whatever I can to work with others to discern the needs and possibilities for there to be a space for retreat available for all who need and desire it. I have little idea what that process might look like, but I don’t feel like I have a lot of time (or patience) to endlessly dream.
I am going to spend the next few months trying to make connections and find people for whom the dream of a place for contemplative retreat resonates with their souls. I would love to gather a group in early summer to discuss and imagine together. It is my hope that any gatherings not simply be times of pondering, but that these times lead to some actionable next steps. This needs to be a community supported project and I’m very aware of the audacity for me to say, “I need to do this and I want you to come alongside to help make it happen because you want it too” but that’s where I’m at.
So, if you find any resonance with this idea, or if you know someone who might, please contact me either via my contact page, or at ksdriedger@gmail.com