Manitoba Mennonites, Is it time for a retreat?

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

Discipleship and Prayer: Following Jesus up the mountain

The concept of discipleship has been central to Anabaptist teach from its beginnings. For most of this history discipleship was spoken of as nachfolge German for to follow. Anabaptists emphasized Christ’s call to “follow him” and that following Christ should shape our lives and faith. This discipleship seemed to have largely ethical ramifications. Discussing ethics is the Anabaptist “happy place”. Following Jesus shaped how one was to relate to others with non-resistance/pacifism/non-violence being central to all relationships. (Unfortunately, we have seen that non-violence in relationships with women was not seen as important by some who emphasized discipleship.)

This approach to discipleship as shaping ethics is fine, but it is incomplete. Jesus life and ministry was not just about ethics. One place I can’t recall ever being taught to follow Jesus was up the mountain to pray. I’ve recently been rereading the gospels and have once again been struck by how often Jesus went away to be alone to pray. Mennonites have traditionally loved to follow Jesus into communities and crowds, but following Jesus into solitude up the mountain, or into the desert has not been seen as important part of discipleship.

It seems that one of the dangers of ethics being the central vision for discipleship is it quickly valorizes activity and effectiveness. Doing something is always better that doing “nothing” and quiet, prayerful solitude looks way too much like doing nothing. But this understanding is not faithful to following the Jesus of the Bible who yes, was very active and effective, but also repeatedly and regularly went up the mountain to pray, and regularly invited his disciples to follow him in this practice.

Stepping away from our good works to pray is necessary to place ourselves and our work in context of a fuller awareness of God’s presence in this world, and our humble and dependent reliance on God. Too often our work is a distraction from simply listening and being aware of God. Without this awareness our good works simply become our good works. Spending significant time going apart to pray helps our good work become God’s good work.

I could write a lot more about this than the little bit of meandering typing on this chilly Saturday morning. Image is from Maumeen pass in Ireland.

Mennonite Seeds of Contemplation

I recently had two wonderful conversations with John Rempel, a Mennonite scholar and former pastor. He was on retreat at the Hermitage therefore was a captive audience when I first begged a bit of his time for a conversation. What I wanted to talk with him and hear from him was about the state of Mennonite spirituality today, and if there was a place for contemplative spirituality within contemporary Mennonite spirituality. It was an engaging conversation. On his last day of retreat, he requested a follow-up conversation.

One of the primary take-aways for me from these conversations is the conviction that there are seeds of contemplative spirituality within, or indigenous to Mennonite spirituality. This conviction leads to the questions of are how are these seeds nurtured, and who is nurturing them?

We noticed that one of these seeds that had been nurtured was a movement towards a broadening and deepening of expression of Mennonite spirituality in the late 20th century.  At the center of that movement was Marcus Smucker and Marlene Kropf at Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary; then Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary(ies). These two, with institutional support, created a strong academic and pastoral base to think more deeply about spiritual practices and study within the larger Mennonite church. When both of these people retired, the momentum they created was not taken up by any institution. Without an institutional home the movement waned. This is a loss, arguably a tragic loss. Perhaps, this is also an opportunity.

One of the other seeds of contemplative Mennonite spirituality that was nurtured during this late 20th century was the Hermitage – the retreat center I now direct in southern Michigan. The Hermitage was formed by Gene and Mary Herr and a community of supporters. The Herrs had been deeply formed by and involved with the Mennonite Church and while not officially supported by the denomination, the Hermitage was seen as a Mennonite center exploring contemplative spirituality. While we are still exploring contemplative spirituality, the Mennonite-ness of this place has also waned. While this may be the natural ebb and flow of systems, it too is a loss.

I know my awareness of broader contemporary Mennonite spirituality is limited but I think the loss of an institutional home, or center for contemporary Mennonite spirituality is a critical loss. I know there are a lot of Mennonite individuals and churches interested in and engaging in contemplative spirituality, but without collaborative discussion and institutional support, it will likely remain as scattered little cells.

I will have more conversations with others about Mennonite seeds of contemplation. I hope these will uncover new seeds and new understandings of a contemplative Mennonite spirituality.

Silence: quotes from Clarence Bauman

As I consider what the contemplative Mennonite world might look like I pulled my copy of “On The Meaning of Life” by Clarence Bauman. Bauman was a Mennonite theologian, philosopher, and mystic who taught at Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary. He and his wife Alice regularly hosted silent meetings at their home on the edge of campus. He passed away while I was a student and I don’t recall having the chance to meet him, but did get to know Alice. More information about Bauman can be found on his GAMEO entry.

The video includes several quotes on silence from Bauman’s book.

Contemplation: a Mennonite Perspective

I am Mennonite and I am contemplative. I co-direct The Hermitage, a contemplative retreat center with Mennonite ties. I know of many others who consider themselves both Mennonite and contemplative and I am sure there are many others I don’t know of.

What I am not sure of, however, is what the Mennonite contemplative conversation sounds like. I am not aware of much public discourse on what it looks like to be a contemplative Mennonite. I don’t exactly know how being Mennonite impacts being contemplative. But, surely it must.

Christian contemplative spirituality has many traditions. I’d be hard pressed to identify a Mennonite contemplative spirituality tradition. What are the practices of a contemplative Mennonite?

And so, I’d like to delve deeper and listen to this conversation. I’m less interested in proposing what contemplative Mennonite spirituality could look like, than I am in discovering what it already looks like. I’m also less interested in what historians have to say with so many words about early Anabaptist spirituality than I am in seeing how these themes are finding contemplative expression amongst Mennonites today.

Some of this little quest for understanding begins with myself, and with The Hermitage which has welcomed and formed many contemplative Mennonites. Some of this quest will likely involve hearing the reflections of others on their own contemplative Mennonite spirituality.

This has the potential to be a large quest, and I’m cautious about how far or fast I can go.  The way is made by walking, so I guess I should put on some shoes.

*FYI - the image at the top is an altered image of the current “Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective”