Spiritual Formation

While retreat centers are “lights for the world,” they often struggle to keep the lights on. The Retreat Center Collaboration (RCC), funded by the Fetzer Institute, is a three-year project to understand and connect retreat centers and their allies across North America, all in an effort to support their evolving roles in a changing world. Below we share RCC member Oren Slozberg’s thoughts on the state of retreat centers today.

After four months, GilChrist Retreat Center is open once again. 

In March, as we closed the door behind us with uncertainty and sadness, we didn’t know when we would return. We wiped the calendar—full of group bookings and personal retreat reservations—clean. The cabins, usually filled back-to-back with guests, would sit empty. But we committed ourselves to hold this situation with open hands and hearts, ready to learn and listen and wait and wonder. 

In June we invited people to answer, What practice have you found particularly helpful during these past months? We received so many thoughtful and helpful replies and have been appreciating the peace that simply reading them brings. Together, the selections below represent many traditions, practices, and voices that will be helpful to our planning a coming year of monthly practices. Thank you!

Each year, on the summer solstice, we share a reflection on the season by Parker Palmer. In 1995 Parker wrote a welcome for the Fetzer Institute's newly built retreat center, Seasons, which included a reflection on each of the four seasons. Here we excerpt his musings on summer in the Upper Midwest where he lives and where the Fetzer Institute is located.

What is the present state and future development of spiritual care? From December 11 to 13, 2019, the Chaplaincy Innovation Lab was grateful to partner with the Fetzer Institute on a convening and dialogue focused on just that. We welcomed spiritual care providers from an array of professional contexts and educational backgrounds including healthcare, higher education, social movements, state and federal agencies, and more.

We are heartbroken by the killing of George Floyd and the ensuing events that have unfolded in our country and around the world in the past week.

The Fetzer Institute’s mission of helping build the spiritual foundation for a loving world compels us to address the challenging structural issues that have given rise to racial injustice in the history of the United States and in our present day.

Whatever states of mind, happy or unhappy, occur, never mind—we should constantly be reminding ourselves, "This is uncertain."

Amidst all the devastation of this remarkable moment, COVID is extremely clarifying. It reveals the pain of loneliness and social isolation. It uncovers how profoundly most people long to focus on what matters most. And it stimulates amazing creativity and resilience.

We see five major COVID-fueled shifts in our religious and spiritual landscape.