This year's Clergy Retreat will begin with dinner on Tuesday, March 29 at 6 PM and end with lunch on Thursday, March 31.
Retreat Leader
The retreat leader will be Dr. Melissa Perrin, a psychological trainer and consultant from Evanston, IL. Dr. Perrin is an Episcopalian who has done extensive work throughout the church, including with the House of Bishops, with many dioceses and in other settings in the church.
Retreat Description from Dr. Perrin
Always We Begin Again
“A poem begins as a lump in the throat, a sense of wrong, a home sickness, a love sickness. It is reaching out toward expression; an effort to find fulfillment.”
– Robert Frost in a letter to Louis Untermeyer, 1916
Here we go: Creating the Next Normal. We know what we have experienced for the last couple of years but we don’t have forward momentum [yet]. Folks in our care want us to have the answers that we don’t have. Others act out and cast blame. Still others have gone silent and we wonder [if] when we will see them again.
Our task is to bring our experiences into our awareness, give language to them and provide guidance with our stories and words.
As with every discernment process, we create the next normal by understanding that each day, each encounter, is a new beginning.
Join us to have a conversation about regaining traction, ministry as it is expressed today and reframing a Rule of Life. We will explore our core strategies for responding to crisis and practice psychospiritual strategies to maintain traction in our work. Our task is to work with those things we understand, give voice to what we have experienced and co-create our next normal.
Accommodations
There are a number of private bathrooms on each floor of the main building, shared by both men and women. Please also be aware that the monastery observes Greater Silence each night (8:20 PM – immediately after Compline – until 8:30 AM).
Special Needs
For those with food restrictions, vegetarians and those who eat gluten-free can be accommodated with the standard fare; those with specific allergies are encouraged to bring any supplemental food (please label and put in the guest refrigerator near the coffee/tea area – a microwave is also available) – there is no price discount in any case.
Sad News about the Elevator
Unfortunately, the elevator is not working due to unforeseen circumstances and it's possible that it will not be working at the time of this retreat. The best they can do to accommodate folks is to locate them on the 2nd floor and help carry their bags.
Registration & Cost
The deadline for your registration and our receipt of your check is Friday, February 11, 2022. The fee of $95 per person per night includes overnight accommodations and meals.
A limited number of scholarships are available – if interested, please contact Kay Lark at klark@dioceseofnewark.org or 973-430-9976 before submitting payment.
If you must cancel
If you find that you must cancel, please call Kay immediately (973-430-9976) as there may be a wait list; if no replacement is found, you will remain responsible for the full amount.
Schedule
Tuesday 3/29/22
- Check-in begins at 2 PM
- Vespers is sung at 5 PM
- Dinner is served in the refectory promptly at 6 PM
- Meditation/Reflection at 7 PM
- Compline at 8 PM
- Greater Silence is from @ 8:20 PM until 8:30 AM
Wednesday, 3/30/22
- Matins are at 7 AM
- Breakfast is served in silence from 6:30 - 8:30 AM
- Holy Eucharist is at 9 AM
- Meditation/Reflection at 10:30 AM
- Diurnum is at noon
- Lunch is at 12:30 PM
- Meditation/Reflection at 3:30 PM
- Dinner is served in the refectory promptly at 6 PM
- Meditation/Reflection at 7 PM
- Compline at 8 PM
- Greater Silence is from @8:20 PM until 8:30 AM
Thursday, 3/31/22
- Matins are at 7 AM
- Breakfast is served in silence from 6:30 - 8:30 AM
- Holy Eucharist is at 9 AM
- Rooms must be totally clear by 10am
- Meditation/Reflection at 10:30 AM
- Diurnum is at noon
- Lunch is at 12:30 PM
- You are welcome to remain on the property until after lunch
