Courage to Lead Retreat Series for Clergy: Creativity and Connection in a Time of Change

Overview:
November 18-20, 2024: Souls on Deck Opening Retreat (3pm Monday afternoon – Wednesday lunch)
December 2024 – April 2025: Crafting New Stories during Monthly small group “Peer Learning Calls” (approx. 2 hours per month)
May 12-13, 2025: Closing Retreat:  Celebrating the Stories that Guide Us  (6-8 pm Central Time each night)Souls on Deck Opening Retreat 

November 18-20 (3pm Monday afternoon – Wednesday lunch) 

You will be invited to reconnect with your own inner life of faith and explore the pilgrimage journey of your soul as it is right now.  Our format will use large and small group time, solo time and sacred ritual, poetry music, drumming and journaling.   

Location: Siena Retreat Center; 5637 Erie Street; Racine, WI 53402 

Located in Racine, the Siena Retreat Center offers simple, generous spaces for our retreat. Retreatants are welcome to walk the ground of Siena Center, which includes a natural prairie, a path through the woods, and the beach along Lake Michigan.  

Your stay during the Souls of Deck Opening Retreat includes:  

• • Meals: (Monday evening dinner; Tuesday breakfast, lunch and dinner; Wednesday breakfast and lunch)
    • • The catering team at Siena is able to accommodate vegetarian and gluten free requests. Vegetarian/gluten free meals must be indicated at time of registration. Guests with dietary restrictions beyond what the kitchen can accommodate will need to bring their own food. A refrigerator, microwave and toaster oven will be available for your use. 

     

     

• • Overnight Lodging Monday and Tuesday
    • • The bedroom floors are silent spaces. Each guest bedroom includes: private bathroom, individual temperature control (including A/C), Wi-Fi, bed linens & towels, soap, writing desk/chair, rocking chair/recliner, small dresser. 

     

    • • You will need to bring: toiletries and personal items. Hairdryers and guest laundry rooms are available on premises.  

     

     

Creating Intentional Community
We can create a radically hospitable space for all people during the retreat. Center for Courage & Renewal exists to nurture deep integrity and relational trust, building the foundation for a more loving, equitable, and healthy world. We choose to embody core values and practices that move us towards personal and societal wholeness, embracing the genuine within us and honoring the inherent worth and dignity of every human being, including but not limited to: 

• • Welcoming, including, celebrating, and advocating for people of all sexual orientations, gender identities, and gender expressions.

• • Working for racial equity and committing ourselves to anti-racist work.

• • Welcoming, including, celebrating, and advocating for people living with needs for physical, cognitive, and emotional accommodations. 

Sienna Retreat Center can accommodate people with accessibility needs, and your response on the registration will help us plan the space for your arrival.  

 Accessibility
Post-pandemic, our society moved on while the immune-compromised and people with long covid struggled to find a way forward. We have an opportunity to create a radically hospitable space for all people’s bodies during the retreat by agreeing to some common expectations: 

• • Masking: All participants, regardless of their bodies’ response to viruses common to the fall, will need to agree to mask during the entire onsite retreat as a way of caring for our participants who risk serious health consequences from infection. Participants are not expected to mask during dining times, in their own rooms, or outside. We trust you’ve done this before and know the drill. You may bring your own mask (medical or N95; no cloth masks, please) or use the ones provided by the retreat organizers. 

• • When to stay home: Additionally, please practice gracious (and common) sense for yourself and others if your body comes down with signs of illness, such as fever, viral digestive issues, etc., just before or during the retreat. We understand and encourage staying home to care for your recovery and the gentle care you can give yourself so your body can return to wellness.  

Crafting New Stories during Monthly “Peer Learning Calls”

December 2024 – April 2025 (Online; Times TBD)
Participants will continue their time during monthly online “Peer Learning Calls” for 2 hours. These calls are time to share with each other and support each other through the use of deep listening and honest and open questions. This is not a ‘fix it’ kind of group, but a chance to travel with companions in ministry as we seek to live into and out of new stories of leadership. Each group will be 3-4 participants plus a facilitator.  

Closing Retreat:  Celebrating the Stories that Guide Us  

May 12 & 13, 6-8pm both evenings (online)
You will be invited to reflect on how you live with creativity and joy in the current context of your life.  Our format will use large and small group time, solo time and social time, poetry, singing, and journaling. 

Participants will also be invited to explore how they might continue their peer learning groups, or create new ones with other trusted colleague

Cost and Registration

This retreat series is led by facilitators from the Center for Courage and Renewal and hosted by the Northern Illinois Synod, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. The retreat series is designed as a whole, and we ask participants to commit to all the series offerings from November 2024 – May 2025.  

• • Participants
    • • Registration is open to those actively leading congregations as rostered (ordained) ministers and synod authorized ministers in the ELCA, or their equivalents in other denominations. Due to the nature of the retreat and limited space, we ask that retired ministers not actively serving congregations refrain from registering.

     

    • • This retreat series is limited to 24 particpants. If we receive fewer than 20 particpants, the series will be cancelled.

     

     

• • Cost
    • • The cost per participant for the entire retreat series, including meals and lodging, is $950. Northern Illinois Synod of the ELCA (NIS) participants will receive $150 off the total cost of the retreat series by using the link provided in our communications (will be applied to first payment).

     

    • • The registration costs are received online, and will be due as follows:
        • • $600 ($450 for NIS participants) due October 2, 2024 ($200 non-refundable if cancellation happens after September 15).

         

        • • $350 (Outside NIS) or $350 (Inside NIS) due January 15, 2025.

         

         

     

    • • All participants will receive a link to pay online through Tithe.ly. Payments can be via credit card or bank account

     

     

For any questions, please reach out to the Rev. Jen Beamsley at  jbeamsley@nisynod.org

For registration questions, please contact the Rev. Jen Beamsley, jbeamsley@nisynod.org
All participants will receive a link to pay online through Tithe.ly. Payments can be via credit card or bank account

For more information about the retreat, please contact Winton Boyd, boydwinton@gmail.com