St. Francis
Retreat
Center
Spring Offerings
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"The spiritual life does not remove us from the world
but leads us deeper into it." Henri J.M. Nouwen
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Online Retreats
Suggested donation is listed on retreat description;
Don't let financial hardship keep you from participating.
If you need a partial or full scholarship,
please email mepkinguestmaster@gmail.com to register.
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Listening to The Voice of God
in Your Heart
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an Online Retreat with Fr. Albert Haase, OFM
March 19-20, 2021
Suggested donation: $80
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God speaks to us each and every day in the events and people
we encounter as well as in our deepest feelings and most
creative thoughts. Are we listening? How do we hear
the voice of God in the nitty-gritty of our daily routines?
Franciscan Father Albert Haase, OFM, will help us explore
practical ways we can grow in a deeper relationship with God
by learning how God speaks in our everyday lives.
Partially based upon Fr. Albert’s bestselling book,
BECOMING AN ORDINARY MYSTIC: Spirituality for the Rest of Us,
this 3-part series promises to be most helpful and worthwhile.
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Ordained a Franciscan priest in 1983, Albert Haase, OFM, is a popular preacher, teacher, spiritual director, and guest on Catholic talk radio shows. A former missionary to mainland China for over eleven years, he is the award-winning author of twelve books on popular spirituality and the presenter on five bestselling DVDs. He has trained spiritual directors for ten years. He is currently chaplain at Cedarbrake Catholic Retreat Center in the diocese of Austin, Texas. Visit his website at www.AlbertOFM.org
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Directed Online
Ignatian Retreat
with Mary Pat Barth
& Ray Horn
March 22-26, 2021
Suggested donation: $200
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Respond to God’s invitation to refresh, renew,
and deepen your relationship
with God through an Ignatian Retreat…
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Mary Pat Barth has been involved in Ignatian retreats & spirituality as a Chaplain at the College of the Holy Cross, Georgetown, and Duke Universities for the past 30 years. She has led Ignatian Retreats at retreat centers in North & South Carolina, Pennsylvania, New York, and Louisiana as well as parishes in NC. Mary Pat received her spiritual direction training in Chicago, and she regards the experience of companioning women and men on Ignatian retreats and in her interfaith spiritual direction practice as sacred privileges. She holds two Master’s Degrees from Jesuit Universities and experienced the 30-day Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola in Los Altos, California. She is a member of Spiritual Directors International and resides in Wilmington, North Carolina.
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A lifelong journey led Raymond Horn to this sacred ministry of holy listening, a deep knowing that "everything belongs." Raymond serves as a spiritual and retreat director formed in the Ignatian tradition. Trained at the Mercy Center in Madison, CT, he received a Certificate from their two-year School of Spirituality followed by a Certificate from their two-year Practicum for Spiritual Direction in 2006. Raymond received a BA in Communications from Pace University in 1982. Raymond is an active member of the National Alliance on Mental Illness where he serves as a facilitator and trainer and the Lay Associate Community with The Passionists. Raymond and his wife "rewired" to South Carolina in 2012.
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Spiritual Practices
in a Time of Social Isolation
an online event with
Lyndall Hare, Ph.D. Gerontology
March 25, 2021
10:00 AM-12:00 PM
Suggested Donation: $50
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"...find the pale nobility of quiet
that ripening demands"
from "Winter Apple" by David Whyte
Dr. Lyndall Hare will provide a workshop on practical spiritual practices that one can undertake during this time when so many of us feel isolated. Dr. Hare has been described as a "born storyteller" who, through guided imagery, leads people on a journey where their personal stories intersect with the spiritual allowing the power of transformation to occur.
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Lyndall holds a social work degree and a Ph.D. in Gerontological Studies. She has worked in the field of aging for over 25 years, both in the USA and in South Africa. She has expertise in the transitions facing individuals in midlife and beyond. As an Eldercare Coach, Lyndall helps those navigating the tricky landscape of elder-caring and aging services for loved ones. As an Aging Consultant, she coaches organizations that serve elders by providing innovative visioning and creative programming and planning. Lyndall also offers professional training workshops to those working in the field of aging. Lyndall conducts workshops and groups on life transitions, encore careers, caring for elder relatives, and the spiritual aspects of eldering using a “growth” rather than a “decline” model of aging. Lyndall has authored various training manuals & professional journal articles, as well as a book: In the Belly of the Beast: South African Women’s Lives of Activism, Exile, and Aging, CPCC Press, 2003. |
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At Work in the World:
Mechtild & The Beguines
an Online Retreat
with Marjory Zoet Bankson
March 26-27, 2021
Suggested Donation: $80
As women step into more visible
public leadership today, the time is right
to explore an earlier women’s movement
of social reform and spiritual renewal.
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Marjory Zoet Bankson is an author, working potter, and seasoned spiritual guide from the Church of the Saviour (CoS) community in Washington, DC. Her books, Call to the Soul and Creative Aging present a spiral template for discerning call at every stage of life. Marjory chairs the CoS Council, publishes their quarterly newsletter, Callings, and curates the website inwardoutward.org. Her sermons are available at seekerschurch.org. She writes, speaks, and facilitates group discernment events around issues of call and transition.
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We have learned that listening to our neighbor’s voice is a concrete act
of love and welcome; an act that all good people
of faith are compelled
to practice: loving your neighbor as yourself.
You are invited
to come and share
your voice with us.
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My Neighbor's Voice:
Listening, Loving,
and Acting Together
an online event with
Victoria Chance and Mary Anne Inglis
April 10, 2021
10:00 AM-Noon Eastern Time
suggested donation: $50
The deadline to register is April 3, 2021.
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In 2016, two great friends Victoria Chance and Mary Anne Inglis had a conversation: As teachers, they were worried that the lack of civil dialogue was tearing America apart, and they agreed to work together to find a solution. The result of that conversation is My Neighbor's Voice (MNV), a nonprofit first established in Greenville, SC. In 2019, they were presented the Peacemaker Award from the Upstate Mediation Center for their work in bringing people together for the common good through MNV.
Read more about the presenters' backgrounds
by clicking the "Learn More" button.
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Holy Wisdom, Mother of God
an online retreat with
Reverend Matthew Wright
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April 13-15, 2021
10 am-12 pm Eastern Time
suggested donation: $80
Join us for an exploration of devotion to the Divine Feminine in
the Jewish and Christian traditions, particularly under the guises
of Sophia, or Holy Wisdom, and Mary, the Mother of Jesus.
Drawing on the poetry of Gerard Manley Hopkins, the mysticism of
Thomas Merton, Holy Scripture, and the writings of early saints,
we'll discover Mary as a face of fierce compassion and as
the God-birthing dimension of our own souls.
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The Rev. Matthew Wright grew up in Western North Carolina. He received his B.A. in Religious Studies from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and M.Div. from Virginia Theological Seminary. Matthew was ordained to the priesthood in September 2012 and has served as priest-in-charge at St. Gregory's since October 2014.
Matthew lives with his wife, Yanick Savain, alongside the brothers of Holy Cross Monastery in West Park, where they participate in the Benedictine rhythm of work and prayer in community. Matthew also serves as a retreat leader and teaches for Northeast Wisdom and the Contemplative Society, non-profits dedicated to the renewal of the Christian Wisdom tradition. He is a vowed Companion in the Rivendell Community.
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The Influence of
Teilhard de Chardin
on Contemporary
Christian Thought
an online lecture with Louis Savary, Ph.D.
April 19, 2021
7:00-8:30 pm, Eastern Time
suggested donation: $20
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Louis Savary, who holds doctorates in both mathematics and theology, was a Jesuit for thirty years. In addition to many books on spirituality in general, he has written a series of eight books explaining Teilhard's ideas for a general audience, including The Divine Milieu Explained and The Phenomenon of Man Explained. His latest is Teilhard on the Eucharist: Envisioning the Body of Christ.
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...we too can indeed bring reconciliation
to a world that is fractured.
Reconciliation
in a Fractured World
an online retreat
with Dianne Bergant, CSA
April 30-May 1, 2021
suggested donation:$100
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Dianne Bergant, CSA is Carroll Stuhlmueller, CP, Distinguished Professor Emerita of Biblical Studies at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. She was President of the Catholic Biblical Association of America (2000-1) and has been an active member of the Chicago Catholic/Jewish Scholars Dialogue for the past thirty years. She is currently working in the areas of biblical interpretation and biblical theology, particularly issues of peace, ecology and feminism.
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Mindfulness itself is the basic ability to be fully present and aware of where we are...what we are doing...
...It anchors our focus aiding in
calmness and clarity.
Introduction to
Mindfulness Meditation:
Would this Practice
Benefit You?
an online lecture
with Kathleen Cassels
May 3, 2021
7-8 pm Eastern Time
suggested donation: $20
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Kathleen Cassels is a certified teacher of Mindfulness Meditation through Tibet House US. She offers weekly and monthly mindfulness meditation classes. A native New Yorker and graduate of Fordham University, she has had a career in many fields including the corporate world, restaurant business, and real estate.
Spiritual Retreats at Mepkin Abbey for over 15 years call her to gratefully give back to Mepkin and the community. Over the years she has volunteered in the Clare Booth Luce Library and at the annual Crèche Festival. Currently, Kathleen is a Mepkin Abbey Zip Code Contemplative group convener as well as a docent. Wishing to provide the Mepkin community with another tool in their contemplative journey, she hopes providing a mindfulness meditation practice may be of benefit to all.
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