Sustaining the Courage to Serve: A Courage & Renewal® Seasonal Retreat Series for Clergy and People of Faith

Past Participants Share…

“Courage and Renewal work is the most deeply meaningful educational experience I’ve ever had.  Full of substance, affirmation, and light, it is life-altering.”

“Courage and Renewal work revitalizes the lives of people in the serving professions. Over the years, many of us have been worn down. It gives us the opportunity to go back to the way we did it in the beginning. It helps us reawaken the love of what we do.”

“This program is incredibly respectful of the work of people in the serving professions. It has provided me with an opportunity to reflect on my work as a teacher in a space where others are doing the same."

Our Seasonal Retreat Series, which include four 3-day retreats over the course of a year, are designed for those interested in deepening their experience of personal and professional renewal fostered by the Circle of Trust® approach - as described in Parker J. Palmer's book A Hidden Wholeness: The Journey Toward an Undivided Life. 

This series is intended for anyone who wants to live and work more wholeheartedly -- including those in education, religious life, healthcare, law, philanthropy, and community organizing.

In a seasonal retreat series, you'll meet with the same cohort of 16-30 people who gather for quarterly retreats of three days each over a period of one year. This gives you a trustworthy community of peers and a continuity of deep conversation.

In large-group, small-group and solitary settings, the retreats provide opportunities to:

  • Explore practices that renew heart, mind, and spirit;
  • Reclaim authentic leadership that honors one's gifts and acknowledges the power of limits;
  • Create a community of mutual respect and caring that welcomes the soul and honors diversity;
  • Participate in four Clearness Committees, a discernment process for reaching clarity around a decision (such as a life or career transition) by listening and asking insightful ”open and honest” questions;
  • Embody the principles and practices which create safe space for exploring the connection between inner values and their vocation;
  • Bring back insights and experiment with new ways of leading in one's own professional community;
  • Learn healthy ways to hold the tensions inherent in a life of service.

Dates:   Thursdays beginning at 5pm through Saturdays at 1pm  

  • Fall retreat:  November 1-3, 2012  
  • Winter retreat:  February 7-9, 2013   
  • Spring retreat:  April 11-13, 2013  
  • Summer retreat: July 18-20, 2013

Cost: All program fees, materials and meals and lodging for all four retreats: $2,400
          
Scholarships: A modest scholarship fund is available for clergy and communities of faith leaders. To apply for a scholarship, please e-mail John Fenner at john@couragerenewal.org.

Location: Menucha Retreat and Conference Center in Corbett, OR (about 45 minutes from Portland)

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This four-part seasonal retreat series takes place at Menucha Retreat & Conference Center, only 45 minutes from Portland, Oregon. This 100-acre sanctuary in the Columbia River Gorge is a place where bald eagles float their shadows across old growth conifers; where trails may lead to heirloom gardens or perennial springs. It’s called “Menucha” (Men-oo-ka), a Hebrew word meaning “ever-changing, renewing stillness.” Menucha’s landscapes are marked by the currents of history, which have carried both aboriginal peoples and homesteaders through its woods and meadows. Lewis and Clark’s Corps of Discovery journeyed by Menucha. Presidents walked its paths. Learn more at menucha.org.

About the Facilitators:  Jeff Creswell and Karen Noordhoff each bring 12 years of experience as facilitators of Courage & Renewal events at the local and national level. They were prepared by the Center for Courage & Renewal under the guidance of Parker J. Palmer.

Jeff Creswell has been facilitating Courage & Renewal® retreats since 2000 for clergy and congregational leaders, educators and cross-professional groups. He was a classroom teacher in Portland, Oregon for 32 years, and is an educational consultant sharing the Scottish Storyline method with educators. He is a member of Trinity Episcopal Cathedral where he sings in the choir. He and his wife, Caryl enjoy spending time with their blended family of eight children and three grandchildren.

Karen Noordhoff has been facilitating Courage & Renewal® since 2000 for clergy and congregational leaders, educators and cross-professional groups. She is also a professor at Portland State University in Portland, Oregon, with interests in spirituality and education and is a member of Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Portland, Oregon, where she lives. In addition, she and her husband, David, spend time in central Oregon where they walk the labyrinth at their cabin in the high desert called “The Clearing.”

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Register. Registration for this series goes through the facilitators' Courage Circles of Trust website.