http://www.cvent.com/d/ycq3ys/4w

Are you in the midst of life transitions, feeling at a crossroads in your life, career or relationships?

Do you want to make a difference in the world but find it difficult to sustain your original passion and purpose?

In such challenging times, it’s vital to build your capacity for resilience, to be discerning in your choices, to learn how to engage the questions of your life with impeccable clarity.

This retreat reconnects you with your inner wisdom—and with others—in a way that will refresh and sustain you like nothing else for the important work you do in the world. At this retreat, you will

• Focus, without distraction, on what matters to you, especially your values and vision, challenges and fears
• Learn principles and practices from our Circle of Trust approach that can be applied to your daily life and work.
• Connect with others seeking similar insights, who listen fiercely with “no fixing allowed”, who honor each other’s differences.

What to Expect

Skilled facilitators help create a safe, quiet, and disciplined space—a circle of trust—in which the noise within us and around us can subside, where introspection becomes possible. In large group, small group, and solitary settings, we will explore the intersection of our personal and professional lives, making use of stories from our own journeys, and insights from poets, storytellers, and various wisdom traditions. Clearness Committees, a high-integrity and strictly confidential process of asking open and honest questions around a difficult issue within a small group, is offered as part of this retreat.

Our retreats take place at beautiful nature-filled venues with limited attendance for small groups, which allow for the intimacy needed to create the Circle of Trust experience. Delicious meals add to the sense of being personally cared for. Morning movement or meditation are available to begin each day. See a Sample Agenda (PDF).

WHEN:     

Begins at 5:00 p.m. Thursday, July 11, and end after lunch on Saturday, July 13, 2013.

WHERE:

Mount Olivet Conference & Retreat Center offers a nurturing and peaceful environment for interaction, study and reflection. Amid the natural beauty of 150 acres of rolling prairies and woodlands, you can relax, refresh, and rejuvenate. An ideal place to get away from the city noise and life's distraction, Mt. Olivet is located just 45 minutes from downtown Minneapolis and St. Paul.

Mt Olivet Conference & Retreat Center (just outside of Minneapolis)
7984 257th Street West, Farmington, Minnesota 55024, http://mtolivetretreat.org

We will send you more information and directions upon acceptance into the program.

FEES:    

Standard rate: $625; Clergy or K-12 educators rate: $475*    
plus Room and Board (single occupancy): $225
Commuter Rate (meals only): $100

* Limited funds are available for partial scholarships based on demonstrated financial need. To apply, contact Robin Gaphni.

Download a flyer.

Register now.

MEET YOUR FACILITATORS

Dr. Rachel Boechler works in the education and non-profit sectors to assist leaders and organizations in transformational change efforts.  As a teacher, leader, coach and consultant she supports individuals and organizations in operating from a place of integrity, core purpose and passion in order to realize their true potential. Currently a Superintendent of Schools in Wisconsin, Rachel has also worked as the Chief Operating Officer for a human resources firm in California, as a university professor and chairperson in educational leadership, and in varying roles in K-12 education. Rachel has been a facilitator since 2000 and currently serves as the Board Chair for the Center for Courage & Renewal.  Rachel finds joy in reading, early morning walks, yoga, the arts, and travel .  She resides in Shorewood, WI with her husband Brian and their two spoiled rescue dogs, Zoe and Puck.

Dr. Chris Johnson has more than 15 years of experience in speaking, writing, leading workshops, and facilitating retreats in higher education, faith-based organizations, and the business and not-for-profit communities. Chris is Director for Vocation and Integrative Learning and Associate Director of the Center for Servant Leadership at Gustavus Adolphus College, in Saint Peter, MN, where he also teaches theology and ethics. Chris works with state, regional, and national projects on personal, social, and ecological sustainability; experiential learning; vocation, calling, and purpose; leadership development; civic engagement; and spirituality in higher education. With his wife, Kim, he is co-founder of Prairie Oaks Institute, a nonprofit education, retreat, and sustainable-living center dedicated to nourishing expansive imagination, bold thinking, wise action, and cross-sector solutions to the unprecedented environmental and social challenges of our time. Originally from a dairy farm-family of six kids near Litchfield, Minnesota, Chris and his wife Kim now live in St. Peter with their three children: 18-year-old son, Amos, and 13-year-old twins Josiah and Mara.