Where is the retreat center and how do I get there?
St. Andrew’s House is an Episcopal Retreat Center in Union, WA on the Hood Canal. It is an hour and 45 minutes from downtown Seattle, one and a half hours from the SeaTac airport, and 40 minutes from Olympia. If you are flying in, please allow two hours in each direction to get to and from the retreat center. We will connect you with others who are flying in to share an airport shuttle (approx cost is $40 each way – based on total number of riders). The shuttle is far less expensive with several riding together so we schedule it to depart the airport at about 3:30 p.m. on Sunday, May 13, 2012 - please schedule your flight to arrive by 2:30 so you can pick up any luggage before the shuttle leaves. On Friday, May 18, 2012 the shuttle will leave the retreat center at 1:00 and arrive at the airport by 3:00 p.m.
The setting is definitely worth the trip! The retreat center has views of the Hood Canal – a channel of water between the Kitsap and Olympic peninsulas – and the Olympic Mountains. It is a beautiful setting to refresh the spirit. You can find directions here.
What are the accommodations and meals like?
The Retreat Center is a lodge-style building with several comfortable bedrooms upstairs with shared bathrooms. We limit the number of participants to 10 and everyone has their own room. Sheets, blankets, and towels are provided as well as full wireless access. On the main floor are two handicapped-accessible bedrooms with private bathrooms, these rooms are assigned in advance to those who request them for medical reasons.
Our gatherings are held in the large living room or in the chapel overlooking the Hood Canal. All meals are prepared by the retreat center staff and served buffet style in the dining area. We can often accommodate food allergies upon prior request. We have the whole building to ourselves which creates an intimate and quiet atmosphere for sharing conversation over meals.
The property is adjacent to Harmony Hill, a retreat center providing free programs for people living with cancer and their loved ones. Harmony Hill has a lovely outdoor labyrinth available for our use and we can also access their property during free time for walks.
What is the schedule like?
Our time together is fairly intensive as we cover a lot of material in five days but we do try to honor your need for some quiet integration time.
Day 1 – check in between 4-6 p.m., arrival by 6:00 p.m., opening session from 7-9 p.m.
Days 2-4 - 8:00 a.m. for breakfast, morning session from 9-noon, lunch and an afternoon break from 12-3, afternoon session from 3-5, evening break and dinner from 5-7, and evening session from 7-9.
Day 5 – closing session is 9 a.m. – noon, then lunch and departure by 1:00 p.m.
We always encourage you to listen to the needs of your own body and spirit.
Are there CEUs available?
This educational event provides 33 hours of continuing education that can be applied to the educational hours required by the Board of Chaplaincy Certification Inc.
We are happy to provide you a letter of completion at the end of the workshop with the number of hours and program objectives for you to submit to your licensing body.
If I’m not an artist can I still participate?
We believe that everyone is an artist! Our approach is through the philosophy of the expressive arts, which focuses on the process of the creative experience rather than on creating a beautiful product (although inevitably an authentic expression of the soul is indeed beautiful!) and engages the arts in the service of healing. We have had participants join us with a variety of previous art experience, and some of our “least experienced” participants have been the ones who have most wholeheartedly brought the full spectrum of the arts back to their ministry contexts.
If I’m not a spiritual director can I still participate?
We have had participants from a wide range of soul care ministries join us – spiritual directors, chaplains, retreat facilitators, counselors, therapists, pastors, and educators, as well as some who were just beginning to discover the direction in which they were being called to share their gifts.
When we have our initial phone call together we will discuss if this program would be a good fit for you.
Is this a denominationally-based program?
While Betsey and Christine are both rooted in the Catholic tradition, the program is designed to be inter-spritual and inclusive of persons of any faith background. In our teaching, we draw on sacred stories from Christian and Jewish scriptures, the poetry of Sufi mystics, and our week is structured around the four elements of wind, fire, water, and earth. Our work together is in service to the ministry of companioning others on their spiritual journeys, wherever that may take them. The arts offer tools and practices for being present to the ways that call unfolds.
During this workshop participants will
• participate in several different experiential expressive arts experiences including poetry, visual art, movement, storytelling, music, and song
• develop comfort with engagement of the arts and identify their growing edges
• reflect on these experiences in the context of spiritual direction, retreat work, and other soul care contexts
• identify a variety of applications for the arts to spiritual direction and other formation settings and develop tools and practical skills in engaging the expressive arts as forms of prayer and contexts for sacred encounters
• tend to the creative process itself and reflect on what it has to reveal about the spiritual journey
• deepen their own experience of the arts and spirituality and be able to articulate some of these connections between creativity and formation work, both for themselves and for the persons with whom they work
• develop foundations and language for bridging the expressive arts and spirituality
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We begin our intensive by creating a safe and sacred space for our learning community to dive deep into the material on both a personal level, as well as to reflect on how the arts might be in service to those with whom we work.
Each day we will explore a particular expressive arts modality in greater depth, providing foundations for the work, expressive arts theories, practical applications, and extensive experiential exercises. We will move from the focus modality of the day into other art-forms as a way of exploring the expressive arts connection — as we move from one art form to another, our insights about ourselves and the sacred deepen. We also move from more structured experiences to experiences with more freedom to cultivate comfort with each art-form and growth in our capacity for creative expression.
Each day will also include ritual, prayer, sharing with partners, and large group discussions to help process the experience and learn from each other as well as gain input from facilitators. During this five-day intensive, there will be a minimum of 30 hours of instruction and hands-on exercises. Participants will come away with significant experience in the arts and with many tools for immediate application in their own ministry contexts.