Dear Friend,
I am writing to let you know we have made the decision to return to being fully in-person for your upcoming retreat #8, June 7-9. This means there will not be a virtual option. There are several reasons why this is the decision we feel we need to make:
- Everyone who wishes to be vaccinated will have had that opportunity by the time we gather on retreat and should feel much safer being in groups
- We have held 3 retreats with in-person participation and no one has fallen ill as a result of being with us in this way. The protocols at the Q Center are excellent and effective, and as we have held to them, it has felt (and actually is) very safe.
- The hybrid format is very labor intensive for our staff, requiring us to create new ways of doing what we do, and altering numerous parts of each retreat. This has been very wearing and it is time for us return to what we do best—providing in-person experiences of retreat, rest, prayer and community.
- The hybrid format is very expensive and we simply must eliminate this expense for the financial health and sustainability of the Transforming Center.
- Now that so many restrictions have been lifted across the country, our contracted commitment with the Q Center for a certain number of rooms has been reinstated. We need to have as many people in person as possible to fulfill our contract and will have to pay for the agreed-upon number of rooms whether we use them or not.
We know this will be hard news for some of you and would welcome the opportunity to talk this through with you if that would be helpful. If you do not feel able to join us in person, we will handle it like a missed retreat and send materials and recordings shortly after the retreat. If a conversation about this would be helpful to you, please let us know and one of us will reach out to you.
We are praying that God will give us all grace for the path we are walking right now and the decisions that need to be made for the good of all. Please respond to this e-mail by end of day on May 4 to let us know if you will be attending in person or not; we will be communicating numbers to the Q Center on May 7. We need to hear from each and every one of you.
Blessings on the journey,
