Dear friend,
 
Hopefully you are feeling a sense of anticipation about being on retreat again with the Transforming Community® on November 14-16, 2021. By the 4th retreat we hope you experience an increasing sense that you are coming home when you arrive. To help you prepare, there are important updates below for our upcoming retreat.

I am looking forward to being on retreat with you once again and praying we will find our way to each other with ease and timeliness. Let us know if there is anything else you need for your preparations. 
 
Yours on the journey,

Preparation for the Retreat


The theme of our upcoming retreat is Engaging the Scriptures for Spiritual Transformation. While we will be talking about the role of Scripture in our spiritual formation, the emphasis will be on experiencing Scripture as a place of intimate encounter with God rather than using it merely as a tool for ministry. Our prayer is that through these experiences you, as a person who so faithfully opens the Scriptures for others, will have the opportunity to receive a word from the Lord that is for you personally.

Reflecting on the Last Quarter


As you prepare for our upcoming retreat, please set aside time to
reflect on your experience with silence and solitude during the last retreat, the reading and reflecting you have done since then, and your practice throughout the quarter. As you reflect on the reading you have been doing—notice those places where the readings were helpful and supported your practice, along with the places where you felt resistant, challenged, or had questions. If you are working toward the Certificate in Spiritual Transformation, you will be preparing your thoughts in the form of a 2–3 page reflection paper responding to the following questions: 

  • How, when and where have you practiced solitude and silence over the last months?

  • How have you experienced God with you (or not) during such times? What questions have your practice of solitude and silence raised for you?

  • What have you learned through the struggles and challenges of incorporating solitude and silence more intentionally into your life?

  • What readings have you found most helpful?  How have they supported your practice? How have they challenged you?

    Please email your paper to TC17papers@transformingcenter.org by the Friday before the retreat. 

    If you missed the last retreat, please check the requirements for making up a retreat at the TC17 webpage.

Retreat Start and Small Groups


We will gather outside the dining hall between 5:30-5:45 p.m. for prayer and then be dismissed for dinner in groups at 5:45. From now on, your time over Sunday dinner will be in your small groups, sharing about your experience of prayer during this last quarter. The dinner conversation with your small group is an important part of the community aspect of the Transforming Community experience, and we ask you to make every effort to be there. If you will not be there, please email both the TC team and your small group.

The "reflecting on the last quarter" questions above will be the basis for your discussion so feel free to bring a copy of your paper, your journal, or any other notes you would like to have with you to help with your sharing. 

Our hope is that everyone will be seated with their small groups by 6:00 p.m., so the sharing can begin at that time. The TC17 team will be following up with an email that identifies the convener for each group, along with simple guidelines for making that time as profitable as possible. Gathering Prayer will follow dinner at 7:00 p.m. 
Subscribe to our email list.