Thank you for joining us in Union, WA, for a rousing deep dive into our retreat on purpose at St. Andrew’s House Retreat Center led by Shannon Polson. She used the outline and details found in chapters one and two of The Grit Factor to help us drill down on purpose.
Despite Shannon needing to depart early to present a Ted Talk—we’ll send the link when it becomes available—many thoroughly enjoyed the Program. You told us that you took away insights and a unique framework. Associate Priest Pam Tinsley was with us for the Program on Saturday, leading an afternoon Eucharist and closing out the formal retreat study. The magnificent presence of the twice-returning eagle also blessed us.
Before sharing pictures from the weekend, here are a few high-level details from our survey, links, and details from Shannon. A roster of participants is here: LINK, and these notes wrap-up with reminders for important upcoming dates.
Of the 25 surveys collected, 82% of you weighed in on your favorite part of the retreat, and only 22% weighed in on your least favorite parts.
- 38% of the respondents’ favorite part of the retreat splits between the Program and Fellowship, with Contemplative/Free Time coming in at 4% and Prayerful Time at 2%.
- Prayerful Time was 10% of respondents’ least favorite part of the retreat, followed by the Program at 8% and Contemplative/Free Time at 4%.
- Notes included the Program was too short or complicated, that they preferred the Campfire Songs over all else, or that the Prayerful Time was too short, or to pick between a service or Hour by Hour, but not both, or finally, that the individual did not make enough room for Prayerful Time.
Links from Shannon:
- Shannon’s presentation deck: Purpose workshop Epiphany.pptx (dropbox.com)
- Links to the top ten items Shannon mentioned:
- Being Disciples, Rowan Williams
- Transcend, Scott Batty Kaufman
- Man’s Search for Meaning, Victor Frankl
- The Grit Factor, Shannon Huffman Polson
- North of Hope, Shannon Huffman Polson
- Zero at the Bone, Christian Wiman
- The Psychology Podcastwith Scott Barry Kaufman
- OnBeing podcast with Krista Tippett, episode on fairytales
- Potent Podcast, my interview with Steven Lawson
- My newsletter
- The River of Life exercise, on-being-river-of-life-exercise.pdf (onbeing.org)
Important reminders and invitations:
- April 21 10:00 – 11:00 a.m. in the Great Hall, Jonathan Robertswill outline the background for a play that imagines a dinner party hosted by C.S. Lewis and Joy Davidman at the Kilns and their guests, Will and Ariel Durant.
- WRG Retreat date for 2025: March 28-30.
- May 2nd 6:30-8:30 p.m. at Lakeside’s St. Nicholas Auditorium, Carey Crutcher Smith ’77: Unlocking the Power of Sports – “Ted Talk” at Lakeside School, link.
- May 4th 8:30 – 11:00 a.m. WRG May Meeting in the Great Hall.
- Doyt’s sermon on Hope: https://epiphanyseattle.org/sermon/a-home-of-hope/
As always, many thanks to all the helping hands who participated, either out front or behind the scenes, enabling our blessed weekend to run so smoothly. And finally, please keep an eye out for our May 4th WRG invitation. Our Special Guest is Lex Breckenridge, and he’ll share his River of Life history with us.
Peace over your souls, and see you soon,
Elizabeth Roberts & Karen Forbes, WRG co-chairs
WHEREVER YOU ARE ON YOUR SPIRITUAL JOURNEY YOU HAVE A PLACE AT EPIPHANY