The Episcopal House of Prayer – A Ministry of Spiritual Transformation

January 2008

Practicing Jesus

 January 4-6

This is an annual retreat for the Members of the Contemplative Body of the House of Prayer. For further information please contact the office of the House of Prayer or the Director, Ward Bauman.

Cost: $180.

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Into the Depths: A Scuba Retreat

January 26-February 2, 2008

Led by Dianne Netifee, Business executive, consultant, spiritual director, dive instructor, and teacher, and Ward Bauman, Director of the Episcopal House of Prayer in Collegeville, MN.

The Retreat will take place at The Inn of Last Resort in Roatan, Honduras. The Inn of Last Resort is on a private island, situated on the world's second largest barrier reef! It overlooks a private, quiet lagoon of warm, clear turquoise waters. We will gather a group of soul seekers and lovers of the natural world to explore this unique and magical thin place where God's glory shines. Our daily schedule will be paced to meet the needs of the contemplative adventurer. Morning prayer will open our senses and introduce a daily theme. There will be three dives a day into the calm beautiful reefs of Roatan. There will be free time and solitude available. Meditative exercises will be offered to awaken the soul and sense. There will be group reflection and spiritual conversation. In the evenings there will be social time for community gatherings and enjoyment. This retreat is ideal for those wanting to deepen their spiritual life in the midst of the natural beauty of the world's inner sanctum. 

Cost: Per person/double occupancy $2,950 Including air, hotel, food, diving (3 boat dives a day.) Non-diving prices $2,800.

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February 2008

Changing Your Life From the Inside Out:

A Retreat for Those in Mid-Life Transition

February 8-10

Led by Ward Bauman, Director of the House of Prayer, and Patricia Blakely. Patricia Blakely is a spiritual director who received her spiritual direction certification and masters in theology from the College of St. Catherine in St. Paul, MN. A former publishing executive, she has a special interest in the spirituality of transitions.

Changing Your Life from the Inside Out is designed especially for those who are in or approaching the major mid-life transition we usually call "retirement". It is for active men and women who want to slow down and get quiet enough to hear the voice within -- to seek wisdom for this new stage in life in the ancient way of the Christian contemplatives.

In a retreat limited to 12 guests, we'll begin the inner adventure of listening to our lives. Allowing time for spiritual exercises, solitude, and reflection, we'll ponder what we hear. We'll gather to tell our own sacred stories. We'll restore our bodies and souls in the beautiful and restful setting of the House of Prayer.

Cost: $260.

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Dreams Dreaming And Inner Work

February 21-24

Led by Ward Bauman, Director of the House of Prayer and Lynn Bauman, Director of Praxis Learning Center, Telephone, Texas.

We spend a great portion of our lives dreaming. The question is why? Human being have been fascinated with the mystery of their dreams and dreaming since the dawn of history. Dream-time has been a topic of curiosity through the centuries and will be the topic of our retreat. We will take up this mysterious subject and explore it from many angles beginning with the ancients and moving toward modern explanations and investigations. We will also begin an intense inquiry into dream language and interpretation and the use of consciousness as a backdrop for understanding this great mystery. More importantly we will examine our own dreams as a means of "spiritual therapy" necessary for the inner work we are doing together spiritually and personally.

Cost: $340.

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March 2008

 Reversed Thunder

March 20-22

Led by Ward Bauman, Director of the House of Prayer.

This is a silent retreat given to reflect upon the solemn and propitious events in the life of Jesus and his community. We will begin on the night of the last supper (Maundy Thursday) with a Love Feast, silently reflecting upon Good Friday, and end before lunch on Holy Saturday. Time will be given for shared reflections, contemplative prayer, simple liturgies and personal spiritual lucubration.

Cost: $125.

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April 2008

No scheduled retreats in April.
 

May 2008

Spirituality and Addiction

May 16-18

We are privileged this year to welcome the Rev. Michael Wyatt as our facilitator. Michael brings years of experience as a teacher, facilitator, counselor and retreat leader in all aspects of recovery work. Michael is presently priest-in-charge of St. John's Episcopal Church in St. Cloud, MN, as well as adjunct faculty in philosophy at St. Cloud State University. Michael received a Ph. D. from Emory University, where his work centered upon issues of Twelve Step concerns. We are blessed to have Fr. Michael's leadership this, our fourth year, of Spirituality and Addiction retreats.

Step One in the program of Alcoholics Anonymous is the admission of powerlessness over alcohol. Addictions are subtle with physical, mental, and social, and spiritual dimensions. Powerlessness exists in all those areas. Through the use of stories, foundational principles, as well as shared and private reflections, this retreat will offer an opportunity to explore the multi-faceted powerlessness of addictions, as well as the strength and hope found through programs of recovery. This retreat is appropriate for those affected by addictions and those who love them.

Cost: $250.

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June 2008

Courage and Renewal

June 6-8

Each season has its own spiritual purpose, playing upon our souls preparing us for God's harvest of our lives. This retreat will focus upon the metaphor of Spring with all its greening, growth and plethora of seeding, a sure sign of God's hope and generosity. What does this say to us: What is our response to this spiritual renewal? Where do we find the courage needed to respond to this optimistic endeavor? There will be ample time for private and communal prayer, reflection and solitude. This will be a time to listen deeply in order to hear what God is saying to us.

Cost $250.

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Kenosis:  the Prayer of Self-Emptying

June 21-29

Led by Ward Bauman, Director of the House of Prayer. An 8-day Contemplative Silent Intensive Retreat.

This retreat is based upon the basic spiritual tools that Jesus taught and patterned in his own life. He taught us the if we are to follow him in discipleship we must be willing to "deny our own selves." Primary and foundational to all other Christian practices are the prayer forms that lead to self-emptying (kenosis). This retreat represents our central ministry in spiritual formation and is particularly geared for the House of Prayer alums, or anyone who has already been grounded in Christian contemplative practices and feels ready to take further steps into the fullness of God through deeper prayer and honest reflection.

Cost:  $610.

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July 2008

A School of Contemplative Wisdom
(Week 1)

July 20-26

Led by Ward Bauman, Cynthia Bourgeault, and Lynn Bauman

From time immemorial there have been Wisdom schools to raise human consciousness, thereby transforming society.  Concerned with life lived in the fullness of human being and consciousness, Wisdom has been transmitted across time as a treasury of theory and practice to teach us how to awaken.  Once again, Lynn and Cynthia will direct an academy where participants will gather to learn, transform their way of living, and be raised to higher levels of understanding and consciousness. 

If you are registering for the first time to our Wisdom academy, we would recommend that you read Cynthia Bourgealt's The Wisdom Way of Knowing before attending either academy 1 or 2.

Cost:  $680.

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August 2008

A School of Contemplative Wisdom
(Week 2)

August 10-16

Led by Ward Bauman, Rabbi Rami Shapiro, and Lynn Bauman

Please see the description from week one (July 20-26). These two retreats are not sequential, but are given equal value in our wisdom work. Joining Lynn Bauman in teaching this week, we are blessed to have Rabbi Rami Shapiro back with us again this year to speak from the rich Jewish wisdom tradition. This retreat is especially appropriate for people of all faith traditions.

Cost: $680.

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September 2008

Benedictine Experience

September 23-28

This is a six day experience of the Rule of St. Benedict.  This retreat is for those who have had some exposure to the Rule or have attended a previous Benedictine Experience.  We will explore more deeply the values, insights and wisdom of the Rule.  Participants will join the monks at St. John's Abbey Church for morning and evening prayer as well as the sisters of St. Benedict's Monastery for evening prayer.  Leaders include members from both monastic communities.

For information and to register contact:  The Friends of St. Benedict, St. David's Parish, 5150 Macomb Street, NW, Washington, DC 20016; telephone: (202)363-8061; e-mail: saintbenedict@prospect-tech.com

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October 2008

Yoga: A Spiritual Practice

October 17-19

Led by Carole Baker, Practitioner and licensed teacher of Iyengar Yoga, and Ward Bauman, Director of the House of Prayer and teacher of Christian Spirituality.

This meditation intensive will offer the beginning techniques of Yoga combined with Christian contemplative practice. This is offered to help the disciple experience spiritual practice as it occurs through one's body, developing ways to respond and open to new channels of Divine energies. This introduction to Yoga and contemplative practice will require that practitioners be in generally good health. 

Cost:  $260.

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Cooking your Life

October 31-November 3

Led by Ward Bauman, and friends.

Back by request, we are offering this retreat once again! Almost all cultures and religious traditions, one way or another hold food, its preparation and consumption as sacramental. It is sacred to us, not only because it is the bearer of Divine Life, but also because it is deeply connected to the methods of our own transformation, both physically and spiritually, if we could but see. This retreat will not only work with the handling and preparation of food and recipes, but will also reflect upon the great metaphors and understandings that this sacred alchemy has upon us. We will reflect together, as we cook and bake, on the sacred act of cooking not only food but our lives as well-all to a glorious, sumptuous and perfect end!

"The Father's real can be compared to a woman who takes a tiny bit of yeast, folds it into dough and makes great loaves out of it. Whoever has ears for this, listen!" Gospel of Thomas #96

Cost: $310.

November 2008

Returning to the Root

November 13-16

Led by Ward Bauman, Director of the House of Prayer.

This autumn silent intensive is offered as a mini KENOSIS retreat (see the June calendar). Just as the natural world is shedding its leaves, turning inward and preparing for the darkness and severity of wintertime, we too, shed the external excess of our lives and return to the root of our own selves. This silent intensive, like the summer 8-day offering, is meant for those who are contemplatives and would like to take intentional time to focus, reflect and strip to the bare minimum of their relationship with their own Essential Being. There will be one hour of teaching each day, with four meditational practices in a structure that will support each individual's own silent work.

Cost: $260.

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December 2008

No scheduled retreats in December.