An in-person retreat September 27 - 29
at The Bishop’s Ranch
Francis of Assisi
“I have done that which was mine to do, may Christ teach you what is yours.”
Joanna Macy
“The most remarkable feature of this historical moment on Earth is not that we are on the way to destroying the world — we've actually been on the way for quite a while. It is that we are beginning to wake up, as from a millennia-long sleep, to a whole new relationship to our world, to ourselves and each other.”
About the Retreat:
Anne and Terry Symens-Bucher are founders of Canticle Farm, an intentional community in Oakland, California, experimenting at the intersection of faith, social justice, and Earth-based nonviolent activism. Canticle Farm is rooted in Franciscan spirituality and the Work That Reconnects, a body of teachings best known through living systems and Buddhist scholar Joanna Macy.
From Anne and Terry: “We believe the systemic political, economic, educational, and ecological unraveling we face is rooted in the illusion of the separate, autonomous self. To be human today is to become aware of how intolerably miserable we are in the psychic prison of that separate self. We might say we are readying to be birthed from that separate, autonomous consciousness to a communal consciousness, to being persons grounded in a community ecology inhabiting a common cosmic home (Romans 8:22). We will be exploring what is ours to do in this birthing using the Spiral of the Work That Reconnects, the lives of Francis and Clare of Assisi, as well as the liturgical year.”
“Whatsoever you hold, may you always hold,
Whatsoever you do, may you always do and never abandon,
But with swift pace, light step, and unswerving feet,
So that not even your steps raise any dust,
Go forward confidently, joyfully, and swiftly
On the path of prudent happiness
Believing nothing, agreeing with nothing
That would dissuade you from this purpose
Or put a stumbling-stone in your path
So that you might offer your vows to the Most High,
And attain that perfection to which you have been called
By the Spirit of the Lord.”
Clare of Assisi to Agnes of Prague
About our Retreat Leaders:
Anne has worked as Joanna Macy's executive assistant since 2006, and prior to that for twenty-five years for the Franciscan Friars of the St. Barbara Province, primarily as co-director of their Justice, Peace, and Integrity of Creation Office. She lived at the New York Catholic Worker with Dorothy Day, and started the most recent iteration of the Oakland Catholic Worker in 1979. Terry has a Master of Divinity Degree from the Franciscan School of Theology and a Juris Doctor degree from U.C. Hastings College of Law. Both Anne and Terry are professed Third Order Franciscans. They have been married for 35 years and are the parents of five children.
Schedule
The Standing Committee and the Co-chairs of the Search and Transition Committee, Paul Fromberg and Brenda Paulin, are conducting a series of listening sessions about the Search process, and the first of these listening events will occur at the Clergy Retreat. There is still room at the retreat for those who can attend in person. However, zoom registration links are available for both listening sessions. Click on highlighted areas below to register.
Wednesday, Sept. 28, 1:30 – 3:30, clergy who serve in active congregational ministry (i.e., - Rectors, Vicars, Priests-in-Charge, Associate Rectors, and Deacons).
Thursday, Sept. 29, 1:30 – 3:30, clergy who are not currently involved in congregational ministry, including (but not limited to) retired clergy, academic clergy, diocesan staff clergy, diocesan institution clergy, and Grace Cathedral clergy.
A registration link is now available for Bishop Marc’s time on Thursday morning if you cannot make the retreat.
-
3:00 pm - check in begins outside Webb Lodge
5:00 pm - Social Time Outside Swing
5:00 pm - 12 Step Meeting in the Art Building
6:30 pm - Dinner in the Refectory
7:30 pm - First Session with our speakers in the Pavilion -
8:00 am - Breakfast in the Refectory
9:00 am - Second Session with our speakers in the Pavilion
12:30 pm - Lunch in the Refectory
1:30 pm- Meeting on Bishop Search & Transition (zoom option) Request for clergy who serve in active congregational ministry (i.e., - Rectors, Vicars, Priests-in-Charge, Associate Rectors, and DeaconsFree Time in the afternoon
5:00 pm - Social Time outside Swing
5:00 pm - 12 Step Meeting in the Art Building
6:30 pm - Dinner in the Refectory
7:30 pm - Third Session with our speakers in the Pavilion -
8:00 am - Breakfast in the Refectory
9:00 am - Bishop’s Time in the Pavilion (zoom option)
10:30 am - Eucharist
12:30 pm - Lunch in the Refectory1:30 pm - Meeting on Bishop Search and Transition (zoom option) Request for clergy who are not currently involved in congregational ministry, including (but not limited to) retired clergy, academic clergy, diocesan staff clergy, diocesan institution clergy, and Grace Cathedral clergy.