[Dialogue] Spirit Journey Retreat (RS-1) - Grace huddle?

[David Walters]

What is a Grace Huddle?

David

>  Dear Colleagues on the Journey,
>
>  Here in Minnesota where the snow is melting we just completed a 
>  forty-four hour weekend with forty people. The pastor at the United
>
>  Methodist Church in Northfield is an Academy graduate and last 
>  winter, about this time, he pushed hard to offer an Ecumenical 
>  Institute course for the congregation. He asked me to talk to the 
>  Adult Education Committee to see if there would be interest in 
>  sponsoring a retreat. I'd heard that John Cock had taught an RS-1
>in 
>  Hilton Head and had done some rewriting for the course. John and I 
>  talked. He was interested. I briefed the committee, and got the 
>  go-ahead to form a team to move forward.
>
>  A team of five worked for the next year to pull it off. We first 
>  wanted it in the fall of 2006. The Mount Olivet Retreat and 
>  Conference Center where we wanted to hold the retreat books at
>least 
>  a year out and was not available. We then reserved space there for 
>  the weekend of February 16-18, 2007. It is about thirty miles south
>
>  of Minneapolis.
>
>  The Spirit Journey Retreat: Empowering Our Faith (RS-1) was 
>  outstanding. There were forty people including John and Lynda Cock.
>
>  John led the WHOLE weekend. With his additions to the weekend of 
>  small group work (we even had a Grace Huddle - a highlight for
>nearly 
>  everyone), reflection time on Saturday afternoon, songs, rituals
>and 
>  spirit exercises, it even had a slightly spacious feel. We did
>start 
>  at 7:00 am on Saturday and Sunday and nearly everyone showed up
>first 
>  thing in the morning. It reaffirmed our understanding of the 
>  contentlessness of the story and its relevance to current time. 
>  John's leadership was outstanding and must have been exhausting, 
>  recalling the days when four people taught the weekend. Lynda
>worked 
>  with me on practics and took care of selling John's books. Work on 
>  the space created a fine container for spirit work.
>
>  About a third of the folks were from outside the congregation and 
>  included four people who are experienced ToP trainers and 
>  consultants. One works for a consulting firm and another for a
>large 
>  foundation that does leadership training throughout the area. The 
>  profiles of participants were interesting and ranged from 
>  conservative to liberal, evangelical to progressive, somewhat 
>  educated to highly educated. Several people who teach and work in 
>  business had theological backgrounds. Discussions were animated,
>deep 
>  and grounded.
>
>  The G.O.D. rock (petrified tree), owned by Sue and Stefan Laxdal
>and 
>  present at all RS-1 courses ever done in Minneapolis, proudly took 
>  its place at the center of the room during the last session. It was
>
>  preceded by a dinosaur bone, a very large crystal and a large
>fossil. 
>  The earth flag hung at the front of the room. We used a portable
>wall 
>  designed by ToP trainer Cheryl Kartes' husband Patrick. It was 
>  designed for the ToP crew and creates twelve feet of free standing 
>  wall. It was the best wall ever. We used six feet of the wall, 
>  covered it with a sticky wall and put four flip chart pages up for 
>  every session. John had never had such a blackboard.
>
>  Sleeping in a motel type room at the conference center with an 
>  abundance of food at meals was good. It did make me a little 
>  nostalgic for spaghetti on Friday and the sound of mice roaming the
>
>  pantry while sleeping among the food stores in a church basement -
>on 
>  an army cot.
>
>  Spending time with John and Lynda, with whom we had never formally 
>  worked, was a time not to be missed.  Ron and I had a dinner on 
>  Thursday so they could both meet the team and get properly welcomed
>
>  before divining into the intensity of the weekend. Afterwards we 
>  managed some celebratory eating, drinking and great conversation.
>
>  Thank you to John and Lynda and to all who have gone before on this
>
>  journey. Those folks who had the original vision, the nerve and 
>  persistence to create the RS-1 course and then to gather a body of 
>  people who were insistent on getting it out to people are to be 
>  remembered. Cyber hugs all around dear colleagues.
>
>  Beret and Ron Griffith
>  on behalf of our local team: Faye Caskey, head of Adult Education
>at 
>  the church (her husband Carl hired Vance Engleman in Oaklahoma);
>Clay 
>  Oglesbee, Pastor (Academy grad); Ron Griffith (first took RS-1 in 
>  1968), Bill Ostrem (environmental activist in Northfield).
>
>
>
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