2008

September 13: SPIRITUALITY AND ART Saturday, 9:15 AM - 3:00 PM. What if we held the concept of art as a process, as a vehicle of prayer and discernment, as much as it is a “finished product”? Would this thought free us to experiment and express more freely? We enter this workshop with the deeply held belief that we are created in the image and likeness of God, our Creator. This invites us to be constantly involved in the co-creation of our world, with our Creator God…hence, we ALL are artists, in some way! In this one day workshop, we will take a deeper look into the life and art we can create, with thoughts, words and action that culminate in making art as sacred practice, as prayer. No prior art experience is necessary. This will be a gentle, playful, prayerful experience, to invite us to create, from our own deep, precious inner life.
Register by prior Friday - $50 + $5 art materials. Please bring a lunch and a journal. Minimum 6.
Julie Barrett Ziegler holds a degree in Fine Arts, and has been an artist and educator for more than 20 years, focusing in art as spiritual practice. She is an iconographer, calligrapher, and trained “SoulCollage” facilitator. Many of her icons are permanently installed in St. Michael Parish Church, in Olympia, and her artworks are in many private collections. She lives and teaches in Olympia, WA. She can be contacted for ongoing class offerings at JulieArtStudios
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September 20: KNITTERS & SPINNERS RETREAT Saturday, 9:00 AM - 8:00 PM. The Priory Knitters and Spinners are happy to invite you to a retreat time with your knitting, spinning, or other fiber-related art.  The retreat includes times of quiet, storytelling about how your art affects your life and times of simply sharing what is going on in your fiber life. You will have the opportunity to share the fruits of your own reflection, talk about your art or craft, and just plain have fun. We will bless our hands, our equipment and our creations.
Register by prior Friday - $50. Bring a sack lunch; dinner included.
The Priory Knitters and Spinners come to a weekly gathering primarily because they enjoy what they do:   knit and felt toy sheep, their signature creation; spin various donated fibers; knit scarves, hats, and other articles of beauty and function; needle-felt; and engage in stimulating conversation and laughter.  They reflect on the meaning of making things and on the beauty of the things themselves, bringing spirituality to bear on their arts.
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September 27: DRAWING OUT SPIRIT: CREATIVE EXPRESSION AS DIALOGUE WITH GOD Saturday, 9:15 AM - 3:00 PM. Playful use of art materials allows us to be surprised by God.  In this workshop we will open to Spirit through a combination of art journaling and mandala making.  In art journaling we ask God questions and then allow answers to come through in drawing and then writing about the drawing.  In mandala making we use the archetypal circular form to connect with our own center.  This type of creative exploration makes a wonderful ongoing prayer practice.  No prior art experience is needed.
Register by prior Friday - $60. Bring a sack lunch. Minimum 5, Maximum 12.
Margaret Rothschild, M.A. is an artist, art therapist and spiritual director who celebrates the creative and unique way God lives through each of us.  She conducts workshops in spiritual exploration using different types of creative expression.
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October 3: HEALTHY LEADERS IN MINISTRY Friday, 9:15 AM - 3:00 PM. This full-day seminar is designed for pastors and pastoral leaders intrigued by the possibility (and reality!) of learning strategies to strengthen and sustain the complex relationship roles of today’s clergy. Discover a preventative approach which enables church leaders to become proactive in developing and maintaining healthy attitudes and behaviors.
Register by prior Friday - $60. Bring a sack lunch. Minimum 12, Maximum 50.
Rev. Dr. Julie M. Josund is a Lutheran (ELCA) pastor and teacher with a passion for developing healthy relationship patterns for clergy and pastoral leaders. In her work as Director of the Institute for Clergy and Congregational Renewal (at PLU) she developed the Transforming Leadership Project. This work is leading to the development of the Center for Christian Spirituality, Systems and Practice.
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October 4: SPA FOR THE SPIRIT Saturday, 9:15 AM - 3:00 PM. At this "spa" workshop, we will let go of the cares of our daily world. We will be invited to explore our experience of God’s presence through drumming, music, guided imagery and meditation. We will melt into rhythms, flow with melodies and dream of life at its best. We will widen our awareness with curiosity, openness, acceptance and lovingkindness. In such experiences the flow of grace and the attitudes of appreciation and gratitude bless us.
Register by prior Friday - $50. Bring a sack lunch and your favorite percussion instrument. Instruments will be available for those who don’t have any. Wear comfortable clothes.
Jerry R DeVore is a clinical psychologist who uses music and imagination approaches in his professional practice and in his own personal spiritual journey. He also plays rhythm guitar in a local church band, Soul Purpose.
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October 11: BEING STORIED BY GOD: A WORKSHOP IN BIBLICAL STORYTELLING Saturday, 9:15 AM - 3:00 PM. The Art of Biblical Storytelling will change your relationship with scripture from understanding to a luminous experience and beyond. This workshop is an invitation to get started, choose a scripture story and do some research for telling it. We will provide techniques for the journey to help you get started as a Biblical Storyteller.
Register by prior Friday - $50. Bring a sack lunch, Bible and journal. Minimum 6.
Marian Maynard, Obl. OSB is an oblate of St. Placid Priory, a seminary student, and a psychotherapist.
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October 17: INSIGHTS DISCOVERY Friday, 9:15 AM - 3:00 PM.  Do you want to gain skills to build stronger interpersonal relationships with friends, colleagues, family members? Do you want to better understand yourself and gain a deeper self-awareness? It’s proven that self-awareness of our strengths and weaknesses enables us to develop effective interpersonal strategies and respond to the demands of our environment. Insights Discovery is a high impact personality profiling tool based on the work of Carl Jung. Your customized profile offers a framework for self-understanding and development. The Insights profile generated from the on-line Insights Evaluator provides a report unique to you. This report covers your strengths, weaknesses, blind spots, communication preferences, your opposite type and suggestions for development. You can use it proactively to develop an action plan for personal and interpersonal growth. Our Insights workshop will also give you skills to recognize diverse styles and practical ways to adapt your behavior to build positive, win-win relationships. This Insights workshop requires that you complete the Insights Evaluator tool on-line with a completion deadline before Oct 10. Email Sue Schneider for the Insights Discovery Profile at suschne@aol.com This program is a good complement to Appreciative Living which is offered October 18.
Register by prior Friday - $50; Insights Discovery Profile - $65. Bring a sack lunch. Minimum 5, Maximum 15.
Sue Schneider has worked in the corporate world for over 30 years. For the past eight years, Sue has been an independent consultant focusing on high performance teams, strategic planning, and organization design/development working with a diverse client base. She has been working with the Benedictine Community at Mt. Angel for over eight years and more recently with the Benedictine Sisters at St. Placid Priory. Sue was trained in the Insights Discovery program in 2002 and has been using the Insights Discovery tool.
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October 18: APPRECIATIVE LIVING FOR THE INDIVIDUAL Saturday, 9:15 AM - 3:00 PM. How can we live with a mindset that looks at “What is going well?” How do we nourish and appreciate life in a positive way? How do we construct questions from a positive perspective. How do we live out of hope, inspiration and joy with one another? How do we become the change we want to see? If you find these questions your questions, join us for a workshop using the Appreciative Inquiry model that flows from a scriptural context.
Register by prior Friday - $50. Bring a sack lunch. Minimum 5.
Sue Schneider See above.
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October 25: SPIRITUAL CARE RETREAT FOR SERVICE PROVIDERS Saturday, 9:15 AM - 3:00 PM. This workshop is designed for those called to the work of Nursing, Medicine, Social Work, Ministry, Counseling and Spiritual Direction. Through conversation and experiences, we will explore ways to revitalize one’s life and work through:

• Naming and claiming inner power
• Nurturing the inner spirit
• Learning more about energy
• Releasing “The Seven Deadly Needs”
• Becoming more authentic and purposeful

Register by prior Friday - $60. Bring a sack lunch. Minimum 10.
Rev. Suzanne Seaton, MSW, is ordained in the United Methodist Church. She is a spiritual director and a spiritual formation retreat leader.
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October 31-November 2: CENTERING PRAYER RETREAT Friday 7:15 PM - Sunday 2:00 PM. This retreat is offered to those wishing to deepen their experience of silence and opening to the presence of God in their daily lives. It is intended for those with at least three months of daily practice of centering prayer, and offers a brief experience of the grand monastic silence. There will be opportunities to share liturgy and Eucharist with the Sisters In addition, there is ample time for solitude, walking, reading and individual contemplation. Opportunities are available for group centering prayer, "soul-friending with the facilitator," as well as spiritual direction with one of the Sisters (for an additional fee by prior appointment).
Register by prior Friday - $170. Minimum 6, maximum 9.
Kay Kukowski is certified by Father Thomas Keating's Contemplative Outreach, LTD to teach Centering Prayer.
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November 8: BLESSED MOVEMENTS WITH THE PSALMIST Saturday, 9:30 AM - 3:30 PM. Come meet the ancient psalmist with the body, heart, and soul. The psalmist will offer us ways to be with God through the joys and sorrows of being human. We will practice lectio divina, move prayerfully, meditate and journal on some of the more popular psalms. The workshop is based on Roy’s new book with the tentative title Praying with the Body, Heart, and Soul.
Register by prior Friday - $50. Bring a sack lunch, a Bible, journal, sticky mat, blanket and pillows. Minimum 8.
Roy DeLeon, Obl. OSB, is an Oblate of St Placid. He trained as a spiritual director with the Priory Spirituality Center. A certified yoga instructor, he teaches Blessed Movements regularly at the Priory.
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November 15: CHANTING THE PSALMS Saturday 9:45 AM - 3:30 PM. A day-long workshop led by Joseph Anderson exploring singing the Psalms in a variety of ways--from Eastern Orthodox and Gregorian chants, to Taize-style chants and Protestant metrical settings.  We will also explore improvised melodies and chant styles influenced by global chant traditions.  Singing experience is helpful but by no means necessary. As part of the day you'll have the opportunity to explore Psalm texts through simple but creative mandala inscription exercises.
Register by prior Friday - $65 (includes $5 for music and art materials). Minimum 15, Maximum 25.
Joseph H. Anderson, Associate Director of the Center for Sacred Art, is an accomplished vocalist and founding member of Peregrine Medieval Vocal Ensemble (Artist-in-Residence at St. Mark's Cathedral, Seattle).  He has studied, performed and taught Gregorian chant and chant-based forms for the past 15 years.
Victoria Scarlett, MA Art History, MA Museum Studies, is the Director of the Center for Sacred Art (www.centerforsacredart.org).  As an art educator, cultural historian, and artist, she has a special interest in reclaiming traditional sacred art as a tool for conscious living and contemporary spiritual practice.  Victoria has taught in a variety of settings, from universities and museums to interfaith conferences, churches, spirituality centers and cathedrals.
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November 22: WRITING SPIRIT: KINDLING OUR INNER LIGHT Saturday, 9:15 AM - 3:00 PM. The purpose of this workshop is to link creativity to spirituality by showing how to tap into the higher energy connecting human creativity with the creative energies of God. Our feeling nature is heightened during the time of winter and strongly plays upon the hearts of all. Winter is the time of year in which the inner light is kindled in spite of outer darkness, thus it is a powerful time for revelations in our writing. We will write our dreams, meditations and prayers focusing on ways we may bring light into our life circumstances. Participants will be guided through a variety of activities to birth their imagination and capture new ideas. We will work with the spiritual energies of celebration, confidence and hope while learning to find our voice and make our writing come alive!
Register by prior Friday - $50. Bring a sack lunch. Minimum 8, Maximum 25.
Dee McDonald, M.A., has lived and worked on the continents of Africa, Asia, Europe and South America. As a teacher, she has presented workshops on Communication and Diversity to agencies worldwide. With a wealth of personal life experiences to draw from, every evening in front of the fireplace, she turns the outer world of adventures into reflective story/poems of the inner world. She writes for the Beloved, for her Grandchildren and for her soul. Let Dee show you how to experience this joy of creation!
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December 5-7: ADVENT PONDERINGS Friday 7:15 PM - Sunday 1:30 PM. A silent beginning to Advent may deepen your journey to Christmas. The opening session will involve prayer, relaxation and preparation for the retreat with some materials for possible use during the retreat. The retreat will close with group prayer and sharing. A spiritual director will be available, for those who wish, to listen with you as you discern the actions of God in your life.
Register by prior Friday - $130; with Spiritual Direction - $165. Maximum 10.
Therese Gonneville, OSB, is an experienced retreat leader and spiritual director.
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December 13: LAMENT AND PRAISE IN ADVENT Saturday, 9:15 AM - 3:00 PM.
"I am a woman deeply troubled...speaking out of my great anxiety..." --I Samuel 1:15, 16 
"My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my Savior..." --Luke 1:46
Mary’s (or our own) praise of God does not spring from our lives without deep roots in the longing, concerns, desires and distress of life. The Magnificat is a kind of elegant thank-you note that follows from earlier petition and lamentation, like those of Hannah in I Samuel, where she came before the Lord with bitter weeping. In this retreat we will explore and practice the prayer of deep faith which cries out to God in distress. This prayer of audacious honesty and hope (Advent) leads to the other prayer of great thanksgiving at Christmas.
Register by prior Friday - $50. Bring a sack lunch. Minimum 5.
Kathryn Rickert has recently completed doctoral studies in practical theology connecting the laments of the Old Testament with a widely recognized desire to convey both sorrow and joy in public Christian worship. She is Adjunct Faculty at the School of Theology and Ministry at Seattle University.
Lucy Wynkoop, OSB is co-facilitator of this retreat. Return to Schedule

2009

January 9-11: DISCERNING LIFE'S CHOICES FOR WOMEN Friday 7:15 PM - Sunday 1:30 PM. In silence and stillness within and without, take time to ponder and discern what God is asking of you in your life now or in future. The opening session will involve prayer, relaxation and preparation for the retreat with some materials for possible use. On Saturday there will be a presentation: QUESTIONS TO HELP ME IN MY DISCERNMENT and time for optional spiritual direction. The closing session on Sunday will have group sharing and a closing prayer/ritual.
Register by prior Friday - $130; with Spiritual Direction - $165. Minumum 4, Maximum 10.
Therese Gonneville, OSB, is an experienced retreat leader and spiritual director.
Monika Ellis, OSB, New Membership Director, will be available for individual conferences.
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January 10: DEEPENING THE ENNEAGRAM JOURNEY Saturday 9:15 AM - 4:00 PM. The Enneagram is a powerful psychodynamic tool for letting go of the barriers we cling to that bar our full acceptance of God’s abundant grace.  To engage the Enneagram beyond just knowing your type takes dedication to a contemplative point of view.  This intermediate class will focus on strengthening the inner observer, relaxing mental habits and attuning to the movement of grace for each of the nine types.  Knowing one's ennea-type in advance and time spent observing its effect  in everyday life is a necessary prerequisite for benefiting from this class.
Register by prior Friday - $60. Minumum 6, Maximum 24.
Debra Janison has studied the Enneagram for 18 years. She is certified to teach by Helen Palmer and David Daniels. She is a professional member of the Association of Enneagram Teachers in the Narrative Tradition and the International Enneagram Association. Her understanding of the dynamics of type has also been strongly influenced by the Diamond Heart work of A.H. Almaas.
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January 17-18: PILGRIMAGE OF THE SOUL: A RETREAT ABOUT SPIRITUAL FORMATION Saturday 9:00 AM - 9:00 PM and Sunday 9:00 AM - 3:00 PM. Finding one's authentic self has always been a journey with few guides and even fewer maps to chart the way. The irony is that since we are each unique, we are the only ones who will ever know this territory intimately. So with God's guidance, we become our own mapmakers for the spiritual journey. It is not an easy task! Recognizing this, we are offering this retreat to assist participants in charting their unique paths.
Register by prior Friday - $185; Commuter with meals - $145; plus Pilgrimage of the Soul, available at The Priory Store. Maximum 10.
Sally M. O’Neil, R.N., PhD is a counselor and spiritual director in private practice in Seattle. She is a clinical Professor in Family and Child Nursing at the University of Washington. She is the author of Spirit Called My Name.
Rev. Suzanne K. Seaton, MSW is ordained in the United Methodist Church. She is a spiritual director and a spiritual formation retreat leader.
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January 23: FOR CHURCH LEADERSHIP, LAY AND ORDAINED: MANIFESTING THE IMAGE OF GOD IN THE FACE OF CRITICISM AND COMPLAINT Friday 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM. In this day-long experiential workshop participants will use appreciative inquiry to discover the image of God that God created us to be, learn how to use criticism positively without being defensive or devastated, and create a robust self-image that is authentic, reflective, reliable, and responsive to others. Take a look at this website for more on Rob Voyle and Appreciative Inquiry.
Register by prior Friday - $75. Bring a sack lunch.
Robert J. Voyle, Director of the Clergy Leadership Institute, is an Episcopal priest, executive coach, licensed psychologist, and mechanical engineer. He is an international leader in the area of Appreciative Inquiry training for clergy, coaches, and church leaders.
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