On January 22 and 23, fifteen youth and eight adults from around New Hampshire gathered at Camp Sentinel, in Center Tuftonboro, NH, for a retreat exploring the theme of “Walking the Walk” – how we live out our faith. It was a terrific group! We had eighteen kids registered, but a few couldn’t come at the last minute. Turns out our gathering was just the right size, and just the right people!
I was part of the planning team for this event last fall, before my maternity leave, so baby Iona and I went along. Here are some photos to tell the story of our 24 hours together.
After we gathered and ate dinner on Friday, the Rev. Kurt Wiesner (All Saints’, Littleton) showed us an episode of the Simpsons, and then a U2 video, and led us in a conversation about the religious content of each. It was fascinating – the youth really enjoyed that session! We talked about it in small groups for a while, then gathered again to learn about the history, meaning, and practice of labyrinths from Lucy Crichton (of St. Andrew’s, Hopkinton!).
After that, we left the cozy lounge and walked the paths cleared through the snow – under astonishingly bright stars – down to the chapel, a big A-frame building and the perfect space for walking a labyrinth. Lucy had set up her labyrinth here, and each of us had a chance to walk it – another wonderful experience. The chapel isn’t heated, but the camp staff built us a big fire to keep the chill off!
When we returned from the labyrinth, we had some evening playtime for board games, art, and a little worship planning. The camp staff made us chocolate “lava cakes” with ice cream, whipped cream, and chocolate syrup at 10pm – wow!
Some of us had one lava cake… some had two… some had more.
We ended the evening with a simple Compline, then headed to bed. After a good night’s sleep, we had pancakes and bacon for breakfast. The Rev. Grace Burson (Grace Church, Manchester) brought her two-year-old son, and his toys were popular with the big kids!
In the morning, Grace and I (that’s the Rev. Miranda Hassett, of St. Andrew’s, Hopkinton) led a conversation on how to live out our faith in light of all the troubling issues in today’s world – the damage to Creation and the difficult circumstances in which many of our brothers and sisters live, around the globe.
Grace quoting chapter and verse to us, with her son on her hip!
After our small group conversations, we had some free time for outdoor play. The weather was PERFECT – sunny, clear, and just below freezing. There was much snow play….
And a snowball fight, which was very positively rated on our feedback forms. We’ll make sure to include one in next year’s program.
Jim Sims, of St. Andrew’s, New London, was our Music Guy for the weekend. He provided gentle background music for the labyrinth time, led us in many songs, and shared some songs of his own that fit our conversations. We were blessed by his presence and his gifts!
Lunch on Saturday. We were blessed, too, by the hospitality of the team at Sentinel Lodge. We couldn’t have had kinder hosts, and they fed us very well!
After lunch, we talked together about vocation – the idea that each of us is called by God into particular tasks and paths in life. Several of the adults – Kellie (Denoncourt, youth leader at St. Paul’s, Concord), Jim, Lucy, Grace – spoke about how their life paths have led them to what they’re doing now, and how God has been part of those journeys. After that, we spent some time in silence – drawing, journaling, listening to music – to invite God to speak into our hearts.
One thing several folks worked on during the silence was our cross. Over the course of our time together, everyone had a chance to decorate one or two of the spaces on this big wooden cross, to commemorate our time together by creating something beautiful.
When all the spaces were filled, we took off the tape separating them, to reveal the finished cross.
I have no idea what the joke was here, but it was just one of many moments of silliness and fellowship!
At last, time for the closing Eucharist. The Rev. Susan Langle (Trinity, Claremont) led us in worship, and Jim led us in song. I offered a participatory homily – looking at the list of roles in the church that Paul offers in our reading from 1 Corinthians 12, what other roles would we like to add? Who else does the church need, besides teachers, leaders, healers, etc.? Many answers were voiced – a few I remember: Children. Elders. Artists. Musicians. People with questions. Organizers. Listeners. …. Each of us; all of us.
Sharing Communion, around the circle…
After the Eucharist, we piled our belongings into various cars, said goodbye to Camp Sentinel, and headed home through a beautiful winter afternoon.
Thanks so much to everyone who supported this event. After such a successful time together this year, we’re looking forward to gathering a bigger group next year for an even better time!
Thank you so much for these images and the way you wove them.
Lovely and powerful and so very hopeful.
Oh, sounds like the closing worship was fantastic! So bummed to have missed it. But in a way, what I left early to do was in keeping with the theme of the weekend … a lovely memorial service for a woman who was 99 years old and who “walked the walk” throughout her life of love, laughter, generosity and faith.
I will definitely be passing this on! And can’t wait for next year!
I really enjoyed being there with everyone, and I wish I could have stayed for the entire time! It was a great group of people, and I cannot wait to discover what happens next in our shared ministry together!
I went to see a Doctor the other day and when I was ready to leave he asked me if there was anything else that I needed. As I often do with others, I asked him to tell me the meaning of Life. He laughed and I laughed and then he said, “Give me a minute.” He paused thoughtfully and looked at the floor. Then he looked up at me and said, “Growing closer to God.” That struck me as a pretty good answer to an impossible question. One of important blessings in my life has been gathering with people of a wide range of ages and drawing near to one another to contemplate and celebrate the presence of God in our lives – one of the best ways I know of growing closer to The Divine. I met some fine peeps and made some good friends. There was laughter and kindness and prayer and celebration and Holiness in a Holy place. Cool. Let’s do it again soon!
Miranda, I really appreciate your sharing of this experience. It looks like a lovely time, and I am really glad that some parishioners from St. Andrew’s were able to participate. Marti