Soul Care Retreat - Hamilton

Each year our youth leaders and myself take a weekend around February to recharge and reconnect. 

In the past we have attended SoulCare retreats in which other youth leaders gather together at a retreat centre and care for our souls.  

Last year there was no SoulCare retreat so we  traveled to Al and Wilma's cottage for a weekend of relaxation. 

This year the Ontario Youth Ministry Team, of which I am Chair, were able to put together another SouldCare weekend.  

It was held in Ancaster at the Mount Mary Retreat Centre.  

I have been in Ancaster many times, and probably drove past this place without even knowing it was there.  

Heather, Jeannine, Kevin, Mel and myself attended this year.  

The drive up was very rainy to start with, and then things got very windy, but we arrived by 5:30 pm, went out for dinner and then made our way to the Centre. 

As you can see from this room the Centre is simple, yet very clean.   

Hilma welcomed our 40 participants for the weekend.  

The slowly trickled in.  

We gathered around comfortable rocking chairs and awaited the 8 pm start time.  

Hey there Danny boy.  
Glad you could make it.  

We began our time together simply introducing ourselves. 
Who we were, where we were from, and what we do in youth ministry.  

Hilma, Syd, and myself planned this weekend, but Hilma acted as our M.C.  

Worship singing was led by Derrick. 
I didn't get his name right at first. 
Sorry about that Derrick (for all I know I may not be spelling his name right either.  ) : ) 

Time to stand up and sing.  

Four different speakers would be imparting wisdom to us over this weekend.  The first was Dr. John B.  He shared with us how we are being formed by Scripture. A very interesting time. 

Heather is going over the questions posed by our speaker.  

Dan taking a picture of me taking a picture.  

Time for some small group discussions based on the topic.  

The nice thing about a retreat like this is that people get to connect/reconnect with fellow youth workers, whether paid or volunteer.  Always a good thing.  

Little did I know but Maria just became a youth leader this year.  She and her husband used to be part of Calvin CRC as he studied to be a Doctor.  
Neat to see her again, AND to know she is involved in youth ministry now.  

After a fairly good night's sleep (the rooms were VERY hot) we walked to our cafeteria room. 
Here's Dan sauntering towards us.  

The buildings are old. 
They remind me of old hospital corridors.  : )  

The food was simple but delicious.  

Here's where we ate each meal.  

I'm awake....barely.  

Mel and Dan.  Neither were too talkative.  : ) 

Kevin, Heather, Jeannine, and Mel were able to make it this time.  Ken and Janine were not.  Dan is just a Calvin wanna be.  : ) 

Jeannine wanted a better picture of her at breakfast. 
Here it is.  

Careful instructions for us.  : ) 

A sample of the rooms.  
Simple, yet comfortable.  

After breakfast we gathered back into our meeting room for our morning session.  

The rocking chairs were a real hit.  

Jeannine...what are you doing?  

I think Kevin has the camera here.  
I don't remember taking all these pictures.  

Getting more annoyed with Kevin I see? : ) 

Sorry Jeannine. 
I'm not responsible.  

Heather was happy at least.  

I guess Kevin wanted to get my profile picture...

....and then I noticed him doing this....

....and then I reacted....

....and then I over reacted. : ) 

You still awake Heather?  

Derrick getting ready for the morning worship time.  

Everyone getting comfortable.  

Maybe a bit too comfortable.  : ) 

Time to Sing.  

Time for Dan to get his seat. 

Time for us to stand up again.  

This morning's session was lead by Prof. Brenda. 
She talked about knowing and sharing our stories. 
The time went so fast with her.  
Once again we were reminded that we each have unique stories to tell.  
Our past also shapes our stories. 
Our stories are important but we can also get stuck in our stories.  
We may have multiple  and complex stories too.  
We all really enjoyed this morning session time.  

Some time for relaxing before lunch.  

Maria with her fellow church youth leaders.  
They seem like a great group of people.  

Time for Lunch.  

Elizabeth came along for the ride, as she lives near Brockville.  

Here's where we placed our dishes when done our meal. 

After our meal there was free time. 
Kevin decided to shave, using a straight razor. 
I never knew he shaved this way. 
You learn something new every day. 
He's sharpening his razor using the bottom of his moccasin.  
Interesting.  

Here's Kevin shaving. 
Sorry bud, but it's so fascinating.  : ) 

For free time people could walk, go skating, shopping, or play games.  Some visited friends and family who happen to be living nearby.  
I took a nap.  

Waiting for dinner to be served.  

Trying to sit against the wall.  

Leave it to a bunch of youth leaders to make a simple wait become much more fun.  

Hey, meeting a new person. 
Way to go Calvin leaders.  

After dinner it was time for our evening session.  
Before that, though, this group of ladies decided to take out their crocheting and/or knitting. 
Interesting.  

I met some new people too.  

We opened again with singing.  

Stand Up!

Our evening speaker was Matt.  
He talked on  Prayer Shaped Ministry.  A great talk on prayer and other disciplines.  He was quite funny too.  

After our evening session a bunch of us gathered together to talk about youth ministry. 
What are the trends, what's working in our groups, what's not. 
It was a very good time of networking for those who participated.  

Others relaxed and played more games.  

Kevin and my room.  
Dan was also in our room for the Friday night, but he snored, so he moved. 
Apparently I snored on the Saturday night.  Sorry Kevin.  

Breakfast on Sunday morning. 
Jeannine seems chipper.  

A time to be serious...

A time to not be so serious. 
Heather became ill over night. 
Not a nice thing.  She was unable to make it to breakfast. 

As we all know, the whole country was anticipating the gold medal hockey game.  
This group was no exception. 
Hilma was able to secure a TV in the building and a small group gathered to watch before breakfast.  

I snapped this picture as Canada scored it's second goal.  

Back to the real world.  
The game over, Canada wins, and we gather for our final session.  Church.  

Syd led us in our service.  He spoke on Surrendering to the Spirit through Spiritual Disciplines.   We ended our time with communion.  

More singing. 
Thanks Derrick for sharing your gifts with us. 

After the service it was time for lunch.  Some stayed, others left early.  
Here's Dan leaving the entrance/exit way to the Centre.  

Here's the road that I've driven on many a time while visiting Joycegina's family in Hamilton.  Who knew there was an oasis within the city limits.  

So ends another Soul Care Retreat.