Come and encounter God and His unprecedented dreams for your life surrounded by nature and intentional time away in solitude.
This is a 3-day experience that provides a Holy Spirit tailored setting for a small but powerful group of like-minded women to encounter the presence of God. This will be a beautiful time of building genuine relationship and greater intimacy with God, self, and others.
ROCIO VALLEJO
Identity & Purpose Coach | Writer | Storyteller
“May the heavens split, earth tremble, & sea roar
to welcome the truest parts of you that ever lived.”
· Professor Emeritus MSU, Dr. Richard Leep, will lead a class on inoculating gourmet mushrooms on logs. Rich has several years of experience cultivating and marketing mushrooms. Rich will instruct on basic inoculation methods for backyard logs and for more extensive production.
Included with registration:
A Hermitage prayer of thanksgiving for mushrooms.
Instruction on types of mushrooms, log selection for species, etc.
Participants will practice inoculating with the dowel and sawdust methods.
2 logs for each participant to bring home—your choice of two mushroom strains from the class—one shiitake and one oyster (60+USD value based on Field & Forest prices for inoculated logs).
Additional logs available for 20USD each, various species, and strains.
On Saturday, March 4, 2023, the Hermitage invites you to participate in a Lenten retreat of Lament. We will work in small groups to write communal laments, and we will write individual, personal laments as well. Time will be given to bear witness to both small group and individual lament as participants are willing.
Lamentation, or Lament, is a God-given and biblical way to respond to and process grief and loss. When we lament, we give voice to the sacred stories of our lives and our world as they are disrupted, and as we strive to find meaning and resolve.
Psalm 102: 1-2
“A Prayer of the Afflicted when he is faint and pours out his complaint before the Lord. Hear my prayer, O Lord! And let my cry for help come to You. Do not hide Your face from me in the day of my distress; Incline Your ear to me; In the day when I call answer me quickly.”
Join us by emailing contact@hermitagecommunity.org to reserve your seat
An Exploration of the Incarnation With Gerard Manley Hopkins
Date: December 3, 2022
Time: 9 am – 3 pm
Place: The Hermitage Community, Three Rivers, MI
Presenter: Naomi Wenger
Suggested Donation: $75 (lunch included)
“…Christ plays in ten thousand places, Lovely in limbs, and lovely in eyes not his To the Father through the features of men’s faces.”
These words from the closing of Gerard Manley Hopkin’s untitled sonnet, form a framework for an Advent Quiet Day reflection on Being, Doing, Incarnation and Divinization. Join with Naomi in a day-long meditation on one of Hopkin’s most beloved poems. As we prepare for the darkening days of Advent and the remembrance of the incarnate birth of the son of God, we take a few hours to remember that we participate in this great movement of God earthward by approaching the fullness of “our life … hidden in Christ with God” (Colossians 3:3).
To register, email contact@hermitagecommunity.org or call 269-244-8696 before November 26.
In late August 1999 June and I moved into Nazareth, the double-wide mobile home on Hermitage property. This began a 3-month season of transition for us, and a 23-year loving relationship with The Hermitage. For most of those years we continued our relationship by coming on retreats, lots of volunteering, and my serving on the board for several years. In August 2018 we moved here again to join the staff. These past 23 years have been incredibly rich and rewarding. And June and I once again have entered time of transition as we’ve heard the call to move closer to my folks in Southern Manitoba.
Kevin and June in the fall of 1999
In conversation with my spiritual direction trainer, a few months before starting here, the image of the inn-keeper in the parable of the Good Samaritan emerged as an identity shaping image for me. I saw him as offering hospitality to all who Christ brough to his door. A copy of the Rembrandt painting of the Samaritan dropping off the injured man at the inn has hung on the wall above my office phone during my time here. I am so grateful for a place to continually discover what this image and identity means for me. Bearing witness to the presence of Christ through our guests whether that be in silence or heartfelt conversation has been the greatest gift the Hermitage has offered me. These encounters have only strengthened my desire to share God’s hospitality and God’s rest. I look forward to discovering how this identity will find expression in our new home.
These years as director have been very rich, and very challenging. Attempting to lead the Hermitage through the season of Covid was a challenge I never could have imagined. The endless needs of our aging facilities included replacing one geothermal unit in the cold of winter, and then the other geothermal wasn’t heating properly and took many months to fully repair. Earlier this year a range, dryer, and microwave stopped working and needed to be replaced within two months. And I continue to keep an eye on the Hanby Center roof which we’ve put off replacing for a couple years. The list could go on.
Throughout my 23 years with The Hermitage, I’ve been overwhelmed by the support shown to the Hermitage. I’ve learned that it is the very presence of guests that most sustains this place. The presence of guests and staff turn this lovely spot in the woods into a place of encounter with God. I am deeply grateful for those who help share in the day-to-day work of the Hermitage, whether that be for an afternoon, or for many years. I am also continually grateful for those who have financially supported the Hermitage over its 37 years. For many years I was one of you and was always grateful to hear about the work happening here and showing my support through time, treasure and talent.
Transitions can be hard on people, and on an organization. There will be rough spots and times of uncertainty for the Biermas as they assume leadership. I can say with complete confidence, however, that the support of the broader Hermitage community will continue and will sustain them and this place for many years to come. I invite you to support the Hermitage through this transition to continue providing a way and a place to pray for 37 more years. No gift is too small.
This year’s Feast of the Transition will focus on celebrating the work of Kevin and June these past four years, the arrival of the Bierma family assuming leadership for the Hermitage, the work of the Wengers on the new staff residence, and the work of staff and volunteer Ursula and Casey.
Come hear stories of how the Hermitage has shaped these people.
There will also be a blessing of the land, an outdoor lunch, and lots of opportunity for conversation and fellowship.
Read the Rumi poem The Guest House. Which words or ideas strike home for you? Why might that be?
What parts of you are like the characters in the parable of the good Samaritan – the arrogant priest, or the ashamed Levite, the over accomplishing Samaritan, or the wounded traveler?
Which of these parts of yourself are the hardest for you to welcome? What might welcome for that one look like for you?
Spend time conversation/meditation on one or two of the four guests from the parable. What does welcome look like for this person? What of Christ do you see in this person? Do you know a person like this that you’ve tried to welcome?
How is your welcome facing out, or evident to others? Into what do you welcome others? What are the characters/parameters of your welcome?
