Register Now for Christ Church's Spring Retreat: May 3-5, 2024

The Spiritual Life Commission of Christ Church has joyfully sponsored weekend Retreats at the beach for the last ten years, and they have been a source of great spiritual nourishment and community for us. This year, our Retreat leader will be Christ Church parishioner and Priest, Reverend Marcia Davenport, who will lead us in learning more about the meaning of our Spiritual Life Theme for the year, Be A Joyful Gift to Others from Romans 12:6-8 and 2 Corinthians 9:7. One of our important goals is to spend time together in a relaxed setting and get to know each other as we hope to deepen our connections as a family of faith.

These Parish Retreats are held from Friday evening to late morning on Sunday, and our schedule includes discussions on Friday evening, Saturday morning, and Saturday evening.  We often begin our discussions with morning prayer and end our evenings with Compline, and a service with Eucharist is held in the Chapel on Sunday morning. In between, we have a good deal of free time in Rehoboth - walks on the beach, visits to the local art museum, browsing in the town shops and bookstore, walking on the boardwalk and birdwatching on the nearby lake are all available for you to enjoy at your leisure.

The site is a beautiful beach home of the Dupont family, now owned by the Episcopal Diocese of Delaware. The house has 11 bedrooms, a large living room, a reading or computer room with wi-fi, a cozy library, a dining room with extensive windows overlooking a small lake, a commercial kitchen for the catering staff, a resident kitchen, an attached Chapel, a large deck, and a bonfire area. The house is located 3-4 blocks from the beach in a quiet residential area. For photos see their website -memorialhouse@delaware.church.

The house can accommodate up to 32 people (our group will be smaller). The minimum size group accepted is 15 people, so we need that many to host the event. Every room has its own bathroom, and rooms can accommodate 2-4 people. The cost is $340 per person, which includes 2 nights lodging and five catered meals (dinner on Friday, 3 meals on Saturday, and breakfast on Sunday). We are asking for a 50% deposit from each person attending by April 15th, with the remaining balance collected on arrival in Rehoboth. The checks can be made out to Christ Episcopal Church with a designation in the MEMO line for Rehoboth Retreat.

Please let Ellen Boudreau Hoke know by email if you're interested - sl@christchurchcolumbia.org - or stop and speak with her at church. She can also refer you to others who have attended in the past, so they can share their experiences.

We hope you'll consider attending this refreshing and restorative communal retreat.