Enrollment exceeds expectations for Cologne!

Message from Matt Gilsenan, Co-chair of the Fall 2018 retreat committee.

In the first draft of this update, I wrote that we had bookings for 93% of the 136 beds which Tony Zamparutti and I reserved when we visited the site last year as Co-chairs. Now I must update the text because we just topped 100%. All of our pre-reserved beds are sold.

Nevertheless, if you still want to join us at this newly renovated and modern retreat center on the Rhine, to enjoy a weekend of fellowship and contemplation on one of the most important topics of today, there is still time and space. Chris Hudson is joining us from Belfast, to lead the theme talk on “Building Peace, Building Trust.” In my conversations with Reverend Hudson, it became clear that building the kind of trust that brings about and sustains peace is a perpetual process. It is not simply a goal we attain and walk away from and claim success, but an ongoing way of being and doing. Supporting this theme, members of our talented community have proposed leading a number of interesting workshops, which we will be announcing in the coming weeks. And RE is already at work planning for 27 children and teens in four age groups.

The retreat venue has much more lodging capacity than our group needs; our only limit is the size of the hall and the meeting rooms. Therefore, we can secure more beds, as the momentum continues. If you want to join us, you can still reserve a space by registering with the link on this page. The deadline for reservation and payment is September 30; reserving sooner helps us in our planning. A big THANK YOU to our registrars Emilie Jarrett and Les Andrews, as well our IT guru Ray Goff and Treasurer Tom Sievers, who have volunteered many hours of their time to get us all on board for this promising event.

All signs are for a successful weekend starting November 2nd. I hope to see you there!

In Fellowship,

Matt