More than 100 clergy from across the Diocese of Virginia gathered for three days at Shrine Mont, as a break from the administrative and emotional demands of ministry.
“Release us from all that pulls us away from you: our doubts, our fears, and our need to control noise, distraction, interruptions, and chaos; the need to be constantly doing instead of being,” the Rt. Rev’d E. Mark Stevenson prayed as the retreat opened.
“Fill us with all that draws us closer to you: stillness, prayer, time to reflect and connect with our companions on the journey, the simple wonder of knowing that you are here.”
Connecting Disorientation to Hope
The retreat’s theme, “The Journey Joy: Back from Emmaus,” was drawn from Luke 24:13–35. Clergy were urged to recognize the disorientation that can accompany ministry, especially Episcopal ministry that often features preaching to congregations who show little emotion.
Sometimes clergy, like the disciples on their way to Emmaus, miss seeing Jesus at their side.
“Y’all preaching to the silence,” noted the Rt. Rev’d Robert Wright, keynote speaker and Bishop of the Diocese of Atlanta. After accepting Rev’d Raphael Warnock’s invitation to preach at Ebenezer Baptist Church, Wright recalled, “It’s easy to be a Baptist pastor because they ain’t speaking to silence.”
Silence also can mask a lot.
“It is just never just clergy in a room,” said Wright, speaking at his 69th clergy retreat. “It’s a gathering of stories, it’s a gathering of hopes, it’s a gathering of hurts.”
“There are cares in this room, there are burdens in this room, there are fears in this room, there’s courage in this room, there’s encouragement in this room, there’s persistence, there’s anxiety, there’s joy, there’s quiet faithfulness in this room. There’s intellectual heft in this room… that most people don’t ever really get to fully see.
“I see you’re the ones who stand in bedsides and altars, food pantries, and myriad other places. You don’t do it for the pay. You sit with the marrying and the burying, and those who are seeking God in their lives and those who are celebrating God in their lives,” Wright said.
Time for Rest and Recharging
By acknowledging challenges, clergy can more easily move to renewal and effectiveness—a place of resurrection joy heralded by Wright with his opening Easter acclamation, “Christ is risen. Christ is risen.”
He also urged them to use their time at the retreat to step back from administrative distractions and focus on their “unique end value.” By standing on purpose, clergy can avoid distractions and reconnect with the hope of the resurrection.
“I want everyone to bring into this what you have and can and choose to bring, and I want you to take away from here what you need,” Stevenson said. “You have an experience of God in this place. You have an experience of God with each other. You have an experience of God and the wonderful creation around us in this place, and an experience of God in your own prayer life.
“So, if that means that you want to get up in this room right now and go back to your room and sleep for the next 48 hours, OK, that’s fine. Whatever you need.”
“Well planned, great presenter and topic!” said the Rt. Rev’d Gayle E. Harris, Assistant Bishop of Virginia.
“Refreshing,” said the Rev’d Jessica Holthus of St. Anne’s Reston. “Exactly the renewal my spirit needed in this season.”
“Being new to the Diocese of VA, I had hoped to make new friends,” said Nanette Woodworth, priest-in-charge at St. John’s Tappahannock. “I had hoped the sessions with Bishop Wright would be informative and enjoyable. I hoped to have good conversations over good food. I had hoped to have time for reflection and to enjoy the setting. I was not disappointed!”
“As we move out of this time of retreat,” Stevenson prayed, “help us to carry this peace with us on the journey.”