Journey of the Heart

An Invitation to Spiritual Development
August 12-14, 2005
Retreat House

ROLLING RIDGE STUDY RETREAT CENTER has designed a weekend opportunity for spiritual growth in an experience of contemplative community.

WHO IS IT FOR? It is for anyone who wishes to explore their own spiritual development.

WHAT WILL TAKE PLACE? The schedule provides for:

  • short talks on different forms of prayer followed by guided practice
  • time for rest, meditation, personal reflection, hikes along a mountain stream or through a secluded wooded path
  • periods of silence
  • daily Taize worship
  • conversations with other retreat participants
  • opportunities for an individual meeting with a spiritual director
  • delicious home cooked meals from the Rolling Ridge garden

WHAT SUBJECTS WILL BE ADDRESSED? The weekend presents various forms of personal prayer and spiritual disciplines, including:

  • spiritual companionship
  • writing as a way of prayer
  • praying with nature
  • praying with silence
  • praying with scripture
  • corporate prayer and worship

WHO WILL BE LEADING THE RETREAT? A retreat team has been meeting for over a year to plan this event:

  • Donald Krickbaum, Episcopal priest, retired Dean of Trinity Cathedral, Miami, Florida, spiritual director and formation teacher, program leader at Shalem, an ecumenical Christian teaching community dedicated to the support of contemplative living and leadership
  • Ethel Hornbeck, retreat leader, graduate of Shalem Spiritual Guidance Program, spiritual director, parish assistant for spiritual formation at Shepherdstown Presbyterian Church
  • Donna Acquaviva, graduate of Shalem Spiritual Guidance Program, spiritual director, hospice chaplain, secular Franciscan, journalist, writing instructor at Shepherd University
  • Susan Burke, graduate of Shalem Spiritual Guidance Program, spiritual director, secular Franciscan,hospital chaplain, retreat leader, book and journal editor
  • Rolling Ridge Study Retreat Community staff, including Vivian Headings, Rachelle Lyndaker Schlabach, and Bob Sabath

WHEN DOES THIS TAKE PLACE?

  • Begins Friday, August 12, 2005, with registration at 5:30 pm, dinner at 6:30 pm
  • Concludes Sunday, August 14, 2005, with lunch at 12:30 pm

WHAT ARE THE ACCOMMODATIONS AND COST

  • Retreat cost is $75, and includes lodging for two nights at Rolling Ridge Retreat Center and six meals.
  • Rolling Ridge provides volunteer staff and is grateful that the retreat leaders are providing volunteer facilitation.
  • Some limited scholarships are available.
  • Directions: http://www.rollingridge.net/index.cfm?action=about_us.directions

HOW DO I REGISTER?

We only have room for 20 participants. Reserve your space by sending $25 to the address listed below. Make checks out to Rolling Ridge Study Retreat Community. Let us know if you have special dietary or lodging requirements. For more information, contact Bob Sabath at 304-724-6653 or community@rollingridge.net

IS THIS FOR YOU?

Contrary to popular belief, spirituality is not something special or extraordinary. It is instead absolutely ordinary and completely natural. Everyone has a spiritual life. We express it in many different ways -- not only in places of worship but also in work, community and family, in all our creativity and commitments. This desire for the Holy in our lives is our willingness to be drawn to God through whatever is before us and to let God co-create every moment -- to let God "in" on everything -- to listen for and trust God's presence.

Annual Music Festival

Saturday, July 2, 2005
10:30 am - 4 pm
Retreat House

Featuring Local Artists

Terry Tucker of TreeHouse
Terry will wow us with her autoharp and lots of folk classics.

Keith Lyndaker Schlabach of Jeremiahs Run
Rolling Ridge's own will perform original roots music.

AS WELL AS:

OPEN MICS
Bring along your original or favorite songs or poems to share.

FOOD
Lunch is provided in community staff homes (with music too!)

COMMUNITY SING-A-LONG
End the day singing with your friends, old and new.

Festival Schedule

All events located at Retreat House unless otherwise noted.
10:30 am Welcome Information and Opening remarks
11:00 am Main Stage Featured Artist and Open Mike
12:00 pm Lunch At Staff Community Homes
(Music provided)
1:30 pm Main stage Featured Artist and Open Mike
3:00 pm Sing-A-Long Community Jam

Bring your favorite snacks. No alcoholic beverages please.
Limited lodging and camping available.
Contact Vivian at 304-725-4172

For more information, contact Keith
at 304-725-4301 or keith@peacegrooves.com.
Please RSVP if you will be joining us for lunch.

Nurturing Marriage Retreat with Jackie Sabath

June 10-12, 2005
Retreat House

Appalachian Trail Hike

With Jim Hall and Rolling Ridge Staff Community
Saturday, May 21, 2005
9 am - 5 pm
Keys Gap

The Appalachian Trail south of Harpers Ferry was the first section of the trail to be established south of New England. On this full-day hike we will begin at Keyes Gap (where Route 9 crosses the Blue Ridge) and finish at Rolling Ridge Study Retreat (total walking distance 12 miles).

Along the way we will take time to enjoy the views and the beauty of the spring wildflowers, azalias, and mountain laurel. We will search for nesting birds and other wildlife and listen to the stories of the ancient rock. Much of the trail is over rocky terrain and there are several short, but steep ascents; the last two miles is all downhill from the Ridge to Study Retreat, where a hearty dinner will await our arrival.

Jim Hall is an amateur naturalist and ecologist at the Dayspring Retreat Center near Washington and is a Rolling Ridge Study Retreat Board member. Contact Bob Sabath (304-724-6653) to confirm coming (we don't want to leave without you), and for last minute changes due to weather conditions.

For Our Children to Know the Earth

An ecological integrity retreat for parents, grandparents, teachers, mentors, and the children they love
April 29 - April 30, 2005
Friday Night 7 pm - Saturday Night 7 pm
Retreat House

We live in a time when our children have less and less direct experience with the living earth. But for most of our evolution as a species, our children grew up with their hands in the clay earth, their ears filled with the sound of wind and storm, their eyes filled with the movement of clouds, sun and moon.

If our children today grow up with less and less direct experience of God's creation, what will they know of God?

This 24 hour retreat is designed especially for pairs of one adult and one child (ages 6-12)

This retreat will include:

  • A campfire time of stories and songs celebrating the living earth
  • Star gazing in the open field
  • Time for adults to reflect together on selected readings on this theme
  • Time for children to explore the land as a small group
  • Time for each adult/child pair to choose their own experience/adventure in the forest, streams, or ponds
  • A reading nook for nature books, stories, field guides etc.

Lodging will be at the Retreat House and Pinestone House. There is an option to camp, if you would like. The leaders are Jim Hall, Cheryl Hellner, and Vivan Headings.

The cost of the retreat is $50.00 for adult and child together ($30.00 if tenting).

If you would like to stay over Saturday night (optional), there is an additional $10 charge.

Contact Vivian Headings at 304.725.4172 for more information

Holy Week Quiet Days

Good Friday Service, and Easter Vigil
March 21-27, 2005
Retreat House

Monday through Friday
Daily meditations and prayers at 9:00 am and 4:00 pm

Good Friday
5:00 pm -- Sharing soup and bread together
6:00 pm -- Praying the Stations of the Cross
followed by a Service of Darkness
and entering into the Easter Vigil

Holy Saturday
Observing the Easter Vigil,
concluding with a Service of Light at 8:00 pm

You are warmly invited to participate in any or all of these events.

The Easter Vigil is traditionally observed from Good Friday evening until the evening of Holy Saturday. During this time, we will observe a 24-hour prayer vigil in the Meditation Shelter. Please consider whether you would like to participate in this vigil for one or more hours, between 8:00 pm on Friday, March 25 and 8:00 pm, Saturday, March 26. If you are unable to be physically present with us at Rolling Ridge, you are still welcome to participate by "keeping watch" during this time. If you do so, please let us know which hour(s) of the day you have set aside for prayer.

There is no registration fee for any of the week's activities. A simple soup and bread meal will be served Friday evening. No meals will be provided the rest of the week, but you are welcome to bring your own provisions. All events will take place at the Retreat House. The Retreat House will be available for retreatants who would like to stay overnight one or more nights during the week.

Please let us know if you will be participating by contacting us at community@rollingridge.net or by calling 304-725-4301.

A Winter Day Away

February 5, 2005
10:00 am-6:00 pm
Retreat House

Come away to Rolling Ridge
for a day of winter retreat, solitude and silence

Jesus said to them,
"Come away to a deserted place and rest a while."
Mark 6:31

In this winter season, when nature lies dormant, you are invited to Rolling Ridge Study Retreat Community for a day of Sabbath rest and reflection.

We will begin the morning with brunch at the Retreat House and a reflection on the soul nurture of solitude and silence in the Christian journey. The rest of the day will be available for participants to be with God and self in solitude and silence--inside the Retreat House and/or outdoor in the winter woods. A meeting with a spiritual director may be arranged, if desired. The day will conclude with shared conversation over supper.

Overnight stays at the Retreat House on Friday and/or Saturday evening are optional and can be arranged upon request.

Retreat fee for the day is $25. Scholarships are available. Optional overnight stay is $10 per night. To register or for more information, contact Rachelle Lyndaker Schlabach at 304-725-4301 or rachelleas@juno.com.

International Christmas

Wednesday, December 22 - Wednesday, December 29, 2004
Retreat House

Rolling Ridge will host international students at Rolling Ridge for the Christmas week. If you are interested in learning more about this event, contact Vivian Headings at vvatrr@juno.com

In the Wildernees

An Advent Retreat
December 3-4, 2004
Friday Evening - Saturday Evening
Retreat House

Writer's Refuge

Come away to the wilderness for 24 hours this Advent season. Walk the winter woods, spend time in prayer, and prepare to be transformed, perhaps in surprising ways.

There will also be an opportunity, for those who wish, to use their imagination in creative endeavors.

The cost of the retreat, including lodging and four meals, is $35 per person. To register, make checks payable to RRSRC and send to the address below. Let us know if you have special dietary needs. For more information, contact Rachelle Lyndaker Schlabach at 304-725-4301 or rachelle@juno.com.

2004 Annual Meeting

Saturday, November 13, 2004
Retreat House

Featuring
Housewarming and Blessing
of the Recently Renovated Historic Homestead
and a Concert of Recorder Music
by the Bath Recorder Trio of Berkeley Springs

You are invited to participate in any or all of the events of the day. Join us for a time of friendship, of remembering, of celebration, and for sharing with each other our visions, hopes, and prayers. As always, good food and fellowship will be an important ingredient of our time together. Noon and evening meals will be provided.
 

Annual Meeting Schedule
9:30 am

Saturday morning will begin with fellowship over coffee at the Retreat House followed by:

  • opening worship,
  • reports from partner groups, the Pinestone management group and the RR staff-community on retreat activities
  • reports from the Rolling Ridge board on financial needs, land/facility uses, and emerging issues,
  • election of board members, and
  • Q & A discussion on long range matters including the development of buffer lands to insure Rolling Ridge's long-term survival and protection from urban development.
Noon

Lunch at the Retreat House followed by Homestead Housewarming and Storytelling:

Homestead is the only original residence still being lived in at Rolling Ridge and represents our connection to the former residents and history of the land. Its renovation has been made possible by the hard work and generosity of the friends and extended community of Rolling Ridge.

1:30 pm Open House at Homestead begins
2:00 pm Blessing of Homestead
3:00 pm Stories of Homestead (Retreat House)
4:00 pm

Concert by the Bath Recorder Trio of Berkley Springs, WV (Retreat House)

Ann Bilezikian, Samantha Redston, and Ann Weatherholt will present a variety of musical compositions ranging from Medieval to Baroque and more.
5:30 pm Dinner
 
Rolling Ridge Homestead Phone: 304.725.4301
Study Retreat Community E-mail: community@rollingridge.net
RR 4 Box 314 Directions: www.rollingridge.net
Harpers Ferry, WV 25425

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