The Beecken Center of the School of Theology is partnering with Listening Hearts Ministries to offer an intensive, four-day retreat to train participants in the art of facilitating and mentoring spiritual discernment groups using the Listening Hearts approach. Held at the DuBose Conference Center, the retreat will include communal meditation activities; workshops that teach the practical aspects of teaching spiritual discernment; and a series of discernment sessions, each of which is followed by a reflective review to gain insight into the elements that bring forth fruitful discernment.

This Listening Hearts retreat can count as Alternate Mentor Training for Education for Ministry (EfM) mentors. Requirements for Alternate Mentor Training include having completed two Foundations Trainings, being “Formation ready,” not having completed another Alternate Training within the last three trainings, and not needing to go back to Foundations after three Formations. Contact Elsa Bakkum, EfM Associate Director for Training, at esbakkum@sewanee.edu for Alternate Training credit.

The program has an “at home” component: for five weeks prior to the retreat (the weeks of Jan. 28; Feb. 5, 12, 19, & 26), participants will engage in short readings, creative meditation exercises, and online sharing of reflections. The assignments will require an average of two hours of work a week, which can usually be broken into several chunks, and include online sharing with a mentor and other members of the group.

• Tuition: $750
• Lodging not included. Lodging reservations may be made directly with the DuBose Conference Center using this form.
• CEUs are available.
• Registration closes Thurs. Jan. 11.
• The workshop begins with an informal opening Eucharist at 5:00 p.m., CST, on Tuesday, March 6, and ends at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, March 10.
• Register here >>

This retreat is geared to spiritually mature leaders of all ages who are committed to the principles set forth in Listening Hearts, and affords each participant the opportunity to enter into discernment in relation to his or her own life while also learning to train and mentor discernment groups. Participants will work in small groups, each with its own mentor. Silence, song, imaginative engagement with Scripture, creative meditation activities, and contemplative sharing of reflections combine to draw each group into the flow of the Spirit.

Don’t miss this wonderful opportunity!