Looking forward to meaningful discussions.

What to do when you don’t know what to do? Lean on God so you can move forward. Fear stops us every day from moving forward and pursuing the things that God has in store for us. Oftentimes we feel conflicted about our decision, and our first inclination is to hide, procrastinate or remain in our indicative state. Do we tend to worry and get agitated and frustrated easily in response to an unfair situation? We may question God and downright blame God for not intervening, but sometimes this energy just needs to be turned into trusting God. Trusting completely for all the whys and whats. 

“The image of the Spirit as the very breath of God is a powerful one."

We all know what it's like to be either short of breath or out of breath.The choices we make often close us off to God's breath of life. Breathing is not just about the inhaling -- it's about exhaling, too. They are equally important. But in spiritual life, most of us are good at one or the other. 

Some of us are good at inhaling the Spirit. We find ways of opening ourselves up to God's action, through prayer and devotions, through contemplation and reflection through studying God's Word. But our difficulty is in the exhaling. Once we receive God's Spirit we hang on to it. We cling to it, afraid to let it go, afraid to share it. It's as if we think there is not enough to go around.  

Others of us are great exhalers. We go, go, do, do -- all with the right motivation.  But we never go back to the well. We never take the time to be sure we have the necessary tools -- energy, perseverance, focus, compassion -- to complete the task. We forget to make sure that we are being fed, that we indeed are inhaling the Spirit of God, so that we don't run dry. 

Article: Take Time To Breathe In the Holy Spirit by Most Rev. Gries

The Emperor needed a new Groove, Stella needed to get her groove back. After two + years of lockdowns and protocols; mandates and debates; struggles for the Common Good pitted against that of the individual good; and seemingly endless losses–of life, trust, jobs, and life as we knew it–we can relate. Though we have not, and never will return to normal, we are increasingly returning to the office, to relationships in 3D, to camp (yay!!), just as we are always returning to God and our sense of self to varying degrees. Returns like this are understandably bumpy. This year, we’d like to explore what Finding Your Groove might look like. Deee-Lite taught us a great starting point for this exploration when they declared “Groove is in the heart!” Taking their lead, we’ll start by discerning–listening to that still, quiet voice of God calling us to the groove in our hearts. 

This bench, the beauty of this place,

and the enduring love of the CFC community honor

Gary Lee Schell

“Let your soul and spirit fly into the mystic.” -Van Morrison

Global pandemics are hard. An understatement for sure. Our economy is crashing, unemployment is skyrocketing, and of course most painful of all, the staggering number of lives lost is a source of deep grief. And yet. . .God’s creation, our home is breathing deeply once more. Rivers are clearing, mountains more visible, animals returning to places long evacuated. The ends do not justify the means here, but they do leave us wondering, “What is normal anyway?” For CFC 2020, we would like to explore the personal implications of this question in this pandemic moment. We welcome stories from other chapters of your life if you feel inspired to share from an earlier time, or if the present is simply too raw or undeveloped. 

The Hebrew word Hesed is among the most difficult words to translate to English from the Hebrew Scriptures. In fact, Hesed was translated into 11 different words and phrases in the original English translation (The King James Version). Later translations have continued the effort to discover the full English understanding, only resulting in more words assigned in English. Aware of this richness, we spent 2019 exploring some of the meanings derived from Hesed, and considered what God is calling us to in our relationships with self, God, others, and the world. We hope the experience we shared together these five days offered you the space to explore Hesed with us, and how God is calling you each day. 

When we were created in God’s image, God had a threefold hope and vision for humankind to know as true about ourselves: 1) We are good, 2) We are free, and 3) We are made to love and to be loved (relationships!). We never lost our goodness, our freedom, or our ability to love and be loved. Rather, we forgot these truths. And yet, if we take the time to look back, we can see how God was working in our lives to get us to where we are now. We spent 2018  taking inventory. We looked at our past and present, uncovering where God has worked—is working!—in our lives, and then spent time discerning what we needed in order to grow spiritually. We got our families involved too. We drafted family mission statements (“what is our goal as a family for right now?”) and started building family vision statements (“what is our future oriented goal as a family?”). Through all of this sorting through of inventory and list-making, we remained ever mindful of how each life stage sees different goals and visions. The steady presence of the Holy Spirit through each stage fills us with peace at the present and hope for the future. 

The theme of 2017 for CFC was inspired by 1 Corinthians 12:31b—13:13. This passage is often reduced to little more than a “pretty reading” for a wedding, and rightfully so as it paints a beautiful image of what love can be. But if we limit this reading to be nothing more than pretty, we miss some tremendous insight that God offers us through Paul on how we can concretely live the greatest commandment offered by Jesus – Love of God, love of neighbor. This commandment, and this reading ought to teach us that love’s power comes from the fact that it has nothing to LOSE because it is in the business of giving itself away. Love can only increase. 

The theme for CFC 2016 was inspired by the Jubilee Year of Mercy along with the words and actions of Pope Francis himself over his first 3+ years as Pope. The full title of the Jubilee is, "Jubilee of Mercy: Merciful Like the Father". 

The theme of CFC 2015 was based on a book by priest, professor and writer Henri Nouwen, called The Return of the Prodigal Son.  In it, Nouwen approached the story of the Prodigal Son, one familiar to all of us, from the perspective of his own spiritual journey initiated by a viewing of Rembrandt’s painting of the same name.  Through his own vulnerability, Nouwen takes us through a breakdown of the parable, delving into the ways we all experience the trappings each brother faces, and how ultimately we are called to become the father.  He speaks of affirmation and reconciliation in new and unique lights; the ultimate revelation being the challenge of how to love, and how to be loved. We will take this journey together!