Parish Retreat

This year’s Parish Retreat will be one for the books for many reasons, but first and foremost because the Rev. Dr. Vincent Pizzuto of St. Columba’s in Inverness will be joining us as our retreat speaker this year! The theme this year is Creation and Incarnation, following our Justice & Peace team’s attention to climate justice in the 2019-20 academic Adult Formation year. From Fr. Vincent: “The Incarnation is not merely a human event, but one in which all of Creation is so thoroughly infused with the Divine that Christ might “be all and in all” (Col. 3:11).  Building upon this scriptural imperative, Fr. Vincent will explore the cosmological implications of the Incarnation which underlie the urgency of Christian ecological discipleship in the world.” 

The format of the retreat will be as follows: 

• Fr. Vincent will first give a talk, starting at 10am on September 19th 
• Followed by time in small groups (either in person or on Zoom––your choice), which will begin around 11:15a.
• Following the group discussions, you will be given some questions to walk with on your own for further reflection and prayer. 
• Then, as we have done in the past, on Saturday evening Tim Ereneta will host a Talent Optional Show on Zoom (more details to come on that soon). 

But this year’s retreat is also one for the books because the options for attendance will be different than any year before. Bear with me as I explain the three different options this year:

Option 1: Attend the Ranch for the full weekend. You may attend the retreat at the Ranch for the full weekend (with the restrictions the Ranch has set up for Covid-19––read here for more details). Given the restrictions listed on that link, the Ranch now has a much more limited maximum capacity and will not be able to handle our usual 145 person retreat. Who gets to attend the retreat in person this year? Unfortunately, that will depend on the timing of when you register as well as your family configuration given the rooms that the Ranch has available with the restrictions in place. This option will also cost a lot more than the other options. (to see the cost for a full weekend retreat at the Ranch and to register, click here. This option is first come, first served and you must register by next Thursday night, September 3rd. Friday morning the Ranch will open their registration (for whatever spots are left) to the general public.**

Option 2: Attend virtually, but have an in-person small group here in Berkeley. The second option is to attend Fr. Vincent’s talk virtually (on Zoom) from Berkeley and then meet up with a small group of All Soulsians somewhere outdoors here in town, distanced, and masked. 

Option 3: Attend all parts virtually. This final option is to attend both the talk by Fr. Vincent on Zoom and to attend a small group discussion on Zoom. 

Register here and let us know which option you’re choosing this year. 

**There is a chance that, even if you attend the Ranch in person, Fr. Vincent will not be there in person for the talk, meaning, you also would attend the initial talk on Zoom. Small groups at the Ranch will all be in person, however.