Theme: “Falling Upward: The Spiritual Journey of Transformation”
On this retreat we’ll be using storytelling and poetry, communal ritual, wilderness wandering, and the Way of Council in exploring how the contemplative path can offer deep, authentic and lasting transformation toward wholeness as men and followers of Jesus.
This is a joint retreat with First Presbyterian SLC and Mount Olympus and will include some intentional integration and sharing.
We will be led by Ned Abenroth. Ned is a husband, father, grave-digger, storyteller, poet, weaver, leader, and speaker. He is a cancer survivor, a ritual artist, a creator of experiential retreats, and a pastor. At 33 Ned came down with the same late-stage cancer that took his mother, and with very slim odds of living, he was ushered into a prolonged season of grief and death work. In the midst of this near-death experience, he was given a mystical experience, and he returned to his graduate studies and finished his Master of Divinity.
Ned serves as a wisdom elder for Illuman, an international fellowship of men influenced by Fr. Richard Rohr, with a focus on male spirituality and transformation. In 2015 he founded Illuman of Washington, and as of 2021 this chapter had held over 300 councils, offered over 20 retreats, touched directly over 700 people, and celebrated innumerable stories of personal transformation. Ned and Jamie have four children and two dogs.
The Pine Valley Lodge is where the retreat will be held. It is a beautiful 2.5 acre mountain retreat in Pine Valley, Utah – just 35 minutes from St. George, in the mountains of the Dixie National Forest, at an elevation of 6,700ft. It’s an idyllic place for a retreat in the solitude of the ponderosa pines. Located just thirty-five minutes from St. George, there are many opportunities for recreation, exploration, and wilderness wandering. Between seven rustic cabins and the main lodge with five bedrooms, the Pine Valley Lodge sleeps up to 60 people in beds with 14 bedrooms in total, and 11 bathrooms.
For more details on the lodging, please click HERE.
For more retreat information and a detailed itinerary, click HERE.