Lent Retreat: Time and Worship
“I came home loving my community more. Wanting to share life with new people I met at the retreat. The lent retreat is a yearly cornerstone of faith for me.
This year’s Lent Retreat had over 30 individuals head out to Mt. St Francis, nestled in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. David Harvey lead the retreat alongside, Christin Woods and Jimmy Chow who taught on “Time and Worship”.
What does time and worship have to do with Lent? Our lives are both deeply connected to time, but often in unhealthy and disordered ways. Lent invites us to think differently about our time and offers us a way to see how worship could allow us to have a better relationship with time and, as a result, Jesus.
David, Christin and Jimmy taught on what time is and how we faithfully carry time. They also spoke on living by a different calendar, and how to inhabit the here and now. Throughout the retreat they also had meditations on: Ecclesiastes 3:19-15, Ecclesiastes 7:10-14, and Ecclesiastes 11:7-12:8.
Continue below to read some of the attendants reflections.
1. In what ways did you encounter God at Lent retreat?
“He impressed on me that he may want me to take on a greater challenge at work, not what I think I want to do, but to go where he would have me be. I was reminded I can do all things through Him who strengthens me and that His path is best. This really encouraged me and helped me refocus on my journey with Him.?”
2. What was a moment you had with the community you found edifying?
“In conversations over a meal I heard about ways God has intervened in people's lives and done the "impossible". It reminded me that He is with us and that there is nothing He can't do! That He can do more than we can imagine!”
“The closing morning stands out to me. Hearing from people about their faith journey always edifies.”
3. In the teaching what did you find helpful and insightful?
“David drew a diagram that illustrated the divisions in church history. I was struck by how for 1300 years there was just one church and then there was a first division and many, many divisions to follow. I was also struck that in the beginning the Eucharist was the focus of the service not the preacher.”
“The place history has in faith … the first diagram David drew helped me see my faith today in the context of history. The way our worship practices have changed and moved away from gather, teaching, Eucharist, send. My understanding of worship is expanded and deepened.”
4. What was your main takeaway from the retreat?
“I am hungry for communion and would like to have it play a central role in our services, as it did from the beginning of Christianity. A funny expression keeps popping into my head, about not throwing out the baby with the bath water. While I believe we have gained some things that were dropped at times, that we have also overlooked some ways of connecting with the Trinity that are still available to us.”
“We lose when we ignore or discredit ancient faith practices A warmer embrace of different Christian faith traditions.”
“I attended Westside King Church’s Lent Retreat, because I was feeling really burnt out and wanted to “run away” to have some space and quiet time to focus on caring for myself, to rest, and to recuperate from the challenging battles of life.”
The retreat was so valuable because I could literally sit and “do nothing” and no one would think it was weird. Well, I wasn’t really doing nothing. I was spoiling myself by indulging myself, to sit under the ministry of the Holy Spirit, and not feel that I was wasting time because I wasn’t running around doing something…
The next morning, I was at the retreat library and took a book off the shelf that was written by Henri Nouwen. I read this passage in the book that also spoke to me:
“Set Boundaries to Your Love. Part of your struggle is to set boundaries to your own love—-something you have never done. You give whatever people ask of you, and when they ask for more, you give more, until you find yourself exhausted, used, and manipulated…True mutuality in love requires people who possess themselves and who can give to each other while holding on to their own identities, So in order both to give more effectively and to be more self-contained with your needs, you must learn to set boundaries to your love.”
Reading this was like a light-bulb moment. I sat down to journal all about this in the retreat library and wrote for a good hour.
Retreats are wonderful things because they give us time and space to be intentional.”
