2009

May 9: HONORING LAS TODAS MADRES, OUR MANY MOTHERS Saturday 9:15 AM - 3:00 PM. Each of us is a part of the grand tapestry of life’s longing for itself. In this month of May in which we traditionally honor our own mothers as well as Mary, Mother of Christ, we’ll take some time to pull on the threads of the tapestry that holds us in place in order to recall with love and gratitude the many women who have contributed something vital to our lives through their care, guidance, example, and inspiration. We’ll write, share stories, and honor the women whose legacies we carry forward. (Please bring something you cherish that was handmade by one of your many mothers.)
Register by prior Friday - $50 Please bring a sack lunch.
Minimum 6
Jan Lawry is a developmental psychologist. In a variety of settings, she has worked to better understand the developmental journey we take as creative human beings.  Teaching in and out of academic settings, her work with college undergraduates, adolescents, abused children, divorced adults, and creative elders has revealed many parallels in our psychological, spiritual, and creative growth.  Currently, Jan offers workshops that help people better acknowledge and utilize their creative talents and spiritual longings in pursuit of greater self-discovery.
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May 15-17: PRAYER OF THE HEART Friday 7:15 AM - Sunday 1:30 PM. There are many different ways to pray. In this workshop, we will explore Affirmative Prayer, that is, developing and using positive prayers that assist us in connecting with God and with the Christ spirit in each one of us. We will learn and practice ways of being open to God’s guidance, especially to the movement of the Divine in us. We will learn and practice ways to bring into the Light the internal belief systems about ourselves and the world that interfere with our being connected to God and to forgive ourselves and others for what we have done and said that pull us away from God.
Register by prior Friday - $160.
Minimum 5, Maximum 10
Therese Gonneville, OSB
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May 16: THE PRAYER AND GRACE OF ICONS Saturday 9:15 AM - 3:00 PM. Participants will experience firsthand the icon as a window into heaven, and sacred images as vehicles for prayer. We will be introduced to the sacred language and imagery that is conveyed through icons. An icon is “written” rather than “painted” because it contains symbolic language which conveys the Gospel. When deciphered this language can be gift and grace to the observer. We will offer a prayer experience with icons and have a small icon for people to take with them.
Register by prior Friday - $50. Please bring a sack lunch; and an icon if you wish.
Minimum 8
Julie Barrett Ziegler holds a degree in Fine Arts, and has been an artist and educator for more than 20 years, focusing in spiritual practice. She is an iconographer, calligrapher, and licensed “SoulCollage” facilitator. Many of her icons are permanently installed in St. Michael Parish Church in Olympia, and her artworks are in many private collections. She lives and teaches in Olympia, Washington. She can be contacted for ongoing class offerings at her email address
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May 23: INTRODUCTION TO THE ENNEAGRAM Saturday 9:15 AM - 4:00 PM. The Enneagram is an important tool for understanding ourselves and others. This class introduces the Enneagram of Personality Types as a tool for recognizing how habits of thinking, feeling and acting are organized such that we live under the illusion of separateness from God and each other. Participants will learn the nine fundamentally distinct worldviews that make up the Enneagram and begin to discover their own type. This class is most suitable as an introduction to the Enneagram though anyone with an interest may attend. 
Register by prior Friday - $60. Please bring a sack lunch.
Minimum 6, Maximum 20
The Essential Enneagram by Dr. David Daniels and Virginia Price, PhD. will be available for purchase at the Priory Bookstore on the day of the class.
Debra Janison has studied the Enneagram for 20 years and is the founder and lead teacher for Enneagram Olympia. She is certified to teach by Helen Palmer and David Daniels.  She is a professional member of the Association of Enneagram Teachers in the Narrative Tradition. Her understanding of the dynamics of type has also been strongly influenced by the Diamond Approach work of A.H. Almaas.  (For more information, see EnneagramOlympia) 
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June 3: RE-FOCUS YOUR LIFE Wednesday 9:15 AM - 3:00 PM. Nothing changes in our lives until we decide to change our minds. Old habits can keep us on "automatic pilot"  and our lives remain the same.  This one day retreat will help us to re-focus and re-fresh our life. We will be given some simple skills to assist  us in this endeavor.  We will also be taught how to pray using the "Light of Christ" as our focus. Sister Joan Marie will be working later with the Sisters of St. Placid Priory, and we are pleased to be able to offer this workshop for others.
Register by prior Wednesday - $50. Please bring a sack lunch.
Minimum 5
Sister Joan Marie Sasse, OSB combines Neuro Linguistics (NLP), psychology, religion, and prayer in such a way as to empower people's lives.  She is a Benedictine from Holy Spirit Monastery in Grand Terrace, California.
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June 20: THE SPIRIT OF SUMMER Saturday 9:00 AM - 3:30 PM. Anticipating days ahead full of sunshine, warmth, and nature at her most splendid, we will spend our time together in reflection of the summer season. Through music, readings, simple art and quiet time, a day of presence  to celebrate and prepare us for the gifts of the season.
Register by prior Friday - $60. Please bring a sack lunch.
Minimum 5, Maximum 19
Gilda Warden, RN, MATS, EdD has an interest in renewal as a justice stance. She says, "The seasons of the year and the transformative nature of a reflective outlook provide me with an appreciation of the new in every day. An RN for 30 years, I am grateful for the gifts of both physical and personal seasons in my life."
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July 5-10: INTO THE QUIET Sunday 3:00 PM - Friday 1:00 PM. Into the Quiet is a 5 day silent retreat for anyone seeking renewal and holy leisure. This is a time to be present to self and God. “We need to find God, and God cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence.” (Mother Teresa of Calcutta). Spiritual direction is available.
Register by prior Monday - $500 (6 nights)
Maximum 10
Staff
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July 18 and/or August 1: GOD THE ARTIST: WE THE CO-CREATORS Saturday 9:00 AM - 3:30 PM. God is the artist of our soul. This retreat will stimulate our creative souls. We will focus on our Potter God, using clay materials. We will meet at The Priory Spirituality Center and drive to Walter and Renata Siegl’s clay studio in Shelton. They will aid us with our creations. All of us are artists, so come to play and pray! The pieces will be glazed by Walter and Renata and you may pick them up at The Priory Spirituality Center when they are glazed.
NOTE that this retreat will be offered on July 18 and August 1. You may sign up for one or both sessions.
Register by prior Friday - $60 (includes materials). Please bring a sack lunch.
Minimum 5, Maximum 10
Lucy Wynkoop, OSB, is a retreat director with formal art education.
Renata Siegl pursues her hobbies of ceramics, water colors and paper cuts (Scherenschnitte) after retirement as a Kindergarten teacher and mother of four children. Her education in Vienna was continued at San Antonio College in Walnut, California.
Walter Siegl was a teacher in Vienna, Austria and is a retired Architect, enjoying the endless possibilities of ceramics in the peaceful and serene setting of the Studio. He also took evening classes at San Antonio College.
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August 8: ENVISIONING OUR CREATIVE SELVES Saturday 9:15 AM - 3:00 PM. We were created in the image and likeness of God. As God is the great Creator, we too are creative beings, each one of us being the artist of her or his own life.  In this workshop, participants will be offered a bright vision of their creative selves. This class about joy and beauty in motion is for the Beginning Artist wishing to find and express their artistic talents but instead have found themselves stuck. And, it is for the advanced Artist working to Infuse the Light of God into their painting and writing.
Register by prior Friday - $55 (includes $5 for art materials). Bring a sack lunch.
Minimum 6, Maximum 25
Dee McDonald, M.A., has lived and worked on the continents of Africa, Asia, Europe and South America. As a teacher, she presents workshops on communication and diversity to agencies worldwide. With a wealth of personal life experiences to draw from, every evening in front of the fireplace, she turns adventures of the outer world into reflective story/poems/art of the inner world. 
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September 12: INTRODUCTION TO CENTERING PRAYER Saturday 9:15 AM - 3:00 PM. We need those times of prayer when we listen in silence, not just with our ears, our eyes, our minds, but more with our hearts, with our whole being. This is Contemplative Prayer or prayer of being. Our tradition has passed down to us simple ways of entering into this prayer. Today, one of these traditional ways is called Centering Prayer. This day long Introduction covers the basics of Centering Prayer with ample time for practicing Centering Prayer and opportunities to share experiences and ask questions.
Register by prior Friday - $50. Please bring a sack lunch and a journal.
Minimum 10, Maximum 25.
Miguel Perez-Gibson and Mary Solberg are commissioned by Contemplative Outreach, Ltd. to present Centering Prayer Introductory Workshops.
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September 19: WRAPPED IN LOVE: THE PRAYER SHAWL MINISTRY OF THE PRIORY KNITTERS & SPINNERS Saturday 9:15 AM - 3:00 PM. The Priory Knitters and Spinners began to knit prayer shawls after reading the book, Knitting into the Mystery by Susan S. Izard and Susan S. Jorgensen. These shawls are created using a simple pattern so as to allow the maker to pray while knitting or crocheting. Shawls have been sent off as a need or a joy arises and wondrous stories come back to us about the healing, peace, comfort, happiness and strength people feel from them. Come spend a day with Sister Monika and Diane of the Priory Knitters and Spinners, as they share how to make the shawls and what it means to them to wrap people up in love through these garments of warmth and grace. We'll spend some part of this day actually praying and knitting or crocheting our prayer shawls. Bring your yarn and needles.
Register by prior Friday - $50. Please bring a sack lunch.
Monika Ellis, OSB and Diane Fioravanti
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September 26: NOW THAT YOU'VE GROWN UP--WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE? Saturday 9:15 AM - 3:00 PM. This workshop is a strengths-based approach to exploring your calling. Maybe you are among the lucky few who can daydream about, "when I retire, I am going to...." So, what to do with the rest of your 15-25+ years? You will delve into the spirituality of calling and passionate life/work purpose by identifying satisfying strengths and interests, then explore meaningful work, paid or unpaid.
Register by prior Friday - $55. Please bring a sack lunch.
Minimum 5, Maximum 20
James D. Henry, MDiv,enjoys a lifelong passion bringing forth the life/work best in people, especially through adult education. He served as pastor to three Lutheran congregations from 1962 to 1972. For 20 years, he was employed by Texas Utilities in the areas of management training and career development. His work spans many years as a career guidance specialist for outplacement firms and most recently for Washington Mutual Bank.
Linda S. Henry, BS has served on the leadership councils of congregations in three states. Currently she is Chair of the Administrative Council of Puyallup United Methodist Church. Professionally, she has over twenty-five years of extensive healthcare education, communication and marketing experience within for profit and not-for-profit organizations in diverse settings. Her specialties include strategic business planning, team building and enhancing customer satisfaction.
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October 2-4: BECOMING WHAT WE LOVE: A FRANCISCAN CONTEMPLATIVE RETREAT Friday 7:15 PM - Sunday 1:30 PM. Come apart for a retreat in the Franciscan tradition. Share rich stories and praise, engage with nature, experience a Franciscan approach to contemplation, participate in the annual "transitus" celebration of Francis's life, and have time to be and to journal.
Register by prior Friday - $190.
Minimum 6, Maximum 19 (if willing to share bedrooms)
Sister Carol Ann Warnke has lived Franciscan life for over 40 years. She is a trained spiritual director and retreat leader who initiated the spirituality component of St Joseph's Family Center in Spokane and chaired the committee that designed and opened the Franciscan Spirituality Center in Milwaukie, Oregon, serving as it's first director. She recently moved to Tacoma Washington where she welcomes individual retreatants to Hermitage Place on the grounds of St. Ann's Home on South Alaska St.
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October 3: RETURNING HOME TO YOURSELF Saturday 9:15 AM - 3:00 PM. Do you ever feel like you have become lost from yourself? Has an authentic portion of you forgotten how to communicate with those around you? In this workshop through story, music, simple art and meditation, we will take a look at potential blocks that keep you from living your most authentic life. Additionally, we will attempt to catch a glimpse of the place in your heart that connects most deeply with God and the world.
Register by prior Friday - $50. Please bring a sack lunch.
Minimum 6
Kayce Stevens Hughlett, M.A., is a professional facilitator and psychotherapist who takes great joy in working with small groups. Kayce holds a Masters in Counseling Psychology and currently works with students in their training to become counselors, pastors and more compassionate listeners. Her passion continues with her facilitation role at the Soltura Foundation which offers experiential workshops for personal growth and healing. Kayce considers herself to be a late bloomer in the area of art creation and delights in experiencing new discoveries alongside her clients, students and supervisees.
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October 8: LECTIO DIVINA: CONTEMPORARY EXPRESSIONS OF LECTIO Beginning October 8, this group meets monthly for 6 months. Thursdays 9:00 AM - 12:00 Noon. Lectio periods will be a time to bask in God’s presence and to practice lectio in various ways. We will integrate lectio with dreams, music, images, icons and cinema. The sessions will involve presentations and experiences of lectio using Scripture as well as contemporary expressions of lectio. Dates are: 2009--October 8, November 12, December 10; 2010--January 14, February 11, and March 11.
Register by October 2 - $300 for 6 sessions; or $60 for one session. Bring a bible and journal.
The book Lectio Divina: Contemplative Awakening and Awareness by Christine Valters Paintner and Lucy Wynkoop, OSB is available at The Priory Store.
Minimum 5
Lucy Wynkoop, OSB
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October 10: PRAYING WITH THE BODY: BRINGING THE PSALMS TO LIFE Saturday 9:30 AM - 3:30 PM. Come and pray with the body, heart, and soul as offered in Roy's book of the same title. We shall meet the ancient psalmist who offer us ways to be fully with God through the joys and sorrows of being human. We will practice lectio divina, move prayerfully, meditate and journal on some of the more popular psalms. We will discuss our tradition of and the benefits of praying with the body and modifications for the movements according to your physical condition will be offered.
Register by prior Friday - $50. Please bring a sack lunch--and a Bible, a journal, a sticky mat, a blanket and pillows.
Roy DeLeon is an Oblate of St Placid. He trained as a spiritual director with the Priory Spirituality Center. A certified yoga instructor, he teaches Blessed Movements regularly at the Priory.
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October 16: INSIGHTS DISCOVERY Saturday 9:15 AM - 3:00 PM. Want skills to build stronger interpersonal relationships with friends, colleagues, family members? To gain a deeper self-awareness? Awareness of our strengths and weaknesses enables us to develop effective interpersonal strategies and respond to the demands of our environment. Insights Discovery is a high impact personality profiling tool based on the work of Carl Jung. It offers a framework for self-understanding and development. The profile generated from the on-line Insights Evaluator provides a report unique to you, covering your strengths, weaknesses, blind spots, communication preferences, your opposite type and suggestions for development. You can proactively use this profile to develop an action plan for growth personally and interpersonally. Our Insights workshop will also give you skills to recognize diverse styles and practical ways to adapt your behavior to build positive, win-win relationships. This Insights workshop requires that you complete the Insights Evaluator tool on-line with a completion deadline before Oct 2. Email Sue Schneider for the Insights Discovery Profile. This program is a good complement for Appreciative Living which is offered October 17.
Register by September 26 - $115 (Workshop $50 + Profile $65). Please bring a sack lunch.
If you wish to stay overnight, the sliding scale is $40-60 for an overnight stay; call 360-438-2595 to make arrangements.
Minimum 5, Maximum 15
Sue Schneider has worked in the corporate world for more than 30 years. For the past nine years, Sue has been an independent consultant focusing on high performance teams, strategic planning, and organization design/development working with a diverse client base. She has been working with the Benedictine Community at Mt. Angel for over nine years and most recently with the Benedictine Sisters at St. Placid Priory. Introduced to the Appreciative Inquiry process 5 years ago, Sue learned the concepts from David Cooperrider and has been using the AI process in her consulting practice. Sue was trained in the Insights Discovery program in 2002 and has been using the Insights Discovery tool in her work.
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October 17: APPRECIATIVE LIVING FOR THE INDIVIDUAL Saturday 9:15 AM - 3:00 PM. How can we live with a mindset that looks at "What is going well?" How do we nourish and appreciate life in a positive way? How do we construct questions from a positive perspective. How do we live out of hope, inspiration and joy with one another? How do we become the change we want to see? If you find these questions your questions, join us for a workshop using the Appreciative Inquiry model that flows from a scriptural context.
Register by prior Friday - $50. Please bring a sack lunch.
Minimum 5
Sue Schneider
Lucy Wynkoop, OSB
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October 24: FORGIVENESS: THE PORTAL TO WISDOM Saturday 9:15 AM - 3:00 PM. In this one-day workshop we will explore what is hindering our developmental maturity and spirituality. We will examine the people and events that we cannot/ will not forgive and learn to view them from a larger more profound perception of our own lives; thereby initiating a process of reclaiming inner clarity which sets the foundation for experiencing wisdom and divine grace.
Register by prior Friday - $50. Please bring a sack lunch.
Minimum 5
Dr. Meagan Lawler is a psychologist who has worked with children and families for over 25 years. Currently, Meagan is active in the field of gerontology and has a particular focus on creativity and the development of wisdom as a natural function of the maturing mind.
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October 31: NIGHTMARES AS SPIRITUAL RESOURCES Saturday 9:15 AM - 3:00 PM. Mostly when we have bad dreams or nightmares, we would like to get rid of them and we would like to prevent recurrences. Bad dreams may however be like the Hound of Heaven so well described by Francis Thompson--a spiritual gift that we could recognize if we stopped fleeing. Who can forget the story of Jonah as he tried to escape and deny the vision informing him of his destiny. In this workshop we will practice an approach that has been clinically validated to resolve nightmares into creative resources. We work with the idea that dreams are stories and nightmares are incomplete stories that we are stuck in. We will learn how to creatively get unstuck. You don't need to come with nightmares or bad dreams, we can generate safe nightmares in the workshop. Every one can have some successful and interesting experiences. The workshop respects personal boundaries so that you don't have to fear disclosing material that is too private.
Register by prior Friday - $50. Please bring a sack lunch.
Dr. Jerry DeVore is a clinical psychologist and has a full-time practice working for the Department of Defense at MAMC, Ft. Lewis. There he provides psychological services to soldiers and their families. The trauma of combat frequently generates nightmares and bad dreams that can be treated so that dreams become resources instead of sources of distress. Additionally, Dr. DeVore has completed the Dream Teacher course developed by Robert Moss and conducts his own monthly Dream Exploration group. He is fascinated with creative imagery and dreamwork and how they contribute to quality life and spirituality.
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November 3: FELTING: A WAY OF GOD Beginning November 3, this group meets monthly for 6 months. Tuesdays 9:00 AM - 12:00 Noon. Many paths are of God. On the path of art and creative expression we participate in the very life of God the Creator. Needle felting is a way of making a piece of solid, colorful art out of whispy tufts of wool and other fibers. It is truly a transformative process, easy to learn, versatile, inexpensive and very satisfying. You do not need to know how to needle-felt before registering. Come and step into the way of the artist, listening to what is deep within you and letting it come out in color, texture, form and fun. During the six Tuesday morning sessions we will pray, spend some time in quiet reflection, create with fleece and yarns using special felting needles, and bring our creations to the Creator in song and ritual. Dates are: November 3, December 1, January 5, February 2, March 2, and May 25.
Register by October 23 - $300 for six sessions. Materials - $35.
Minimum 5, Maximum 10
Monika Ellis, OSB is a prize-winning needle felter who designs and creates beautiful and unique forms from wool fleece. Her creations include birds, Santas, angels, animals, and faces. She teaches needle felting at a local fine yarn shop, conferences and festivals. A spiritual director and composer of hymns, she is passionate about creating.
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