Summer Silent Retreat
with Murray Groom and Nan Goodship
June 28 – July 2, 2023
Bethlehem Centre, Nanaimo, BC
Step back from the wired world and the chatter of everyday life. Experience the generative quality of meditative silence, an oasis to nourish your body, mind, and soul and there find a new wholeness; your own sure place. In the natural beauty of Bethlehem Centre, you will be immersed in a rich pool of intentional silence with a community of like-minded seekers.
This retreat (5 days/4 nights) is designed for those with some experience in the practice of extended silence or with a great desire to deepen their spiritual journey. Our days will include morning and evening contemplative practice, a daily conversation with your spiritual director, and periods of spaciousness to pursue your own discernment and intuition. We will share compassionate, community practices of journalling, singing, movement, mindful sitting in silence, walking the labyrinth, art making.
Facilitated by Murray Groom and Nan Goodship, you will have both a supportive daily rhythm, and individual, confidential accompaniment. All activities are choices, and optional.
Starts June 28 at 3:30 pm. Completes July 2, at 1:30 pm.
Cost:
Private room (single or double bed; shared washroom) $1,070.00
Lake view room (shared washroom) $$1,230.00
Address: 2371 Arbot Road, Nanaimo, BC, Canada
Murray Groom
is a graduate, former staff member, and one-time interim director of the Pacific Jubilee Program in Spiritual Direction. He is a practiced spiritual director and regularly co-conducts extended silent retreats at Naramata Centre in the Okanagan Valley. Read about Murray’s’ spiritual direction practice here.
Nan Goodship
is an artist, spiritual director, retreat leader, and thorough Vancouver Islander. She is interested in the adaptations and evolutions we make in our lives to find joy, understand suffering, and ponder our own hearts and minds. She considers herself a contemplative and finds a daily connection to the natural world both a significant source of inspiration for art-making and a spiritual home. As far as academic training goes, she holds a BA in Japanese and Asian studies from UBC, Waldorf teacher training, certification from the Pacific Jubilee Program for spiritual direction, and a masters in interdisciplinary arts from Goddard College. Nan also considers her time as an at-home mom and in marriage as a kind of life training par excellence. It is an unfettered delight to guide others in spiritual and creative practices that have been so personally enriching.