Programs

The Quest for Healing and Home

In 2022 John Philip Newell began a second series of annual retreats to address the deep spiritual yearnings of this moment in time and to help give birth to new beginnings in our lives and world.

The Great Search 3 is the third of a three-part series of annual retreats led by the Celtic teacher John Philip Newell and his colleague Cami Twilling in which we explore the search for wisdom, the search for meaning, and the search for faith.

The teachings of this retreat are based on John Philip Newell’s book The Great Search: Turning to Earth and Soul in the Quest for Healing and Home (especially Chapters 7, 8, and 9 drawing on the wisdom of Rabindranath Tagore, Etty Hillesum, and Edwin Muir).

The text for this three-year program is John Philip Newell’s new book The Great Search (August 2024). The shared prayer book for this program is Praying with the Earth.

The Great Search 3 can be taken as a stand-alone retreat or in conjunction with The Great Search 1 and The Great Search 2 which can be attended in any order and at any of our retreat centers across the country or online.

This retreat will include a special evening dialogue between John Philip Newell and Matthew Fox, included for all retreat participants. Two of the most celebrated authors and teachers of spirituality today, Matthew Fox and John Philip Newell, will combine their insights and wisdom in a wide-ranging, lively, and hopeful conversation about some of the most vexing and challenging concerns facing humanity and Earth today. Known for their spiritual breadth and depth, as well as their compassionate teaching, Matthew and John Philip are delighted to be in conversation together.

About Matthew Fox

Rev. Matthew Fox, PhD, author, theologian, and activist priest, has been calling people of spirit and conscience into the Creation Spirituality lineage for over 50 years. His 42 books;  and his lectures, retreats, and innovative education models have ignited an international movement to awaken people to be mystics, prophets, and contemplative activists, who honor and defend the earth and work for justice.

Registration closes February 3, 2025.

This retreat day will include spiritual practice, sauntering on trails and ponderings. How does the late winter season and our own internal reflection nurture or mirror one another?  As one season shifts into another, what takes place in the transition?  How do we accept what is changing in us and receive the gift of change?   We will link times of spiritual practice and dialogue while walking the trails with seasoned nature observers. Wandering for the day will not exceed 5 miles.

Retreat led by Julie Miller, Mindy Braun and Laurie Hartmann.

-Julie Miller is no stranger to the Ranch as she serves as a Ranch host and leads our spring and fall hikes. A former park ranger, a nature guide, retreat leader and spiritual director, Julie’s love for connecting people to the natural and cultural stories of place is reflective and infectious.

-Mindy Braun serves as Executive Director of the Journey Center, a Christ-centered contemplative home for spiritual exploration and reflection. She is a spiritual director, Wild Church leader, naturalist, retreat, and group facilitator who loves to weave the Sacred with the natural world.

-Laurie Hartmann loves sharing the experience of finding beauty in nature with others. She is a spiritual director, retreat leader, and therapeutic musician and treasures the experience of the convergence of nature, music and spirit.

Join us for an inspirational springtime hike to witness the many kinds and types of wildflowers that grow at The Bishop's Ranch. These living gems respond to a universal imperative - blooming in their own time and demonstrating the remarkable movement of nature toward diversity. Be prepared to walk five miles at a rambling pace, with several hundred feet of elevation change, taking time to discuss what we find.

Registration closes March 7, 2025.

With Dr. Neil Douglas-Klotz

During our days together, we will follow themes appropriate for Easter week. These include the origins of our embodied life and self in our large, eternal, breathing soul (ruha), the crucifixion felt by our small self (naphsha), and its healing and resurrection through re-discovering its purpose in life. This is a process done not once, but many times, in our lives.

The way of Yeshua, as seen through his Aramaic words, is not for the faint-hearted, even though he promises that the “burden is light” and offers “rest” (nyach) in the fullness of life and love that our ruha (soul) provides. Making the connection between small self and soul is what he taught and exemplified in his life here, even under the most extreme and challenging circumstances.

The experiential side of the retreat will focus on chant, body prayer, body awareness meditation, and contemplative prayer from the Aramaic Jesus tradition. These will harmonize in feeling to the days of Holy Week and, most importantly, provide inspiration for the difficult times we face. Neil will also be going into some of Yeshua’s teaching stories and his “words from the cross, “about which many people ask, as well as parables and sayings from his recently released (February 2025) book The Aramaic Jesus Book of Days as well as his book Revelations of the Aramaic Jesus.