Model retreat with centennial theme available to parishes
By Renee Webb, Globe diocesan news editor
Posted February 7, 2002

"We Remember, We Celebrate, We Believe, We Walk Forward" was the theme of the retreat sponsored by the department of adult and family ministries in the Diocese of Sioux City.

According to Bev Hurni, diocesan family programs director, between 70 and 80 adults from about 30 parishes throughout the diocese attended the three-hour retreat held at the parish center in Early. Retreatants ranged in age from early 20s to 80-plus.

She explained that the diocese sponsors a retreat every year and this year they opted to offer a retreat that was connected to the centennial theme. As a model retreat, participants could take it back to the parish or cluster. The diocese offered resource packets containing the format and necessary materials to facilitate it back home. Other retreatants attended as an opportunity for personal faith enrichment.

In Early, Hurni pointed out that they broke the retreat down into the segments remembering the past, celebrating the present, reflecting on their beliefs and looking at the future.

Msgr. Mervin Hood, a retired priest of the diocese, reflected on the past relating to his own personal faith journey and how it connected to the history of the diocese. "For the parishes who plan to offer the retreat, they can have a pastor who served in their parish for a number of years, a religious sister who taught at their school or a longtime parishioner speak," said Hurni.

Following this reflection, participants were asked to reflect on their own faith journey and where they saw God's intervention in their life.

People were given a timeline in which they divided it by decades or years depending on their age. "They were to write down significant experiences in their lives and determine whether they considered it a positive or negative experience. Some experiences can be both. The purpose was to look back and see where God was in it."

The retreatants were then asked to reflect on what remained constant in their lives and gave them an anchor to hang onto - their faith and basic beliefs that are verbalized in The Creed. Julianne Gilbert, a member of the retreat team, wrote reflections about The Creed and members of the retreat them read them. These same reflections are included in a retreat packet.

The last part of the retreat addressed looking to the future. Cari Brown of Storm Lake, a member of the retreat team, gave a talk about visions and dreams. They also looked at how to put that into concrete vision for the parish.

The second part of Brown's talk focused on personal gifts given by the Holy Spirit.

"To increase their awareness of what their gifts are, we gave them a gifts assessment inventory," noted Hurni. "What was interesting to me was that on the evaluations that tool was the most mentioned thing that they found helpful. For some I think it was affirming of what they knew already and for others it gave them new insight about themselves."

Cleo Harder of Sioux City also served on the retreat team, leading the effort on the environment.

Carol Kelzer, pastoral minister at St. Boniface in Sioux City, attended the retreat and plans to organize one in her parish for parishioners in the cluster. No date has been set but it will be offered during the centennial year.

"I think there is great value in retreats," she said. "Everyone needs time to assess how they are living."

During the diocese's centennial, Kelzer encouraged people to either find one of these retreats to attend in an area parish or to facilitate even a portion of the reflection in a small group.

Father Mark Stoll, pastor at St. Joseph Church in Neptune, attended the retreat and said the Holy Family Cluster plans to offer it not only for cluster parishioners but also people in other Le Mars area parishes.

"This is a good opportunity to offer adult education to the people of our parishes who have been deprived of such opportunities for too long," he said.

Rose Tobin, a parishioner at Sacred Heart Parish in Boone, will facilitate a retreat with a team of volunteers on March 10 at Madrid. It will be offered to parishioners in the cluster parishes from Madrid, Boone and Ogden.

"Last year I went to the Burning Hearts Retreat that the diocese sponsored and then brought it back to Boone. This year I went with the same expectation that it would be a high caliber retreat and I wasn't disappointed," she said.

Tobin said the theme was very appropriate in this centennial year as they remember the past, look at the present day strengths and determine how to use them for the future.

If an individual is interested in facilitating this retreat but they did not attend the model presentation in Early, they should contact adult and family ministries at 712-233-7530.