1680 - 373rd Avenue NE, Stanchfield, MN 55080     763-689-3540    arcretreat@hotmail.com
  (Located 8 Miles Northwest of Cambridge, MN)                 Click here for directions.

ARC (Action, Reflection, Celebration), is a Retreat Center operated by a residential community, rooted in Christian tradition, emphasizing the values of simplicity, justice and healing, mercy and prayer, serving individuals and groups seeking time apart, rest and spiritual renewal.

The Lodge at ARC 

ARC is located 55 miles north of Minneapolis (a few minutes north of Cambridge), on 90 acres in central Minnesota’s pine woods. We offer four-season hospitality for about 20 people in our cedar Lodge, Hermitage, and Cottage (which is a complete log home.) Spiritual direction, retreat ministry, and a labyrinth meditation experience are available to retreatants, as well as a fine library of spiritual books and journals. Therapeutic massage can be arranged with advance notice. Trails  for  walking, cross-country skiing or snowshoeing wind through woods and wetlands.

The Cottage at ARC

Summer Special for the ARC Cottage

If high gas prices are affecting your vacation plans,
consider getting away to ARC, only an hour from
Minneapolis/St. Paul. We are pleased to be able to
offer the cottage at a special weekly rate,
depending on availability:

Individual (7 nights): $400

Additional persons: $10/night each

Children under 12: Free

Call now to check for open dates.

Fall Benefit Concert to Feature Clea Galhano

Classical recorder player Clea Galhano will be featured at this October 19 concert. The White Bear Lake Unitarian Universalist Church will host the 2-4 pm concert. Put the date on your calendar. Watch this site for details!

UPCOMING FACILITATED RETREATS:
(More information on "Retreats" page)

AUGUST 1 - 3 - 4th and 5th Step Retreats

AUGUST 18 - 20 EDUCATORS' RETREAT - For Reflection and Renewal

See our Retreats page for more information.  -You may register for any of these retreats through ARC.

ALSO, SUNDAY, AUGUST 10, 1-5 pm: A Conversation on Israel/Palestine, led by Dwight Haberman and Debra Ricci, who recently returned from ten weeks in the Middle East. See the article below on this page for an overview of their trip.

Are you looking for a unique outing for your group?

See our Day Retreat offerings on the Retreats page.

Community Openings - Apply now for Fall, 2008

The ARC Retreat Community is currently inviting applications, for short-term volunteers (as little as a day, or up to three months) and year-round residents to welcome retreatants and share a simple, sustainable, spiritual lifestyle. Room and board are provided for volunteers up to three months; stipend, health insurance are available for longer-term residents. Contact us through the "Contact ARC" page or call 763-689-3540.

ARC Wish List

 (Most are tax deductible. Ask your tax advisor.)

Journey Outward: Acting for Peace

Former community members Debra Ricci and Dwight Haberman report on their most recent trip to the West Bank. Their experience demonstrates how the inward journey at ARC translates to an outer journey of justice and peace for all people of the world.

We returned to the West Bank in Palestine on Feb.14, 2008 to see how Palestinian life under Israeli military occupation had changed since our last visit in 2004-2005. We also wanted to check in with the many friends we had made during our volunteer year at Hope School in Beit Jala near Bethlehem. At that time we had sought out Palestinian and Israeli peace and justice groups specifically to learn as much as we could about the conflict. Our aim this time, as before, was to listen and learn; to observe and photograph, to gauge a sense of hope/despair; to practice grief work as appropriate, and to practice peace and maintain a nonanxious presence.

From our experiences from February 15 to May 1, 2008, we could see some changes. The most apparent was the severe stress on the remaining Christian population as a result of the continued out-migration of Christian families. Before 1948, Christians (who trace their heritage back to the original apostles) comprised over 18% of the Palestinian population. Now Palestinian Christians comprise less than 2%. Father George, Pastor of the Melkite Church in Bethlehem, has watched 60 of his family members join the Palestinian diaspora in the last few years. This puts tremendous pressure on those few Christians who remain. They are faced with difficult choices: do I move to a place where I am safe, free, and can make a decent living? Do I remain where my family roots and my land define who I am? Who will maintain the holy places and be the Christian presence in the Holy Land?

We added more to our understanding about the bureaucratic/structural harassment of Palestinians, that invisible framework of control that underlies the more visible strategies perpetrated by the Israeli Occupational Forces. Much like the “crazy-making” procedures of applying for a building permit, or gaining permission papers for access through checkpoints, or getting auto license plates, every transaction of daily life is fraught with uncertainty. Phone and utility service, travel, applying to the university and attending classes, real estate transactions—every aspect of daily life is controlled by an arbitrary and inconsistent application of a legal system exercised solely for Israeli benefit.

We see implosion of Palestinian culture at the family level when viewed from the perspective of violence against Palestinian women. Women and children bear the brunt of the occupation and experience violence from three sources: 1) by virtue of the fact that they are women and children, 2) from particular traditional Palestinian patriarchal norms and values, and 3) from the effects of the occupation itself.

Here is a typical scenario informed from the many stories we heard: A father loses his job (or dies or is imprisoned) because of current economic conditions, mobility restrictions, or physical/mental disability. The family is forced into poverty unless the mother takes a job. This violates strict gender codes; the father is humiliated, and the mother must seek a low-paying, unskilled job such as housekeeping. Once she acquires the necessary permits to get to the job, she leaves home before dawn and arrives home after dark. Each time she passes through a checkpoint, she risks delays and harassment (oftentimes shaming, sexual harassment). When she arrives home, she bears complete responsibility for housekeeping and child raising. She quickly becomes exhausted. The father acts out his emasculation by abusing his wife and children. Strict codes of family honor prevent her from reporting to the police or seeking refuge in a legal system that will re-victimize her. If the husband is physically or mentally incapacitated, she bears responsibility for his care, and for keeping the family together.

We made a special effort to interact with more Israelis on this trip. We met:

1. Zionists who want to take all of historic Palestine for the State of Israel, not restricted to Israeli
government and military personnel.

2. Populace Israelis—average citizens living their lives oblivious to Palestinian concerns as they raise their families and go about their business (albeit in a state of continuous apprehension and insecurity).

3. Israeli Peace Activists—Israelis who understand the Palestinian narrative, who seek ways to live side by side with them, and who want to end the occupation.

In fact, most Israelis support an end to the occupation if their security is assured. We found individuals on both sides—Palestinians and Israelis—seeking justice or perpetrating injustice. The divide is no more between Palestinians and Israelis. As Naim Ateek of Sabeel puts it, “It is between the forces of peace and justice in Israel and Palestine and those of violence and domination.” So we join with Palestinians and Israelis, with Jews, Muslims, and Christians that are on one side, the side of justice and international law, and against all those who are on the side of oppression and domination.

Reference: Ateek, Naim. The apartheid paradigm: How does it apply to Palestine-Israel? Cornerstone. Issue 48, Spring 2008.