February 2004 Newsletter

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

ARC's New Director
Community News
Hunger Facts
Upcoming Retreats
Private Retreats
In Our Next Newsletter
Response Form
Winter Poem
Journal Entries
Volunteer Opportunities
New ARC Cookbook
Winter Salad Recipe
ARC Needs List
Retreat Costs
Reflections

ARC Ecumenical Retreat Community
NEWSLETTER
February 2004 VOL. XXIIll NO. 1

Welcome, Nancy Victorin-Vangerud
ARC’s Previous Director

Nancy Victorin-Vangerud, reading the Christian Century one evening six
months ago in her home in Perth, Western Australia, came across an ad for a
position as director of ARC Retreat Center. No stranger to Minnessota or to
retreat ministry, she applied for the position (one of 15 persons world-wide
who did so).

Nancy has just completed six years on the theology faculty of Murdoch
University and two years as the Principal of the Perth Theological Hall,
leading the Uniting Church’s Ministerial Formation Programme. In addition
to teaching, her responsibilities included integrating spiritual formation,
academic studies, and work in the world for candidates in ordained and lay
ministries.

Monica Manning, a member of the six-member search committee, recently talked
with Nancy about her move to take leadership at ARC.

MM: Welcome to ARC, Nancy. I know that the members of the board and
resident community are excited about your assuming this leadership role at
ARC. What led you to respond to that ad?

NV-V: During my years of teaching and leading retreats in Australia, our
family traveled a lot, and the experiences were great - learning about new
places, people, and different cultures. But we’d been pondering a return to
the U.S. for at least a couple of reasons. The hardest part of living
around the world was being so far from our family. We wanted to reconnect
with the people and places that had shaped us, and we wanted our boys to
know and be shaped and loved by those people and places. We realized, too,
that we wanted a creative and challenging opportunity to live a sustainable
and simple life as a family in community, sharing a common ministry.

MM: How do you see this position connecting with your life’s work?

NV-V: I yearned for an innovative position back in the U.S. where I could
be part of a community that encourages people on the “journey inward,
journey outward,” around the values of compassion, hope and love of
neighbor. After the attack on the World Trade Center, I saw my vocation as
working with others on new forms of community, moving beyond the prevalent
values of fear, hatred, consumerism, and violence.

I particularly resonated with ARC’s living legacy of “a deepened self in a
wider world” and felt called to explore it seriously. After I read the two
books the search committee sent me, I was drawn more deeply into the vision
that ARC has had from the beginning. Remarkably, that vision was consistent
with the collective vision of the four of us - my husband Bob and our sons
Aaron (12) and Will (6) and myself - and we all felt ourselves drawn into
that dream.

MM: Your travels have taken you to Norway, the Philippines, Africa, New
Zealand and Taiwan, as well as Australia. How do these experiences shape
your thinking about ARC?

NV-V: Travel has been a blessing to my family. We have met wonderful
people in wonderful places. We came to recognize the dignity, beauty, and
value within other cultures than our own. It helped us see that cultures
may be very different, but we have so much to share - like grieving our
losses and celebrating our joys, and learning together. These life
experiences make for a common language of connection across cultures.

I want to join with others to help ARC grow even more as a place of welcome
for families, groups and individuals who bring the rich diversity that God
created for people. ARC can build on the diversity of wisdom-paths and life
journeys of various cultures and faith traditions, including newly emerging
groups exploring spirituality. ARC can nurture the values of openness,
learning and growth, intentionally practicing hospitality toward other
religious traditions than our own, including indigenous spirituality. We
can form such communities of learning even as we go more deeply into our own
tradition, into discerning what Jesus meant when he said, “I am the way, the
truth and the life.” We need to ask, “What was Jesus’ way? What truth?
What kind of life?” Was his way an exclusive way, or inclusive? I think
that in our time, we have the chance to glimpse anew the breadth and depth
of God’s possibilities!

I believe that our global community will be enriched by this mutual learning
with integrity and respect.

MM: During your visit to ARC in November, I was struck by your connecting
theology and ministry with creativity and artistry. Tell me more about
that.

NV-V: For me, theology is a form of artistry, working with stories,
metaphors, images, and models within the Christian faith tradition. It
involves, too, engaging with the land, discovering links between
spirituality and the environment. It plays out in how we welcome people
into retreat, how we help them discover sacred presence in silence, prayer
and creative response. So I view theology, the environment, ritual and
aesthetics as holding important roles in our spiritual formation. The aim
is a practical wisdom that inspires lives of compassion, love, and justice.

MM: How does that shape the retreats you lead?

NV-V: Each person coming to a retreat carries within her or himself the
gift of the Spirit - becoming a soul artist. Retreats help us be in touch
with the depths of our lives as an attentive, mindful artist. For me,
leading retreats involves creating spaces of openness, invitation, and
discovery, and I, too, become a learner. We see ourselves anew with others
within God’s creation and the beauty and the heartache of the world around
us. Spirituality as soul-artistry involves the imagination. I believe the
prophets and Jesus were imaginative people. On retreat, we have an
especially rich opportunity to be open to the energies of the spirit,
listening for God’s voice and resting in God’s presence.

MM: Nancy, thank you for this time, and thank you for bringing your gifts
to ARC.

Nancy Victorin-Vangerud is an ordained minister with the Minnesota
Conference of the United Methodist Church and received her Ph.D. from
Vanderbilt University. She has served in congregational ministry in
Rochester and St. Croix Valley, Minnesota, and in Nashville, Tennessee. Her
husband and their sons will join her at ARC. Their desire is to live at ARC
so that the family can be involved in community life, with all members
sharing their gifts.
 

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COMMUNITY NEWS
Comings and Goings

We were grateful and blessed to have Tracy Vicory as part of the ARC
Community this fall. She has returned to the Twin Cities to officially
begin life after college and volunteer service. Good luck, Tracy!

Joy Danvers, RSM joined the ARC community in December. Originally from New
Zealand, she has been in the U.S. since 1999. For most of this time she was
at Rockhaven Center for Holistic Living in St. Louis. She is currently
participating in the Spiritual Guidance Training Program held at the
Carondelet Center. At the end of this year, Joy will return to her
community, The Sisters of Mercy, in New Zealand.

Katherine Dutton has moved to St. Paul and is working at Second Harvest
Heartland, a hunger relief organization which receives and distributes large
quantities of food (30 million pounds in Minnesota in 2002) through a
variety of programs. She is a Site Coordinator for a government sponsored
program called MAC/NAPS - Mothers and Children/Nutritional Assistance
Program for Seniors. There are 100+ sites in Minnesota and Western
Wisconsin which collectively distribute over 14,000 boxes of food monthly.
She said she will miss all her friends from ARC but hopes to run into some
of you in the Cities.

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Hunger Facts
Every few seconds - every time we take a deep breath - a child in the
developing world dies from hunger or diseases he/she probably wouldn’t die
from if his/her parents weren’t poor. Millions die each year.

Almost 800 million people - around one out of five people in developing
nations - are undernourished. 200 million of them are children who also
lack adequate health care. 32 percent of the population in the developing
world lives on less than $1 a day. 880 million lack access to adequate
health services, and 2.6 billion lack access to basic sanitation.

The wealthiest 20 percent of the world’s people consume 86 percent of all
goods and services, while the poorest 20 percent gets just 1 percent!

In this country, approximately one out of six children live in poverty. 4
percent of U.S. households experience hunger - skipping meals in order to
make ends meet.

The problem with hunger is not too little food. The United Nations
estimates that there is plenty of food - substantially more calories than
needed to adequately feed everybody alive today. The problem is
distribution.

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Upcoming Retreats at ARC

Heart, Hearth and Hope: Sharing Life at a Deeper Level 7 pm Fri-Sun aft.,
Feb. 13-15
Living together involves both grace and space. This retreat for couples
provides an opportunity to explore with your life partner what it means to
deepen your relationship. It will be a weekend of listening, reflection,
group sharing, worship and re-visioning in the quiet, restorative solitude
of ARC.
Led by Ruth and Loren Halvorson, ARC founders
Cost: $155

The Heart & Art of Compassion: Love, Laughter & Open-Hearted Living
10 am Sat-Sun aft., Feb. 28-29
This retreat will focus on compassion for ourselves as well as others by
using a variety of methods for meditation, quiet self-reflection, group
exercise and sharing. Participants will reflect on these questions: How
does “this” affect me?, What is my purpose in life?, How do I best serve
others? Bring a journal, your pain, your sense of humor, and your
willingness for another look at life’s questions.
Led by Dr. Pat Casello, Holistic Practitioner, Author Cost: $135
(includes book)

Some scholarship assistance is available for ARC-sponsored and private
retreats.
If needed, please ask at the time of registration.

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Private Retreats

Individuals are always welcome at ARC for a time of personal retreat. This
can be for any length of stay as space is available. Rooms are private.
Guests may enjoy resting, reading, snow-shoeing or cross-country skiing in
the woods, and sitting by the fireplace.

The hermitage, a single-person dwelling in the woods, lends itself to a
more solitary retreat. It is a bright, lofty room with a kitchenette and
screened-in porch. Also called Poustinia, which means ’desert space,’ it is
a place where one may enter into the emptiness of isolation and silence to
be encountered by God.

The cottage is a cozy but luxurious cabin available to individuals,
couples, or small groups. It has a full kitchen, bedroom, bath, large loft,
deck, and a living room with a gas fireplace and an A-frame window wall.

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In Our Next Issue . . .
Several members of the ARC community/family have recently traveled to the
Middle East (Palestine and Israel). Look for some reflections on their
experiences in our next newletter.

RESPONSE FORM
Mail to: ARC Retreat Center, 1680-373rd Ave. NE, Stanchfield, MN 55080

Name(s): ______________________________________________

Phone: (____) _____________

Street Address:
__________________________________________________________

City: ___________________________________ State: __________ Zip:
___________________

Special Needs (diet, accessibility, etc.):
_______________________________________________

PLEASE CHECK APPROPRIATE ITEMS:
___ I am registering for the following retreat(s):
____________________________________________________
Retreat Title Retreat Date Deposit Enclosed
($35 per person per night, nonrefundable)
___ I am contributing to the ARC retreat ministry with a gift of
$___________.
(in honor or in memory of a loved one
_______________________________________________ )
___ I am moving. My new address is above. (All gifts are tax
deductible.)
___ I would like a Gift Certificate. Please include name of recipient,
address (if you’d like it sent
directly) and payment. Rates are on the back page.
___ I would like to volunteer ___ for a day, ___ a weekend, ___ longer.

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A Winter Poem by an ARC Guest

Trails
Narrow, stomped
winding, crunching, stopping
providing access
to wonders around.

Trees
Tall, slender,
Smooth to the touch
Swaying, whistling, singing
making laughter
in the sky.

Sun
Strong, bright
warming, melting, shattering
making puddles in the path.

Nests
Immense, wimpy
freely hanging, fluttering, thinning,
peeking the curiosity
of the passer - by.

Tracks
Small, deep,
Whisping, scurrying, hopping
marking the snow
in the wood.

Bark
Rough, lichened,
cracking, shedding, dropping
Baring the tree
To the sun.

Creek
Dark, shallow
Running, bubbling, gurgling
Enfolding snow
Along the edge.

Birds
Blue, red,
Jaying, whistling, shrilling,
warning their friends
of the folk around.

People
Quiet, peaceful
Listening, seeing, wondering
Walking into life
Eyes opened.
- M. Z., St. Paul
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Recent Room Journal Comments from ARC Guests

I am grateful for the renewal and support I have received this weekend-- the
exploration and honoring of my burning life questions, and finding a new
commitment to pin my soul on my sleeve to wear. Thank you ARC and thanks
be.

This is a beautiful place in which to get back to fundamentals of living –
praising God for the beauty of creation and the delight and mystery of just
being alive.

This is my first time at ARC, first retreat on my own. What a gift – 24
hours away from the “shoulds” in my life. Next time I think I’ll be ready
for contemplation. For now I’m savoring the gift of time and space.

ARC is such a very special place; I’m grateful to have spent time here
again. The wonderful sincere people, nourishing food, abundant nature, the
connection of both community & solace. A perfect balance!

I came here feeling lost and alone. I felt physically and mentally drained.
I am amazed at the spirituality here. I’ve met so many wonderful people
and made some new friends. I have found a sense of peace and renewal. ARC
has been a healing place for me.

There is a special energy that permeates ARC . . . when I come here it feels
like my home away from home. This is my last night of volunteering here –
again – and already I’m looking forward to returning. There is a spiritual
flow to the days that is so centering. I always take a little of that back
to the Cities with me-- a maturing of mind, body & soul.
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A Unique Volunteer Opportunity
Ever wonder what it would be like to live in community at ARC? Give it
a try as a short-term volunteer! We continue to seek volunteers willing to
make commitments of one to six months to help us in our ministry of
hospitality. We offer room, board and a modest stipend (if needed), as well
as the chance to experience community life.
We could also use volunteers able to make a half-day or day long
regular, on-going commitment to ARC on a weekly, biweekly or monthly basis .
We have a particular need for help with cooking, housekeeping and outdoor
work.
If you have an interest in either of these types of volunteer positions,
please call us at 763/689-3540 or e-mail arcretreat@hotmail.com. THANKS!

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The New ARC Cookbook
The new ARC cookbook will be available SOON! It’s actually at the printers
.. . . really, truly!! Favorites from the ARC Kitchen is a combination of new
and old favorites from ARC. If you wish to order one now, please fill out
the mail order form below, or you can pick one up next time you’re at ARC on
a retreat. In the meantime, try this great new recipe.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
ARC Cookbook Order Form:

Please send me ________ copies of Favorites from the ARC Kitchen at $14.95
per copy and shipping and handling charges of $4.95 per book. Enclosed is
my check or money order for $ ___________.
Mail books to:

Name __________________________________
Address _________________________________
City ______________ State ____ Zip _________

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Winter Salad Serves 6-8

Salad:
1 to 1 1/2 heads Romaine
lettuce, torn
1 cup shredded Swiss cheese
1/2 cup Craisins (dried cranberries)
1 cup cashews or cashew pieces
1 apple, cubed
1 pear, cubed

Dressing:
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp.Dijon mustard
1 tbsp. poppy seeds
1 tbsp. grated onion
1/3 cup lemon juice
2/3 cup oil

Combine the lettuce, cheese, Craisins, cashews and cubed apple and pear in a
large bowl.

Combine the sugar, salt, mustard, poppy seeds, onion and lemon juice in a
blender. Slowly add the oil while blending. Just before serving, toss
salad with dressing.

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ARC NEEDS LIST

dehumidifiers
white/colored copier paper
cut firewood
bird seed & suet cakes
large stove top tea kettle
any size pottery soup tureen
hand held gas powered weed whacker/brush cutter
long-handled shovels
metal tooth tine rake
new or very gently used twin bed white sheets (flat or fitted) & pillow
cases

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RETREATS
To arrange a group or private retreat, call 763/689-3540.
Office hours: 9 am to 5 pm
e-mail: arcretreat@hotmail.com
Web-site: www.arcretreat.org

COSTS
24-Hr Retreat (Sun-Thurs)...........................................$70
24-Hr Retreat (Fri/Sat).................................................$75
Weekend Retreat (Fri eve-Sun aft).............................$145
Day Retreat (9-4)................$20 Weekdays, $25 Weekends
ARC-Led Weekend....................................................$155
Hermitage (24 hrs)..............$70 Weekdays, $75 Weekends
Cottage..............................................Call/e-mail for rates

Rates are slightly higher for profit-making organizations.
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Reflections . . . .

Only in quiet waters do things mirror themselves undistorted.

Only in a quiet mind is adequate perception of the world.

Hans Margolous

I have discovered that all (human) unhappiness derives from only one source
- not being able to sit quietly in a room.

Pascal, 1670