Emerging Spiritual Community at Heartberry Hollow Farm & Forest

Beginning in the fall of 2021, the Retreat House started having conversations and imagining how to support the spiritual journeys of young adults. We noticed an interest in authentic community and in ritual practice. These conversations happened across the country in urban, suburban, and rural settings. More information can be found about our contemplative process for becoming a conversation partner with young adults through Trytank.org. More information about the content of these conversations can be found through our podcast, “The Forest’s Edge,” available through Spotify. What we did not imagine would be a request from folks in central Vermont to meet with each other! So during the early fall of 2022, Spirit Dinners emerged as a community table with shared food, fellowship, and conversation around what it means to be spiritual beings alive in the world.

Another emergent ministry of The Retreat House began to take shape in the late spring of 2022. Part-time, newly ordained millennial clergy began reaching out with an interest in receiving support and finding a place to share their experiences of the realities of part-time ministry in the Episcopal Church. These conversations created a monthly Zoom support community for clergy in Province One and led to the creation of a document that shares the recommendations and noticings of younger clergy stepping into ministry in this time of deep transformation for the church. We have been grateful to have the support of Province One and the Episcopal Church in Connecticut for these conversations and are actively pursuing ways to share the voices of these clergy leaders.