Sunday Worship
8:00 am Contemporary Worship in the Upper Farnham Hall
10:30 am Holy Eucharist, Rite II in the Sanctuary
7:00 pm Taizé Service
Weekday Services
Tuesdays, 7:00 am, Eucharist for Peace & Justice
Thursdays, 10:30 am, Eucharist at Memorial Apartments
The beauty of the rural Virginia Mountains high up in the Shenandoah Valley, along with perfect weather, was the setting for our Parish Retreat at Shrine Mont, Virginia’s Cathedral Shrine of the Transfiguration in Orkney Springs, VA. We enjoyed each other’s company while doing some of the things that are available at this wonderful retreat center. The biggest problem for most of us was that the weekend was too short.
We never have enough time living in our wired world, over-scheduling too much of our God-given existence, to slow down enough to enjoy the people in our community. At our Shrine Mont retreat we went from fast-forward to slow speed. Our tour of the beautiful farms and forests surrounding Shrine Mont was from a hay wagon, pulled by a very slow tractor. We spent an hour making our name tags and really enjoyed this (really!) thanks to the creative craft project John Seeley lured us into, followed by even more time spent explaining to each other what all the symbols meant that we placed on our name tags. Children (of all ages) crafted meaningful icons that we used in our Compline/Evening prayer/Sunday worship service held at the outdoor Cathedral. We made fools of ourselves in the “Talent Show” organized by our intrepid Camp Captain, Bryan Kelleher. Cynthia Terry & Mimi Walters organized our two worship services; Mimi Walters organized outdoor games, Martha+ led us in Compline and we gathered around the bonfire(followed by s’mores!). We hiked up the mountains to spectacular views, in clear weather. Shrine Mont is so far away from the cities that we actually saw stars at night (millions of them!). The food, brought to our tables by waitstaff so that we could pass the bowls and platters family style, was farm fresh, home-made and marvelous. Our rooms were in small-ish cabins, and were comfortable, attractive and most had en-suite baths!
We were 40 Memorialites (29 adults/teens and 11 children), getting to know each other, in a spiritual setting, old-timers, newcomers and children, having fun, worshiping God, forming a closer community.
View the Shrine Mont 2009 Photo Gallery.
Memorial’s 2010 retreat will again be at Shrine Mont, again the last weekend in June. There will be 60 of us next year. Make your reservations early. Email Paul Seaton at pseaton@memorialepiscopal.org to get on the list.