A Look Back at Create in Me 2018: Day 1

A year ago, the Create in Me retreat would be waking up to our first full day at camp.  I never really posted the wide variety of pictures that I took, so let me do so today.

We began our Bible study with Kevin Strickland. 

When I look over my notes, I don't see the specific Bible verse we studied on this day in 2018, but I did find some interesting nuggets:  Luke was written at the same time as Matthew (80-85 CE).  Luke has more women doing ministry than any other gospel, but John has more named women.  More than any other Gospel, Luke looks out for the Other.  It's in Luke where we get the inn and no room for a stranger (the Christmas story).

After Bible study, we had our workshops for the day.  Workshops give us time to learn something in a more focused way than the drop-in stations; workshops have at least one leader for a guide.  On the first day of the retreat, we could learn about decorating eggs

and dying them after the wax application:

baking bread

(which would later be used for communion)

essential oils

knitting

and a non-craft presentation on immigration (it fit with the hospitality theme of the retreat):

After lunch, we did some worship preparation.  I am always amazed that a group of people can arrive and put together an amazing worship service with so little time and resources.  Of course, we're a group of creative people, so I shouldn't be surprised.

All afternoon, the drop in stations were open.  I won't try to catalog those here--we usually have 12-15 stations, with a variety of activities for a variety of skill levels. 

We also had a community art project:

Everyone was invited to create a place setting--what a fascinating collection by the end of the week-end!  The tags could be used to give information about what hospitality meant to us.  Many people remembered tables and settings that were most hospitable, but some recounted painful memories of exclusion.

After dinner, we had a wonderful worship service:

We ended with time to go back to drop in stations or head off for some private time.

Yes, it was a great retreat.  If these pictures whet your appetite, you could join us the Thursday to Sunday after Easter.  The retreat will be at Lutheridge, a wonderful camp near Asheville, North Carolina.  Go here for more information about the camp and the retreat.