Blue Cloud Retreat
By Hanna Schutte ’11
Gustavus has a history of helping students develop a mature understanding of their faith. Each fall, two specific retreats offer students an intentional experience to do so.
The Curriculum II (CII) program offers a retreat at the Blue Cloud Abbey, a Benedictine monastery in Marvin, S.D., which gives students a chance to learn about faith in a different environment and journey in their own faith discoveries.
“We read the rules of St. Benedict in CII and then saw the monks live those rules,” said Rebekah Schulz, a junior majoring in English and secondary education. Students spend the retreat weekend at the abbey in various ways—relaxing on the water in a canoe, sitting and contemplating in the chapel, or simply taking a break from school to recharge.
A deliberate pace was one of the things 2008 participants noticed while attending the CII abbey retreat. The monks attend chapel five times a day, utilize repetition in their worship services, and perform services in a slow, purposeful way. “At first it was a little weird, but you were able to chew on the words, and really stop and think about what they meant,” stated Daniel Jackson, a junior biochemistry major. Participants were able to experience firsthand what it was like to truly live the statements that “God is sufficient” and that “always means always.”
The second fall faith-based retreat was the Apprentice Retreat. Chapel apprentices are students who are invited into the apprenticeship program by the Office of the Chaplains. Students are selected based on their interest and participation in the Chapel programs as well as a desire to develop further spiritually. The focus of the apprentice group is to relay student reactions about Christ Chapel programs and to grow in their own faith through discussions.
Held in Belle Plaine, the Apprentice Retreat occurs with two goals in mind: To foster personal development—a chance for faith reflection on an individual basis—and to bring together the members of the group in order to get to know each other and have conversation to build community.
One of the main events of the apprentice retreat is “deep listening,” where participants pair off and receive the opportunity to speak with their partner about anything to a non-judgmental audience. “Sometimes, it isn’t okay to just talk about yourself. This was a chance to express yourself and verbalize things,” stated Becky Carlson, a senior psychology major. The students verbalized their thoughts and contemplated their faith.
Students had a chance to reflect upon their faith journey and describe it as a symbol. They listened to the Gustavus chaplains do the same. “Everyone should have a chance to do some reflection, and it is important to do something different as a busy college student,” said Bethany Ringdal, a sophomore religion major.
The students returned from each retreat recharged and ready to take on their busy college student lives. But it is more than just individually rewarding.
“There is an intentional sense of reciprocity and we have built strong relationships with the places and people,” said Chaplain Brian Johnson. Gusties have helped strengthen and build connections, often by choosing to return to or work at the retreat sites after their faith retreats.
The chance to be in a different environment and partake of another lifestyle are experiences that cannot be had on the Gustavus campus. Developing a sense of community and leadership from spending a weekend listening and talking are easily accomplished in a relaxed atmosphere.
While Gustavus has a variety of retreats for various reasons, these two retreats provide good examples of how Gustavus assists students in living out the faith core value.