2009 Program Schedule

View the 2009 rates and registration

May 31 – June 6

Volunteer Week.

Opening the Ranch takes lots of people power, so we are inviting volunteers to come and work with us for this week. Consider joining us!

June 7 - 13

High School Group from Cincinnati

For the past eleven years, groups of 26 boys from Cincinnati, OH have been coming to make retreat at the Ranch under the direction of Mr. Dan Kreimer, Greg Alig, and two other counselors. For many of the boys, the retreat has been a transforming experience. Once again in 2009, we welcome the young men and the teachers/counselors that guide them.

June 14 – 20

Sabbath Spaces: Reclaiming Time and Making It Holy

From the keeping of Sabbath to honoring rites of passage, marking sacred time is a spiritual practice well worth recovering. In a culture where time is money, we often consider time as a commodity rather than hallowing it in the presence of God.

How do busy families construct their own times for celebration and renewal? Can we reclaim life cycle celebrations and holy days from the world of consumption and restore their religious significance in our common lives? We’ll consider practices ancient and new for the hallowing of time.

Katherine Turpin teaches at Iliff School of Theology in Denver and is author of among other works, Branded: Adolescents Converted from Consumer Faith.

One continuing education credit is available through Iliff School of Theology; for more, please contact us

June 21 - 27

High School Group from Cincinnati

June 28 – July 4

Come Apart and Rest Awhile

Come for a week of rest and renewal, spiritual direction, reiki, massage, and quiet rides and hikes. Last year the focus was on varieties of meditation. This year participants are invited to feast on the wonders of the Ranch, whether a plant, a bush, a tree, some simple grasses - maybe a grand vista! Participants will have a chance to really look, to pay close attention, and then paint or draw what they see, what they feel, and what they sense needs to be communicated -- a Zen type of painting.

We will use pastels and drawing to re-create and express the beauty that surrounds us at Ring Lake Ranch. If you paint or draw already, great; if you have the simple desire to see in a different way and try, you will equally enjoy the time. Or if you simply want to come and rest without lifting a brush, come. The Divine Spirit is this week’s ultimate presenter.

Karen Kappell, FSPA, MFA iis a gifted artist who has taught art to grade school children, university students and advanced artists as well. She belongs to a professional artists’ cooperative in Wisconsin and has taught icon writing or painting in Eastern Europe, helping artists there resurrect their traditional form of art and worship lost during the long period under Communism.

Pauline Wittry, FSPA, is an amateur artist and a spiritual director who will share reflective readings as well as be available for spiritual guidance. For many years, Pauline directed the Clinical Pastoral Education Program at Franciscan-Skemp Healthcare in La Crosse, WI. Finishing her career there, she lived for a period in a Christian ashram in India and a Zen center in Germany before beginning a ministry as spiritual and retreat director at Marywood Spirituality Center in Woodruff, WI.

July 5 - 11

High School Group from Cincinnati

July 12 – 24

Thomas Merton & Contemplative Living

Perhaps more than any other single individual in the 20th century, the Cistercian monk, writer, and social activist, Thomas Merton made the term “contemplative” a commonplace in American spiritual discourse. Who was Merton? How did he understand “contemplation”? What was the relationship between Merton-the-contemplative and Merton-the-poet? Is contemplative life possible for non-monastics? Desirable? A generation after his death, what practical insights does Merton offer those who want to live saner, more spiritually centered lives? We will address these and related questions in these twelve days with Thomas Merton.

Bonnie Thurston currently lives in solitude near Wheeling, WV having resigned the William F. Orr Professorship in New Testament at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. A founding member of the International Thomas Merton Society she served as its third president and has written more than 20 scholarly articles on Merton, given retreats and lectured on Merton widely in the U.S., Canada, and Europe. She is the editor of Thomas Merton and Buddhism. Bonnie has written eleven theological books and over 100 articles and has contributed to reference works in New Testament.

Ordained in 1984, she has served as co-pastor, pastor, or interim of five churches and twice in overseas ministries. Her poetry frequently appears in religious periodicals, and she has authored two volumes of verse. Bonnie is a widow, an avid reader, gardener and cook, enjoys classical music (especially the opera and liturgical music) and loves the West Virginia hills.

Two continuing education credits are available through Iliff School of Theology; for more, please contact us

July 26 – August 1

The Living Land - This session is full.

Come discover the stories that are hidden in the beauty of Ring Lake’s setting in the Wind River Mountains. The rocks speak to us of ancient sea beds and granites, volcanoes, and “brand new” mountains. From lake level to mountain top, plants and animals have their stories as well. Early human inhabitants knew the Ring Lake area as a sacred place thousands of years ago.

Come see what they saw on hikes, rides, or strolls; learn more through illustrated evening sessions. Your own home will be more interesting after a week at Ring Lake. This session may be of particular interest to families with children.

Alan and Jeanie Mebane both came to the Rockies after college graduation. Later Alan worked in northwest Wyoming for 13 years as a park ranger/naturalist. He has degrees in geology. Jeanie has a background in natural history and has been a naturalist with both the National Park Service and US Forest Service. They have both volunteered at Ring Lake Ranch many times and enjoy sharing its wonders.

August 2 – 8

Wilderness Spirituality

The Wind River Range of Wyoming is a ideal context for reflecting on the spiritual insights of those in the history of Christian spirituality who have discovered God's presence in wild terrain. From the Desert Christians and Gregory of Nyssa to Teilhard de Chardin and Thomas Merton, people have been fascinated with desert and mountain places. This retreat focuses on the importance of place in the spiritual life, the letting go that wilderness invites, the prophetic power of life on the edge, and the unexpected solace of fierce landscapes.

Belden Lane is professor of theology and American Studies at St. Louis University and author of, among other works, Landscapes of the Sacred: Geography and Narrative in American Spirituality (Expanded Second Edition), Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001 and The Solace of Fierce Landscapes: Exploring Desert and Mountain Spirituality (Oxford University Press, 1998).

One continuing education credit is available through Iliff School of Theology; for more, please contact us

August 9 – 15

All of Us for All of God

“All of Us for All of God.” Jesus’ first commandment sets the tone for exploring different ways that people learn and know. “You shall love God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength” (Mark 12:30). We will consider three major theories about how people perceive, process and respond when they communicate with one another.

Participants will expand their repertoire of communicative skills so that they may more fully honor the diversity of ways in which people learn from one another. These skills can be helpful in a wide range of activities from preaching to teaching to leading meetings to writing more effectively and to guiding people toward a deeper relationship with God.

Thomas H. Troeger is J. Edward and Ruth Cox Lantz Professor of Christian Communication at Yale, has written more than fifteen books in the fields of preaching, poetry, hymnody, and worship, most recently Preaching and Worship, Preaching While the Church Is Under Reconstruction, and Above the Moon Earth Rises: Hymn Texts, Anthems and Poems for a New Creation. He is also a flutist and a poet whose work appears in the hymnals of most denominations and is frequently set as choral anthems. He has led conferences and lectureships in worship and preaching throughout North America, as well as in Denmark, Holland, Australia, Japan, and Africa. Ordained in the Presbyterian Church in 1970 and in the Episcopal Church in 1999, he is dually aligned with both traditions.

H. Edward Everding, Jr. is Emeritus Professor of Religious Education and New Testament, The Iliff School of Theology, Denver, CO. Ed has been recognized for his professional roles as educator, scholar, administrator and church leader. For a number of summers since 1976, Ed has either presented or been a guest at Ring Lake Ranch. He currently serves on the Ring Lake Ranch Board.

One continuing education credit is available through Iliff School of Theology; for more, please contact us

August 16 – 22

Writing for Ministry & Personal Fulfillment

"How do I know what I think 'til I see what I say?" asked E.M. Forster. Writing can be a superb tool to explore our values and beliefs, make sense of our life experiences and dialogue with the Big Ideas. We'll look at personal forms as well as more public ones: how to communicate with church groups, colleagues or students in clear, memorable ways. Enjoyable exercises will give participants ways to write independently after our time together at RLR.

Kathy Coffey gives retreats and workshops nationally and internationally, has won fifteen writing awards and the Foley Poetry Award. She has written, among other books, Hidden Women of the Gospels, The Art of Faith, Women of Mercy, God in the Moment: Making Every Day a Prayer, Immersed in the Sacred: the Small s Sacraments, and God Knows Parenting Is a Wild Ride. Kathy taught writing at U. of Colorado, Denver and Regis University and has been an editor for Church Publishing.

One continuing education credit is available through Iliff School of Theology; for more, please contact us

August 23 – 29

Listening Matters

Throughout our whole lives, countless people, many facets of the natural world, God, our bodies, our own beings, and a multitude of experiences constantly speak to us and ask to be heard, bringing many opportunities for growth. Yet we tend to respond only to a fraction of the information sent to us. We may be tempted to minimize the fact that in our lives we are being spoken to from a broad spectrum of sources, and that receiving their communications well requires a conscious and clear effort. This session will focus on listening well, on tuning into all the ways life may be speaking to us, and how we might be better receivers of the wisdom that comes our way. Remember the words from James’ letter, “Let everyone be quick to hear and slow to speak.” (1:19)

Joan Guntzelman, nurse, psychologist, has worked closely with countless dying and grieving people, healthcare and hospice workers, medical students and physicians. She is author of five books, including Blessings Life’s Losses and God Knows You’re Grieving. Joan served as director of Ring Lake Ranch for ten years.

August 30 – Sept. 5

Because of an unexpected scheduling conflict, Communicating with Animals will be replaced by --

Deepening Your Spiritual Growth with the Enneagram

How we pray or relate to others and to God is intimately connected to our personality: our unique, fundamental orientations of character and perception. The Enneagram is a system of personality typology that combines both psychology and spirituality in the search for self- awareness and personal transformation. Based on an ancient understanding of spiritual consciousness, this approach describes nine different personality types and how each has a distinct way of viewing self and others. Study of the Enneagram can improve relationships with family, friends and co-workers. By bringing awareness to the barriers that we construct between ourselves and God’s grace the Enneagram can be a powerful tool for self-transformation and spiritual growth.

Eric Wheeler was trained and certified in the narrative tradition of the Enneagram by Helen Palmer and David Daniels. For over ten years, he has been offering classes, seminars, retreats, and private consultations for churches, universities, and businesses throughout the upper mid-west. Member of the International Enneagram Association, Eric was a presenter at their convention in Ireland. Having offered a well-received session in 2007, we welcome him back to the Ranch.

Sept. 5 - 11

Flyfishing and Theology

FAITH - FELLOWSHIP – FLYFISHING

Though not a regular seminar session, guests are welcome to register with Fred Webb for this program. (540) 962-1300