Morning Silence
2025-02-05 08:00, 2025-02-19 08:00, 2025-03-05 08:00, 2025-03-19 08:00, 2025-04-02 08:00, 2025-04-16 08:00, 2025-05-07 08:00, 2025-05-21 08:00 (America/New_York) and 10 more dates | NC
Morning Silence is an ongoing event that occurs from 8:00 – 9:00 am on Zoom on the first and third Wednesdays of each month. Rotating facilitators provide a few words about the theme(s) for the day to introduce each session. Two sessions of silence (20 minutes) follow with a brief time of stretching in between. The time concludes with 10 minutes of sharing from the participants. To be added to the notification list, please go to contact us page.

Anger: Yours, Theirs, and God’s
2025-03-13 08:30 - 14:30 | Avila, 711 Mason Road, Durham, NC, 27712, United States
Quandaries & Conversations for Clergy

Location: Avila Center for Community Leadership, 711 Mason Rd, Durham, NC 27712

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“I know that compassion is all out of fashion and anger is all the rage.“
-David Wilcox

Ours is certainly an age in which “anger is all the rage.”

Consider these questions:

Rev. Dr. Paul Lang, Pastor of Cary Presbyterian, will facilitate this timely conversation with area pastors serving in an array of ministries.

† While it seems that scripture on the whole counsels against having and harboring anger — it is also true that there are moments when God is overcome with wrath. How do we understand God’s anger?

† Can anger ever be the source of virtue?

† In the current US culture, many seem to feel that their anger is justified and, in fact, is indicative of their righteousness. Can that be true?

† What are we to do with anger … ours and theirs … personally and pastorally?

This will be the first of three gatherings in 2025 with the intent of providing helpful space and time for clergy conversation and camaraderie.

Registration is limited. A healthy lunch, drinks, and snacks will be provided. For scholarship requests, please contact elaina@peacehillavila.org.

Sponsored by Peace Hill, RCWMS, and Duke University Chapel.

Telling Our Stories: Blessings and Trials
2025-03-16 15:00 - 2025-03-18 10:00 | Avila, 711 Mason Road, Durham, NC, 27712, United States
“Ruth and Naomi” by Luba Lukova www.lukova.net

Location: Avila Center for Community Leadership, 711 Mason Road, Durham NC 27712

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You are invited to Telling Our Stories: Blessings and Trials, a time of retreat and reunion, honoring the 50th anniversary of founding the Women’s Center at Duke Divinity School and the herstories embedded in that ministry!

Several alums are preparing a time and a space for stories of our lives to be told and heard, for alums and students to meet, and for renewing ties with classmates and with the institution we share.

We will focus on…

REFLECTING – how women-centered thought and action took place 50 years ago in DDS and in the five decades since.

CONNECTING – renewing ties of friendship, meeting new friends and colleagues, engaging DDS alums from diverse generations.

HONORING – Women’s Center student coordinators and their faithful work, as well as faculty and staff who have mentored and advised them.

ARCHIVING – gathering stories of our lives as students and as graduates, in written and oral forms, to add to the historical record of women at Duke Divinity School.

Welcome to Peace Hill at Avila!

Our host for the gathering is Peace Hill at Avila, a 25-year-old community whose mission is to nurture people working toward a more compassionate and just society. With original buildings dating from a mid-20th century Carmelite monastic group and lodgings added to enable Avila Retreat Center to operate in the 1980s, the setting is conducive to group meetings, walks in the surrounding forest, convivial meals, and quiet contemplation.

Accessible rooms are adjacent to the central gathering spaces. Meals will be coordinated through local caterers, with attention to dietary preferences. Plenty of “grazing” options will be available at all times.

The cost of this event is partially underwritten by the Resource Center for Women and Ministry in the South.

Ticket options:

Full tickets include overnight lodging, food, and program: $195

Commuter tickets include food and program (no lodging): $125

Student tickets include meal and program (no lodging): $25

Starting time: 3 pm on Sunday, March 16Ending time: 10 am on Tuesday, March 18

Tentative Schedule

Sunday, March 16, 20253 pm-6 pm Welcome, move in/set up supplies, orient to spaces and natural setting at Avila4-6 pm Welcome and introduce yourself to Minoka Yonts, Director of Alumni Relations!4:30 pm Recording session times available5:30 pm Happy Hour, followed by 6pm Evening meal in Dining Room7:30 pm Talk with Susan Thistlethwaite about 50+-year history of women in seminaries in historicaland cultural context9 pm Evening prayer, quiet time

Monday, March 17, 20257 am-8 am Morning silence (chapel, library, outdoors)8 am Breakfast in dining room. Welcome Chinwe Edeani and Mia Lee, current WC coordinators!9 am-12 noon Circle of story-telling and listening (may record)12:30 pm Lunch, walk, recording session times available2-4 pm Café table conversations reflecting on what we’ve heard and what we want to share withothers (such as hopes and recommendations for action) arising from the time together4:00 pm Welcome Dr. Jerusha Neal, faculty advisor for the Women’s Center!4:30 pm Recording session times available5:30 pm Happy Hour, followed by 6pm Evening meal in Dining Room7:30 pm Liturgy of thanksgiving, lament, restoration9 pm Quiet time

Tuesday, March 18, 20257 am-8 am Morning silence8 am Breakfast in dining room, with blessings on the time together9 am Prepare to leave (check-out time is 10 am).Car-pool to campus/Divinity School for 11:45 worship at Goodson Chapel, followed by lunch withMinoka Yonts (MDiv’17), Director of Alumni Relations.

YOUR PARTICIPATION is sought even if you are not able to attend the March 16-18 gathering! Our goal is to gather stories from our time as divinity students and after, and to share these stories with a wider audience by placing them in the University Archives. You are invited to write or record stories that respond to prompts – or to use whatever focus you wish.

Here are some possible prompts:

How did you decide to attend Duke Divinity? Did the decision fit the existing contour of your life or represent a new direction?

As you reflect on your life story and the social, political, cultural settings of your life, what place does your time as a Duke Divinity student occupy in your story?

In what ways did the Women’s Center at Duke Divinity influence your life and studies?

Tell about Women’s Center colleagues, faculty, staff/administrators or others who influenced your faith and vocation at Duke Divinity.

What other stories would you like to tell?

We invite you to bring your stories to the gathering or email them to planners.

We hope to be able to make video and/or audio recordings of your stories during the gathering. Stay tuned for further information about this.

Contact: nrosebaugh@hotmail.com or bettylwolfe@gmail.com

Seasons Within
2025-03-20 09:00 - 15:00 | Avila, 711 Mason Road, Durham, NC, 27712, United States
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Seasons Within is a quarterly retreat series to celebrate the equinox and solstice sponsored by Peace Hill at Avila.

Join us for a day of renewal and deep inner listening as we honor the Spring Equinox—a time of balance, growth, and new beginnings. We will work with the archetype of the Healer, exploring what has heart and meaning through four transformative practices. Each practice will center on one chamber of the four-chambered heart: full, open, clear, and strong.

Just as the Earth awakens from winter’s stillness, we, too, are called to realign with life-affirming patterns. This seasonal shift invites us to nourish our well-being, strengthen our inner clarity, and expand into spring with purpose. Through mindful movement with sound bowls, silent reflection, and intentional practice, we will cultivate the vitality needed to embrace the season ahead.

This is an invitation to tend to your own healing as a radical act—for yourself and the world around you.

The spring retreat will be led by Shakira Bethea. With over a decade of experience as a licensed massage and bodywork therapist, Shakira’s deep commitment to embodied living has evolved over time, shaping her brand Rhythmic Bloom.

She guides others on a transformative journey of spiritual and personal growth, helping them reset after grief, depression, and life’s hardships. Through loving honesty and mindful movement, she supports individuals in finding resonance, reclaiming their rhythm, and embracing a life of deeper connection and purpose.

You can learn more about her work at www.rhythmicbloom.com.

Flow of Community
2025-04-04 15:00 - 2025-04-06 12:00 | Avila, 711 Mason Road, Durham, NC, 27712, United States
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Join us for Flow of Community, a weekend workshop focused on building community through guided movement, conversations, and meditation.

The workshop will be led by Tony C. Johnson, Choreographer, Activist, Mercy Associate at Sisters of Mercy, Founder of My Neighbor Ministries, and Ambassador for the American Dance Festival.

Together, workshop participants will discover ways to rebuild a community where every member is a part, is equal, and feels a sense of belonging. We all wear many masks. This workshop is for persons who are aware of the importance of community and the necessity to recreate it; people who are willing to be true and authentic about themselves, to join in a sacred space together, where they would be willing to share with each other, be there for each other, and be vulnerable.

This retreat will be followed with a performance by the participants who attended the retreat.

Sponsored by The Racial Justice and Reconciliation Committee of the Diocese of North Carolina.

Meals will be provided, and fruit, snacks, and beverages will be available. Please note any dietary requests when completing registration.

Overnight lodging options:

Single room with a shared bath ($230)

Double rooms with a shared bath can be booked individually ($260) or attendees can elect to share a room ($210 each)

We have a limited number of scholarships available. To request a scholarship, please contact us at information@peacehillavila.org. A limited number of commuter tickets (no lodging included) are also available for $150 each.

About our Retreat Leader

Tony Johnson’s story is one of deep commitment and passion for serving others, especially thosein marginalized communities. For over 29 years, he has dedicated his life to the mission of theSisters of Mercy in America, working to support the poor, homeless, and those living onsociety’s fringes. His journey reflects a profound connection between faith, service, and the arts,with dance serving as both an expression of his spiritual journey and a tool for deepercommunity engagement.

His career began with a year-long program in discipleship at the Servant Leadership School in Washington, DC, where he interned at N St. Village, a center for homeless women. His desire to serve others then led him to AmeriCorps, where he worked for two years as a volunteer coordinator, and the Maryland Ecumenical Council, where he spent seven years mobilizing churches and volunteers to support individuals living with HIV/AIDS.

Tony’s work didn’t stop with his involvement in existing ministries. He founded severalministries of his own, including an AIDS Ministry in Durham, North Carolina, and 9th Street.Ministries, which focused on serving the poor and homeless in the West Durham area. His mostA recent initiative, “My Neighbor Ministry,” launched in 2021, continues his legacy of service tomarginalized communities in the DC area.

Beyond his work in community outreach and social justice, Tony’s love for dance has been anintegral part of his ministry. Through dance, he has created over 10 original works that embodyhis faith journey and reflect on scripture. His role as a dance minister reflects his belief in usingmovement as a powerful means of expressing and connecting with others. In 2023, he wascommissioned by the American Dance Festival to create a piece, “Flow of Community,” thatreflects on his experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. He also premiered a documentary,Dance Came My Voice, showcasing his unique blend of faith, community, and movement.Tony’s life and ministry exemplify a deep commitment to service, creativity, and connection,using every opportunity to care for those most in need. His work is a living testament to thetransformative power of faith and art in building compassionate communities.

Staying at Avila

The retreat will take place at Avila Center for Community Leadership, a retreat center located on 50 acres of wooded land in Northern Durham. Avila first opened in 1957 as a Carmelite monastery, and became a gathering place for faith groups and nonprofit organizations during the 1980’s. Today, Avila is operated by Self-Help, United for a Fair Economy, Union of Southern Service Workers, and Peace Hill.

Nestled in the woods, the residential cabins offer a tranquil and peaceful setting to step away from the busyness and noise of everyday life. The grounds of Avila include nature trails, gazebos, a labyrinth, and a fire pit, offering the perfect contemplative setting for community building.

Practice, Poetry and Play
2025-06-04 08:30 - 14:30 | Avila, 711 Mason Road, Durham, NC, 27712, United States
Clergy Together for a Day of Re-Creation, Song, and Joy

Location: Avila Center for Community Leadership, 711 Mason Rd, Durham, NC 27712

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This will be the second of three gatherings in 2025 with the intent of providing helpful space and time for clergy conversation and camaraderie.

Retreat facilitators:

Lois DeloatchMusic Artist; Senior Fellow, Self-Help

Lois Deloatch’s prior leadership roles include Executive Vice President at Self-Help, Vice Chancellor for Institutional Advancement at NCCU, and Executive Director of the NCCU Foundation. For 21 years, she worked at Duke University as Associate Director of Corporate and Foundation Relations, Major Gifts Officer, and Development Officer. She is also an active music artist, a longtime resident of Durham, and a native of Northampton County, NC. Her service with Peace Hill is focused on uplifting the community, especially under-resourced and systematically oppressed people, and advancing peace.

Racquel GillMinister for Intercultural Engagement, Duke University Chapel

In addition to her work at Duke Chapel, Racquel Gill is the Theologian in Residence for the Resource Center for Women and Ministry in the South and a member of the board of directors at the Pauli Murray Center for History and Social Justice. Racquel is grateful for the radical welcome and acceptance she received from the Peace Hill community and continues to share and explore connections between advocacy for the world and the life of the Spirit as a board member.

Chalice OveryAssociate Pastor, Pullen Memorial Baptist Church; Spiritual Director, Root Cause Collective

In addition to her roles at Pullen Memorial Baptist Church and Root Cause Collective, Chalice Overy co-directed a BIPOC clergy support initiative through Duke Divinity School’s Clergy Health Initiative and provides spiritual support for folks doing justice work. Chalice believes that a connection to The Divine or one’s own soul is necessary for sustaining integral justice movements. She focuses on trauma-informed and culturally-informed spiritual practice, and enjoys movement, spending time outside, skiing, and pickleball.

Registration is limited. A healthy lunch, drinks, and snacks will be provided. For scholarship requests, please contact elaina@peacehillavila.org.

Sponsored by Peace Hill, RCWMS, and Duke University Chapel.

Seasons Within
2025-06-20 09:00 - 15:00 | Avila, 711 Mason Road, Durham, NC, 27712, United States
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How Do You Keep the Music Playing?

In the midst of changes, challenges, and choices, how do you keep the music of your heart alive? How do you allow your soul to continue to sing out its deepest longing in a world that often seems, gone mad?

We will gather as beloved community and share our hearts’ songs through meditation, sharing our stories, labyrinth play, and yes, even making melodies, strung together by love and light.

Facilitator Shirli Hughes says: “As a musician, I am always listening for hidden melodies, found in unexpected places that bring joy to my soul. This is the joy that I want to share with you and watch in wonder as you discover and reconnect with your own inner song, waiting to be set free!”

Seasons Within is a quarterly retreat series to celebrate the equinox and solstice sponsored by Peace Hill at Avila.

Public Talk with Lama Rod Owens
2025-07-24 19:00 - 20:30 | Eno River Unitarian Church, 4907 Garrett Road, Durham, NC, 27707, United States
Eno River Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, Durham NC

Online registration is now closed. Participants are welcome to register at the door.

In a time of systems collapse and rapid change, we are invited to remember who we are and resolve to do the work of learning to be free in an unfree world.

This ticket option is for the Thursday evening talk only. If you would like to attend the weekend retreat, please register at this link. Please note, registration for the weekend retreat includes Thursday admission.

Presented by Bhumi Durham in partnership with Peace Hill at Avila.

Learn more about Lama Rod Owens here.

The Werk of Getting Free
2025-07-25 15:00 - 2025-07-27 15:00 | Avila, 711 Mason Road, Durham, NC, 27712, United States
Avila Center for Community Leadership, Durham NC

Join Waiting List

We are living through an apocalypse, a period of deep truth unveiling. This revelation seems overwhelming especially as it calls into question our participation in social systems that perpetuate violence, including racism and white supremacy. Through skillful practice, we can meet these challenges, remember who we are, and lean into love, community, and belonging. Join Lama Rod Owens as he guides us into relationship with our suffering and with both the seen and the unseen worlds to do the work of abolishing systems of violence. Through connection to the elders, the elements, land, indigenous wisdom, our magic, and our practice, we can learn to be the medicine we and our communities need.

During our time together on retreat we will share the work and werk of getting free, which will include:

Meditation

Movement

Ancestor practices

Earth-based rituals and practices

Group dialogues and discussions

Laughter and joy

Love and compassion practices

Presented by Bhumi Durham in partnership with Peace Hill at Avila.

REGISTRATION PROCESS:

The first round of applications is now closed. To join the waiting list, please fill out the form at this link:

Join Waiting List

We expect this retreat to be oversubscribed, so preference will be given to BIPOC, LGBTQ people, and those who have been studying with Lama Rod. The first group of applicants will be admitted in May, after which all remaining applicants will be added to a waiting list. Admissions will continue until the retreat is full, and often there are last minute cancellations which allow those still on the waiting list to be admitted.

TICKET PRICING:

Residential retreat (includes single-room accommodations and meals): $500

Residential retreat (pay it forward to help us provide support): $600

Supported residential retreat (scholarship rate): $350

Non-residential retreat (commuter ticket includes meals but not overnight accommodations): $300

The Thursday evening talk is included in any of these registration options.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION:

The retreat containerAfter the opening program on the first night until the noon meal on the third day, everyone is invited to enter into silence throughout the buildings and grounds. At times, such as the Q&A sessions, silence will be lifted in the meditation hall.

This supportive silence invites all yogis to refrain from verbal and written communication with others, including telephone calls, texts, and emails. There will be an emergency number for emergencies.

MealsCoffee and tea will be available during the retreat. Meals will be vegetarian. Please let us know allergies and food intolerances on your application form.

LodgingAll rooms are single, and some are more accessible than others. Please let us know your accessibility needs on the application form. Some of the rooms that require stairs are large double rooms, and a limited number of these can be shared at a lower cost upon request.

Accessibility Please help us make this retreat as accessible as possible by telling us about your accessibility needs on the application.

Location of the retreat The retreat venue is Avila Center, a 20-minute drive from downtown Durham and a 35-minute drive from the Raleigh Durham (RDU) airport.

The Avila Center for Community Leadership is a nonprofit community center, where people and groups connect, deepen their work and rejuvenate. The mission of the center is to support and connect community organizers and leaders working together for systemic change in the South and beyond. The buildings are surrounded by 50 acres of green space and trails.

You can learn more about Avila at this link.

If you have questions about this retreat or your registration, please contact Karen at BhumiDurham@gmail.com

Seasons Within
2025-09-22 09:00 - 15:00 | Avila, 711 Mason Road, Durham, NC, 27712, United States
Homecoming: An Autumn Immersion

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You’re invited to join us for a day of celebrating the sensuous autumn season. With the intention of finding inner peace in these changing times, we’ll come together to share in a day of mindful practices such as meditation, journal writing, labyrinth walks, and movement. We will focus on the richness of this beautiful season to gain insights and healing from Mother Nature.

If you will stay close to nature, to its simplicity, to the small things hardly noticeable,those things can unexpectedly become great and immeasurable. -Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet

Facilitator: Phil Mathews, Peace Hill Board of Directors

Phil Mathews worked in pastoral ministry for over 30 years, including serving as HIV/AIDS Chaplain, Program Director for AIDS Interfaith Network of North Texas, and a variety of roles at the Cathedral of Hope Metropolitan Community Church (MCC). While Associate Pastor at MCC of Washington DC, he led mission teams in the Dominican Republic. His last service in professional ministry was as Pastor of Imani MCC of Durham NC. Peace Hill has become one of his “faith communities” since retiring from ministry in the church.

Seasons Within is a quarterly retreat series to celebrate the equinox and solstice sponsored by Peace Hill at Avila.

Footsteps Ahead of Ours
2025-09-26 17:00 - 2025-09-27 18:00 | Avila, 711 Mason Road, Durham, NC, 27712, United States
A cultural review of the first occupants of Orange and Durham counties

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Beverly ScarlettCo-Founder, Indigenous Memories

Join Beverly Scarlett for a transformative overnight retreat exploring the history of the land, water sources, and the first occupants of Orange and Durham counties, filled with live music, movement, and storytelling. Together, we’ll learn about the lives of Indigenous, Maroon, Slave, and Free People of Color who occupied land along the Historic Indian Trading Path now called Mason Road, and how that history shapes the place many of us call home today. Footsteps Ahead of Ours is an opportunity to gain knowledge that has been erased and rewritten in familiar historical narratives, in a way that you’ve never experienced history before.

As part of the retreat, participants will have the opportunity to visit sacred burial spaces maintained by Indigenous Memories, including several likely ancient Indigenous burial mounds, disrupted burial mounds, and a Maroon cemetery where Indigenous and Free People of Color are buried in the same space. During a 3-mile historical hike, Beverly will share the art of dowsing, instruction on identifying Indigenous burials and slave burials.

Participants will learn about and have the opportunity to take part in the The Hillsborough Legacy Project, which explores the genetic and historical stories of the Hardscrabble/Pleasant Grove Plantation in Hillsborough, North Carolina, as well as how this history impacts the modern health of descendants. On Saturday, participants will also enjoy live music performed by Ajusher.

The retreat begins at 5:00 pm on Friday and ends at 7:00 pm on Saturday. The registration fee of $249 will cover lodging, meals, and the retreat program. A limited number of commuter tickets are available, and a discounted rate will be available to those opting to share a room. Scholarship assistance is available to those with financial need. To request a scholarship, please email information@peacehillavila.org

Scholarship funding is generously provided by Bluestem and individual donors.

About the Retreat Leader

Judge Beverly A. Scarlett is a native of Orange County, North Carolina. She holds a Bachelor of Science from St. Augustine’s College and a Juris Doctor from North Carolina Central University School of Law-Evening Division. Upon graduating from law school, she returned to her home community where she practiced law as a solo practitioner, assistant district attorney, and district court judge. After retiring from the State of North Carolina in 2021, Judge Scarlett began focusing on the history of her ancestors. She co-founded Indigenous Memories along with her sister Yolanda, being supported by her sister Jackie, and cousins Maureen and Teresa. Through her work with Indigenous Memories, Judge Scarlett utilizes modalities of the arts (paintings, music, storytelling and writing books) to share the rich history of her Indigenous, Maroon, and Slave ancestors as found in court records, newspapers, and traditional oral history. Judge Scarlett proudly shares the history of her family to provide a more complete history of the lives of People of Color in Alamance, Durham, and Orange counties, and to lend context to the recorded history of North Carolina’s Piedmont.

About the Retreat Setting

Avila Center for Community Leadership

The retreat will be held at Avila Center for Community Leadership, a rural setting 20 minutes north of downtown Durham. Originally a Carmelite monastery that has since been transformed into a center for community organizing, Avila offers private and shared accommodations nestled into the woods. The 50-acre property includes trails, a labyrinth, as well as numerous spaces for conversation and quiet moments of contemplation.

Nourishing meals featuring local farm-fresh ingredients will be provided by Netta’s Pantry, including dinner on Friday and breakfast, lunch, and dinner on Saturday, as well as plenty of snacks and beverages.

This retreat is for those with curiosity about the place they call home and an openness to relearn what they have been taught, as well as those looking to reconnect with the land and with each other.

Sponsored by Peace Hill at Avila.

Cancellation Policy: Cancellations must be received at least 30 days prior to the retreat for a refund, less a $25 processing fee.

Weathering the Storm: A Contemplative Retreat in the Manner of Friends
2025-10-24 12:00 - 2025-10-26 12:00 | Avila, 711 Mason Road, Durham, NC, 27712, United States
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Join us for Weathering the Storm: A Contemplative Retreat in the Manner of Friends, October 24-26, 2025, at the Avila Center for Community Leadership in Durham, North Carolina. Together we will reflect upon the storms that we are now encountering, whether in our nation, community, or as individuals. Who might we become through the storm? What may be lost? Gained? In what ways have we been faithful within the storm?

All are welcome. Participants from varying spiritual backgrounds will experience the distinctly Quaker manner of contemplation in community. There will be opportunities for both solitude and for sharing. We will have silent time for prayer and reflection, walks among the trees, and contemplative interaction with scripture, as well as worship together and sharing out of the silence. Participants may, if they wish, meet one-on-one with a retreat leader.

Our retreat leaders are April Allison of Durham Friends Meeting in North Carolina and Maryann Concannon of Red Cedar Friends in Lansing, Michigan. This retreat is co-sponsored by School of the Spirit and Peace Hill at Avila, and Elaina Eakle of Peace Hill will provide on-site support for the retreat.

The retreat begins with lunch at noon Friday and concludes after morning worship on Sunday. The registration fee of $560 will cover lodging, meals, and program. A commuter rate of $400 is also available. Scholarships are available for those with financial need. If you have questions, email info@schoolofthespirit.org.

April Allison

April Allison is a member of Durham Friends Meeting (North Carolina), a spiritual director, board member of Peace Hill at Avila, and an experienced retreat leader. She has led contemplative retreats under the care of the School of the Spirit in Wisconsin, Michigan, and North Carolina since 2012.

Maryann Concannon

Maryann Concannon (Red Cedar Meeting, Lansing, Michigan, Lake Erie Yearly Meeting) is a graduate of The School of the Spirit program, Participating in God’s power. She enjoys crocheting and knitting. She lives with her rescue dog, Evie.

Schedule

The retreat will begin with lunch on Friday, 10/24, and end after morning worship on Sunday, 10/26.

A detailed schedule will be sent in advance by the retreat leaders.

Flexible Fees

The full cost of attendance is $560. A commuter rate of $400 is also available (includes meals and retreat activities but not lodging).

Our intention with Contemplative Retreats is to break even. Because retreat center costs have gone up, we have had to increase the cost of the retreat. We recognize that this cost may be prohibitive for some attendees, and assistance is available! Please reach out to us about scholarships at info@schoolofthespirit.org.

Registration

Please register early, as you are led.

Registration is in TWO steps.

STEP 1: Please fill out the registration form. The form will ask for your personal information, your room and dietary preferences, and how you will pay. At the time of registration, you will pay either the full cost of $560.00, or the minimum payment of $75.00 and indicate that you would like to receive a scholarship form.

STEP 2: Instructions as to how to pay will appear on your Confirmation Page. Paying online will take you to PayPal where you can pay via credit card. You do NOT need a PayPal account to do this. If you will be making multiple payments, please reach out to us at info@schoolofthespirit.org to set up a payment plan.

Alternatively you can send a check made out to the School of the Spirit Ministry, for the amount in the table. Mail your check to: The School of the Spirit Ministry, c/o 4 Long Shoals Rd. Ste. B484 Arden, NC 28704.

Keep an eye out for an email from us with any further instructions.

Cancellation Policy30 days or more prior to the event, full refund less $30 processing fee. 14-29 days prior to the event, 50% refund. Less than 15 days, no refund.

Calm in the Chaos
2025-11-05 08:30 - 14:30 | Avila, 711 Mason Road, Durham, NC, 27712, United States
Lessons and Practices from the Works of Barbara Holmes

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Spend a beautiful fall day with clergy colleagues as we are led in learning about and experiencing spiritual practices from the late Rev. Dr. Barbara Holmes. The day will include large and small group conversations, spiritual practices, times of silence, and a nourishing lunch. Read about Dr. Holmes, author of Crisis Contemplation and other books on contemplative life, here.

“When everything around you is beyond your control and you shatter, you find within you a space of solitude, peace, and refuge that allows you to begin to gather yourself again.“ -barbara holmes

This is the third in a series of three clergy support events sponsored by Peace Hill at Avila, The Resource Center for Women and Ministry in the South, and Duke University Chapel.

Retreat Facilitators

Dr. Dumas Harshaw, Peace Hill Board Treasurer

Dr. Dumas Harshaw has dedicated over five decades to Christian ministry, focusing on teaching, preaching, and spiritual formation. Ordained by the National Baptist and American Baptist conventions, he has preached globally and studied Christian thought extensively. He is a student and researcher of the thought and impact of Howard Thurman around “Contemplative Engagement,” allowing him to bring expertise as a board member that deepens the foundations of Peace Hill’s work.

Evelyn Craig, Peace Hill Board Chair

Evelyn Craig serves as a Spiritual Director for pastors and those studying at Duke Divinity School. She thrives on her ecumenical involvements with seekers from all denominations and those not affiliated with religious institutions. Evelyn enjoys long walks and Tai Chi. She found her “tribe” through Peace Hill at Avila, and appreciates learning from others in the Peace Hill community, allowing her to expand her awareness and experience.
