The darkness invites our curiosity to rest in what we don’t yet know, and listen with compassion. On the longest night of the year, we’ll gather to ground, breathe, and […]

Lessons and Practices from the Works of Barbara Holmes Spend a beautiful fall day with clergy colleagues as we are led in learning about and experiencing spiritual practices from the […]

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 […]

A cultural review of the first occupants of Orange and Durham counties Join Beverly Scarlett for a transformative overnight retreat exploring the history of the land, water sources, and the […]

Homecoming: An Autumn Immersion 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 […]

Avila Center for Community Leadership, Durham NC We are living through an apocalypse, a period of deep truth unveiling. This revelation seems overwhelming especially as it calls into question our […]

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 […]

Clergy Together for a Day of Re-Creation, Song, and Joy Location: Avila Center for Community Leadership, 711 Mason Rd, Durham, NC 27712 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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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

Quandaries & Conversations for Clergy Location: Avila Center for Community Leadership, 711 Mason Rd, Durham, NC 27712 “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: † While it seems that scripture […]