The weather was a bit warmer than usual for this time of year in the Western North Carolina mountains. But not too warm to relax by the fireplace, sipping hot chocolate and enjoying the many rich traditions that bring us back to this special place year after year.
St. Luke’s Annual Parish Retreat at Kanuga draws a diverse crowd — young, old, parents, grandparents, grandchildren, couples, singles, 8 o’clockers, 9 o’clockers and 11 o’clockers. This year’s retreat encouraged us to meet our church “brothers” and “sisters” outside of our normal “tribes.”
This year, rather than facing forward to hear a guest speaker, we spent a lot of time facing one another. A number of clergy and parishioners led workshops on various subjects, including golf, fly fishing, knitting, photography, astronomy, line dancing, memorizing the stories of Genesis through song, faith in film, tai chi and interpreting dreams. There was even a class entitled “The Big Necessity,” which took parishioners on a tour of the waste water facilities at the Kanuga conference center.
The subject matter was almost as diverse as the members of our parish, and provided a great opportunity for people to meet, to reconnect, to deepen relationships — all while learning from each other. The photos here are just a few of the highlights from our 2009 Parish Retreat at Kanuga.
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- Mountain highway on the way to parish retreat.
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- Picking up name tags.
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- Playing checkers in the library at the lodge.
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- The Parson’s Pickers.
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- Golf w/ Bill Nicholson.
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- Fishing for minnows.
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- Children’s nature hike.
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- Naturalist Carlton Burke and his animals are a big hit with the kids (and grownups).
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- Children’s music and dance workshop.
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- This year’s dance theme: “From Flappers to Rappers.”
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- Dancing in the fireside lounge.
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- King of the dance floor.
To view more even more photos from our 2009 Parish Retreat at Kanuga, click here. If you have any photos of your own you’d like to share on this blog, an essay or short video, please email any files or links to: stlukeskanuga@gmail.com
November 23, 2009 at 5:28 pm |
FABULOUS video of the fog at Kanuga!! Love it. Ken will be forwarding some stellar photos from the Dookie tour. Wonderful job, Jonathan.