At Delray 2

On the road:  Yesterday I noted that the CREDO conference asks participants to look at key aspects of our lives: spirituality, vocation, health, and finance.  Over the past five days we have approached this four-fold task from several directions.  Members of the faculty have given presentations illustrated with PowerPoint visuals.  In workshops faculty and clergy participants have dug into these areas, asking questions and trading information.  We participants have held private discussions with faculty members.  These themes have been raised in worship.  Today, alone and in small groups, we will begin pulling together what we have learned into a personal CREDO Plan for the future.

Retiree CREDOs are held at Duncan Center, mainly because
an emergency healthcare facility is right next door.  And, as
the faculty told us, they have had occasion to use it at past meetings!

The Center is plasantly appointed.  Much of our day is spent
on the patio and in the refectory (dining room) beyond.
Sleeping rooms have private bathrooms.

Hibiscus bushes add a splash of color among the palms.

Worship at CREDO consists of an optional celebration of Holy Eucharist at 7:00 a.m., followed by mandatory morning worship after breakfast.  We have had "night prayers" on two days — Compline the first evening of the conference, and then a Taizé-style service last night.

The approach to worship has been varied.  C.S. Lewis would not be happy about that.  In his book Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer, Lewis writes of liturgy, "I think our business as laymen is to take what we are given and make the best of it.  And I think we should find this a great deal easier if what we were given is always and everywhere the same... Every service is a structure of acts and words through which we receive a sacrament, or repent, or supplicate, or adore.  And it enables us to do these things best — if you like, it 'works' best — when, through long familiarity, we don't have to think about it."

I agree with Lewis, at least to a point.  There is great comfort and rich support in what is known and predictable.  Those words, so often repeated, literally get into your head, shape your thinking, and give you landmarks for godly behavior.  That's an important value in liturgy.

Yet we clergy seem easily bored.  Perhaps because we lead worship, we more easily fall prey to "Oh, this again" feelings, and wish for something novel.  We've had variety here at CREDO, not only in the form and content of our prayer services, but also in the music.

The Center's Chapel is an acoustically lively room, great for
singing.  Note the labyrinth worked into the floor.

Perrin, who has the "spirituality portfolio" for this CREDO,
talks to us about charting our spiritual journey.

Yesterday was mainly for personal reflection on what we have been studying.  To that end we had several hours of do-it-yourself time.  After an address in the Chapel on spiritual practice and discernment, we were sent off for a "quiet morning" which lasted through lunch, at least for some of us.  (In truth, many clergy claim they value silence, but actually abhor it and fill any quiet moment with pious chatter.)  Our quiet morning ended with Holy Eucharist and Healing from 1:30-3:00.

Some spent their personal time during the afternoon walking the Duncan Center's labyrinths. There are two, one outdoors and the second worked into the floor of the Chapel.  Others used their free time to get some exercise in the swimming pool.  Yes, Virginia, this is the first church conference center I've been to which boasts a pool and bubbly spa!

A participant walks the outdoor labyrinth.

After dinner Bud, our principal retreat leader, introduced a short film by Dewitt Jones on celebrating life and living well.  Jones is a National Geographic photographer, professional keynote speaker, and also a college friend of my brother Brad.  Jones' film — which focuses on celebrating what is right about the world — uses his still photos to illustrate life lessons drawn from his years photographing the world.  Jones has a web site worth checking out.

We ended the day with a service of hymns and prayers adapted from the liturgy of the Taizé Community in France.

Bud talks with conferees in the main conference building.

Luminaries lined our path to the Taizé night service.

More candles on the Chapel's floor and altar set the
mood for our evening worship.

Our work continues today as we begin crafting a CREDO Plan.  This is a blueprint for achieving what we retirees seek in the areas of spirituality, vocation, health, and finance. •••