Earth Sunday School
On the first Sunday of every month we have Earth Sunday School at Dayspring Church. Following a Children's Story in worship, we explore the meadows, woodlands, creek valleys and ponds of Dayspring, letting God's word speak to us through all of creation. Sometimes those in grade school go in one direction and those in middle and high school in another; sometimes we are all together. We try to let ourselves experience whatever the outdoor conditions of the day offer us, with appropriate clothing and footwear, but when needed we may take shelter in the solar greenhouse or a comfortable room upstairs in the Farmhouse. Some photographs of our activities are in the image gallery.
If you plan to join us some first Sunday, please call ahead of time to check about any special preparations to make for the activity planned (301-916-4827). For information about Dayspring Church worship please call 301-515-4399.
Ember Days
On the Eve of Easter, An Earth Vigil
Saturday night, April 7, 2012, 7:00-9:00 p.m. at Dayspring
On the night before Easter Sunday, we will carry both our grief and our longing for the Earth as we walk the winding trails of Dayspring. Our walking prayer ends with the lighting of the Easter Vigil fire -- sign of the passage from death to new life.
Gather in front of the farmhouse. All ages welcome.
Dress for the weather. Bring a flashlight for returning to your car.
Refreshments and visiting around the fire at the close of the vigil.
(photo: National Geographic, April 2010)
Dear Children of the Earth
Rolling Ridge annual retreat for children ages 6-12
and their parents, grandparents or mentors
A special treat for Friday night and Saturday
of Mother's Day weekend, May 11-12, 2012
The retreat begins with dinner at 7:00 p.m. on Friday and concludes with supper on Saturday. This retreat is designed especially for pairs of one adult and one child (ages 6-12)
The retreat includes:
--a campfire time of stories and songs celebrating the earth
--nature arts and crafts
--discovery hikes and guided adventures
--morning nature meditation and retreat time for adults
--a closing ceremonial time for gathering together our discoveries and our prayers of gratitude and healing for the earth
In our grasshopper and salamander days, who among us didn’t ask why the grasshopper could jump so far -- or why the salamander had black dots on its orange body. . .We lived by wonder, for by wondering we were able
to multiply a growing consciousness of being alive.
-- Richard Lewis, Living by Wonder
Overnight lodging will be in the Rolling Ridge retreat house or in the campground.
Leaders include: Verle and Vivian Headings, Cheryl Hellner, Jim Hall, and Linda and Scot DeGraf.
Fees: $50.00 for adult and child together ($10.00 for a second child coming with you), or $30.00 for adult and child if you are camping. To register and for more information please call Vivian Headings at 304-725-2312 (vvatrr@juno.com).
Solar House Tour
Simple Gifts Cottages and Greenhouse at Dayspring
Saturday, October 6, 2012 11am - 5 pm
The two staff cottages are the initial phase of the Simple Gifts Earth Ministry Center at Dayspring, a 206 acre church retreat farm in east Germantown. This project has arisen out of a spiritual calling to explore ways of living more simply, justly, and in harmony with the earth. Each cottage is 1250 square feet, and is designed to provide a gracious and energy-efficient home for a couple or a small family. The cottages have accomplished this in different ways; between them they include the following features: passive solar heating and cooling, well-insulated walls and roof (structural insulated panels/ blown cellulose), top energy efficient windows and appliances, insulating window shades, living roof, FSC-certified framing lumber, geothermal heating and cooling, grid-tied and grid-independent photovoltaic panels, solar hot water, masonry heater, oak and cherry trim from trees on the land, earth plaster and milk paint wall finishes, stained concrete slab floors, bamboo floors, fiber-cement composite siding and trim, roof water collection and landscaping with native plants. Integration of these features and "simple living" practices have resulted in these cottages being nearly zero-energy homes and a delight to live in.
Wind Trails in the Sea
A Retreat at the Dayspring Silent Retreat Center
October 26-28, 2012
You walking, your footprints are
the road, and nothing else;
there is no road, walker,
you make the road by walking.
By walking you make the road,
And when you look backward,
You see the path you
Never will step on again.
Walker, there is no road,
Only wind trails in the sea.
-- Antonio Machado
Each of us has a deep soul and an authentic soul path longing to be awakened and embodied in this world. In this retreat, we will explore images and metaphors from sacred story and engage in conversations and encounters with the sacred earth. In these ways, we seek to open -- ever more fully -- to the mystery and the wisdom of who we truly are.
Leaders: Cheryl Hellner and Jim Hall
Weekend retreats run Friday dinner through Sunday lunch. The silence begins Friday night after dinner when the leader opens the retreat and introduces the theme. The leader usually offers brief meditations and morning and evening prayers on Saturday. The silence ends late-morning Sunday with a time of sharing and worship, followed by lunch, the departure meal.
The cost for weekend retreats is $200. To reserve a space, please send a $100 deposit with an application you can print from the application page of the Dayspring Retreat Center website (www.dayspringretreat.org).
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PAST EVENTS
A Room for the Holy:
Soul Encounter Through Sacred Story
and the Sacred Earth
Seekers Church, Takoma Park, Maryland
Tuesday nights, Sept. 13 - Oct. l8, 2011
There are undiscovered presences, beauty, wisdoms within the natural world and within each of us. If we give ourselves wholly to them. . .they will one day come forth
--Mary Southard, CSJ
Throughout the Bible, we hear stories of people who met the holy One in the wild landscapes around them and in the deepest landscapes of soul within. Wisdom traditions throughout the world agree that there is no greater blessing than to live the life of one's own authentic soul.
Jesus invited his followers into unfamiliar and mysterious territory beyond the bounds of conventional religion. He sought to lead them into encounters with soul, that vital center of holy love that holds the key to our life's purpose and meaning, and the gift that is ours alone to give to the world. It is not an easy journey. But what greater adventure could there be?
In this series of six evening sessions, we will journey together into the wild country of soul. We will listen again to stories of soul encounter:
--Jacob and his dream ladder
--Abraham, Sarah and the three travelers
--Elijah in the mountain cave
--The disciples on a night sea journey of wind and wave
--Lazarus in the tomb
--Jesus' soul quest, forty days and forty nights, in the wilderness
We will respond to these stories through:
--ritual and ceremony (some of these will be held outdoors)
--symbol and art
--honoring the mystery in our dreams
--the art and practice of wandering in nature
--the search for a landscape that mirrors the soul
--an encounter with our own death and the gifts that encounter
holds for our life
These sessions are not a "class" in the usual sense. There will be only short readings and very little "discussion."
There will be "assignments" for you to do in-between our sessions; a series of guided exercises in listening for soul. Many of these will be done out in nature. We ask that you record your experiences each week in your journal.
Then, each time we come together, we will seek to create a "room for the holy"-- a place where we welcome and invite the shy soul to speak and a place where we listen with the ear of our hearts.
There will be a day retreat at Dayspring on a Saturday -- October 8 -- where we will have an opportunity to spend extended time in this wild landscape
--Jim Hall and Cheryl Hellner, Dayspring Earth Ministry
(Photo: "Sweet Dreaming" by Richard Hamilton Smith redoakcards.com)
