Be Still: Designing and Leading Contemplative Retreats [Paperback]

Vennard's book comes out of her apparently lifelong practice of contemplation. It is obvious that she practices what she preaches: Her ability to give so much practical information comes from extensive experience in holding retreats, which in turn is nourished by her schedule of personal retreats in her own life. Ordained in the Church of Christ for teaching and spiritual direction, Vennard knows that many of her readers will be looking for ways to deepen or revitalize the spiritual lives of their own churches. In her Preface she advocates that such persons first practice the spiritual disciplines that encourage the contemplative life: retreats, prayer groups, reading, silence, observing Sabbath; only by living the contemplative life can it be shared.

What makes her book so applicable is in her focus on one local church with a contemplative retreat program. In the first chapter she describes the history of that ministry and includes interviews with some of those involved. She includes chapters devoted to the meaning of a contemplative life in today's society, ways to foster contemplation within retreats and to develop effective retreat leaders, sample schedules and themes, and "the fruits of contemplative retreats for individuals and churches." Vennard concludes with appendices outlining home retreats and resources for spiritual growth.

So this book is what many in church life today are looking for: practical suggestions and enough examples that anyone should be able to find one or two ideas and think, "We could do this!" But equally impressive is the impression carried throughout, that there are no quick fixes, no formulaic answers when it comes to developing the contemplative life through retreats. Each person, each church must search for the approach and practices that "fit" them. Last but not least, Vennard's style is very readable and her book one that you will not want to put down unfinished.

This is a very helpful book designed for a particular audience of mainline Protestant congregations and their leaders. It can certainly be useful for many other groups and individuals.

Jane E. Vennard is a United Church of Christ (UCC) minister ordained to a special ministry of teaching and spiritual direction. She is the Louis Iliff Warren Senior Adjunct Faculty in Prayer and Spirituality at the Iliff School of Theology, a United Methodist institution in Denver. She is a popular retreat leader with congregations and leadership groups from Methodist, Presbyterian, Lutheran, Community of Christ, UCC, Disciples, Episcopal and other religious bodies. This book draws on that experience as well as her knowledge of contemplative practice in other religious traditions to create a guide for leaders to design their own retreats.

Vennard begins by describing how the organization and experiences of contemplative retreat impacted a congregation in Colorado Springs. From that case study, she systematically explores the meaning of contemplation, how contemplative retreats differ from other retreat experiences, the challenges of leading a contemplative retreat, and the variations of scheduling, themes, activities, practices which help shape a fruitful retreat experience. The book also includes a guide to Home Retreat work and valuable collections and listings of prayers, music, written resources, and retreat facilities.

If you are a religious leader seeking to deepen the spiritual life of your congregation, this will be a tremendous resource for you.

Vennard states her goal on page x of the preface, "Because the Catholic Church already has within its tradition many contemplative resources, this book is designed primarily for Protestant church leaders who desire to make contemplative retreats an integral part of their congregational life but lack resources our Catholic friends enjoy." This is a much needed and worthy ambition. Had Vennard accomplished this task, she might have helped to add a voice of depth to Protestant Christianity. However, she fell slightly short of the goal and produced a book that while useful to a small Protestant nitch, misses the larger audience she could have influenced.

For some reason that the reader might only guess, Vennard excludes much of her target audience by attempting to be too inclusive. Let me explain. First, on page nine she brings up a lengthy discussion of a church that struggled over the issue of including homosexuals into the full life of the church. She describes the struggle and how contemplation helped to bring peace to the torn community. Her sympathies are clearly on the side of being inclusive to homosexuals. There may be a time and a place for such a discussion. Vennard has a right to sympathize with whichever side of this debate she feels is correct. However, if your target is to write a book that introduces a new spiritual practice to Protestants, you just don't choose the single most divisive debate within Protestant Christianity and start your book with it. She got her point across, but she lost half her readership by page 10.

Several of her readers who continued through page 10 probably began to raise eyebrows as they read the many times she quoted non-Christian authorities as experts on how to build faith based contemplative retreats. This book is only 91 pages long, yet in those 91 pages she quotes from Taoism 6 times, Buddhism 5 times, Judaism 3 times, and Eastern Religious practices 2 times. This is an average of once every five or six pages. This doesn't even count the Catholic references, which are numerous. The combined impression is that here is some sort of non-Protestant, new-age, teaching that is being sold to the church. It is perhaps useful, but not specifically Christian, therefore generic. My suspicion is that this book will mostly appeal to churches that proudly pull to the political left.

It's a pity, too. Because the topic, several of the suggestions, and the basic understanding of contemplative spirituality, could possibly be packaged in a way that is more palatable to Conservative Evangelicals. And Conservative Evangelicals could profit from such a work, because they, like all other groups, are emotionally pulled to an out of balance understanding of the Christian faith. Movements that add depth and balance are good for everyone.

P.S. This book is a valuable aid for designing retreats.