Live-in retreat centre offers deep spiritual experience
WINNIPEG, MB—A local Catholic community is offering students and young working adults an opportunity to live together in Christian community and grow in their relationship with Jesus Christ at its retreat centre in the West End.
Chemin Neuf, an international Catholic community that came to Winnipeg in 2010, owns and operates the St. Charles Retreat Centre on the banks of the Assiniboine River. Ted and Nancy Wood, who are developing the Chemin Neuf Community in Winnipeg, are inviting young adults between the ages of 18 and 30 from any Christian denomination to consider living at the retreat centre from September 1, 2013 until April 30, 2014.
They will share meals, participate in small faith-sharing groups meeting bi-weekly, go on one weekend retreat, receive monthly spiritual accompaniment, contribute a few hours a week to household chores, and will also have the option of participating in daily community prayers.
"Young people are looking for a deeper life, so we want to answer the longing of young people for a deeper spiritual life," Nancy Wood says.
"That's why we want to offer this. They can spend eight months together with us and other young people to help them find a focus for their life. They might need to be making decisions for their future...we provide the environment where this can happen. We're located on the edge of Winnipeg in a quiet corner on the Assiniboine River, so it's a place to unwind and a quiet place to grow."
The Woods are looking for five or six young adults to take part.
"We're hoping for people from different churches and cultural backgrounds so that it's a real experience of ecumenism and learning from different cultures," Nancy says.
The Missionary Oblate Sisters of St. Boniface donated the St. Charles Retreat Centre to the Chemin Neuf Community in 2011. In addition to its mission to reach out to young adults, the community also makes St. Charles available to Christian groups for meetings and retreats.
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